April, 1908. 



American Hee Journal 



hanging frame invented by the great 

 Langstroth. He brieflj- reviewed the 

 man\- improvements that had been made 

 in bee-fixtures of all kinds during the 

 last 50 years, and how the consumption 

 of honey and its demand had increased. 

 He said that people were being educat- 

 ed all the time to use more honey, and 

 one means in particular as fostering this, 

 he thought, was the popularization of 

 the bee as a means of nature study. 



He said, "We know of no way to 

 judge the future but by the past," and 

 inferred that honey would continue to 

 be in growing demand in the future as 

 an article of food. He thought it would 

 hardly be considered a necessity like 

 bread or potatoes, but always a lux- 

 ury; but even this fact was for the good 

 of the business. He said that there 

 was not so much cutting of prices in 

 luxuries as in necessities, and that peo- 

 ple were more willing to pay a good 

 price for luxuries than necessities. All 

 thought it was a good talk. 



WINTERING AND FEEDING BEES. 



The next was a general discussion by 

 all present, on the wintering problem. 

 One member had recently bought a num- 

 ber of colonies with but little honey in 

 the hive, and he wanted to know how to 

 winter tjees with no honey in the hive. 

 Another member answered quickly, "Put 

 them in cold storage." 



The next question was how to feed 

 bees in winter when necessary. Some 

 seemed to think "Good" candy all right, 

 but that it was an awful job to make 

 if much feeding was to be done. An- 

 other had tried it and said it generally 

 melted more or less and daubed up the 

 bees and hives, and often ran down 

 among the bees, killing the colonies. 

 Another member advised using no honey 

 at all in sugar, but put just enough wa- 

 ter in it to get it into a cake nicely, 

 and put the cakes where they will dry 

 thoroughly, and then put on top of the 

 frames, cover nicely, and that was all. 



A German member said he had had 

 considerable experience with this meth- 

 od, and always with perfect results. He 

 put enough loaf sugar in each colony 

 that needed feeding, covered 't up, and 

 that was all there was to it. He said 

 the moisture from the colon}' was suf- 

 ficient to liquefy it as fast as needed, 

 and that bees thus treated wintered per- 

 fectly. All agreed it was new, but that 

 it was the easiest of all methods, and 

 thought they would try it. 



.•\t 4 p. m. an adjournment was tak- 

 en till the next meeting, which would 

 be called by the Executive Committee. 

 All felt much profited and instructed. 

 Albert G. Hann. 



Report of the Chlcagro-NoPthwest- 

 ern Bee-Keepers' Convention. 



(Contmiied from pasre 83.; 



Hive-Lifting Devices. 



"Would a hive-lifting device be of use 

 in the apiary?" 



There were ? affirmative answers, and 

 12 negative. 



Wintering Nuclei in Cellar. 



"How would you winter a nucleus of 

 bees if the cellar were too damp." 

 Mr. Wilcox — Make it dry enough. 



Mr. Taylor — Make a queen-excluding 

 honey-board and set it on top of a strong 

 colony. 



HONEV-HOUSE for 50 COLO.VIES. 



"What size honey-house is necessary 

 for 50 colonies running for comb honey, 

 there being no other buildings to store 

 things in?" 



Mr. Taylor — If he wants to store emp- 

 ty frames, etc., and room to prepare hon- 

 ey for market; and if he wants it for 

 honey only, are two different things. 

 About 15 feet square is large enough for 

 honey. 



Mr. Wilcox — 16x24x12 feet high for 

 storing empty frames, etc., and preparing 

 honey for market. 12.x16.K7 feet high, if 

 for honey only. 



"What would it cost to build?" 



Mr. Wilcox— $250. 



"Has anytbody had experience with' 

 tar paper over a frame house ?" 



Mr. Dadant — I had experience with a 

 sort of felt, and very soon replaced it 

 with metal. We used corrugated iron 

 for cheap roofing. It is fire-proof, clean, 

 and does not rust readily. I have had 

 some for 7 or 8 years. It costs less 

 than shingles. 



Dr. Miller — My shop is covered with 

 a sort of felt. I believe it is good. I 

 would put on this roofing instead of 

 shingles. 



