744 



THE AISIERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



intestinal inflamation, "mortifica- 

 tion," virulent secretion, one or all. 



AVhen bees " spot the snow " during 

 a flight in winter, they are generally 

 declared to be affected with diarrhcea"; 

 but I have not always found this to 

 be true, in its broadest sense. I have 

 seen the surface of the snow com- 

 pletely stained in front of some of my 

 hives during a "flight "of the bees, 

 and no indications of soiling by evac- 

 uation from the bees, was "within 

 ■when the hives were opened for the 

 first time in early spring. This .evi- 

 dence has led me to the belief that 

 the color of the excreta is not a sure 

 exponent of bee-diarrhcea ; for, if 

 pollen is the ingredient which causes 

 the coloring, as is generally attributed, 

 it did not cause diarrhcea in the in- i 

 stance named. 



Perhaps it may be asserted that the 

 bees did not stay in the hive long [ 

 enough to become diseased with diar- j 

 rhoea. Well, they did not; and if | 

 they had, pollen would not have been 

 the prirne cause of tlie malady. 



Bees will winter well on combs con- 

 taining a super-abundance of pollen. 

 A man and a rifle loaded with powder 

 and ball may bear companionship and 

 no harm result. Pollen and bullets 

 may be instruments of destruction, 

 but the prompting power must exist 

 behind them. Whisky never caused 

 intoxication when let alone ; a prompt- 

 ing thirst induces the victim to im- 

 bibe, and inebriation with its direful 

 consequents follow. The same lust- 

 ful desires which prompted Pandora to 

 open the box and fl^od the world 

 with evils, induced the accredited 

 progenitors of the human race to 

 pluck and eat the forbidden fruit. 

 The same appetite which induces bees 

 to eat pollen to their destruction, 

 would lure them to indulge in some 

 other act, as detrimental to their ex- 

 istence, were the means within their 

 reach. Pollen may feed the smoulder- 

 ing embers of morbid desires, but it 

 will not cause them. 



The food of the laboring man must 

 be rich in muscle-producing elements; 

 the horse or mule will not " hold its 

 own," when put to hard work, unless 

 it is fed a goodly quantity of proven- 

 der rich in nitrogen ; and the fox- 

 hound runs best when fed on fresh 

 beef. When the conditions of the 

 brood-nest are such that bees need no 

 pollen to support an extra drain on 

 the organic stamina, their inclination 

 to conform to hibernal requirements 

 is strengthened, and it is very ap- 

 parent tnat they must lapse into that 

 quiescent state of semi-dormant re- 

 pose favorable to their safety. 



If all of the pollen be removed from 

 the combs, and bees have pure, well- 

 ripened honey, or good sugar syrup for 

 stores, they are supplied with the 

 aliment necessary to maintain ani- 

 mal heat, which, with quietness. In- 

 cluding its cause and effects, will carry 

 them through llie cold winters of our 

 Northern climate in good condition. 

 As the labor of providing combs free 

 from pollen would be great in large 

 apiaries, not considering the removal 

 of pollen from the combs by artificial 

 means and feeding, there appears to 

 be two practical methods by which 



the bees may be guarded from its bad 

 effects: 1. By keeping them in con 

 ditions which will not stimulate its 

 use. 2. By contracting the brood- 

 nest so that the combs may be kept 

 about full of eggs and brood from 

 spring until fall, thus leaving but few 

 cells for its storage. The first is the 

 most conformable to nature ; the sec- 

 ond looks feasible. By the first 

 method all of the obstacles to success- 

 ful wintering are neutralized ; by the 

 second, but one. 



Since the foregoing was written, I 

 have found, on page 694. a paragraph 

 in Mr. Theilman's article in which he 

 writes : " He (ilr Clarke) does not 

 tell us how to proceed or to perform 

 with our bees in order to have them 

 hibernate." In the last part of the 

 closing paragraph of the same article, 

 he writes ; " Mine do best at i'2P 

 above zero ; that is. they are the most 

 silent at that point. The farther 

 above or below 42^ the stronger the 

 noise becomes in the bee-house. This 

 has been my experience for the past 

 ten vears." 



If Mr. T.'s bees conform to hiber- 

 nal requirements at 42° above zero, it 

 seems that that degree of tempera- 

 ture, with good air, good stores, and 

 a severe letting alone, are, if they are 

 constituted so as to make the best of 

 such favorable surroundings, all that 

 their welfare demands. 



Cumberland, Maine. 



For tlje American Bee Journil. 



Marshall Co.. Iowa, Convention. 



