1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



361 



from the hives to give upward ventilation, were in like man- 

 ner loaded with water, to an equal extent, indeed, with those 

 of Nos. 2 and 4 which covered their hives tightly so as to 

 prevent all upward ventilation. The upper surface of the 

 cover to No. 5 was partly covered with a jelly-like substance 

 having the appearance of the "mother" of vinegar. The in- 

 side of the hives were very damp, and in places so wet that 

 water trickled down. The combs were damp, and to a consid- 

 erable exteut moldy outside of the cluster. These hives were 

 all the " New Heddon," of two sections each. 



It is necessary here to explain that the bees in the cellar 

 referred to have wintered exceptionally well. Out of a little 

 less than 150 colonies, the loss has been only five, and the 

 loss of these is explained by queenlessness undiscovered in the 

 fall, or by other abnormality of condition, so that it may be 

 aftirmed that they wintered almost perfectly, as almost all 

 rate from strong to very strong in numbers, and as to health 

 they are in excellent condition almost without exception, and 

 yet the hives of a large portion of them — I estimate from one- 

 third to one-half — show more or less of what might be taken 

 to be the characteristic marks of dysentery, but these are 

 always the outside the cluster, and generally outside the hive. 



It may be that this is an indication of incipient dysentery, 

 or diarrhea, as it is perhaps more generally called. But I 

 think it will not be questioned that it is the reLcnllon of the 

 feces that causes the disease whose effects are to be dreaded, 

 so I prefer to think that when the temperature is such that 

 the bees willingly go outside the hive to respond to the call of 

 nature, they thereby escape even the incipient stages of the 

 dreaded disease even though the other conditions are such that 

 they cannot safely take wing. In other words, flight is not 

 necessarily essential to a sanitary condition. Every observant 

 bee-keeper of experience has noticed, when the sun suddenly 

 breaks out about the first of June, after a storm that has kept 

 the bees confined two or three days, and the bees rush out, 

 how they may be seen on all sides sitting on the leaves of the 

 shrubs and bushes, at the same time voiding their feces. But 

 this has never been taken for signs of disease. 



This, however, is not the real question at issue, but what 

 I have said, taken with what is to appear further on, will en- 

 able the reader to form a judgment as to how the five colonies 

 in question wintered in comparison with those deprived of the 

 luxury of a wet-sheet envelope. The real question is whether 

 the necessity for the voiding of the feces is caused by the high 

 percentage of moisture in the atmosphere, or by something 

 else. Although in the present case it is claimed there was 

 only little if any of the disease known as dysentery present, 

 still it may be granted that had the conditions been such that 

 the bees would have felt compelled to retain their feces in- 

 definitely, the disease would doubtless have been induced 

 thereby. 



It will be found difBcult, if not impossible, I think, to find 

 any indication that the conditions within the wet sheet were 

 more favorable to the development of the disease than those 

 outside of it. However, since the relative humidity of the air 

 outside is so high that it may with much show of reason be 

 claimed that the total possible difference between that outside 

 and that inside the sheet is not sulBcient to warrant an ex- 

 pectation of any great difference in results. To meet such a 

 case it may be of use to compare the results of the past winter 

 with those reached in wintering bees in the same cellar during 

 other years. 



It can hardly be said that the relative humidity of the air 

 in a given cellar kept under like conditions is a very variable 

 quality, taking one year with another, and certainly the 

 humidity of the air in the cellar in question could hardly have 

 been greater during the past winter than during previous 

 winters, for not within the memory of the living has the 

 ground in this part of Michigan been so dry during the winter 

 season as it has during the past winter; nevertheless, never 

 during the eight seasons which have seen this cellar in use, 

 have the evidences of the approach of the danger of undue 

 accumulation of feces been more generally seen, although in 

 two or three years many times the damage was done, for 

 though the cases were comparatively few, the real disease had 

 been induced by undue retention. As the result of another 

 winter's campaign, out of almost 200 colonies, at most but 

 one colony showed any sign of the trouble. This question 

 suggests itself : Which is the more likely, that the humidity 

 of the air in the cellar, or the quality of the stores possessed 

 by the bees, varied from one year to another? 



