THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



With Replies tbereto. 



[It is quite useless to asli for answers to 

 Queries in this Department in less time 

 than one month. They have to wait their 

 turn, be put in type, and sent in about a 

 dozen at a time to each of those who answer 

 them ; pet them returned, and then find 

 space for them in the Journai,. If you are 

 In a " hurry " for replies, do not ask for 

 them to be inserted here.— Ed. 1 



Bees Dying in Winter Years Ago. 



Qncry, No, 356.— I have heard that bees 

 did not die in winter -iO or 50 years ago, as 

 they do now it they had plenty of honey. Is 

 this true ? If so, what has made the change ? 

 -H. W. 



There were no bee-papers 40 or 50 

 years ago to give reports of deaths. 

 iDon't you believe a bit of it. They 

 did die.— J. P. H. Brown. 



I am inclined to believe there is a 

 difference, but I will not attempt 

 fully to account for it.— C. C. Miller. 



That Is not true. Bees, when in- 

 sufficiently protected, have always 

 suffered from bee-diarrhea and died 

 in severely cold and protracted win- 

 ters.— G. L. Tinker. 



Do not believe all that folks say 

 about the " good old times," for their 

 remembrance is often incorrect. The 

 winter of 1855-56 was the hardest 

 winter known by Father Langstroth. 

 — Dadant & Son. 



It is true to a certain extent. The 

 cutting off of our forests has much to 

 do with it ; this making most locali- 

 ties much colder than formerly.— G. 



M. DOOLITTLE. 



I do not know that this is true. The 

 climatic changes are greater than 

 they were 50 years ago, and it is 

 claimed that the foreign races are 

 not as hardy as our native bees.— H. 

 D. Cutting. 



I think it is true. I presume the 

 reason is that the winters were then 

 much milder. Clearing off the forests 

 has changed our climate. We used 

 to raise peaches plentifully in central 

 Michigan ; now we cannot except on 

 very elevated areas. — A. J. Cook. 



If we give the bees equal protection, 

 and report no more than we did 40 

 years ago, the difference will not 

 seem so great. Forty or 50 years ago 

 our prairies were mostly unsettled, 

 and the timber had not been cleared 

 from the hills of the East. Replace 

 the forests and the increased rain- 

 fall they are supposed to bring, and 

 the success will return. I do not know 

 whether the theory is true or not.— C. 

 W. Dayton. 



I do not know that it is true. If it 

 is true it may be attributable to the 

 clearing up of the country, allowing 

 the winds to sweep over the country 

 with greater force ; or it may be 

 caused by movable combs, which al- 

 low us to take away the best honey ; 

 or it may be that chaff packing and 

 cellars have not allowed the culling 



out by nature of the weakest or poor- 

 est, on the line of the "survival of 

 the fittest," or it may be— I do not 

 know.— W. Z. Hutchinson. 



As I did not keep bees 40 or .50 years 

 ago, I cannot answer. Is it a fact 

 though y and who can give us the 

 proofs V It is my impression from my 

 studies, that bees have always died 

 to a greater or less extent in winter, 

 and I know that the winter problem 

 has been a matter of discussion for 

 centuries.— J. E. Pond, Jr. 



I helped my father work with his 

 bees 40 years ago, and bees winter 

 now as well as they did then, the con- 

 ditions being the same. Bees have al- 

 ways been wintered in Kentucky on 

 the summer stands, without protec- 

 tion. Our fathers, 40 years ago, win- 

 tered their bees in large brood-cham- 

 bers, full of honey, and the bees clus- 

 tered in the centre of the combs, the 

 best material possible for bees to be 

 surrounded with, Now-a-days bees 

 are robbed of their nest (combs), and 

 forced to roost on the sides of the 

 frosty wooden walls, and these walls 

 are packed on the outside with just 

 enough chaff or sawdust to keep out 

 the influence of the sun, and preserve 

 the frost on the inside for an un- 

 limited time.— G. W. Demareb. 