Mr. Kimmey — I have had experience 

 with prepared roofing and corrugated 

 iron. I put up a building 48x50x24 

 feet. I put on corrugated iron a year 

 ago last March. Last January it was all 

 rusted out, and I had to put new roof- 

 ing on. There are different kinds of 

 both. Some stand well and some don't. 

 It depends upon the quality. As to felt 

 roofing I suppose he means any roofing 

 material. I have a building 48x16 feet. 



I put on roofing paper 8 years ago, 

 and it is just as good now as it was 

 then. There are different kinds on the 

 market. 



Mr. Fluegge — My plan was not to 

 cover a part of the building with roof- 

 ing, but to build the building itself with 

 tar paper or felt roofing. Build the 

 frame and then put it on in 4-inch strips. 

 Cover this with wire-netting and then 

 cover with roofing. What is the ex- 

 perience of bee-keepers on it? Is it 

 worth having? It would be cheaper 

 than lumber. 



Mr. Holbrook — In South Dakota there 

 are many, many tar-paper buildings. 

 Tar-paper will affect the taste of honey. 



Mr. Dadant — -I have tried tar-paper. 

 I put sand on it. I had it 3 years, 

 then all of a sudden it leaked through, 

 and it didn't take long for it to go. I 

 have had corrugated iron since 1896. 

 It is not near a smoke-stack with coal 

 soot flying on it. The smoke of the 

 coal rots it very fast. You, however, 

 run no risk because you don't need to 

 burn coal. Put the corrugated iron 

 over the tar-paper. The first that I put 

 on I galvanized all over. There was 

 no change in it. I don't nail it much 

 I covered my barn with corrugated iron, 

 putting in 3 nails at the upper end of 

 the sheet and 3 or 4 at the bottom; 

 put them on top of the corrugation, and 

 don't set them in too deep. There is 

 no danger of rusting, and no danger of 

 fire. 



Mr. Flugge — Suppose the building 

 were built of that for walls instead 

 of wood, would it be dust-proof for a 

 honey-house? 



Mr. Dadant — -There would be no dust 

 if put up right. 



The convention adjourned until 9:30 

 a. m. the next day. 



(Continued next month) 



J^ 



'%cfor Nilleri 



Send Questions either to the office of the American Bee Journal, ( 

 DR. C. C. MILLER. Marengo. 111. 

 Dr. Miller does not answer Questions by mail. 



Changing Bees from Hive to Hive. 



Ho 

 from 



Answer. — Never, unless there be some special 

 reason for it. A colony may be changed when 

 it IS desired to use some different hive, or when 

 its hive is worn out ; otherwise it should re- 

 main year after year in the same hive. 



Wintering Bees in the Mountains. 



Here in the Alleghany Mountains we have 

 pretty cold weather some seasons. What would 

 you recommend? I have no cellar, and could 

 not make one very well. The double-walled 

 chaff-hives are too expensive. 



West Virginia. 



Answer. — First thing I'd do. I'd find out 

 how others -near by wintered successfully with- 

 out cellars. But no farther north than West 

 Vircinia there ought to be no trouble in win- 

 tering in single-walled hives with some kind of 

 protection about them, if it*s nothing more than 

 corn-stalks on aJl sides but the front. The old- 



fashioned shed, with hay or straw packed over» 

 between, and back of hives, ought to work pret- 



Deep Hive-Cover — Comb and Ex- 

 tracted Honey from Same Super. 



r. Do you think that the ii-inch hive-cover 

 will pay for its extra cost over the ordinary 

 flat cover? 



2. What is your opinion of the flat cover, 

 and using paper for spring protection? If the 

 latter, which would you use — tar-felt (black), 

 or white building paper? My latitude is 43'4 

 north. 



3. If I use extracting frames in place of out- 

 side row of sections with fence separators be- 

 tween them, will the bees blacken the cappings 

 of the outside row of stctions when the combs 

 become old and black in the extracting frames? 

 or. in other words, what do you think of the 

 Townsend plan of comb and extracted honey in 

 the same super? Michigan. 



Answers. — i. I don't understand what you 

 mean by an ii-inch cover, but if you mean a 