I now give a detailed statement of the condition of the 

 five colonies in tabulated form, upon their removal from the 

 cellar on April 8, together with the weight of each when 

 placed in the cellar on Nov. 22 : 



Wpitjhl Weicht Lnn 

 Fall.lln. ISpTiDe.llw In..' 



13W 



Sit 



nrjDO 

 none 

 Bomo 

 Diuch 



Sparine kjtaniliue 



T,: I 



much 

 vory much | 



Little requires to be said here by way of explanation, and 

 I need only state that the bees of No. 5 voided much excre- 

 ment on the front of their hive when removed from the cellar, 

 which the others did not do ; and that while I give in one col- 

 umn the number of comb-spaces occupied by the bees as an 

 indication of strength, I have added another to rectify the 

 other to some extent based on 1 to 10 — 1 meaning weakest, 5 

 what would be deemed of average strength, and 10 the 

 strongest. — Bee-Keepers' Review. 



Lapeer, Mich., April 19, 1S95. 



CONDUCTED BY 



Re\'. Emerson T. Jlbbott, St. Joseph, JJo. 



HiTing: S'warnis. — "Dr. Dubini not only makes a 

 practice of hiving the swarm on the old stand, and removing 

 the old colony to a new one, but also sets the old colony on the 

 stand of another strong colony which has not swarmed, re- 

 moving the latter." — Notes from Foreign Journals, in Review. 



This mode of procedure is a little peculiar, and somewhat 

 out of the regular order. I wish Mr. Thompson would give us 

 the Doctor's reason for the last move, if he can do so. I al- 

 ways move the old colony to a new stand, but do not under- 

 stand exactly why it is placed on the stand of a strong colony 

 and this removed. Will this not cause the old colony to send 

 out another swarm as soon as a queen is hatched out ? or does 

 the Doctor cut out all of the cells and introduce a laying queen 

 at once, and thus have two colonies instead of one working 

 with all the vigor and seeming enthusiasm of a new swarm ? 



HO'W is This for Candy? — "A correspondent 

 winters his bees successfully by kneading four parts of pow- 

 dered sugar with one of warm honey, spreading with a rolling- 

 pin, and placing the cake on the frames over the cluster." — 

 Quotation from a French Journal. 



Michigan, and the people who live in climates where a 

 sugar cake will never do, will please take notice. The only 

 fears I would have about this mixture is that it would prove 

 too "soft." If it does not, it will fill the bill at " plenty of 

 food of the right kind in the right place." 



Honey as a Preventive of Diplitlieria.— 



"Dr. W. L. Smith, of Glanford, Out., writes to say that he 

 has observed that where honey has been freely used as an 

 article of diet, cases of diphtheria have not been met with." — 

 King's Medical Prescriptions. 



I do not want to steal Dr. Peiro's thunder, but will add 



that a little powdered sulphur mixed with extracted honey 



until it forms a thick paste, and taken in teaspoon doses, will 



be found good for a great many of the ailments of children. 



Keep them out of the rain and damp while they are taking the 



mixture. 



.*—-* 



Another Cure for Stings.— "A man was stung 

 above the eye and the part was badly swollen. A lotion of 

 potassium permanganate (0 grains to 1 ounce of water) was 

 applied ; in five minutes the pain ceased, and in six hours the 

 swelling had subsided." — D;-. Hobbs, as quoted by Druggists' 

 Circular. 



This note speaks for itself, and needs no comment. I 

 have not tried it, as I seldom pay any attention to a sting be- 

 yond the immediate removal of the stinger by a scraping 

 movement of the finger-nail. 



Piumber of Plants. — "Professor Saceardo calcu- 

 lates the number of species of plants at present known as 

 173,706, distributed as follows : Flowering plants, 105,231; 



ferns, 

 4,609 



2,819; other vascular cryptogams, o65 ; mosses, 

 ; hepaticse, 3,041; lichens, 5,600; fungi, 39,603; 



