Sept. 8, 1904. 



TH£ AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



613 



to lose the opportunity of such a gathering as our Associa- 

 tion promises, did all they could to find us another hall. 



After a number of inquiries we found that the Hall of 

 Congresses, situated in the north part of the grounds, was 

 vacant for our date, and I was advised to call upon the 

 Director of Congresses, Mr. Howard J. Rogers, to secure 

 the building. But it is no small task to find an official in 

 as busy a place as the St. Louis Universal Exposition. I 

 was sent to the Administration Building, from there to the 

 Education Building, and from there to the hall itself, with- 

 out being able to meet him. I gave up the chase for that 

 day, and satisfied myself that the hall was quite sufficient ; 

 in fact, rather too large, and far enough from the center to 

 secure peacefulness and absence of noise. 



The next day I resumed my search with as little success, 

 and had almost given up catching up with my man, when 

 one of the clerks in the Education Building hit upon the 

 plan of finding him by 'phone. We did not find the Direc- 

 tor, but his clerk, who very kindly booked us for the date 

 set. 



The next thing was to find a hotel not too far, nor too 

 high in price. I visited some five or six. A friend in St. 

 Louis, who accompanied me, took me to a very fine hos- 

 telry, but it seemed as if everything was too high. The 

 hotels all counted on a large turn-out in September and 

 October, and did not wish to bargain for a crowd at those 

 dates, except at outrageous prices. Finally I found that the 

 Christian Endeavor Hotel, on the south side of the grounds, 

 and located outside, could accommodate us at f 1.00 per day, 

 European plan, and would furnish us a hall free. It is true 

 the hall is open at the back, being only a temporary affair, 

 but we were given the assurance that our welfare would be 

 cared for, and that this hall would be made comfortable 

 enough for our requirements. After reporting to Mr. 

 France by letter, we informed this hotel that their offer was 

 accepted, and the Fair management were notified that we 

 would not use the Convention Hall. 



I find that some of our friends are disappointed because 

 the meeting is not to be within the grounds. Let them 

 bear in mind that it costs SO cents each time we go in the 

 grounds, and it is out of the question to attend a bee-meet- 

 ing regularly and visit the Fair at the same time. The days 

 of our congress ought to be devoted to actual business and 

 discussions of bee-interests. This will be done with the 

 greatest facility in a quiet place. The Christian Endeavor 

 Hotel is away from the noise, practically in the country, 

 and there will be nothing to disturb us while our meetings 

 are going on. I have attended meetings in halls where it 

 was difficult to hear the voice of a speaker. I do not care 

 to have such a meeting again, and I believe most of our 

 bee-men will agree with me. The hotel is reached by Mar- 

 ket street cars, west bound from Union Station. Its street 

 address is 6600 Oakland Avenue. There is an entrance to 

 the World's Fair just opposite the hotel, on the south side. 



One more remark : Those of our friends who have not 

 visited the Fair must bear in mind that those who made the 

 map of the Fair have not followed the elementary law 

 taught in the schools in regard to geography, that of plac. 

 ing north at the top of the map. The World's Exposition 

 celebrating the Louisiana purchase has issued a map in 

 which the north is at the foot of the map. The city of St. 

 Louis is therefore at the left instead of the right. I men- 

 tion this because it caused me quite a little annoyance until 

 I found out what was wrong. 



I have been hoping that we could secure a good attend- 

 ance from foreign countries, but foreign bee-keepers, with 

 very few exceptions, think that it is too far and too expen- 

 sive to come to America for a bee-meeting. Our people go 



to Europe much more easily than the Europeans come here. 

 Distance does not frighten us as it does them. 



Canada is a part of us as far as our Association is con- 

 cerned, since one of our directors is a Canadian, and so I 

 hope to see a good delegation from there. I understand a 

 young Russian bee-keeper has been prevailed upon to give 

 us a talk. I hope others will come. 



We are looking for the meeting to be the largest ever 

 attended by bee-keepers in America. Our membership is 

 now the largest of any bee-association in the world. 



Hancock Co., 111. 



Proper Temperature for Brood-Rearing. 



BY G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



A CORRESPONDENT wishes me to tell him, through 

 the columns of the American Bee Journal, what I con- 

 sider the proper temperature for brood-rearing, closing 

 with, " The same will be interesting to many readers beside 

 myself ". As I have seen very little on this subject, I will 

 try to tell the readers a little of what I have learned about 

 it as I have passed along. 



In spring weather the capacity of a hive to retain 

 warmth has much to do with prolific brood-rearing and the 

 securing of bees in abundance in time for the honey har- 

 vest. The more heat we can retain in the hive the more 

 honey we are likely to obtain through an increase of bees ; 

 and, further, the more honey we can save, for all are aware 

 that the " fuel " that the bees " burn ", so as to raise the 

 temperature of the cluster to where it is necessary to rear 

 brood successfully, is honey. Again, the more fuel (honey) 

 the bees burn, the sooner their lives wear away, for it takes 

 an effort, even on the part of the bee, to keep the " furnace " 

 in the hive (the bees) heated, and filled with fuel as fast as 

 it is consumed. Hence, we see the important bearing that 

 a good, warm hive has in advancing our interests in the 

 spring. Why do I say in the spring? Because at that sea- 

 son of the year the temperature outside the hive is very 

 much lower than that which is required by the bees to rear 

 brood, especially during the nights. 



The above has been given as a sort of preparation for 

 what is to follow, and with the hope that those who have 

 been neglecting to look after their hives as to their being 

 comfortable for the bees during spring, will not neglect 

 them longer. 



The correspondent asks me to tell what I " consider the 

 proper temperature for brood-rearing ". Any consideration 

 of this subject would be vain, unless based on some knowl- 

 edge regarding it, and that I might have some knowledge 

 on this subject, I began, some years ago, to experiment as 

 follows : 



I procured a self-registering thermometer, and, placing 

 it near the fire till it showed about 130 degrees of heat, I set 

 the register, wrapped it in some heated cloths, and imme- 

 diately placed it in the center of the brood-nest of a medium- 

 sized colony. This was on a very cool day, somewhere 

 about the middle of May. That night it froze quite a little, 

 and the time was selected with the expectation of freezing 

 during the night, as we often have such nights in this 

 locality during the month of May. The next afternoon it 

 had warmed up enough so that the bees were flying, when I 

 took out the thermometer and found that the coldest point 

 reached in the brood-nest during such a cold night was 92 

 degrees. Since then I have tried the same experiment sev- 

 eral times, on both strong and weak colonies, although at 

 no time since when it froze quite as hard as it did that 

 night, and I have f®und that in no colony which was rear- 

 ing brood successfully a less degree ever obtains. 



Very strong colonies will be able to keep the tempera- 



