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Queries f Replies. 



Terrible 



nortality 

 ■%Vinter. 



of Bees in 



Written for Ihe Amcrir/vn Bee Journal 



Query 564.— During December, January 

 and February of tbe winter ot 1884-85 I lost 

 700 lull colonies out of 900, located in five 

 apiaries. Some were dead without breaking 

 the cluster, and others had their noses up all 

 around the lid, and were scattered all over the 

 hive. The frames and combs were badly 

 smeared with excreta, where there were a few 

 bees and queen left. I closed them up on 

 what frames they would cover, but they 

 nearly all either swarmed out on the first nice 

 spell, or dwindled so low that they died in the 

 cluster during slight cold spells in March and 

 April. The winter ot 1885-86 was the same, 

 with 600 colonies. The winter ot 1886-87 all 

 of 400 colonies came through to February. 

 They commenced dwindling then, and went 

 down one-third, leaving the balance weak, and 

 although I had plenty of good combs and 

 honey, I could not build them up. The past 

 "Winter has been the same. 1 have some 15 or 

 20 colonies that have withstood all these win- 

 ters, and have come out good every time, un- 

 der the same conditions. 1. Have you had 

 this experience ? 2. Whatislt? 3. How can 

 1 stop it?— Illinois. 



I have had no such experience. — P. 



L. VlALLON. 



I have had nothing like it. — G. M. 



DOOLITTLE. 



It would take a book to answer this. 

 Bead the articles on wintering bees. — 

 Dadant & Son. 



That is a puzzle. I give it up. — C. 



H. DiBBEKN. 



1. No. 3. I do not know of any- 

 thing to say in replj-, unless to go over 

 the whole ground covered by books 

 and papers, and jou probably have 

 all that. — C. C. Miller. 



I am unable to divine the cause or 

 suggest a remedy. Go to some good 

 bee-man near 30U, and see if he cannot 

 help you solve the problem. — Eugene 

 Secor. 



1. No. 2. Diarrhea, and very bad 

 management. 3. Construct a good 

 bee-cellar for each apiary. — Mrs. L. 

 Harbison. 



1. On a much smaller scale, yes. 2. 

 I cannot answer unless I knew all the 

 conditions. 3. I have lost but very 

 lew colonies except by starvation since 

 I have left the entrances wide open all 

 winter. — M. Mahin. 



1. I never experienced the loss of 

 1,300 colonies in three winters, but I 

 have had "frames and combs badly 

 smeared with excreta," etc. 2. That 

 was diarrhea. 3. It can be stopped by 

 giving proper food and the right tem- 

 perature. Read what the American 

 Bee Journal has said on this subject 

 during the last three years. — A. B. 

 Mason. 



1. From your description I am forced 

 to the conclusion that your bees gather 

 honey that is not suitable for winter- 



ing. I would try removing it, and 

 feed granulated sugar syrup. 2. It is 

 bee-diarrhea.— J. M. Hambaugh. 



I. No. 2. If all the other condi- 

 tions are favorable, it is the result of 

 unwholesome honey. 3. Extract all 

 fall honey, and feed granulated sugar 

 syrup. — J. P. H. Brown. 



1. No. 2. I should think that your 

 trouble was in the honey. 3. Feed 

 sugar syrup to a few colonies, and see 

 if it will not make a change. — H. D. 

 Cutting. 



1. To some extent. 2. The common 

 trouble — diarrhea. 3. By giving the 

 bees sound stores for winter, and win- 

 tering them in a cellar with a tempera- 

 ture of about 40=, Fahr. — R.L.T4.YLOR. 



1. Yes, I have. 2. It is bee-diar- 

 rhea. Bees never spring dwindle when 

 they are entirely free from that com- 

 plaint. 3. You can prevent it by hav- 

 ing no bee-bread in the combs which 

 the bees winter on, nor any honey, but 

 properly prepared sugar syrup, in- 

 stead. — James Heddon. 



3. I believe that a good cellar would 

 stop it — a cellar where you can keep 

 the temperature above 38°, Fahr. I 

 believe with a proper cellar and proper 

 food we need have no loss. — A. J. 

