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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



July 21, 1904. 



I hope no one will imagine that I am advising bee- 

 keeping as a specialty without previous experience. How 

 this experience shall be acquired, although an interesting 

 topic, is not the one now under discussion. I might say, 

 however, that nearly all of our bee-keeping specialists 

 acquired this knowledge in a small way in connection with 

 some other pursuit. They were better fitted for bee-keep- 

 ing, and, at last, the old business was dropped for the new. 

 Some of our specialists learned their business by an ap- 

 prenticeship to some successful bee-keeper, which is the 

 quickest and most preferable method. 



Let us suppose that the highest success is attainable 

 only by specialty. Having done this, we must not forget 

 that there are " many men of many minds;" that " cir- 

 cumstances alter cases ;" and that all men and all cases are 

 not fitted for specialty. Some men prefer to lessen the risk 

 of total failure, by having the eggs in more than one bas- 

 ket, even if it makes costly eggs. A man with a small farm 

 may have time to care for a few bees, or a farmer may have 

 sons and daughters who can do a large share of the work. 

 The reasons why a man sometimes desires, or is compelled, 

 to mix something else with bees are too varied for mention 

 here. It is evident that the greatest success can be hoped 

 for only with specialty, yet no cut-and-dried, cast-iron rules 

 can be laid down. A man must study himself, his surround- 

 ings, and the conditions of his particular case. 



It is evident that those occupations will best mix with 

 bee-keeping that can be followed in the winter ; or at least 

 those requiring little or no attention during the busy season 

 with the bees. What would be best for one man would be 

 poor business for another. Among the avocations that 

 have been mentioned are wood-chopping ; teaching the 

 district school in winter; or teaching singing school or 

 writing school ; raising grapes or apples, or other fall fruits ; 

 keeping Jerseys and making winter butter ; canvassing, 

 broom-making, etc. W. Z. Hutchinson. 



This was to have been responded to by Ernest R. Root, 

 but he being absent Secretary Tyrrell responded with a 

 few remarks, agreeing mainly with the views given by 

 Pres. Hutchinson. 



The Friday afternoon session was called to order at 

 2:15. 



BUYING BBK-SUPPLIES — ADVERTISING HONBY. 



The question of buying bee-supplies was first discussed 

 as a measure to hold our membership, but as a plan more 

 easy ty try, the following motion was passed : 



Moved and supported that the secretary of the Michigan 

 State Bee-Keepers' Association be authorized to use any 

 funds in his hands belonging to the Association, in getting 

 up a pamphlet showing the advantages of honey as food, 

 and giving a list of names and addresses of members, to- 

 gether with the amount and kind of honey each has for 

 sale, how put up, etc., and this pamphlet be advertised in 

 some desirable medium, as a daily paper. This means that 

 every member has an equal chance of selling his honey 

 directly to the consumer, or whoever answers the advertise- 

 ment. 



"shook" swarming. 



The question of shook swarming was taken up. Mr. 

 Townsend has practiced it on one yard for two seasons 

 with success. He loses about the same percentage from 

 leaving the hive as natural swarms. He doesn't use drawn 

 comb, but full sheets of foundation in the brood-nest, and 

 waits for queen-cells before shaking. He visits the yard 

 once a week. 



Mr. Griggs had about 4 out of 5 swarms come out after 

 shaking. He doesn't like the practice of shaking. He 

 shakes them on full sheets of foundation. If a comb of 

 brood were put in the hive they staid all right. 



Mr. Morgan said when he put in frames of brood they 

 would build queen-cells and then swarm. 



Mr. Townsend thinks that brushed swarms will stay 

 just as well as natural ones. 



lZI Mr. I/udington has put new swarms in hives that had 

 previously swarmed, with a young queen, and never had 

 them swarm out. He has changed places with a weak and 

 a strong colony, caging the queen of the weak colony, and 

 had good results. 



cz- Mr. Woodward asked if Italian bees are more apt to 

 swarm than others. 



