314 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



W. H. Laws 



Will be ready to take care of your 

 Queen ordei-s whether larsre or small, 

 the coming season. Twenty-five years 

 of careful breeding brings Law's Queens 

 above the usual standard; better let us 

 book your orders now. 



Tested Queens in March: unte-^ted 

 after April 1st. About 50 first-ciass 

 breeding queens ready at any date. 



rr;iC]-:S: Tested, $1.25; 5 for S5.00; 

 Breeders, each $5.00. Address 



W. H. Laws, Beeville, Texas 



Try My Famous Queens 



From Improved Stock 



The best that money can buy; not In- 

 clined to swarm and as for honey 

 gatherers they have lew equals. 



3-Band Golden, 5-Band & Carniolan 



bred in separate yards, ready March 20. 

 Untested, one, |1; six. $5; 12, $9; 25, 

 $17.50; 50, $34; 100, $65. Tested, one, 

 $1.50; six, $8; 12 $15. Breeders of 

 either strain, $5. Nuclei with untested 

 queen, one-frame. $2.50; six one-frame, 

 $15.00; two-frame $3.50; six two-frame, 

 $20. -.0; nuclei with tested queen, one- 

 frame $3.00; six one-frame, $17.40; two- 

 frame, $4; six two-frame, $23.40. Our 

 Queens and Drones are all reared froni 

 the best select queens, which should 

 be so with drones as well as queens. 

 No disease of any kind in this country. 

 ?afe arrival, satisfaction, and prompt 

 service guaranteed. 



D. E. BROTHERS, Attalla, Ala. 



Corona, California, May 15, '14. 



Editors Review: — Orange bloom 

 over and very small amount of 

 honey stored compared to good 

 years, Black Sage yielding a little. 

 Cool cloudy weather the rule. White 

 Sage and Wild Buckwheat begin- 

 ning to bloom. I look for one-third 

 to one-half crop. 



L. L. ANDREWS, 



It helps a magazine wonderfully, 

 if you will say I saw your adver- 

 tisement in the Review when writ- 

 ing. 



series, March 7, the cluster tem- 

 perature was about 20° warmer than 

 it was at the same room tempera- 

 ture at the beginning of the con- 

 finement. It is also seen that dur- 

 ing the special series, March 7-24, 

 the cluster temperature always re- 

 mained at least 20° above the room 

 temperature, whereas from the dis- 

 cussion of bees confined (Colony 

 A) we might expect them to cease 

 heat generation when above the 

 lower critical temperature (57° F. ). 

 In the case of colony 3, fed on 

 honeydew honey stores, the factor 

 which caused more heat to be 

 produced evidently increased much 

 more rapidly. As stated previously 

 honeydew honey is a poor food for 

 winter and is so recognized. It con- 

 tains the same sugars as honey, 

 but contains in addition a consider- 

 able amount of dextrin, the parti- 

 cular lot fed to colony 3 containing 

 4.55 per cent while good honeys 

 contain only a fraction of 1 per 

 cent. From the evidence at hand 

 it appears that dextrin can not be 

 digested by bees and, whether or 

 not this is the explanation, honey- 

 dew honey causes a rapid accumu- 

 lation of feces which usually re- 

 sults in the condition known as 

 dysentery, in bad cases of which 

 the feces are voided in the hive. 

 In the case of colony 3 the whole 

 hive inside and out, as well as the 

 frames and combs, were spotted 

 badly, the inside of the hive being 

 practically covered. Even with fine 

 honey stores such a spotting is us- 

 ually noticed after a prolonged con- 

 finement, especially in severe 

 weather (or during brood rearing). 

 It therefore appears that the ac- 

 cumulation of feces acts as an irri- 

 tant, causing the bees to become 

 more active and consequently (see 

 later section) to maintain a higher 

 temperature. We are therefore 

 .iustified in believing that the cause 

 of poor wintering on honeydew 

 honey is due to excessive activity, 

 resulting in the bees wearing them- 

 selves out and ultimately in the 

 death of the colony. In the case of 

 colonies on g'ood stores (e. g col- 

 ony 1 ) the feces accumulate more 

 slowly and the excess activity is 

 not so marked and is induced more 

 gradually. The accumulation of feces 

 due to confinement causes, increas- 

 ed activity and this in turn is the 

 cause of excessive heat production, 



