THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



very gratifying to hear the "Well done, 

 good and faithful servant,'" in the shape 

 of the following: 



Also, be it Resolved, That our Secre- 

 tary, Mr. W. Z. Hutchinson, be given a 

 vote of thanks for his untiring efforts in 

 behalf of the Association and its Con- 

 vention. 



In view of all this I am puzzled to 

 know why Bro. York should assert that 

 the Detroit meeting was "very poor as to 

 program," and, still further, that I "was 

 not present at the meeting." 1 am satis- 

 fied that Bro. York would not knowingly 

 misrepresent, and I feel sure that he 

 will be glad to correct and explain. 



A Peculiar Location and Management. 



The publication in this issue of Mr. W. 

 J. Manley's method of wax-rendering 

 reminds me that his location is decidedly 

 out of the ordinary. Years ago that 

 region (Sandusky, Sanilac Co. — up in the 

 "thumb") was, for miles and miles, one 

 vast swamp. Great drains finally al- 

 lowed it to be made into the richest of 

 farming land. How the white clover did 

 luxuriate in this rich, alluvial soil. It 

 grew in a perfect mat. Mr. Manley says 

 that it sometimes reminded him of one 

 vast white carpet rolled out over the 

 fields. A yield of 100 pounds per 

 colony was almost an assured fact. 

 Then the autumn was gorgeous with 

 goldenrod, aster, wild sunflower and 

 boneset which yielded equal to the 

 clover. Two hundred pounds of ex- 

 tracted honey each year, per colony, was 

 the usual yield. The honey flow lasted 

 until cut off by late frosts. 



All this was very enjoyable, but there 

 were shadows in the picture: This late- 

 gathered, fall honey was almost sure 

 death to bees in winter. Many plans 

 were tried, but the results were nearly 

 always practical failures. Failure in 

 wintering has finally been looked for as 

 matter of course. Extracting the honey 

 and feeding sugar has not been tried. 

 Mr. Manley thinks it would prove a suc- 

 cess, but, under the existing circum- 

 stances, he doubts if it could be done 



with profit. In the spring the combs 

 containing honey are melted up. and the 

 honey sold to the bakeries. The combs 

 are all rendered into wax. Not only 

 this, but Mr. Manley goes out and buys 

 hives of combs all over that part of the 

 country, getting them at a low price, 

 and rendering them into wax. One 

 spring he made and sold nearly SI, 000 

 worth of wax. In May he goes out 

 beyond the swamp region, into the higher 

 country, and buys bees of farmers, at a 

 low price. He cares not what kind of 

 hives they are in. A box hive can be 

 turned upside down, a queen excluder 

 put on. and then the supers stacked up 

 on top. Mr. Manley says that just as 

 good a yield may be looked for as from 

 the finest hive ever made. Any swarms 

 that issue are hived, but no honey is 

 extracted until the close of the white 

 honey harvest— then again at the end of 

 the fall-flow. 



Mr. Manley says he will let the other 

 fellow raise the bees, he will raise the 

 honey. He says that, when he can put 

 $400 into bees in the spring, and pull 

 out 51,200 in the fall, he considers it 

 safe and sane bee keeping, even though 

 he does not winter the bees. 



When Spring-Protection is Needed. 

 I have for a long time argued in favor 

 of spring-protection for b^es. even if 

 wintered in the cellar, but 1 must admit 

 there are springs when the bees seem to 

 do just as well without protection. It is 

 some expense, and quite a tiresome task, 

 to "paper" hives in the spring, and,'' if it 

 can be avoided, so much the better. 

 There is still another point, and that is 

 the color of the paper used. Black 

 paper absorbs the heat, and makes the 

 hives unusually warm in the day, some- 

 times enticing the bees out of doors in 

 unseasonable weather. 1 think Mr. E. 

 D. Townsend has had as much experi- 

 ence in this matter as any bee keeper in 

 this country, and, when I visited him 

 last winter, we went over the different 

 points pretty thoroughly. I suppose I 



