268 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



— and will soon disappear if nothing is pres- 

 ent to irritate the intestines while they are in 

 a sensitive and inflamed condition. He at- 

 tributes this condition — diarrhcea — to the 

 combined influence of cold and Jack of food. 

 It seems strange that anyone who has read 

 the bee journals and books as faithfully as 

 Mr. Pierce appears to have done, could ar- 

 rive at such a conclusion. Were it simply 

 lack of warmth and food that causes bee 

 diarrhcea, the wintering problem would have 

 been solved years ago. Time, and tune and 

 TIME and again have bees been abundantly 

 supplied with food and kept warm, so warm 

 in some instances, after Ira Barber, at De- 

 troit, advocated such a high temperature, 

 that they even clustered outside the hives, 

 yet have they died of diarrhcea. For a pre- 

 ventative of diarrhcjea Mr. Pierce recom- 

 mends covering the hives with newspapers, a 

 dozen thicknesses at the sides and thicker 

 yet on top, then setting a box over the hive 

 and filling the space between the hive and 

 box with leaves, chaff or similar material, 

 tightly packed. He advises a two-inch space 

 for the packing material. He also advises 

 the inclining of the hive well to the front 

 that the warm air from the cluster may be 

 forced towards the stores at the rear. In 

 short, he advises thorough protection, and 

 says that a colony of bees prepared for win- 

 ter as he has directed will not show signs of 

 diarrhcBa unless the stores fail. I cannot 

 understand how an author can shut his eyes 

 to the fact that thousands of colonies as 

 thoroughly protected as he advises, and 

 sometimes more so, have died like "rot" 

 and left their combs well filled with stores. 

 In many instances they died with stores 

 above the cluster, for, be it known, Mr. 

 Pierce places quite a little stress upon the 

 importance of having the stores above the 

 bees. 



Our author also lays much stress upon the 

 instinct of the bee in choosing a suitable 

 home. The thick walls of the hollow trees 

 afford great protection. He calls attention 

 to the fact that the colony is gieatly pro- 

 tected at the top, which is all-important. 

 The honey is also above the bees. But bees 

 do not always choose a hollow tree for their 

 home. There have been frequent reports of 

 some swarms entering an empty hive stand- 

 ing in an apiary, and swarms have been 

 caught by putting up decoy hives in the 

 woods. Neither do the bees always find the 

 ideal hollow in a tree. Often they are found 



occupying a nearly horizontal hollow in a 

 limb with only a thin shell of wood above 

 them and the stores to one side of the cluster. 

 But all this is neither here nor there when 

 we remember that the same causes that 

 sweep the life out of our apiaries leave deso- 

 late the tree-top homes. If bees did not 

 perish in the homes to which they have been 

 led by their instinct, the " woods would have 

 been full of them " long ere this. Mr. 

 Pierce inadvertantly admits this by saying : 

 " When the runaways (swarms) are numer- 

 ous, bee hunters tell me that every hollow 

 tree contains a swarm." Why not at other 

 times, unless because the bees have died off? 



Mr. Pierce lays but little stress upon the 

 quality of the food. He admits that fall 

 honey in some districts may possibly be a 

 factor in winter mortality, but not if sealed. 

 He says " the cap of a honey cell is a reason- 

 able guarantee that the contents are ' pure 

 and free from all deleterious substances ' — 

 as far as the bee is concerned." I don't un- 

 derstand how he can ignore the many experi- 

 ments by which it has been proven that food 

 is all -important. I don't remember that a 

 case of diarrhosa has been reported when the 

 bees had cane sugar stores, while thousands 

 of cases have occurred with natural stores. 

 Scores of colonies with natural stores have 

 died with the diarrhoea while those with 

 sugar stores, wintered in the same cellar, 

 have not even specked the hive covers when 

 they flew in the spring. Because Mr. Pierce 

 wintered bees upon honey mixed with sweet 

 cider, or upon honey-dew, isn't proof that 

 the character of the stores plays an unim- 

 portant part. 



( )ne objection urged by Mr. Pierce against 

 the wintering of bees upon sugar alone, is 

 that it has never been proven (so he asserts) 

 that nitrogenous food is unnecessary in the 

 winter diet of bees. I am neither scientist 

 or chemist, I can't argue these points, but 

 this much I know, I have many times win- 

 tered bees perfectly upon sugar syrup alone ; 

 have never failed in the attempt, but have 

 often lost them when they had natural stores. 



In justice to Mr. Pierce I must admit that 

 he admits that the consumption of [)ollen is 

 a factor in the subject under consideration, 

 but he will recognize it only as an intensify- 

 ing cause — making the trouble worse after 

 it has once set in. 



It seems to me that if we know anything 

 in regard to bee diarrhcini it is that it is the 

 result of an overloading of tiie intestines in 



