THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



493 



when wax is required,) or to adopt a 

 nearer simile from tlie insect tribe, as 

 all the lood a spider takes contributes 

 not only to the nourishment of the 

 animal, but to the production of the 

 substance of the web from its body. 



Numberless other analogies in na- 

 ture might be cited in proof of the 

 probability of this theory. The silk, 

 for instance, produced from the body 

 of the silkworm, is a substance as 

 different from that of the animal it- 

 self, or the mulberry leaf it feeds 

 upon, as wax is from that of the body 

 of the bee, or of the honey or flower 

 she sucks. And the exudations in the 

 human ear which goes bv the name 

 of wax, is certainly as different from 

 the substance of the body which pro- 

 duces it, as either the one or trie 

 other. 



Upon the- whole, until we meet with 

 a more probable theory supported by 

 facts, we must give it as our humble 

 opinion that wax is produced only in 

 one way, and in all cases upon the 

 abdomen of the bee in very minute 

 scales, and that wax cannot be pro- 

 duced unless the bee feeds upon honey 

 or sugar, or what honey and sugar is 

 produced from, and that bees do not 

 produce wax continually, but only at 

 such times as comb is needed in the 

 storing up of honey. At such times 

 bees consume a much greater amount 

 of food than when there is no need of 

 comb. 



We here desire to give the analysis 

 of beeswax, but time and space will 

 not permit, trusting as we do, that 

 some of our readers at least will be- 

 come more or less interested in the 

 science of apiculture, and still extend 

 their research by procuring more 

 elaborate works on the subject, and 

 in this way which, if possible, become 

 more interested in this, one of the 

 most beautiful sciences. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Wintering— the Pollen Theory. 



PR. G. L. TINKER. 



Evidently, Mr. Heddon, judging 

 from his reply to my article, does not 

 have a very clear idea of what the 

 " humidity theory " is. Mr. S. Cor- 

 nell, on page 728 of tlie Bee Journal 

 of 1882, gave the first well-defined 

 views on this subject, and to this 

 article Mr. H. is respectfully referred. 

 Other articles on the subject will be 

 found in the present volume on pages 

 7, 16.5 and 199. 



Heat is a very important element 

 in the successful wintering of bees, 

 and it is one, moreover, that 'my gen- 

 erous opponent has apparently lost 

 sight of completely. He gives several 

 examples that are grimly supposed to 

 annihilate the humidity theory The 

 first is, where bees have been taken 

 from cellars, " drenched with damp- 

 ness" but in good health. In the 

 same connection, Mr. Balch is quoted 

 assaying " that ail upward ventilation 

 was death, that dampness was good 

 for bees, and that he wintered with 

 great success." All of which may be 

 true, and yet fully accounted for by 

 the humidity theory. For it seems 



that it does not matter how damp the 

 hive may be, or the air outside, if 

 there is good ventilation, and the 

 conditions are such that the normal 

 heat of the duster can be maintained, 

 no harm can arise from the presence 

 of dampness or moldy combs. Mr. 

 Corneil, nor myself, would undertake 

 to contend that dampness is injurious 

 to a colony of bees except under con- 

 ditions in'which the heat of the clus- 

 ter could not be maintained, owing to 

 the presence of unusual cold and 

 dampness. The theory is " that cold 

 and dampness are the primary causes 

 of bee dysentery." Mr. Balch named 

 conditions that would tend strongly 

 to retain the heat of the colony, a 

 vital point upon which he was justly 

 very emphatic. And again, his bees 

 had undoubtedly good lower ventila- 

 tion. 



But Mr. H. finds a "misfit" for the 

 theory in the fact that he lost 48 colo- 

 nies all in a few weeks after placing 

 them in a very "dry cellar." And 

 vet he would undertake to dismount 

 ine if I should get on his bacteria 

 hobby (that is, it there should be 

 found " any strength" in it),and claim 

 it as his own! I am not sure but Mr. 

 H. has got this double hobby horse 

 for a sly purpose — if one gets lame he 

 can "get on to'ther," and when that 

 one gets lame he can get back again ! 

 Verily, if there was a show for his 

 bacteria hobby any where, it would be 

 in just such a case as the losing of 48 

 colonies all within a few weeks after 

 going Into winter quarters. But the 

 humidity theory will account for the 

 loss, if there was insuflScient ventila- 

 lation. I fear that there are yet many 

 bee-keepers who are still undecided 

 that bees need a great amount of 

 winter ventilation. 



no, Mr. H., do not think that any 

 one will try to get the honor of father- 

 ing the pollen theory away from you. 

