1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



217 



switch off on to another question ; and, al- 

 though regularly out of order, some most 

 valuable points many times are brought 

 out. 



1 can not remember just how it came up ; 

 but at any rate the question assumed some- 

 what this form : " Are not the successful 

 bee-keepers those who have their wives help 

 them in the apiary'?" Prominent among 

 the number, F. A. Eaton thought that 

 wives are a necessary adjunct to an ordina- 

 ry apiary ; in fact, lie said he could not get 

 along in his apiary without the assistance 

 of his better half. Dr. Mfison would not 

 oblige his wife to work among the bees. Dr. 

 Miller did not agree : it depended upon 

 what they did. When the women-folks had 

 not been in the apiary for two or three days, 

 things got "awful disorderly.'' If they did 

 not visit the shop every so often, things got 

 into bad shape. When we come to the neat 

 part, women are the best—" better than a 

 horse." Dr. Mason urged that it was not nec- 

 essary for bee-men to be slovenly — they may 

 just as well keep things neat as not. 



Somehow or other, at this stage of pro- 

 ceedings, somebody— I guess it was Dr. Ma- 

 son—suggested that there were members 

 present who had not paid their annual dues 

 — 50 cents. He did not want anybody to 

 come and " absorb '' without paying for it. 

 Just then Dr. Miller said it was worth 50 

 cents to hear bee-men quarrel about their 

 wives. 



Along about this stage of the proceedings 

 we had the pleasure of having one of those 

 bee-songs, the words of which were compos- 

 ed by Eugene Secor, and the music by Dr. 

 C. C. Miller, rendered by Dr. M. himself in 

 his usual characteristic way. Again, I 

 noted that the music had an effect in enliv- 

 ening the subsequent discussion. 



REVERSING. 



This was next discussed by Chalon Fowls, 

 of Oberlin. Mr. Fowls is one of the most 

 enthusiastic bee-keepers. I well remember, 

 that, when I was a student at Oberlin, he 

 used to come and talk over some of his 

 views on bee culture. He always had some 

 hobby, and latterly it was reversing, and is 

 yet. Mr. Fowls iu convention thought it 

 paid him in dollars and cents to reverse ; he 

 could get more brood, and consequently 

 raise more bees in one brood- chamber, and 

 have them ready for the season when he 

 wanted them. "He also averred that he 

 could, to a certain extent, prevent swarm- 

 ing. He never allows the brood to hatch in 

 the upper part of the frames. Just as soon 

 as the lower part is sealed over he reverses, 

 which causes the bees to carry up the hon- 

 ey, and leave the cells empty for the queen 

 to fill with eggs, which she does. As a re- 

 sult, the young bees hatch out at the bot- 

 tom of the frame, while the upper part is 

 filled full with sealed or unsealed brood as 

 the case may be. He did not think that re- 

 versing killed the imago queens in capped 

 queen-cells. That theory, he thought, was 

 all nonsense. As to the matter of swarm- 

 ing, it prevents it to a certain extent, for 

 the reason that it gives the queen more 

 room in which to lay. There is. perhaps, 

 something in this statement. Mr. E. France 



once said in Gleanings, that, if the queen 

 has all the room in which she can lay, and 

 not be crowded, the bees will not be likely 

 to swarm ; but to give her plenty, it is 

 usually necessary, under ordinary circum- 

 stances, to give her room in the upper and 

 lower story ; but Mr. Fowls endeavors to 

 give the queen all she needs in the lower 

 story, by reversing. The next question was 



REVERSIBLE EXTRACTORS, BY DR. 



MASON. 



Although an extractor man, he had never 

 tried reversing-machines. I believe he said 

 he had seen one in use, and liked its opera- 

 tion. Not having had practical experience 

 himself, he read a number of extracts from 

 Gleanings, from those wiio had used 

 them. On the whole, the doctor liked re- 

 versible extractors ; and, if I remember cor- 

 rectly, he was going to purchase one for 

 next season's use. Dan White said the 

 trouble was not so much in the extracting as 

 in getting combs uncapped. For him, a two- 

 comb machine would do the work as fast as 

 or faster than an assistant could uncap. 

 Some way the convention got to arguing 

 pretty earnestly on the theory of large and 

 small extractors. All sorts of books, sticks, 

 and whatever the one who had the floor 

 could get his hands on were used as object- 

 lessons to express their theories ; and finally 

 they got to arguing fiercely as to whether a 

 big grindstone would turn as easily or easier 

 than a small one. I can not remember just 

 what conclusion they arrived at ; but at any 

 rate I remember that I was pretty well mix- 

 ed up. I believe it would be a good idea if, 

 instead of books and sticks, we could have 

 the things themselves right in the conven- 

 tion room, so that we might the better illus- 

 trate our ideas. At the Ohio State Conven- 

 tion I took along with me a part of a Van 

 Deusen reversible frame that I might the 

 better describe it. If there had been an ex- 

 tractor at the Ohio State Convention, we 

 could have put it right up on the desk for 

 an object-lesson. I am putting in this last 

 as a sort of parenthesis, for the future — not 

 that I think that supply-dealers should car- 

 ry their wares with them, to induce sales, 

 but that bee-keepers themselves should take 

 along with them, or cause to be sent, what- 

 ever they propose to discuss in detail. 



We next listened to an essay from Mr. 

 H. E. Boardman on the subject of 



BEE-KEEriN(;, FAST AND PRESENT. 



The president discussed some of the im- 

 provements in bee-keeping appliances. He 

 thought that hives and fixtures were about 

 as perfect as we could get them. He did 

 not think the hive, its size or shape, would 

 increase the honey-crop. When he fi'St be- 

 gan bee-keeping he thought that j| if he 

 could master the wintering problem, suc- 

 cess would be certain. He would then set 

 out apiaries by the score, and start what he 

 would call the Northern Ohio Honey Com- 

 pany. By careful experimenting and ob- 

 servation he finally mastered the wintering 

 problem ; but a poor season would come on, 

 and he would be no better off than before. 

 Visions of the " Honey Company "' began to 

 wane. For two or three years back he said 