At the recent session of the Marshall 

 County Bee-Keepers' Association six 

 new niembers joined the Association. 

 The following is a condensed report 

 of the proceedings : 



Mr. O. B. Barrows said that he feeds 

 his bees in the fall, if he finds it nec- 

 essary, in order that a colony may 

 have plenty of good stores for the 

 winter. lie winters his bees in a cel- 

 lar, and puts his hives with the front 

 to the wall ; he also has the front of 

 the hive lower than the back, so that 

 the bees will easily keep it clean. — 

 He keeps plenty of good air in the 

 cellar, and the temperature just so 

 vegetables will not treeze. He uses 

 quilts over the frames in place of 

 honey-boards. He said that when he 

 was a boy, it was thought that a cel- 

 lar should be kept very warm, but he 

 finds it best for all vegetables and 

 fruits to keep a cellar cool, just above 

 the freezing-point as near as he can 

 regulate it. He finds this a good 

 temperature for his bees, and the 

 light of the cellar does not disturb 

 them. His stove flues come to the 

 bottom of the cellar, which he finds a 

 great help in ventilation. 



Mr. Hunt, of Centre Point, has an 

 apiary of 300 colonies. He finds it 

 necessary to keep out all light where 

 so many' bees are in one cellar. He 

 has the cellar well ventilated by 

 two sub-earth pipes which run about 

 fiO feet out from the cellar before 

 coming to the surface of the ground. 

 This admits fresh air, while the stove- 

 flue carries off the foul air. He wants 

 colonies in Langstroth hives to weigh 



50 pounds at least ; and if pollen is 

 t)lenty, a little more. He thinks that 

 fall honey is not as good for winter 

 stores as the early honey or coffee A 

 sugar. He has never used a ther- 

 mometer in his cellar, but thinks it a 

 good plan. He lost a number of colo- 

 nies in the winter of 1882-83, by not 

 giving them proper care. 



The President, L. Coleper, Mr. 

 Jackson, and several others claimed 

 that one of tlie essentials in success- 

 ful wintering, and a preventive of 

 spring dwindling, was to have a good 

 supply of young bees at the close of 

 the honey season. 



The majority present thought it 

 best to contract the size of the hive by 

 the use of division-boards, according 

 to the size of the colony. By this 

 means a colony would keep at a more 

 even temperature, either wintered in 

 the cellar or on the summer stands ; 

 and quilts or chaff-cushions were 

 recommended bv nearly all in place 

 of heavy boards. 



Mr. L. Coleper said that he begins 

 in September to prepare his bees for 

 winter. He tries to renew all colo- 

 nies that liave queens over two years 

 old, with good young queens. He 

 wants plenty of young bees at the 

 close of the season, and about thirty 

 pounds of good honey to each colony. 

 He uses quilts over the frames, and 

 and has no other cover when his bees 

 are in the cellar. He places the first 

 row of hives about one foot from the 

 cellar floor, and then puts one above 

 another, and takes them out in the 

 spring when the weather permits. 



Nine of the members present re- 

 ported 497 colonies, spring count, and 

 .596 colonies, fall count; and 15,170 

 pounds of extracted, and 3,940 pounds 

 of comb honey. 



The President said that he began 

 the spring of 18s3 with 4 colonies, and 

 increased them to 7. He wintered 

 them in a cellar which varied from 

 32^ to 38° in temperature. All came 

 out strong, and he has since increased 

 them from 7 to 22 colonies. •His sur- 

 plus amounted to 14-5 pounds of ex- 

 tracted and 102 pounds of comb honey. 

 His bees have stored but little honey 

 since July 15. 



Mr. J. L. Comstock, of Sac City, 

 said that he was not well versed m 

 bee-keeping. He had begun with 2 

 colonies about June .5; these had in- 

 creased to 7. and he had taken 225 

 pounds of comb honey in two-pound 

 sections, which he solo at 20 cents per 

 pound. 



Several bee-keepers spoke on the 

 subject of feeding where necessary, 

 so that bees may have plenty of good 

 stores for winter : and also the ad- 

 vantage to be derived by spring feed- 

 ing to encourage early breeding. 



Mr. Hunt described his method of 

 rearing queens, and the way in which 

 he placed eggs into good cells already 

 built and containing plenty of the 

 royal food, so as to produce extra 

 queens from the queen which he de- 

 sired to breed from, and in an un- 

 limited number. He had used the 

 method for four years. 



The Convention then adjourned to 

 meet on Saturday, Jan. 21 , 18*5. The 

 subject for the next meeting is 



