396 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



I imagine there are but few of us 

 who would feel that we could stand 

 the expense and trouble of changing, 

 and should a standard be adopted just 

 after a poor honey season, then to 

 have this expense stare us in the 

 face, I doubt whether there are many 

 of us that would be zealous enough in 

 the cause to make any change, but 

 let us look at the otiier side of the 

 picture. Apiculture is but in its in- 

 fancy in this country. Every practi- 

 cal apiarist can see at a glance the 

 advantages to be derived from the 

 use of a standard frame, both to 

 themselves and the fraternity in gen- 

 eral, to manufactories, supply dealers, 

 and all who want a dollar's worth of 

 fixtures. 



I would suggest that this matter be 

 brought up before the coTivention at 

 Chicago, this fall. Let there be a 

 committee appointed to hear the 

 arguments in favor of each frame, by 

 its friends, and select one as a stan- 

 dard. Let this decision be tinal. Let 

 every member of the society work for 

 this frame to bring it into general use. 



It is natural for every man to tliink 

 he has the best frame, and has his 

 reasons forthinkingthusly. Let such 

 put in an appearance at the conven- 

 tion in Chicago, this fall, and satisfy 

 this committee that he has the best 

 frame, all points taken into considera- 

 tion, and he will, undoubtedly, have 

 the tionor of introducing tlie " stan- 

 dard frame of America." 



1, for one, hope that some of the 

 leading apiarists of the country will 

 take up and push this matter of a 

 " standard frame " to a tinal settle- 

 ment, and d<i it before tlie country is 

 filled with all sizes and descriptions 

 of frames. 



Urbana, 111. 



For tbe American Bee Journal. 



Theory Reviewed by Practice. 



G. M. ALVES. 



Dr. E. B. Southwick gives us an 

 article on " the best size of frame." 

 At tiie outset the Doctor tells us that 

 he prefers tlieory to experience, and 

 in justice to him we must admit that 

 he maintains his preference through- 

 out. 



Indeed, it matters not with the 

 Doctor that statistics show tliat bees 

 winter as well in the Laugstroth hive 

 as in others. 



It matters not that statistics show 

 that there are more Laugstroth hives 

 in use than all otherhives combined. 



It matters not that the great ma- 

 jority of our hive makers turn out 

 almost exclusively the Laugstroth 

 hive. 



It matters not that tliere are 

 scarcely over two or three hive mak- 

 ers in the West who make a square 

 frame hive. 



It matters not that tlie Doctor is 

 told that the queen enters the sections 

 only when she is blocked below, and 

 that experience shows the Laugstroth 

 to be as free of this trouble as other 

 hives. 



It matters not what statistics are 

 offered. The Doctor's theory " hath 



a stomach for them all." His f/icon/ 

 shatters the statistics and annihilates 

 the facts in a twinkling. 



Many of us have been wont to ad- 

 mire the slow and steady accumula- 

 tion of the world's knowledge ; and 

 to gaze with interest upon facts got- 

 ten by toil, as they go to help make 

 up the world's progress. A progress 

 rising slowly but surely upon the 

 indestructible basis of facts — but in 

 the presence of the Doctor, I suppose 

 we should do so no more. 



When I first glanced over the Doc- 

 tor's article, some old lines ran in my 

 head, and as they are quite apropos 

 to the Doctor's very peculiar ioeas, I 

 know I will be pardoned for quoting 

 them. 



Philosopher.—" Dost thou know the 

 thing of theory '?" 



Herdsman. — " Nay, good sir, I know 

 not the word, but this truly I do know 

 — I saw it with my own eyes." 



Philos. — '■ Out, common fellow ! 

 cans't thou persuade the learned by 

 thy vulgar seeing V" 



Henderson, Ky., July 25, 1S83. 



For the American Bee JournaL 



Pollen, Breeding in Winter, etc. 



A. K. KOHNKB. 



When I wrote to Mr. Ileddon my 

 observations o)i this subject, I was 

 under the impression that he still held 

 that bacteria ill honey or pollen causeil 

 dysentery, which theory I could not 

 bring into harmony with observed 

 facts. Mr. Ileddon and myself have 

 discussed this subject personally quite 

 often ; in some points we agree,'and 

 in others we do not. As Mr. Heddon 

 quotes only part of my letter, I will 

 take the liberty to add the remainder 

 of my conclusion, to which I have 

 come by observed facts, not by already 

 finished experiments, hence can be 

 called a theory only. 



