IQOS, 



American l^ee Journal 



Mrficle^Jll 



Conventions Among Bee- 

 Hives— Alfalfa 



BY C. P. DADANT. 



I lately attended the Missouri State 

 Bee-Keepers' convention, held at Carroll- 

 ton, May 26th and 27th. One session of 

 this interesting meeting was held right 

 among the bee-hives at the apiary of Mr. 

 A. Finlayson. In all my experience as a 

 bee-keeper and a member of different 

 associations, I do not remember having 

 ever attended a meeting in the apiary. I 

 am truly enthusiastic over this method. 

 Bee-keepers may talk and discuss in a 

 convention hall, but nothing will prove 

 as pleasurable as an open-air meet, where 

 the arguments may be completed by 

 practical demonstrations under the eyes 

 of all. It is good for the beginner, good 

 for the practical man, and there are 

 none who will not learn something new, 

 sometimes quite unexpectedly. 



The program of this meeting was care- 

 fully arranged by the active and inde- 

 fatigable secretary, Mr. R. A. Hole- 

 kamp, of St. Louis. Knowing that there 

 are thousands of bee-keepers in the 

 State who do not yet keep bees by the 

 modern methods, Mr. Holekamp ar- 

 ranged to have this special session for 

 the purpose of demonstrating in prac- 

 tice the transferring of bees from the 

 common box to movable-frame hives. A 

 number of common hives had been 

 brought to the spot the day previous, 

 by Mr. Finlayson, and the demonstra- 

 tion took place in the afternoon of the 

 first day of the meeting. 



Like a true lover of the bee, the wor- 

 thy secretary took off his coat and went 

 to work, giving explanations as he went 

 on. Some 25 or 30 bee-keepers were 

 present, but it seemed to me that they 

 were all quite practical, and that very 

 few of them needed the lesson in trans- 

 ferring. However, the work was not 

 lost, for it gave rise to comments, and 

 criticisms, and discussions took place on 

 the different methods of transferring 

 bees. 



In this matter of open-air meetings 

 America may well take example of Eu- 

 rope, where such meetings are frequent. 

 The bee-keepers meet at one another's 

 yards, and the comparison of methods 

 is thus emphasized. Besides, it gives 

 emulation to all, each man trying to have 

 the best-looking yard, and ill-kept apia- 

 ries become rare. 



Local meetings of this kind should be 

 arranged in every county, or at least in 

 different parts of each State. This need 

 not deter from our large State or Na- 

 tional Conventions. Such meetings as 

 the Northwestern, which takes place 

 every year at Chicago, can not be dis- 

 pensed with. But between times, a few 



local meets in the apiaries of progres- 

 sive bee-keepers will be appreciated, es- 

 pecially after a little experience of this 

 kind. 



The success of local or State apiarian 

 organizations depends almost entirely 

 upon the activity and earnestness of the 

 secretary. It requires devotion to the 

 cause, and the doing of a great deal of 

 work with very little pay, for thus far 

 our associations are unable to pay fair 

 remunerations even to the managers of 

 our largest bodies. It is therefore of 

 the utmost importance to keep in office 

 men who are willing to work for the 

 common good without counting much on 

 the returns. 



Alfalfa Growing in Illinois. 



Turning to another subject, I would 

 like to hear in the American Bee Jour- 

 nal from apiarists who have tried alfalfa 

 in Illinois, on a sufficiently large scale 

 to be able to make positive statements 

 as to its results, both as a forage and as 

 a honey-producer. We have at two dif- 

 ferent times tried it. We now have 

 about 4 acres almost ready to bloom, 

 and I must acknowledge that I am very 

 much disappointed with it. It seems 

 weak and unadapted to the locality. Per- 

 haps the constant rains have had a bad 

 effect upon it. This plant would be of 

 so great use, both as honey and hay, 

 that it is worth while to discuss its 

 merits. 



