February, 1908. 



American Hee Journal 



Conventions ^^* 

 Proceed inds 



Report of the Chicago-Northwestern 

 Bee-Keepers' Convention. 



The 17th annual convention of the 

 Chicago - Northwestern Bee - Keepers' 

 Association was held in the Briggs 

 House, Chicago, Dec. 5 and 6, 1907, with 

 Pres. George W. York in the chair. 



Mr. Dadant, Mr. Kannenberg and Dr. 

 Bohrer were appointed as an Auditing 

 Committee. 



Dr. Miller, Mr. Kimmey, and Miss 

 Candler were appointed a Committee 

 on Memorials. 



Cooking Sugar Syrup for Feeding 

 Bees. 



"Is syrup best cooked for bees?" 



R. L. Taylor said not to cook it if 

 fed early enough. 



The question arose as to whether to 

 use a double cooker. Some said "No," 

 but others said, "Yes, if the one who 

 •does the cooking is careless, but usually 

 It is not necessary." 



Mr. Taylor advised feeding earlier, 

 the food not heated, when the bees will 

 digest it. Dr. Miller said if fed late, 

 feed warm and thick, but it is much 

 preferred to feed early, as the bees will 

 work it over better. 



E. J. Baxter said it was not neces- 

 sary to have it boil at all. 



Dr. G. Bohrer had fed bees 40 years 

 ago, with warm feed. He claimed boil- 

 ing was not necessary. He fills shallow 

 combs in a super with syrup, and the 

 bees carry it down, and seem to do well. 



Sugar Candy for Bees. 



Dr. Bohrer said scorching the feed 

 rendered it poisonous to bees. 



Dr. C. C. Miller said creamed candy 

 will stay soft. 



Mr. Taylor asserted that if soft the 

 bees will use it all, and there will be no 

 loss, while if hard and grainy there 

 will be a waste. 



Mr. Dadant advised pouring candy 

 over coarse paper and then break it up 

 before too hard. 



Dr. Miller asked Mr. Dadant why 

 they had made no candy for a long 

 time. Mr. Dadant replied that the bees 

 had not needed very much lately. Bees 

 go to the water-trough a great deal 

 when fed on candy. Candy is an emer- 

 gency food. 



Dr. Miller said that he had fed honey 

 to the bees in winter, and prefers it to 

 candy. 



Protecting Bees for Winter. 



Mr. Wm. M. Whitney stated that he 

 winters bees out-doors, with double- 

 wall hives, and planer shavings be- 

 tween. 



Secretary H. F. Moore said he uses 

 cork-dust in an empty body set over the 

 hive. 



Mr. Baxter declared the Dadant hive 

 a success always; with a mat over the 

 top of the hive, and double packing of 

 leaves all around. 



Dr. Miller said that paper has been a 

 success usually, but a Canadian claimed 

 it was always a failure with him and 

 all his acquaintances. 



J. C. Wheeler said leaves had been a 

 failure with him. He thinks the sun- 

 light helps the bees. 



Mr. Whitney told the convention that 

 he would keep the packing on during 

 May in his locality (Southern Wiscon- 

 sin), with the double-walled hives. He 

 said that bees in double-walled hives 

 build up sooner in the spring than those 

 in single-walled hives, because the form- 

 er are warm all the time, but the sin- 

 gle-walled hive gets too cool part of the 

 time. 



Mr. Taylor said that he had made a 

 careful experiment with a number of 

 swarms. He set the hives close together 

 and surrounded them with boards and 

 then packed with sawdust between. He 

 left them until June, and found that the 

 bees not protected had wintered the 

 best. The main point is to have sound 

 stores of honey. 



Mr. Baxter claimed that it is not the 

 stores. In 1884 and 1885 he had a very 

 severe winter. He had 3 yards. 



Mr. Taylor said he winters bees alto- 

 gether in the cellar ; that those in sin- 

 gle - walled hives do better out-doors 

 than in chaff hives. Sound stores are 

 the most important thing. 



Mr. Whitney asked whether fall hon- 

 ey is bad. 



