326 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



May 5, 1904. 



The price of all wood goods has advanced considerably, and 

 sections are 25 percent higher. The Editor of the American 

 Bee Journal takes an ingenious and optimistic view on this 

 latter, holding that as bee-keepers get 10 cents a pound for 

 the sections (when combined with honey), and only pay 7 

 cents per pound (at $5,00 per 1000), they make a profit on 

 them anyhow. That seems all right. Can't we get those 

 sections made a little thicker ? 



Pending the incorporation of a co-operative association 

 for the two States, I would like to suggest to all bee-keepers 

 in Minnesota and Wisconsin that as many as possible in 

 the different districts should mutually agree on a minimum 

 price for their honey, and should send to their nearest sup- 

 ply factory a wholesale order for all the goods they will 

 want the coming season. This will save the retailer's or 

 agent's profit, and reduce freight to a minimum. Even 

 two or three bee-keepers, thus combining, would obtain 

 considerable advantages in price. W. R. A. 



Ramsey Co., Minn. 



Report of the Vermont Convention. 



BY \V. G. I.ARRABEK. 



The members of the Vermont Bee-Keepers' Association 

 met in Middlebury, Jan. 27, at 10 a.m. On account of the 

 death of the president, O. J. Lowrey, the meeting appointed 

 J. E. Crane as chairman, and A. J. Gleason as secretary, 

 pro tem. 



The first subject for discussion was, " What can be 

 done to improve the honey resources of the State ?" led by 

 Mr. Crane, and participated in by others, which was fol- 

 lowed by M. F. Cram on, "Is it practical for the 'honey- 

 producer to attempt to improve his stock ?" 



The chairman appointed the following committees : 



Resolutions— M. F. Cram, D. S. Hall, and V. V. Black- 

 mer. 



Nominations— G. W. Fassett, W. G. Earrabee, and J. I. 

 Clark. 



AFTERNOON SESSION. 



The meeting was called to order at 1:30, and H. L. Leon- 

 ard gave a very interesting talk on " Bee-Keeping— The 

 Hindrances to the Business in Vermont," which was fol- 

 lowed by Prof. H. M. Seeley on " Bee Keeping— Its Advan- 

 tages from an Educational Standpoint," which was a very 

 interesting and instructive paper, treating on the anatomy 

 and physiology of the bee and its works. This was followed 

 by a paper by W. G. Larrabee, on " Bee-Keeping— Does it 

 Pay ?" who thought it did pay in connection with some 

 other business, but did not advise anyone with a good trade 

 or profession to give it up and go to keeping bees. 



V. N. Forbes was next heard from on "Bee-Keeping— 

 Its Future Outlook," who thought the outlook was not very 

 unfavorable, but advised bee-keepers to encourage the sow- 

 ing of alsike clover, all possible, in order to have some 

 honey-plant to take the place of the basswood trees which 

 are being rapidly cut off. 



Mr. Crane then spoke on "Which is the most profitable 

 to produce, comb or extracted honey ?" and said that with 

 a good retail market extracted honey was the most profit- 

 able, and exhibited a few retail packages that he had been 

 using with success. He was followed by G. W. Fassett, 

 who spoke on " The best way to get the most wax." He 

 advised any one who had any quantity of wax to render, to 

 get a wax-press. 



At this place the committees made their reports, and 

 officers were elected. The committee on resolution sub- 

 mitted the following ; 



Whereas, An all-wise Providence has seen fit to re- 

 move from our midst our brother and president, O. J. Eow- 

 rey ; therefore, be it 



^ Resolved, That the members of the Vermont Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association, in convention assembled, do hereby ex- 

 tend our heartfelt sympathy to his wife and daughter, in 

 their deep loss and bereavement. 



Resolved, That a vote of thanks be extended to the 

 proprietor of the Addison House, for favors shown. 



The officers elected were : President, M. F. Cram ; vice- 

 presidents : Addison County, G. C. Spencer ; Orange, C. B. 