This is partly true and partly false, 

 at least in this locality. Forty or 50 

 years ago bees were put into winter 

 quarters with much less bee-bread 

 in the combs; as the country was 

 cleared up pollen-producing fall weeds 

 took the place of spring-pollen pro- 

 ducing trees. This truth has given 

 rise to an idea that old, tall box-hives 

 are safer for wintering bees than flat 

 frame hives. About 14 years ago, 

 two farmers living a few miles away 

 had, in autumn, 65 and 85 colonies 

 respectively, in all depths, sizes and 

 shapes of box-hives. In the following 

 spring they had one live colony each. 

 —James IIeddon. 



Even the meager record we have of 

 the losses of bees in winter half-a- 

 century ago, shows that there is but 

 little difference between then and 

 now. The climatic changes, pro- 

 duced by the destruction of our na- 

 tive forests in the East, will easily 

 account for all the difference which 

 exists.— The Editor. 



Moisture in Hives. 



Querj', No. 357.— On examining my bees 

 on the summer stands, I frequently find the 

 combs covered with ice and frost. Does the 

 hreatJi of the bees produce all this moisture? 

 Please say "yes" or " no," as your experi- 

 ence may have proven.— W. T., Ills. 



No.— James Heddon. 



No.— H. D. Cutting. 



No.-C. W. Dayton. 



Yes.— Dadant & Son. 



Perhaps not all, but I should say 

 the most of it.— W. Z. Hutchinson. 



If the moisture arising from the 

 body of the bees is what you mean by 

 " breath," yes.— G. M. Doolittle. 



The breath of the bees does not jsro- 

 duce all the moisture— some of- it 



comes from the evaporation of the 

 honey.— J. P. H. Broavn. 



In part. The moisture may con- 

 dense from the air, and freeze away 

 from the cluster.— A. J. Cook. 



Yes, but when I see ice and frost 

 at the hive-entrance of a colony, or 

 upon the combs, I know that the bees 

 are suffering from the cold, and will 

 not come out in good condition in the 

 spring.— G. L. Tinker. 



The question cannot be answered 

 fairly by yes or no. The moisture is 

 caused in all probability, partially by 

 breath, and more so, by emanations 

 or perspiration, as we "might call it. 

 The whole matter is more or less con- 

 jectural. We know that where there 

 is no ventilation, moisture forms and 

 freezes. We know, also, that heat 

 and cold will produce moisture.— J. E. 

 Pond, Jr. 



A current of warm air coming in 

 contact with a cold surface will part 

 with its moisture, and if the surface 

 is cold enough frost or ice will be 

 formed, as we see illustrated in the 

 stair-way that leads into a warm 

 cellar. The heated air thrown off 

 from a warm cluster of bees comes in 

 contact with the cold walls of the 

 hive, where it parts with its moisture, 

 which adheres to the wall, and is 

 formed into frost or ice as to the de- 

 gree of cold and dampness present. 

 Of course " breath " is warm air, but 

 any warm air will produce the effects. 

 — G. W. Demaree. 



I can hardly see cause for much 

 frost and ice aside from the vapor ex- 

 haled by the bees. Possibly a small 

 amount of moisture might be evap- 

 orated from the honey in the cluster 

 under some circumstances, and tliere 

 might even be condensation of a 

 small amount from the outside air if 

 it should Bnd the combs colder than 

 the outside air.— C. C. Miller. 



The moisture in the hive, whether 

 from the cluster of bees or from the 

 honey evaporation, will condense and 

 form frost or ice on the wood in very 

 cold weather.— The Editor. 



Laying in Qneen-Cells— Drone Eggs, 



Query, No. 358.— Do queens ever lay 

 eggs in queen-cells, after the cells are 

 started ? If so, did any one ever see them ? 

 Do queens lay the eggs that produce drones? 

 — T. F. p.. Ills. 



I answer " yes " to all of this query. 

 —A. J. Cook. 



I never have seen them do so.— J. 

 E. Pond, Jr. 



They have been seen laying in 

 queen-cells. Queens lay the eggs that 

 produce drones.— W. Z. Hutchinson. 



I never saw the queens do so. Not 

 in all cases do queens lay the eggs 

 that produce drones.— H. D. Cutting. 



I have seen queens depositing eggs 

 in queen-cells in two instances. To 

 the second part, yes.— C. W. Dayton. 



Yes, to both questions. My as- 

 sistant once saw a queen lay in a 

 queen-cell, and I have seen drone- 

 eggs, by the score, laid by queens. — 

 G. M. Doolittle. 