 Cook. 



I would get a stock of bees from 

 some one who has not been troubled 

 in this way. I would rid myself of 

 these old bees entirely. I would not 

 ask, '' What is it ?" It does not pay 

 to doctor bees. Get rid of them, and 

 get health}' ones. If they become dis- 

 eased in the same way, change the 

 location. — J. M. Shuck. 



Mr. Heddon will say, "Pollen 

 theorj-." Some one else will give 

 another cause. For myself, I can only 

 saj' that I do not know, as the data 

 given is not sufficient to enable me to 

 give an intelligent answer. For a 

 guess, I should say the cause was 

 either insufficient food, or food of poor 

 quality. — J. E. Pond. 



The only thing peculiar about your 

 disastrous wintering of bees is found 

 in your statement, that " 15 or 20 " of 

 your "colonies have withstood all 

 these winters." This would indicate, 

 at least apparently, that the constitu- 

 tion of the bees had something to do 

 wilh the different results. Please give 

 us the particulars. What sort of stores 

 did they have ? How were the bees 

 prepared for wintering, etc.? 1. No. 

 2. Echo answers, " What is it ?" 3. 

 That is the question. — G. W. Demaree. 



We should surmise that the cause 

 could be located in the winter stores. 

 To extract all the honey in the fall, 

 and provide good sugar syrup would 

 probably prevent a repetition. — The 

 Editor. 



Wet and Moldy Conib§ in a Bee- 

 Cellar. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



Query 565.— In my bee-cellar I am very 

 much troubled with the combs getting wet 

 and moldy. The temperature does not vary 

 much above or below 40". I. Would sub-earth 

 ventilation improve it ? or would it be best to 

 put in a stove? 2. If sub-earih ventilation 

 would be a good thing, how far ought the 

 pipes to extend under ground ?— H. H., Ills. 



I have no experience in this. — P. L. 



VlALLON. 



We would use a stove in the coldest 

 weather, or not use the cellar at all 

 for bees. — Dadant & Son. 



I think that sub-earth ventilation 

 would answer. Fully 50 feet — more 

 would be better — and below the reach 

 of frost— J. P. H. Brown. 



1. Put in a small stove, and use open 

 boxes of air-slacked lime. — H. D. Cut- 

 ting. 



Raise the temperature to from 45° 

 to 48°, by some means, and you will 

 be all right— G. M. Doolittle. 



1. Either or both might help. 2. 

 Two hundred feet if the pipes are 6 

 inches or more in diameter. If 4 

 inches in diameter, 100 feet long. — C. 

 C. Miller. 



1. I presume that sub-earth ventila- 

 tion will benefit your cellar. 2. I am 

 not authority on this. Correspond 

 with Mr. G. M. Doolittle.— J. M. Ham- 

 baugh. 



Thorough drainage and ventilation 

 will do it For the purpose mentioned, 

 sub-earth ventilation is not necessary. 

 — A. J. Cook. 



If your bees winter well, I advise 

 you to leave your cellar as it is. If 

 the mold frets you, give the bees more 

 ventilation from the bottoms of the 

 hives, and raise the temperature of 

 your cellar 4° or 5°, by packing the 

 outside windows, etc., better. — R. L. 

 Taylor. 



1. I should put in the stove. 2. I 

 am not in favor of adopting sub-earth 

 ventilation. It costs more than it 

 amounts to. — James Heddon. 



1. Yes, I believe it would. If that 

 is too expensive for the number of 

 colonies kept, use artificial heat 2. 

 Two hundred feet would be desirable, 

 but perhaps a shorter distance will an- 

 swer. — Eugene Secor. 



■ Dampness is a common condition of 

 cellars in this (Kentucky) climate. No 

 doubt but the changeable condition of 

 climates is the cause. When the.air 

 outside of the cellar becomes warmer 

 than the air contained by the cellar 

 when it enters the cellar and comes in 

 contact with a lower temperature than 

 itself, it parts with a portion of its 

 moisture by condensation, and thus 



