AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



253 



I have suggested to others that when 

 the Italian queen came in it frightened 

 the Carniolan queen, and she at once 

 ceased laying, but was unable to get to 

 the other as her visitor was balled, and 

 when placed in the nucleus, and finding 

 that she was again free, and ruler over 

 the little hive, she at once began to per- 

 form the duties required of her. 



The balled queen was pretty well wor- 

 ried, as I caged her and found her dead 

 the next morning. If any one has ex- 

 perienced anything of a similar nature 

 to the above, I would be glad to hear the 

 cause and results through the Bee 

 Journal. 



Cloud, Ohio. 



Season Of 1890 in Maine— Otlier Topics. 



J. F. LATHAM. 



In this locality a retrospect of the sea- 

 son of 1890 is anything but pleasing, 

 from a financial point of view. When 

 the reward for the care of 57 colonies of 

 bees, for 6 months, is about 500 pounds 

 of second-class honey in the comb, and 

 an increase of 8 colonies, by swarming, 

 and this, too, after feeding 600 pounds 

 of sugar and honey for Winter stores, 

 there are very slight grounds upon 

 which to dispute the above statement. 



The weather for the past season was 

 the most unfavorable for bee-keeping in 

 my experience. The bloom was profuse, 

 but clouds and rain, with cold nights, 

 kept one in a continual state of sus- 

 pense. When an interval of pleasant 

 weather occurred to stimulate the efforts 

 of the bees, a sudden change would con- 

 fine them to their hives, thus causing a 

 cessation of their labors. Attempts to 

 aid the little workers by handling, proved 

 unsuccessful, except in a few instances, 

 where the colonies were very strong, with 

 a large surplus in the brood apartments. 



Had I kept supers away from my 

 hives, and worked for extracted-honey, 

 I should have hit the nail squarely on 

 the head, and would have obtained my 

 small quantity of surplus honey in free 

 bulk, instead of in about 1,000 sections, 

 of which only about 200 were in mar- 

 ketable condition, the remainder ranging 

 from empty to one-half full. Some of 

 the partially-filled sections were given to 

 the bees for Winter stores, a portion 

 were sold, and the remainder, after ex- 

 tracting the honey, were stored away for 

 future use. 



My experience in the past season has 

 disclosed many points that I have not 

 seen discussed in the bee-periodicals in 



a manner calculated to evolve methods 

 of procedure suitable to the exigencies 

 of the times, and I am led to believe that 

 it is'beyond the power of man to devise 

 a system of manipulation which will 

 prove satisfactory to apiarists under 

 such adverse circumstances. 



When the honey season ended, my 

 hives were full of bees, with combs con- 

 taining from about 1 pound to 10 

 pounds of sealed honey. After feeding 

 from 5 to 15 pounds of syrup and honey, 

 as required, to each colony except 3, 

 they were packed in my usual way, and 

 at present, Jan. 1-1, appear to be winter- 

 ing excellently, notwithstanding the 

 severity of the weather. 



If my bees pass through this Winter 

 as well as they have wintered heretofore 

 (and I have yet to note the loss of the 

 first colony from bad conditions), my 

 faith in a proper method of preparation 

 to insure the right wintering conditions, 

 as opposed to the "pollen theory," will 

 receive additional confirmation. 



I firmly believe, with Mr. Heddon (see 

 page 47), that " if we keep our bees in 

 such condition that no special tempta- 

 tion for pollen consumption is present, 

 they will Winter well." If a "low tem- 

 perature is a prime cause of bees con- 

 suming pollen," it certainly must be the 

 prime cause of any malady that might 

 emanate therefrom. If I am not in error 

 in my deductions, Mr. Heddon's loss of 

 bees is due more to the climatic influ- 

 ences of his locality than any other 

 cause, and when compared with losses 

 in many other localities where climatic 

 conditions conform more nearly to the 

 physical requisites of the bees during 

 their Winter repose, the axiom seems 

 comprehensive in its general bearings. 



I am not personally acquainted with 

 Mr. Heddon's apiarian environments, but 

 think, nevertheless, that if he has not 

 observed the meteorological status of his 

 surroundings, from year to year, since 

 he has kept bees there, he will, on doing 

 so, find sufficient reason to attribute a 

 portion of his Winter losses of bees, in 

 the past, to other causes than the pres- 

 ence of bee-bread in the combs, or float- 

 ing pollen in the honey, unless the pol- 

 len in his locality contains virulent prop- 

 erties, or is contaminated by local causes 

 after it is stored in the combs. 



True hibernal requirements do not 

 stimulate, in bees, a desire or appetite 

 for nitrogenous aliment. Winter, in the 

 temperate zones, is a natural term of 

 rest to the vegetable species, when in 

 their special sphere, as when in concert 

 with the animal organism, to which they 

 supply the functional motor ; and both, 



