Read Ebook: The American Bee Journal. Vol. XVII. No. 14. April 6 1881 by Various Newman Thomas G Thomas Gabriel Editor

Font size: 10 px 15 px 20 px 25 px 30 px 35 px

Background color: BlackWhiteGrayLight GrayDark GrayDim Gray

Text color: BlackWhiteGrayLight GrayDark GrayDim Gray

Apply/Save settings

Ebook has 300 lines and 23096 words, and 6 pages

Editor: Thomas G. Newman

OLDEST BEE PAPER ESTABLISHED IN AMERICA IN 1881

THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL

DEVOTED TO SCIENTIFIC BEE-CULTURE AND THE PRODUCTION AND SALE OF PURE HONEY.

OLDEST BEE PAPER ESTABLISHED IN AMERICA IN 1861

THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL

Published every Wednesday, by THOMAS G. NEWMAN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR, 974 WEST MADISON ST., CHICAGO, ILL.

TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION:

CORRESPONDENCE.

Interesting Letter from Singapore.

I will speak in the order of their size, of the bees found in Ceylon, giving the Cingalese names used there.

The queen is large, her abdomen being so great as to dwarf in appearance all other parts of her body, and so disable her as far as flying and rapid movements are concerned. Of course there can be no practical value in these bees, but I tucked the nest in a box about 6 inches square and 2 deep, or rather a part of the brood and honey, and brought the swarm along. They have been fixing up their new home quite bravely.

Upon my return I have formed the plan of taking with me for introduction to Cyprus a lot of cocoanut palm trees, some mango and bread-fruit seeds or trees, and a species of paw-paw found in Ceylon. As the date-palm, the orange, the lemon, the fig, the banana and the pomegranate are already growing in Cyprus, I believe these new fruits will thrive and find favor. Financially, of course, it is an experiment, yet I believe it promises well; at any rate it will not cost much to try it.

Except this paw-paw, I failed to find any fruit or grain that is likely to thrive in as cold a climate as the central parts of North America. Cinnamon, coffee, tea, betel nuts, precious stones and cocoanuts and oil are, with cinchona bark, the principal exports of Ceylon. I talked with various exporters, but all had their agents in N. Y. and Canada, and desired no change. None of them would sell, of course, direct to the firm, when possessing an agent in America.

Upon my return I will see what further can be ascertained as to "out-of-the-way products." It is hard to get any prices, and would in most instances be difficult to obtain a quantity worth while to ship.

From Arabia, coffee, gums, perfumes and pearls come. At Aden I was told that the best Mocha coffee could be got for one shilling per lb. In large quantities I think it can be got still cheaper. I should think precious stones gums, coffee, cocoanut oil, cinnamon oil and pearl would pay best, perhaps also ivory and ostrich feathers. At Aden I found some large wheat, but kinds were mixed, or else the variety is not a fixed sort. This portion of the world produces little or no grain besides rice.

I have obtained seeds of a number of flowering plants and trees, some of which I know yield honey, and others that look as though they might were there bees to gather it. We expect to reach Singapore to-morrow forenoon. I will take the first steamer for Batavia, which will likely leave in a day or so.

FRANK BENTON.

For the American Bee Journal.

Cause of Bee Cholera or Dysentery.

G. M. DOOLITTLE.

First. I once produced dysentery in its worst form, the latter part of June, by confining a lot of bees to the hive for 10 days. A frame of brood was taken from the hive with the adhering bees, and also a frame of honey with the bees which were on that, and placed in an empty hive to form a nucleus, the bees being confined to the hive for three or four days, when the entrance was opened in the evening. Early the next morning there came on a cold storm and bad weather ensued, so the bees could not fly for six more days. On the tenth day the sun came out, and the bees from these nuclei were so loaded that they could scarcely fly. An examination revealed that they had eaten on an average about 2 lbs. of honey in each nucleus. Nuclei made but a few days before, which had flown 2 or 3 times before the bad weather, were not eager to fly, and showed no signs of dysentery, neither did our full colonies; nor had they eaten an undue amount of honey. The trouble here was evidently confinement, which caused the bees to worry and thereby consume an undue quantity of food, thus producing a necessity to void the excrement, or dysentery, if you please to call it so.

Again, in the fall of 1878 our bees were prepared for winter in the best possible shape, and had nothing but white honey in their hives, said honey being collected the early part of July, for we had no fall honey. Sixty colonies were put in the cellar, and 90 left on the summer stands, two-thirds of which were packed with chaff and straw. Winter set in early, and the weather was so cold that no bees could fly with safety for nearly 4 1/2 months. At the end of 4 months some of our best colonies were dead, with the combs and hives soiled badly, while others sitting right alongside of them were in as fine condition as could be, and remained thus, coming out strong in the spring. If it was "bacteria" in the honey, why did not all die, as all had the same stores? We also placed 60 colonies from the same yard in the cellar on the 1st of November, and did not set them out till May 1st, and 55 of the 60 came out in good condition, while we only saved 15 out of the 90 out-doors--75 dying with the dysentery, so-called. If it was infection of the honey, why did not those in the cellar die also, and especially as they stood 6 month's confinement? The past winter has shown the same results, only our loss is but about 10 per cent. so far.

