I'HE AMERIC7LN BEE JOURNAL. 



165 



(^oxvcspoxxiXcnct, 



This mark © indicates that the apiarist is 

 looated near I lie center of the State named; 

 O north of the center; ? south; O east; 

 ♦O west; and thlsd northeast: X3 northwest: 

 £>. southeast: and P southwest of the center 

 of the State mentioned. 



Tie Jolly Honey-Bee. 



J. F. LATHAM. 



Near a r unn; wood-side, on a sloping spot, 

 By a purllni; strpanilet. is my cozy cot ; 

 Where content I labor, joyous, lithe and free 

 As will a busy, jolly honey-bee. 



Sportlnu in the sprlne time on tlie balmy air • 

 Watchlnii at the portal with a jpalous care ; 

 Btorintt up the pollen from the willow-tree 

 As will u busy, jolly honey-bee. 



Ere the welcome sunbeams usher In the day 

 Or the pearly dew-drops catch the Klowing ray • 

 HumminK in the meadow, buzzing o'er the lea 

 As will a busy, jolly honey-bee. 



Nurslne up the broodllnKs.cleaning out the room 

 rooking down the honey. from the maple bloom' 

 Ur.iggiiig out the cripples with a Spartan glee ' 

 As will a buay. jolly hooey-bee. 



Pcontlng through the bower.searching in the dell 

 »or the sparkling nectar in the flow'rets bell • 

 Bai-ting in the sunrblne merrily and free, 

 Aa will a busy, jolly honey-bee. 



When the shades of eye lengthen on the plain. 

 «r the dark ning heavens threaten coming raiii 

 Hie ray journey homeward.fn)m the sturm to flee 

 As will a laden, jolly h mey-bee. 

 Rushing from the portal, circling in the air. 

 Pitching In the tree-top. clust ring-anywhere : 

 Closliig In a murmur, floating from the sea 

 As will arOTing. jolly hODey-bee. 



n^Jl^.^J'^J"""^ "■" '""iner with a restless zeal 

 \Ji,i'}'lt '",' "/ ■""s's"'- oeath the pearly seal- 

 A,«„r^ti!;L"'',''J''^,"'2'"""-"'"«"Wre8 forme. 

 Aa a provident, joily honey-bee. 



oP.^I'n"/,.'!?!^® propolis, from the oozing cones ; 

 Closing up the op'nings, driv ng out the drones- 

 Slpplng irom the aster. In the sunny lel. 

 Aa Will a busy, jolly honey-bee. 



B'a,*'t'^ \ht {'"it "' antumn, creeping on amain. 

 B asts the Sulidatos on the fading plain • 

 A.^i'o"''''^"/''"°;''"'""'«l"K«l»-e and snug. 

 As will a prudent, jolly honey-" bug." 



Tn^ .1.""^" "S' spring-sun melts away the snows • 

 Pr„t,' ? "'mson verdure on the maple tree. 

 Prompts to her dutles-a thankful honey-bee. 

 Cumberland. Me. 



ror the American Bee Jonmal. 



Winter Deportment Of Bees, 



J. W. BAYARD. 



Misfortunes or accidents often de- 

 velop important truths, that other- 

 wise might remain a mystery forages. 

 n^^.^}^ years ago, at night thieves 

 earned from my apiary an extra strong 

 and wel provisioned colony of bees, 

 which they wrecked in an open Held a 

 shoit distance away, about 6 days 



thr^Ln'^^f'^ .^^*°''« I '1'scovered 

 h.Hfoii * ^n the meantime, snow 

 had fallen to a depth of 10 inches, and 

 the temperature was 1.5° below zero 

 that being exceptionally cold for this 

 ffMn""^-; f°° reaching the hive and 

 lifting It from the snow, the bees re- 

 sponded with a." roar," as unexpected 

 a^ a clap of thunder would hav^been 



of tLh'i^^^'^P""^ to adjust some 

 of the broken combs, the bees darted 



hamf/"'', ? ""^.u"^ severely on the 

 «i^^ h". ^y^ •"'^^'"'■^ *ook wing out- 

 nr, ?hf i'''^^''^'Sf * dark-colored feces 

 on the snow. This was a strange ex- 



' penence iinder the circumstances, as 

 I expected that all the bees had per- 

 ished, or at least would be in a torpid 

 condition. 



I at once placed them in a well ven- 

 tilated, dry cellar, where the tempera- 

 tiire never falls below 40°, or rises 

 above 50°. In the meantime I kept 

 watch of their condition with some 

 apprehension as to theiroutcorae. For 

 a time a slight rap with the knuckles 

 on the hive would cause a lively re- 

 sponse, when later on they grew 

 fainter and fainter, and at the end of 

 a month every bee in the hive was 

 dead, superinduced by exposure to 

 cold, over-eating and long confine- 

 ment, resulting in diarrhea in its 

 most odious form. 



