1910 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



mi 



surprising how quickly a one-gallon can is 

 emptied; the contents do not have a chance 

 to candy. But with the OO-lb. can, the last 

 of it goes very slowly, for it is either can- 

 died or so nearly solid that it will not run 

 out. — Ed.] 



A HOUSE FULL OF BEES. 



Migratory Bee-keeping on tlie Mississippi River 

 25 Years ago. 



BY J. L. GKAFF. 



Sometimes we find some queer habitation 

 of bees and some unexplored depositories of 

 lioney. Up to this time no one knows just 

 how many colonies of bees nor how much 

 honey is sheltered by the tumbledown 

 house shown in the accompanying picture. 

 It is the home of Kelly M'Laughlin, at 

 Half Day, Lake Co., 111., and he and the 

 bees have the whole place to themselves. 

 Years ago the bees began making their 

 home in the old house, getting in through 

 kn(jt-holes and apertures caused by break- 

 age of the weather-boarding. Old timers 

 say that the bees have been at work in 

 the place for eight to ten years. There have 

 been swarms and considerable excitement 

 at times, but no one has interfered with the 

 little workers. 



Ivelly lives alone in the house. Some of his 

 friends have endeavored to induce him to in- 

 vestigate, believing that a great quantity of 

 honey is stored in the place; ]out he will not 

 allow the bees to be disturbed nor any of 

 the honey taken away. However, it is now 

 claimed that the place has been sold, and 

 the new owner may have diflferent ideas 

 about the matter. The whole neighbor- 

 hood is curious to know what the outcome 

 will be. Many claim that the bees have 

 stored honey sufficient to meet only their 

 wants, while other knowing ones stick to it 

 that the honey-makers have allowed no 

 rich bloom to go to waste. 



There is another house at Ivanhoe, which 

 forms a hive for bees, and there are like con- 

 jf ctures as to what an investigation might 

 reveal. 



One of the most interesting exhibits in 

 this same region of Lake Co. is a picture in 

 the home of A. Grabbe, at Libertyville, 

 Tlie picture shows two large coal-barges 

 fitted out with five decks each. The barges 

 formerly were used to transport coal from 

 Pittsburg down the Ohio River to lower 

 Mississippi points. They were rebuilt for a 

 honey-gathering expedition, and each barge 

 held on its five decks no less than 1000 col- 

 onies of bees. Back of the barges is shown 

 a powerful steam tow-boat. 



This expedition was fitted out more than 

 twenty-five years ago by C. O. Perrine, Mr. 

 Grabbe being associated with him in the 

 Acnture. The project was to move the 

 barges along the banks of the Mississippi 

 River at night and stop near rich fields of 

 bloom through the day. On the up.per 

 Mississippi the bees worked on basswood 



and clover: but on the lower river they had 

 to depend on the willows that lined both 

 banks. Mr. Grabbe says that, while a great 

 quantity of honey was gathered from this 

 region in later years, the boat project did 

 not pan out, and it was tried but one sea- 

 son. It was unfortunate that they got 

 started five weeks behind the season, and 

 the expense of keeping and paying and 

 feeding two full steamboat crews brought 

 the projectors out at the little end of the 

 horn. The willow product had to be mixed 

 with corn syrup in order to make it palata- 

 ble at all. But on this trip, which cost 

 more than $20,000, the possibilities of the 

 region were found out, and, later on, large 

 shipments of bees were made by rail to sev- 

 eral different localities from which a paying 

 quantity of honey was gathered. Mr. 

 Grabbe for years engaged in the bee busi- 

 ness, and is one of the best-known apiarists 

 in Illinois. He is now the owner of a fine 

 flowing well of water from which he sup- 

 plies hundreds of householders living along 

 the north shore of I^ake Michigan. 

 Ravenswood, 111. 



WINTERING COLONIES IN BOX HIVES IN- 

 SIDE A SHED. 



BY GEO. H. REX. 



The hives shown in the engraving are 

 owned by Chas. .1. Diehl, of Stetlersville, 

 Pa. Mr. Diehl makes his own hives, which 

 are very large, with a removable floor in the 

 middle. Frames are used in the lower part, 

 which is the brood-chamber; but no foun- 

 dation is put in, hence the combs are built 

 irregularly to such an extent that the frames 

 can not be removed. 



In the back of the hive is a pane of glass 

 as large as the brood-chamber, covered with 

 the wooden back of the hive, which is hinged 

 to the main part. Ordinary sections are 

 placed in the upper portion of the hives for 

 comb-honey production. Mr. Diehl's cro)) 

 this year was good. 



Stetlersville, Pa. 



REPORT OF THE NATIONAL BEE-KEEP- 

 ERS' CONVENTION. 



A Large and Enthusiastic Meeting Held at Albany 

 N. Y., Oct. 12, 13. 



BY W. A, SELSBR. 



WEDNESDAY MORNING. 



The first session of the convention was 

 called to order at 10:45 by Pres. Geo. W. 

 York, with 250 delegates in attendance. It 

 was the largest meeting the Association has 

 ever had, with the exception of the one at 

 Detroit in 1908. 



General Manager X. E. France allotted 

 numbers to the various members. After 

 this a paper was read from Mrs. S. Wilbur 