Now I will give my conclusion. From practical experience I have been forced to the conclusion that confinement is the cause of all wintering troubles, for surely, bees do not die from what they eat in July weather when they can fly. But confine them to the hive with July weather, and they cannot live one-third as long as in cool or cold weather. That confinement is the result whenever the mercury falls below 40? to 45? in the shade, and as surely as the mercury stays below this for 60 days in succession, bees not properly protected will suffer therefrom, and if properly protected, 120 days will more or less hurt those on the summer stands; that 180 days' confinement in a good cellar can be endured by the bees as well as 120 days in well-protected hives, or 60 days with no protection on the summer stands; that if 60 days more of confinement is added in either case, not 1 colony in 10 can survive, no matter what the food is nor the surrounding conditions. Now, we come to our last point, which is, that instead of the trouble being in the kind of honey eaten thus producing dysentery, the trouble is in the quantity eaten, and as the quantity consumed is to the number of days the bees are confined, so is their length of life shortened or extended. For instance, a fair-sized colony may consume 1 1/2 lbs. of honey per month, and endure confinement without soiling the combs for 6 months; now, if they consume 6 times this amount in 2 months, they must fly at the end of that time or the combs will be soiled very soon thereafter. We often read, "My bees wintered well and consumed but very little honey," while the fact was that their consuming but little honey was the reason they wintered well. Thus we are able to answer the question why one colony dies, and another at the side of it does not. It is because one gets discontented and consumes large quantities of honey, while the other does not.

Now comes the rub: why does one colony get discontented within 1 month after being confined, and another does not under 3 or 4, or in case of cellar wintering, 6 months. Well, I will be candid and say I do not know; but I do not believe the cause is in the honey altogether. One thing Mr. Heddon and myself will agree on I am sure, and that is, if as soon and as often as a colony gets uneasy and goes to eating honey ravenously they could have a day to fly, all would be well, even if such a colony was obliged to fly 3 or 4 times where another did not have to but once.

To keep bees quiet the longest possible time I would recommend: 1st. A good bee cellar in a bank, covered all over with no less than 3 feet of earth, and an even temperature maintained inside at 44? to 45?; 2d. Hives so constructed that chaff could entirely surround the bees to the depth of 4 inches. To sum up, we should winter one-half of our apiary one way and one-half the other, inasmuch as our winters vary so that one winter has come out the best on summer stands, and another the best from the cellar. I will refer to this subject again in the next Weekly BEE JOURNAL.

Borodino, N. Y., March 22, 1881.

For the American Bee Journal.

Extracting Bees.--The New Industry.

H. T. COLLINS.

Jacksonville, Ill.

For the American Bee Journal.

Separators for Surplus Honey.

JAMES HEDDON.

For the benefit of some who do not as yet understand all my argument against the use of separators I wish to add, that I am well aware that the system of sections within frames hung in a super, is entirely impracticable without the use of separators. I know too that, as Messrs. Greiner Bros. remark, bees take more kindly to wood than to tin or glass, and there is just where the trouble comes, as they sometimes kindly attach the sides of the combs to them. Some seasons, under peculiar circumstances, the loss of honey by the use of separators might, as Greiner Bros. say, be very slight, but in many seasons they will be found to be a serious detriment to the amount of surplus obtained. But why not use a system that does not need them, and is much handier than the super system besides?

Before I close, I wish to call the attention of the readers of this paper to the able article of A. B. Weed, on "Queen and Supply Trade," in the BEE JOURNAL of March 23d. I think all bee-keepers, whether supply-dealers or producers strictly, if posted upon the points therein taken, will say, "Thanks to Mr. Weed."

Dowagiac, Mich., March 26, 1881.

For the American Bee Journal.

Pure Liquid Honey in Glass Jars.

CHAS. F. MUTH.

The above subject is one which has provoked considerable comment, and it appears we are not quite done with it yet. I dare say that there is not a dealer of any note in Cincinnati, by this time, who imagines that my jar honey is anything but pure honey, or who suspects any honey when it comes from my store; and I am just as positive in the statement that there is not a dealer in Cincinnati, having extracted honey from New York or Chicago in store, who does not believe it to be glucosed. There is hardly anybody in our community who suspects the purity of the honey when my label is on the jar. Jar-honey, in general, is not mistrusted any more in our city, unless the jar contains besides the liquid, also a piece of comb honey. Such is the case in Cincinnati, to all appearances, and I am willing to be corrected if wrong.

New York, March 17, 1881.

GUERNSEY & CO.

To which I replied as follows:

CHAS. F. MUTH.

Cincinnati, Ohio, March 21, 1881.

For the American Bee Journal.

How to Separate Swarms.

BRAY & SEACORD.

An experience of 20 years with bees has taught me to wait upon them and not to have them wait upon me; in other words, always have your work ahead of time. Next, to have your bees in strong condition at the time of the first flow of honey. The great mistake of beginners is to aim at too large an increase, either by division or natural swarming. If the season is good, an increase of 3 from each colony is a plenty; if a medium season an increase of one from each colony is enough.

The brood chamber is the mainspring to work upon for a good yield of honey. We allow no queen to live over 3 years, and if not a prolific queen she only lives one year. We allow no brood comb to remain over 3 years in the centre of the hive; by this plan we get fine developed bees, and of longer life.

Share on: WhatsApp @Hash Facebook Tweet