The above served as a pointer to 

 further investigations among my 40 

 other colonies wintering on the sum- 

 mer stands. I found on visiting them 

 day or night, with the temperature 

 below zero, that a never-ending '-roar" 

 or song would issue from the bees 

 within, indicating great activity and 

 vigorous respiration within the clus- 

 ter, in order to counteract the en- 

 croachments of their most deadly 

 enemy— cold and frost. When a day 

 arrived for a passable flight, all took 

 wing that were able, whilst others 

 too sick, crawled out on the snow to 

 die. Thus despoiled of theirnumbers 

 to such a degree when spring finally 

 came I was minus what had been 20 

 good colonies, with all the other 20 

 more or less crippled. 



Fortunately this condition of things 

 only obtains in exceptionally cold 

 winters, with long-continued depres- 

 sion of temperature. In handling and 

 caring for bees for over 30 years I 

 hazard nothing in saying that with 

 the above or similar conditions, the 

 same results will be realized in all 

 future time. That a remedy is at 

 hand is also true. It lies in the secur- 

 ing the conditions of temperature that 

 require of bees the least consumption 

 of food of whatever kind, as well as 

 the minimum amount of respiration 

 and exertion, simply suflicient to 

 counteract the encroachments of cold 

 in our various localities of the North. 

 For in-door wintering of bees, all 

 late experiments point to 45° as the 

 central idea among advanced api- 

 arists— where bees can ply their nat- 

 ural vocations, consume the least 

 amount of stores, and suffer the mini- 

 mum of loss. The same will apply 

 to out-door wintering, only the difler- 

 ence of being unable to control the 

 temperature in a degree, by our vari- 

 ous methods of packing, and the con- 

 tusion of ideas on the subject. So 

 for the present we must take it as it 

 comes. 



In close connection with this prob- 

 lem of successful wintering, comes 

 the oft-moot«d and much discussed 

 question of liiberiiation. The very 

 hidden and peculiar condition of a 

 colony of bees during winter, has 

 given rise to a multitude of theories 

 much speculation, and not a little 

 guess-work. Rev. W. F. Clarke has 

 long since settled the question aftirm- 

 ativelv, from his stand-point; Prof 

 Cook demurs in liis scientific and con- 

 servative way ; whilst Mr. Demaree 



and Dr. Tinker have advanced suffi- 

 ciently to call for new light on the 

 subject, if any shall be forthcoming 

 Allow me to place this declaration on 

 record: While my investigations 

 may all be superficial, and my deduc- 

 tions all wrong. I do most emphati- 

 cally deny that bees do ever hiber- 

 nate, at any time or under any cir- 

 cumstances, from the day a colony 

 first enters a hive until the last bee 

 makes its final exit! 



The trouble with apiarists in the 

 past in regard to this question, is that 

 we have been resting the case on 

 theory alone, in preference to getting 

 down to bottom facts. No one, so far 

 as I know, has yet been able to bring 

 to view (in an optical sense) the exact 

 movements or true status of the in- 

 side of a cluster of bees during the' 

 winter months ; whereas the breaking 

 up of the same for the purposes of 

 scrutiny, would only defeat the object 

 in view, with the risk of destroying 

 the colony. The very quiet appear- 

 ance of the bees forming the cluster 

 or crust thereof, is entirely imma- 

 terial as furnishing any clue to the 

 condition of things within. They are 

 simply doing '• picket duty," and are 

 within the radius of the heat of the 

 cluster; can change location at will, 

 and take food to assist in keeping up 

 the temperature of the hive at all 

 times. The idea that bees wake up 

 at regular intervals to eat, and then 

 relapse again into sleep, rests not on 

 the shaddow of foundation in fact. 

 They eat (not all at once) but promis- 

 cuously, at all times, and under all 

 circumstances, more or less; just as 

 nature and the surrounding conditions 

 require them to do. The lower the 

 temperature the more they eat ; the 

 stronger the respirations, the louder 

 they sing— until finally the ' roar " is 

 distinctly perceptible from the en- 

 trance of the hive. 



We all know about rapping with our 

 knuckles on the hive, in order to get 

 a response from within, as to life or 

 death. If alive, the response comes 

 quickly; but if no response is made, 

 then the bees are dead, and the sooner 

 they are brushed from the combs the 

 better. The question then arises 

 can bees respond to a rap on their 

 hive, if asleep, or rather, enjoying a 

 " hibernal period V" If they can, then 

 nature in their case has been very 

 gracious, and left other hibernating 

 insects, as well as animals, sadly in 

 the lurch. Fori feel very confident 

 that nothing short of an earthquake 

 could produce a kick from a beetle or 

 a growl from a wood-chuck. Surely 

 then, there is an apology due some- 

 where. 



As the young professor, who knew 

 that bees only massed on the outside 

 of their hives as the more genial place 

 to sleep in very hot weather, and to 

 prove his theory ran his fingers 

 among the clusters, and collected his 

 pay as he went along, so with the ad- 

 vocates of hibernation. If at any 

 time you become anxious to test your 

 theory, just run your fingers down 

 through a (so-called) hibernating clus- 

 ter of bees, and collect the same kind 

 of "coin," you having the choice of 

 temperature, anywhere from 50= 