Mr. Taylor replied that fall honey is 

 poor and thin, and mixed with pollen. 



Dr. Miller said locality is very im- 

 portant. 



Mr. Dadant also said that locality is 

 very important. He said that he win- 

 ters bees out-of-doors. The weather in 

 his locality is warmer than Northern Il- 

 linois. Outdoor wintering has been bet- 

 ter 4 out of S years. 



Mr. Whitney said that Mr. Taylor 

 should use planer-shavings instead of 

 sawdust, out-doors. 



Cellar-Wintering of Bees. 



Dr. Miller asserted that bees should 

 be put into the cellar the day before 

 the last day that is fit for them to fly 

 in the fall. 



Franklin Wilcox said he has put his 

 bees into the cellar from the loth to 

 the 2Sth of November. He has carried 

 them into the cellar with a falling tem- 

 perature. 



Mr. Taylor wants no breeding in the 

 cellar. Rearing of brood runs down the 

 strength of the bees. He said he put his 

 bees into the cellar Nov. 21, on a cloudy 

 day, and leaves the bottom-boards on 

 the summer stands. 



Dr. Miller declared a flight is very 

 necessary before putting bees into the 

 cellar. 



Mr. Wilcox said a flight is very neces- 

 sary immediately before putting them 

 into the cellar. 



Twenty reported that bees breed in 

 I'ebruary. 



Mr. Dadant agreed with this. 



Dr. Bohrer said that the cellar should 

 be as dark as a dungeon all the time. 



Dr. Miller said his cellar is light most 

 of the time. He believes that air and 

 light together, and ventilation are neces- 

 sary. There is a furnace in his cellar. 



Mr. Wheeler has had experience with 

 bees in the cellar with no furnace, and 

 also with a furnace. He claims bees 

 winter well even where combs are 

 moldy. 



Supers for Comb Honey. 



Dr. Miller claims that T-supers are 

 best for comb honey. 



Mr. Taylor says wide frames are best. 



It was decided that the secretary ar- 

 range to have supers of different sorts 

 exhibited at the ne.xt annual meeting, 

 at an expense not to exceed $1.00 each. 



On motion it was ordered that the 

 Chicago-Northwestern Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation join the National Bee-Keepers' 

 Association in a body, at 50 cents per 

 member. 



The following officers were elected 

 for the ensuing year: President, George 

 W. York, of Chicago; Vice-President, 

 Miss Emma M. Wilson, of Marengo; 

 and Secretary-Treasurer, Herman F. 

 Moore, of Park Ridge, 111. 



Best Honey-Section to Use. 



Mr. Taylor said the 4-piece section is 

 the best because made of poplar. It is 

 open clear across the top and bottom. 

 He would use one-piece sections if they 

 were open clear across. 



Dr. Miller used to use 4-piece sections, 

 but now uses one-piece sections, and 

 prefers them. 



In the discussion that followed it was 

 claimed by some that you don't break 

 so many 4-piece sections ; that you can 

 make the 4-piece more easily, and that 

 you can use any kind of wood in the 

 4-piece sections. 



Mr. Whitney says one-piece sections 

 spring out of "true" badly, for the 

 groove is too tight when folded. 



Mr. Taylor said there is a machine 

 for putting up the 4-piece sections, and 

 he will give any one the address of the 

 maker. 



Dr. Miller said he will hold onto the 

 one-piece sections as long as he can get 

 them. He claims that wetting the back 

 of the grooves toughens them. 



Mr. Gilbert agreed with Dr. Miller. 



Dr. Miller told how he wets sections 

 with a kettle of hot water, wetting 500 

 at a time, in the crate that they are 

 packed in. 



Theo. Fluegge said that he takes out 

 the sections from the crate, stacks them 

 upon holders, and pours water from a 

 kettle on the back of the grooves. 



Why Do Bees Ball Queens? 



Dr. Miller said the bees ball a queen 

 to protect her. 



Mr. Taylor said they ball a queen to 

 keep her from getting away, as when a 

 strange queen is introduced. 



