“novice's” gleanings in bee culture. 
*21 
HEADS or URALV FROM DIFFER- 
ENT FIELDS. 
DYSENTERY. 
insert the following as it gives a 
wJJ very iair idea of the great hce dis- 
ease or dysentery : 
I can give you nothing that is fresh in the 
hoe keeping line. It must he the old story 
over, anil what do your care for that? We 
shall never get tired of talking of our losses 
last spring and winter. For 10 years past I 
have wintered my bees in one place, a large 
dry cellar, from 80 to 100 swarms, and often 
not lose a swarm. Last fall my cellar was 
never in better condition, all the stocks 
strong in bees and honey, honey very thick, 
all frames nicely capped, ami hives properly 
ventilated. The dyscntcryTicgnn its work 
about the first of February picking out here 
and there a swarm, ten or fifteen .-warms 
were not allectod at all; but all were very 
much reduced in number caused by tho con- 
tusion in tho cellar of tho affected swarms. 
-My actual loss in the cellar was only 4 swarms 
Irom 81, but when 1 carried them to their 
summer stands in April, then the few bees 
jeft in the affected hives, with their queens 
in every case, came out. So of those small 
swarms that came nut the first day and lit in 
one swarm most all of them had queens, left 
brood in all stages, plenty of honey, hive dry 
and in good condition, for the excrement was 
on top of the honey board and outside of the 
hive. I returned many to their own and 
other hives, gave them fresh box honey, but 
stay th°y would not, for when flowers came I 
had but 40 left from 83, and they wero in very 
weak condition. To show you I had bees 
enough when my bees went into winterqn ir- 
ters ; I carried out in tho spring 4 bushels of 
dead bees from the cellar bottom. Bees were 
swept off all over our State in this way. Wc 
had a. hard drought to contend against this 
summer, very little swarming and but small 
amount of box honey. My bees, 51 swarms, 
are back in tboir old winter quarters and in 
very fail-condition. Let us see tho result this 
winter. Yours, Truly, 
Ripon, AVis. R. Bart. 
Wc presume you all know that wc take 
the position that there are alway's at hand 
simple remedies for nil evils in bee keep- 
ing, if we only work earnestly to get 
them.; and in Mr. Dart’s case we would 
first intimate that however thick and good 
honey may be, it docs, nevertheless, often 
produce the result mentioned; but had their 
stores been sealed sugar syrup no such 
confusion would have resulted. In regard 
to leaving their hives in spring as the re- 
sult alter such excitement, caging tho 
queens fora few days might have saved 
them, but great care would have been 
necessary to sen that they were not de- 
serted and chilled. Mr. Ilosmer’s ideas 
in liee Keeper's Mut/uziue arc good hut. 
not quite sufficient wc think. One of 
ours swarmed out in this manner three 
limes last spring and only gave it up 
when wo gave them a new locality. Mr. 
Shaw, Chatham center, this county, uses 
a contracted entrance to keep the queen 
inside, and it the bees go back to their 
own hive all is well, lie lost more 
queens in this way with clipped wings 
than those which were not clipped for 
they will assuredly swarm out all the 
samp. 
Feb. loth, 1873, 
A great many bees are dying in this part of 
tlie country this winter, from the combined 
effects ol dysentery nT)d no shelter during the 
long continued cold weather. I have lost six 
of seventeen, and expect to lose more. 
Others have had still greater losses ; one man 
has but live loft of fifty-five ; another four of 
thirty, others havo lost various numbers 
ranging from three to eight, from lots of ton 
n or less to thirty ; the loss being greatest where 
the bees wore increased most by dividing last 
summer, the result is that some arc begining 
I to decry movable comb hives and extractors. 
One man said to me ”1 tell you you must, 
throw away those pair nt hives and take the old 
box aunt.” He doesn’t tako the American Tire 
Journal. Another has sold his extractor for 
! half price, offers his empty hives for sale, 
and is going back to the dark ages of the box 
hive, lie doesn’t take the American Bee 
Journal either. Hoping these rough items 
will not weary you, 1 am 
Respectfully, Y’ours, 
Hudson, 111 Eduar Sauer. 
IJless your heart, brother “Novices, ’ 
send along the “rough items” by all 
; means. And above ail things give us re- 
ports of the disasters and difficulties in 
bee keeping. We believe those who have 
(tie best opportunity of judging, agree 
that dysentery prevails alike in box hives 
1 and frame hives ; and among those win- 
i tered in doors and on their summer 
stands; and also those that gathered 
their honey early in the season as those 
! that bad all but the late honey extracted : 
though single localities may seem to favor 
at times any one of the above reasons 
given. So many cases have been report- 
ed when the honey was thick ami capped 
over that we are forced to think that thin 
or even sour honey has but little to 
do with it, but until some one cati give us 
a plain direct fact, showing that bees have 
ever been troubled withitwlieu contined to 
1 1 a diet of pure sealed sugar syrup, we must 
insist that the preventive is simple and still 
I easy. Could our readers all sec our bees 
at this date, Feb. 12th, healthy, natural 
and quiet, we think they too would have 
some of the faith that we have. One 
•i .marked colony that was given mostly 
;! natural stores, as au experiment, has 
soiled the front of their hive; and bees 
are dying with it in our neighborhood, but 
wc think from reports that colonies left 
out. doors are dying most. We most 
ll sincerely pity the bees and their owners, 
but feel sure that this great drawback to 
successful bee keeping, is sure to be made 
to yield to our earnest cudeavors to 
i conquer it. 
•I. W- Johnson, SheUiyville, Tuil., writes: 
Bro. Novice.— Will not three or four thick- 
nesses ol newspaper answer tho eamo purport! 
I of your quilt? I uso this, it is cheaper anil 
I more convenient than quilts. 
We have used them some, but they tear 
easily, are more trouble to put in place 
and our bees tear them up and envy them 
) off’ in little bits. 
(leo. F. Palmer, of Cincinnati, Ohio. "Do 
you ever sell specimen copies of your Gallup 
style of hive?' 
Yes, and can furnish them at the same 
price as the “dollar” hive, but if questions 
keep coming at the rate they do now, we 
wish some other bee keeper would make 
better hives than we do and sell them 
cheaper, It can he done. 
