THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



165 



us whether there is moisture enough 

 in the atmosphere to produce rain 

 within the next 24 or 48 hours. We 

 can all see, at a glance, what benefits 

 this little instrument will be to all 

 classes of society, especially to the 

 farmer who wishes to secure liis hay 

 and grain in the best condition possi- 

 ble. Bee-keeping of the nineteenth 

 century is notadaptedto theshiggard. 

 That day is past. Let us all investi- 

 gate, in the light of science and ex- 

 perience, as long as we can save one 

 more colony of bees or cause it to 

 produce one more pound of honey. 



A vote of thanks was given the 

 president for his able and instructive 

 address ; after which the address was 

 discussed by nearly all the members 

 present. 



The secretary said, that the only 

 sure method of preventing second 

 swarms was the introduction of a 

 queen immediately after the first 

 swarm liad left the hive. Every bee- 

 keeper should have on hand, daring 

 the swarming season, extra queens 

 for this purpose. Not only would the 

 successful introduction of a queen 

 prevent second swarms from issuing, 

 but would largely increase the amount 

 of surplus honey. The newly in- 

 troduced queen would occupy the 

 cells in the broodchamber from which 

 young bees were constantly hatching, 

 with eggs, thereby preventing the 

 bees from storing honey in those cells, 

 and compelling them to store it in 

 surplus boxes above. If the colony 

 from which a swarm has issued is left 

 to raise a queen for itself, it will gen- 

 erally be queenless aboutthree weeks, 

 and consequently would contain about 

 40,000 less bees during the rest of tlie 

 season than it would have contained 

 if given a good queen as soon as the 

 swarm issued ; for the good queen will 

 lay not less than 2,000 eggs every day 

 during the honey sieason. Mr. Iloyt 

 said, that he would have young 

 queens to give colonies that had 

 swarmed, if for no other purpose 

 than to prevent the loss in bees tliat 

 would occur by not having them. Mr. 

 Fish thouglit that the secretary's plan 

 of introducing queens would not pre- 

 vent second swarms. It had not, in 

 his experience. The secretary iiicio 

 that it would prevent abnormal 

 swarms. It the second swarm was 

 normal, there was no loss resulting 

 from it. 



Mr. Beebe asked how to keep bee.s 

 in the hives when they were wintered 

 in-doors V Mr. l<'ish : Bees will not 

 leave their hives if the cellar or bee- 

 house is kept perfectly dark, and at 

 the right temperature". Mr. Mackey 

 said, bees should not be wiTitered in- 

 doors except in a frost-proof recepta- 

 cle. Mr. Iloyt: Bees should never be 

 confined to their hives. If they were, 

 for any length of time, they would 

 become uneasy and would collect 

 about the entrance in such numbers 

 as to smother the whole colony. 



Mr. Parkhurst ask%d if anything 

 except bad honey produced dysentery 

 in bees V The Secretary : Long con- 

 finement without flying, dampness, 

 cold and hunger sometimes caused 

 bees to have dysentery. 



Mr. Hoyt asked how much chaff 

 should be placed in the second story 

 of hives in wintering bees V Mr. 

 Cole : The more chaff the better for 

 the bees. His colonies, which had 

 the most chaff in the cushions above 

 them, were in the best condition. Mr. 

 Fish : When too much chaff is used it 

 is likely to become damp and moldy, 

 and thus cause the colony to become 

 unhealthy. A thickness of 4 inches is 

 sufhcient. The Secretary : Chaff 

 cushions should not be less than 10 to 

 12 inches in thickness. If they were 

 only 4 inches thick they would not re- 

 tain sufficient heat to keep the colony 

 in a healthy condition. Thick cush- 

 ions allow the moisture to pass off as 

 readily as thin ones. While it is true 

 that the upper side of a custiion is 

 frequently quite wet, the lower side, 

 which is next to the bees, is always 

 warm and dry. The moisture on the 

 upper side is produced by the warm 

 air from the bees passing through tlie 

 cushion and coming in contact with 

 the cold air above it. Mr. Cole: Mr. 

 Fish was mistaken ; a constant cur- 

 rent of warm air was slowly passing 

 through tlid cushion and driving out 

 the moisture contained in it, thus 

 preventing it from becoming wet. 

 Mr. Darling : Did not know any- 

 thing about chaff cushions, but was 

 successful in wintering. Ilis hives 

 did not have upward ventilation. 