 Fisk ; Lamoille, E. K. Savery; Chittenden, CM. Rice; and 

 Rutland, V. N. P'orbes. Secretary, W. G. Larrabee, of 

 Shoreham ; treasurer, H. L. Leonard. 



R. H. Holmes then gave an interesting talk on " The 

 best way to pack bees for winter." 



The convention voted to purchase a grip for use of the 

 Secretary, and to be the property of the Association. 



The Treasurer's report showed the Association to be in 

 a flourishing condition financially as well as otherwise. 



The convention then adjourned. 



W. G. Larrabee, Sec. 



( 



Contributed Articles 





" Keep More Bees"— The Management. 



BY E. D. TOWNSEND. 



ON page 247, under the heading of " Keep More Bees," 

 Mr. Doolittle takes me to task for advocating, what he 

 terms, an incorrect doctrine. 



For the benefit of the readers who have not read my 

 articles, I wish to say that practically the only difference 

 between my management and Mr. Doolittle's is during the 

 spring . 



With my system, I see that each colony is put into win- 

 ter quarters with from 25 to 30 pounds of stores — enough to 

 last them until the honey season opens in June — then they 

 are packed away in chaff hives, and they are not disturbed 

 during all this time. With the above system, I get nearly 

 as good results in extracted honey as can be accomplished 

 with Mr. Doolittle's method of spreading the brood, and 

 stimulative feeding during the spring. 



While the careful bee-keeper can work this intense sys- 

 tem and make good wages, perhaps nine out of ten of the 

 readers of the American Bee Journal will make more money, 

 in the long run, by working my system. I know every turn 

 of the Doolittle method of spring management. For over 20 

 years, or till I began establishing out-yards, his methods 

 were used more or less. But there came a time when my 

 ambition was not quite satisfied with the results of one 

 yard. Then it became apparent that some system must be 

 devised where a great share of the work must be done with 

 hired help. Then the thought came to me. Can I hire suit- 

 able help to do this " spring management," as Mr. Doolittle 

 terms it ? If so, wouldn't it be more profitable to " cut out " 

 this spring-management plan, and use cheap help, the kind 

 that is so easy to secure ? I decided on the latter. 



Now I hope the reader knows my position a little bet- 

 ter, so he will be in a better position to understand the fig- 

 ures I am about to present. 



Yes, I have good company, as Mr. Doolittle admits : 

 many of them that cannot be classed with the slip-shod or 

 "corner of the fence " bee-keepers that Mr. Doolittle would 

 allow the reader to believe all that did not follow his meth- 

 ods are likely to be. 



Heretofore I have never made any comparisons of the 

 two methods, from my point of view, but at the risk of be- 

 ing criticised I am going to make theclaim that one-half of 

 the readers of the American Bee Journal will get more ex- 

 tracted honey on the let-alone plan ; that quite a percent of 

 the balance will get results about the same ; while a few 

 careful bee-keepers, like Mr. Doolittle, will get more honey. 



No, I was not ignorant of the fact that it would take 

 twice as much honey to keep 100 colonies a year as it would 

 to keep 50, each consuming 100 pounds of honey. 



I am very glad, indeed, that Mr. Doolittle admits that 

 with my management I can care for 100 colonies as easily 

 as he can 50 with his " management plan," inasmuch as 

 I am going to tell the reader how, with my let-alone plan, 

 he can secure the same results with the .sa«(t' amount of bees 

 in difezv more hives. If I had used this last term, instead of 

 a " few more bees " there would have been no need of this 

 article, because Mr. Doolittle would have understood me 

 better. 



I told the reader at the first of this article, that the only 

 difference between my system and Mr. Doolittle's is in spring 

 management. Let us see. 



I quote from Mr. Doolittle's article : /'Which is the 

 cheaper, a little extra manipulation [100 percent], or the 

 extra colonies, hives, etc., and the honey that they con- 

 sume 7" 



In the first place, I am very positive that there is no 

 system of stimulative feeding, and spreading the brood, 

 where 100 percent more bees can be secured before the honey 