Mr. Wood said not. He gets queens from Italy that 

 will not swarm. 



Mr. Olin said he agrees with Mr. Wood, that queens 

 direct from Italy are poor swarmers, and very gentle. 



Mr. Wood gets as high as 180 pounds of comb honey 

 from a colony with an imported queen. 



Mr. Cavanaugh said Italians are more for swarming, 

 in his experience. 



Mr. Griggs had better results last year from black 

 bees. They were also better to handle than the Italians. 



Mr. Wilson has as good results from Italians. 



Mr. Wood says many breeders in Italy send Cyprian 

 queens for Italian. Italians are dark. 



The question of bees locating a home was discussed, 

 with the decision that they sometimes do. 



The convention adjourned. E. B. Tyrrell, Sec. 



( 



Contributed Articles 





Management for Few Unfinished Sections. 



BY G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



HOW to manage our bees so as to secure the greatest 

 yield of comb honey, is a question of great importance 

 to all those who are engaged in producing such honey 

 for market, but comb honey is of little value unless pretty 

 nearly, or fully sealed over, so that how to manage our bees 

 so as to have few uncapped sections in the fall is a ques- 

 tion of more vital importance, perhaps, than the one we 

 have been in the habit of regarding as the greatest. For 

 years I was troubled by having from one-fourth to one- 

 third of the combs in the sections not fully sealed at the 

 close of the honey harvest, which were salable only at a re- 

 duced price ; but of late years I do not have as many as 

 formerly. 



After experimenting for some years in this matter I 

 became convinced that the cause of the trouble was in giv- 

 ing the bees too many sections ; and especially conducive 

 to this was the plan of tiering up sections late in the season. 

 Many, yes, very many times, years ago, I spoiled a promise 

 of an abundant yield of comb honey by tiering up four or 

 five days before the honey harvest closed. To tier up sec- 

 tions profitably, requires considerable tact, and especially 

 do we want a thorough knowledge of the honey-resources 

 of the field we occupy. 



It has seemed to me that there has been too much inju- 

 dicious talk during the past regarding not allowing the 

 bees, under any circumstances, to cluster on the outside of 

 the hive, the idea being generally conveyed that, when bees 

 thus cluster out, they need more room. To my mind it 

 depends upon when this clustering out occurs, whether 

 more room is needed or not ; and for this reason I said " in- 

 judicious talk." If the clustering out occurs at the com- 

 mencement or in the height of the honey harvest, then 

 more room should be given ; while if at the latter part of 

 the honey harvest, or in a time of honey-dearth, no more is 

 needed, for more room at this time results in the one case 

 of many unfinished sections, and in the other in an abso- 

 lute waste of the time used in enlarging the hive. Allow 

 me to illustrate : 



During some seasons we have but very few days of 

 honey-secretion, and that oftetl after the flowers which pro- 

 duce the nectar are rather past their prime. At such times 

 we often do not have on the hive more than one-half the 

 capacity which we would use in a good season, and for this 

 reason the bees begin to be crowded out. Hoping that the 

 weather may continue good, and that the flowers will secrete 

 nectar during the rest of the time that they are in bloom, 

 we double the room for our colonies, only to have it turn 

 bad weather again, thus giving us only partially filled sec- 

 tions in the fall, while had we left them as they were, and 

 not have been stampeded at the sight of a few bees hanging 

 out on the front of the hive, all would have been finished. 



I well recollect one such season when, in time of bass- 

 wood bloom, we had bad weather up to the middle of the 

 same. At this time I had on the hives about one-half of 

 the surplus room generally used, when, all at once, the 

 yield of honey became abundant, and the bees began to 

 crowd out. Hoping that the weather might be good for 

 some time, I doubled the capacity on a few hives. The re- 

 sult was that the bees immediately totk possession of the 

 empty sections, while the weather turned unfavorable 

 again, and when the season wasj over I did not secure half 



