March 7, 1901. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



153 



ing sentiment in favor of holding the bee-ljeepers' and horti- 

 culturalists' meetings at the same time and place. 



In the question-box and answers, glass was decided to be 

 the best package for retailing extracted honey. A point 

 brought out that is not well understood by the general public 

 is that practically all granulated honey is/«ri?, and easily 

 liquefied by gentle heat. 



In regard to honey-plants, catnip was thought to yield 

 very little; sweet clover is the great honey-plant for South 

 Dakota. Fifteen acres of sweet clover supported 30 colonics, 

 and each colony gave about 50 pounds of surplus honey. It 

 was thought that 70 colonies might have given as large yield 

 per colony, as 80 colonies did not seem able to work the en- 

 tire field. 



Increase by dividing was generally preferred for the ex- 

 perienced bee-keeper. 



Attention was called to the good qualities of sweet clover 

 hay, but horses and other stock must be taught to eat it, and 

 it must be properly cured. 



Thomas Chantry was elected president ; J. M. Hobbs, 

 vice-president ; J. J Duflack, general manager, and E. F. At- 

 water, secretary. 



The committee on resolutions reported as follows : 



Resolved, That the South Dakota State Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation call the attention of all other State bee-keepers' so- 

 cieties, to the benefits of joining the National Bee-Keepers' 

 Association in a body, thus increasing the membership and 

 power of the National Association. 



E. F. Atwater, Sec. 



The Yermont Bee-Keepers' Convention. 



BT M. F. CRAM. 



The 26th annual meeting of the Vermont Bee-Keepers" 

 Association was held in connection with the Vermont Horti- 

 cultural Society, Dec. 5, and 6, 1900, at Brandon, under the 

 auspices of the Brandon Grange, which furnisht hall, lights 

 and music. 



The meeting was opened by Pres. R. H. Holmes, and 

 prayer was offered by H. L. Leonard. The minutes of last 

 meeting wereTead and approved. The Secretary's and Treas- 

 urer's reports were read and approved. 



Pres. Holmes' address was delivered without notes, and a_s 

 the secretary is not a shorthand reporter, he caught only some 

 of the more important points. Mr. Holmes said that Vermont 

 produced 1/33 as ranch honey as California, where the 

 honey is mostly extracted, but Vermont honey is mostly comb. 

 What Vermont lackt in quantity she made up in quality. 

 V^ermont leads the country in quality of horses, butter, apples, 

 sugar, etc. Addison County produced % of all the honey in 

 Vermont, but he thought honey could be produced in other 

 places at a profit. The public were not informed in regard to 

 the method of producing honey, but were learning. People 

 have to learn to keep bees, the same as any other business, in 

 order to make a success of it. There is no luxury that people 

 like more than honey. Honey is something that would keep 

 — it need not be sold until the producer is ready. Altho the 

 last two seasons have been poor, bee-keepers are not discour- 

 aged. We should have better seasons soon. Eternal vigilance 

 is the price of success. We are met to tell each other of our 

 success and failure, and the points of interest in our pursuit. 



A discussion followed on the peculiarities of the past two 

 seasons. Mr. Leonard said Rutland County had had better 

 seasons than some other counties, but the past two seasons had 

 been very poor, 1899 being the poorestseason without any ex- 

 ception for 50 years. 



The past seven years have been poor for honey-produc- 

 tion. Mr. Cram said that 1860 was the poorest season he 

 ever knew — about every colony in Addison died. 



Mr. Leonard had had seasons when his colonies averaged 

 100 pounds each, but they had not done so for the past seven 

 years. We have made great strides in the management of 

 bees in the last 50 years. 



Mr. Larrabee spoke about the bees building comb when 

 the season is dry ; also that the bees capt the comb more read- 

 ily in dry seasons than in wet ones. 



Jlr. Crane said one class of flowers would produce honey 

 one year, and the next year they would not, but some other 

 would take their place. The past season was the best for 40 

 years, thru fruit or apple bloom. 



Mr. Terrill, from Lamoille County, said that bees did bet- 

 ter last season than in 1899. He got no basswood honey tlio 

 it bloomed full. 