For a simile I will draw on the one 

 given by Dr. A. K. Masim, as quoted 

 by Mr. Heddon. A man is hung 

 until he is dead. A bee eats pollen 

 until it is dead. Is there a man alive 

 who will ask no questions after 

 having observed the man's hanging 

 and dying, or the bee's eating and 

 dying V Man wants to know the 

 whys and wherefores which consti- 

 tute the largest part of the progress 

 in scie)ice, as well as everything else. 

 And now for the first question after 

 having seen the dead man or bee. 

 Nobody would ask, why did the man 

 die, or why did the bee die ; but why 

 was the man hung, and vihy did the bee 

 ent pollen '? 



Tliese are pertinent questions, and 

 the ones the answer to which will 

 enhance our knowledge on the sub- 

 ject. An answer to the first question 

 would be, the man committed mur- 

 der, ;uid with reference to bees, they 

 had niithiug else to eat, just where 

 they had clustered. 



To be wholly informed wath refer- 

 ence to the dead man, we would, per- 

 haps, ask many more questions, such 

 as, why did he commit the murder ; he 

 may have done it out of revenge, or 

 to rob, or to hide a crime, by killing 



the witness, etc. To prevent his 

 hanging, it would not be practicable 

 to conliscate the ropes, nor would it 

 be practicable for an extensive apiar- 

 ist to conliscate tlie pollen. That 

 may be done with a few colonies, but 

 when the number runs up to a hun- 

 dred or more it will be found to be a 

 little too much of a job to examine all 

 the frames and take away those con- 

 taining pollen, with, perhaps, a large 

 part of the honey. I am convinced 

 that bees will not eat pollen if they 

 have hydro-carbon sweets in the form 

 of honey or sugar candy. 



Another reason for this untimely 

 consumption of pollen, is breeding, 

 which is caused by their being housed 

 or covered too warm. A translated 

 article froai a German paper seems to 

 point in that direction ; if bees have 

 plenty of honey or candy they do not 

 freeze to death so easily as some are 

 inclined to believe they do. and I 

 think, by what I have seen, that this 

 housing and packing business is 

 largely overdone. They do not pack 

 bees in Sweden or Kussia ; not much, 

 but leave tliem enough lioney to last 

 them from 6 to S months. Hence, 

 dysentery is chargeable not to the 

 presence'of pollen, but to the absence 

 of proper food, or such other causes 

 as will induce the bees to untimely 

 breeding, of which I have named one, 

 viz. : packing or housing too warm. 

 Still there are other causes having the 

 same effect ; for instance, frequent 

 disturbance. Also too much open or 

 poor honey may cause the same dis- 

 ease. In each case the apiarist should 

 strive to avoid the remotest cause, 

 not the direct ; that being the safest 

 way to act. 



I intended to make some more ex- 

 periments next winter before touch- 

 ing this suijject in a paper, but since 

 Mr. Ileddon cited my observations to 

 substantiate his theory, I thought 

 best to give all I think I know about 

 it, and have the bee-keeping fraternity 

 combine in making further experi- 

 ments and observations. 



Youngstown, Ohio, July, 1S83. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Winter and Summer Frame. 



J. E. VAN ETTEN. 



I have been very much interested in 

 the discussion carried on in the Bee 

 Journal as to which is the best 

 frame, the shallow or the square 

 frame. The subject has been very 

 ably handled, and the comparative 

 merits and demerits of each very 

 clearly pointed out. Two points, I 

 think, have been established : 



1. That the shallow frames are best 

 in summer, because from them the 

 bees more readily enter the sections 

 above. 



2. That the square frames are best 

 in winter, because they better enable 

 tlie bees to cluster in a spherical form 

 and retain tlieir heat. 



Granting both these propositions to 

 be sound, then why could not a frame 

 be made to answer both purposes by 

 changing its position V Take, for 

 instance, a Quinby standing frame 