After a vote of thanks to the City 

 Council of Norfolk for the use of the 

 Council Chamber the convention ad- 

 journed to meet sometime during the 

 month of April. 1883; day to be fixed 

 by the secretary. 



S. F. Newman, Sec. 



For tbe American Bee JournaL 



Wintering, Ventilation & Dysentery. 



DU. O. L. TINKER. 



It has been slated that every plan 

 of wintering fails at times, that what 

 may succeed in one locality, or one 

 year, may fail in another locality, or 

 the next year. All of which, were it 

 true, would be very unpleasant to the 

 investigator, and discouraging to the 

 bee-keeper. But, happily, every effect 

 must have an adequate cause, and if 

 one plan of wintering succeeds in one 

 case, and apparently not in another, 

 it is because the conditions have not 

 been exactly the same. Of one thing 

 we may be certain, that nature does 

 not change her moods, and that, when 

 we shall understand the right way to 

 winter bees, it will be found neither 

 complex, difficult to execute, or un- 

 certain of result. 



The great object to be sought in 

 wintering has been well stated by 

 Mr. Doolittle. It is, that we should 

 know, and be able to place our bees in 

 '■ the most favorable conditions." 

 Beyond this we may not go, but to 

 secure these conditions is to meet 

 with undoubted success in wintering. 



Tlie writer has stated that " cold 

 and dampness are the primary causes 

 of dysentery." Now, the causes of 

 this disorder may exist in varying 

 degrees in different cases. We may 

 have dysentery result in one case, 



spring dwindling in another,or simply, 

 imperfect wintering in others. The 

 affected bees may survive tlie winter 

 and spring, but not in that vigorous 

 condition which is the evidence of 

 perfect wintering. Thousands of 

 colonies go into winter quarters in fine 

 order every year and survive in this 

 way, the outcome of " unfavorable 

 conditions," and become of little 

 profit to those who own them. 



If bees become restless in their 

 hives, and are seen to fly or run out in 

 unsuitable weather, if they become 

 torpid or exhibit signs of abdominal 

 distension, or if, when they do have a 

 good flight, after a month or two of 

 confinement, they spot their hives 

 badly, they have not had favorable 

 conditions, and cannot, therefore, 

 winter perfectly. It is considered a 

 very great mistake to suppose that the 

 bees that are sometimes to be seen 

 coming out of their hives in winter, 

 become chilled and die, are, as has 

 been often stated, only old bees that 

 were about to die. According to my 

 observation, bees seldom fly out when 

 it is too cold, if all is right within the 

 hive, and the old bees are just as good 

 as any, until they begin to take active 

 exercise on the wing. 



A colony of bees, wintering in good 

 order, does not become restless, or fly 

 out at improper times. Neither have 

 they occasion to fly out for long 

 periods, since they void their feces in 

 the hive in the form of the so-called 

 " dry powder," which falls to the bot- 

 tom of the hive. Upon taking a 

 flight they spot their hives only 

 slightly, if at all, and are never seen 

 in a distended condition. 



To secure these desirable results it 

 is only necessary that a colony be 

 placed in such condition that it may 

 easily maintain a temperature in any 

 part of the hive outside of the cluster, 

 of not less than 10 J Fahr., in the cold- 

 est weather, while the temperature of 

 the cluster itself should remain stead- 

 ily at about 93 , which, from many 

 tests that I have made at low general 

 temperatures, seems to be the normal 

 point in winter. The temperature, 

 just above the bees, in the chaff, 

 should average about 50^ or a little 

 above. If from any cause the tem- 

 perature within the hive should fall 

 much below these points, we shall 

 then get unfavorable conditions, and 

 the effects of dampness at once makes 

 itself apparent. 



There is a degree of temperature 

 within a properly ventilated and pro- 

 tected hive of bees, outside of the 

 cluster, at which the dampness arising 

 will be forced outward, and beyond 

 the reach of harm. This degree may 

 be as low as 40=, but it is thought to 

 be nearer 50 , from a table that! have 

 prepared of tests conducted on six 

 hives at once during the first eight 

 days of February. It is believed that 

 at 50^ and above, the heat of the 

 cluster, under proper conditions, is 

 ample to force all dampness out of 

 the hive. At this degree of tempera- 

 ture, the chaff above the cluster will 

 alwavs be found dry, except a portion 

 on top, which may often be found 

 quite wet or even moldy. This is to 

 be removed once or twice during the 