 You have a sure thing on that. But 

 I am at a great loss to understand how 

 "the bacteria theory is much the same 

 thing." I can readily understand 

 how a circus performer can ride two 

 horses at once, but did not know be- 

 fore that we had a bee-keeper wlio 

 could perform this interesting eques- 

 trian feat. Your logic on this point 

 is too profound for me. 



Now it was just possible that I was 

 " mistaken " in regard to those hy- 

 brids. All hybrids liave queer habits. 

 They may have got up some dark 

 night, walked out, evacuated, and re- 

 turned without my knowing it. Cer- 

 tainly, Mr. H., but I was not mis- 

 taken in regard to my way of ajusting 

 sections. It is true that I have de- 

 layed my report on the use of small 

 sections so long that it is not surpris- 

 ing that you should have thought my 

 experiments a failure. I promised to 

 to make the idea advanced last winter 

 a success, and it is accomplished quite 

 beyond my expectations. In this 

 place, I will simply thank Mr. H. for 

 his derisive allusion to " the man who 

 sets his sections down on the brood 

 frames " with the suggestion that he 

 has stumbled upon a Doomerang that 

 will recoil soon enough. 



1 am glad to learn that Mr. Heddon 

 will test the pollen theory on a large 



scale the coming winter. He will 

 find, however, that no little narrow 

 hive like his, can be made to winter 

 bees successfully on the summer 

 stand without more "fixing" than 

 can ever be made to pay. Not only 

 this, but his hive has not enough sur- 

 face on the top, nor enough space in 

 the cases, as illustrated a year ago, 

 for safe wintering. The surplus de- 

 partment of a hive on the summer 

 stand in winter should contain not 

 less than 4,000 cubic Inches of space. 

 I am, therefore, not surprised that 

 Mr. Heddon has poor success in win- 

 tering. He would succeed better with 

 the standard Langstroth hive. 



In conclusion, I would like to ask 

 by what slip of the pen Mr. H. came 

 to predict that " disease will get me 

 before old age." Of course, that must 

 be a " mistake," or else, " In wonder- 

 ing mazes last," my friend has turned 

 Prophet ! 



New Philadelphia, Ohio. 



Penobscot County, Me-, Convention. 



The Penobscot County, Me., Bee- 

 Keepers' Association met according 

 to adjournment at Burrell Hall, 

 Corinna, Sept. 6, at 10 a. m., with 

 President Judkins in the chair. There 

 was a fair attendance of members. 



After the usual business of the asso- 

 ciation was attended to, the subject 

 of the relations which the county 

 associations should hold to the State 

 associations was brought up, and all 

 were united that some action should 

 be taken by the State Association to 

 bring us all into working order, as 

 one society, and the following resolu- 

 tion was offered and accepted : 



Resolved, That the Maine Bee- Keep- 

 ers' Association needs, and should 

 have the support of every county as- 

 sociation in the State ; and that the 

 Penobscot County Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation extend to it, its most loyal 

 support. 



The afternoon session was opened 

 by a spirited discussion of the follow- 

 ing questions: 1, How to control 

 swarming ; 2. Is it advisable to clip 

 queens' wings; 3. How to feed in 

 the spring, is it advisable V 4. How 

 to make bees swarm ; 6. The differ- 

 ent races of bees, their qualities com- 

 pared ; 6. The best method of Ital- 

 ianizing ; 7. The best method of 

 wintering, the proper temperature for 

 cellars. These and other questions 

 kept the time well occupied until 

 night, and a good interest was shown. 

 The general opinion was that the day 

 had been well spent. Thirteen mem- 

 bers signed the roll book, showing 

 that old Penobscot has not forgotten 

 that she has had the honor of insti- 

 tuting the first bee-keepers' associa- 

 tion in the State— the Maine Bee- 

 Keepers' Association being formed 

 there— and that she means to be 

 ahead as a county association. The 

 next meeting will be held at East 

 Corinth, Thursday, Nov. 1, at 10 a. 

 m.— Borne Farm. 



^" Articles for publication must be 

 written on a separate piece of paper 

 from items of business. 