We must remember that plants that 

 are good honey-producers in some locali- 

 ties are entirely worthless for the same 

 purpose in other spots. For instance, I 

 read in the Bulletin d' Apiculture Suisse 

 for June, a short piece in which the 

 writer speaks of white clover, and won- 

 ders whether the kind which is so highly 

 useful in the United States would prove 

 profitable in Switzerland. He manifests 

 the intention to give it a trial, by secur- 

 ing seed froin two or three different 

 places in the United States. He will 

 probably record a failure, for I have 

 been informed by very positive authori- 

 ties that our valuable white clover yields 

 no honey in Switzerland. 



But before giving up the growing of 

 alfalfa, which is so wonderful a forage- 

 plant, we should make it certain that it 

 will prove useless here. 



Hamilton, 111. 



Baldridge Plan of Treating 

 Foul Breod 



BY M. M. BALDRIDGE. 



The Baldridge plan of treating a foul- 

 broody colony successfully is as follows : 



1st. Open the hive of the diseased col- 

 ony and cage the queen. The best time 



to do this is late in the afternoon or near 

 sunset. Place the caged queen in the top 

 of the foul-broody hive, and where the 

 cage can be got at with as little trouble 

 as possible. 



2d. Bore a small hole — about one inch 

 in diameter — in the front end of the 

 foul-broody hive a few inches above the 

 regular entrance, and fasten over it on 

 the outside of the hive a Porter bee- 

 escape. After the bees arc through fly- 

 ing for the day turn the foul-broody 

 hive half way around so the bee-entrance 

 will face the opposite direction. 



3d. Now go to some healthy colony 

 and select one or two combs of brood 

 well covered with bees, and place them 

 in an empty hive and fill this hive with 

 empty combs, frames of comb founda- 

 tion, or empty frames, and set this hive 

 on the stand of the diseased colony. 

 The rear ends of both hives will now 

 toucTi each other, or they may be a 

 few inches apart. Now leave the hive 

 thus, for say 2, 3 or 4 days, or long 

 enough for the outdoor workers in the 

 foul-broody colony to return to their old 

 location. This they will do, of course, 

 and they will then remain in the new 

 hive having one or two combs of healthy 

 brood. 



4th. Near sunset of the second or third 

 day take the caged queen away from the 

 diseased colony and simply let her run 

 into the entrance of the new hive. 



Sth. Now close the regular entrance of 

 the foul-broody hive and all other exits 

 except the one through the bee-escape. 

 Then gently place this hive by the side 

 of the new hive and close to each other, 

 the closer the better, with both fronts 

 facing the same way. Thereafter the 

 bees that hatch or fly out of the dis- 

 eased colony must pass through or out 

 of the bee-escape, and as they can not 

 return tliey must and will go into the 

 new hive. By this means the new hive, 

 in the course of 3 or 4 weeks, will se- 

 cure all, or nearly all, the bees and 

 brood that were in the diseased colony, 

 and during this time, or for any length 

 of time thereafter, no robber bees can 

 gain entrance thereto and carry away 

 any diseased honey. 



This plan of treating foul-broody colo- 

 nies prevents all loss in bees, honey, or 

 the building of new combs, and is a 

 simple and practical way of treating the 

 disease. In some respects the plan is a 

 far better one than any other I have 

 seen described. 



My plan may be carried out in divers 

 ways, but it is not always best to de- 

 scribe such and thereby confuse the 

 reader. The entire plan is based upon 

 the well-known fact that foul brood is 

 a germ disease, and that the germs may 

 be taken into a new hive by the bees 

 filling their bodies with the diseased 

 honey deposited in the foul-broody hive. 

 The disease may likewise be taken into 

 the new hive by the nurse-bees. My plan 

 does away with all such danger, for 

 when the diseased colony is left undis- 

 turbed over night the bees re-deposit all 

 their honey, and on going out to work 

 the following day they go out with 

 empty bodies and return with healthy 

 honey. All the nurse-bees will remain 

 in the diseased colony, and before they 

 pass out of their hive through the bee- 

 escape all germs in their bodies will 

 have been disposed of in nursing the 