M. F. Cram then gave his method of getting a crop of 

 lioney in a poor season, which was in reality the same as irj 



good ones. The first thing he did was in the month'of .luly 

 the year before, and that was to see that each colony was put, 

 and kept, in such condition that it would have a hive well 

 stockt with bees in September or the first of October. Hi^ 

 could not let his bees swarm later than .Tune and get good re- 

 sults from them the next season. There was generally a 

 honey-flow some time in the season, and In his locality it was 

 usually in .June. He had his colonies strong early, or he '-got 

 left." His main honey-crop is from raspberries. He used a 

 larger hive— (9 frames) about one foot square. We didn't 

 very often lose any bees in winter, not more than one or two 

 percent, but in the fall he had doubled up and had some empty 

 combs. In the spring he has had some colonies so strong that 

 they would occupy two hives in good shape — one empty hive 

 on top of a strong colony. The queen would occupy both 

 brood-chambers. He had one queen enter an empty brood- 

 chamber and lay 11,000 eggs in three days. When some 

 other colony swarmed he diove the bees all down out of the 

 top brood-chamber, and then hived the new swarm into that, 

 putting on sections, and also putting sections in the place of 

 the removed brood-chamber, and both colonies would push 

 things with vigor. He wintered his bees in the cellar with no 

 upward ventilation, and didn't remove them from the cellar 

 until they could gather pollen. 



Mr. Crane said it was well for every one to study his lo- 

 cality, and be ready when the flow comes. 



The chairman ai)pointed the following committee on uomi* 

 nations : G. H. Terrill, A. J. Vail and Lewis Bascom. 



QUESTION BOX. 



QuES.— Can bees make comb out of sugar? Ans. — Yes. 



QuES.— Is the honey as good for comb building one time as 

 another? Ans. — Yes; but the temperature is not. 



What is the difference between honeycomb and honey- 

 moon ? Ans. — Honeycomb is composed of a lot of small 

 cells, and honeymoon is one big sell. 



Does alsike clover produce honey the first season ? 

 Ans.— Not in sufficient quantities to produce surplus honey. 



How are surplus combs stained ? 



Mr. Larrabee said they were stained by wet weather, also 

 by using old comb where the bees had died. 



Mr.' Crane then spoke on travel stain. It is caused by 

 several things, one is using foundation to cap with : another 

 cause is pollen. Sulphur will remove it. Propolis used to seal 

 the combs could not be removed, but could be lightened 

 in color. He had made a little tent or lean-to. and had used 

 it for bleaching. It was 10x13 feet. He could bleach l,OoO 

 sections at one time. 



The committee on nominations reported as follows: 

 president, J. E. Crane; secretary, M. F. Cram ; treasurer, H. 

 L. Leonard ; vice-presidents : Orange County, T. H. Edson ; 

 Lamoille, E. K. Seaver ; Chittenden, O. J. Lowrey ; Rutland, 

 V. N. Forbes ; and Addison, L. O. Bascom, 



All were elected. 



Mr. Crane gave his paper on pickled brood, which the sec- 

 retary failed to get, but the disease is not serious in Vermont. 



Mr. Leonard then gave a talk on the loss of queens in 

 mating. If seiiarated far enough they would not be lost in a 

 house apiary. If there is room to place one hive at every 

 other place, it will help. 



Mr. Holmes has a house-apiary. He painted up and down 

 the building (3 feet wide in red, white and blue, and lost 16 

 out of 26 queens. There was no difference in loss whether 

 they were at the end or middle of the building. 



Mr. Crane had changed the entrance and it had helpt. 

 He had noticed that if some object were placed near the hive 

 it had helpt about the loss in mating. 



Mr. T>eonard had trouble with bees leaving their hives 

 and going in where there was a queen, they in the meantime 

 being queenless. 



Mr. Holmes had had swarms mix in his house-apiary on 

 the side of the building. 



A vote of thanks was extended to tlic Brandon Grange for 

 the use of the hall and for music. 



The time and place for the next meeting were left with 

 the secretary to confer with the secretary of the Horticultural 

 Society, to meet as they could arrange. 



M. F. Cram, Sec. 



Our Wood Binder (or Holder) is made to take all the 

 copies of the American Bee Journal for a year. It is sent 

 by mail for 20 cents. Full directions accompany. The Bee 

 Journals can be inserted as soon as they are received, and 

 thus preserved for future reference. Upon receipt of $1.00 

 for your Bee Journal subscription a full year iti advatice, 

 we will mail you a Wood Binder free— if you will mention it. 



