1889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



809 



ieace of having suidll or halt-size clamps, for, as 

 you see, it they were full size they could not rest 

 on the brood-box and permit of the cap closing 

 down tight. Why. 1 would not exchange these 

 small clamps for full-sized clamps, if any one would 

 give me the large ones free of charge; in fact, I 

 should hardly know how to manage with them. 



" There, now, we have the clamps all off, and 

 there are 2M> of them, which would be equal to 143 

 full sized clamps, and we have been an hour and 

 30 minutes in removing them. We will now go to 

 No. 1 and see what progress the bees have made in 

 getting out of the sections. Well, they are doing 

 very well, but we can help them some by opening 

 the caps, as the escapes are so small it is rather 

 slow work; and especially where the sections are 

 not full of honey they have more bees in them. 

 We will now go right through and raise the caps. 

 Vou may take one row and I one. There, just raise 

 each cap; and as you do so the bees will fly out in 

 all directions, and make for the entrance. Leave 

 the caps up until you go through the row, as that 

 will give the bees more time to fly out; on your re- 

 turn, close them, and take another row, and so on 

 through the apiary; then we can commence at No. 

 1 and repeat the operation the second or third time 

 if necessary. 



" Now, as the bees are out of nearly all the clamps 

 we will carry them in. We can carry two at a time, 

 and even three, where there are three on the hive. 

 If you find a clamp that the bees do not seem to 

 leave, it will indicate that the queen is in it, or that 

 there is brood in one or more of the sections. In 

 either case the bees will not leave, and you will 

 have to place the clamp on the ground at the en- 

 trance, and remove the sections one by one, and 

 shake the bees out of them in front of the hive, 

 that the queen and bees may run in. It is not oft- 

 en by this method that weget the queens into the 

 sections. So far this season I have found but one 

 queen in the sections, and have found only three 

 sections with brood in them. 



" It ik now half-past eleven, and the honey is all 

 in except the two last rows. These you can carry 

 in at your leisure, after the bees are out of them; 

 so, now, I will go home. You see it is a short job to 

 remove the sections from 100 hives, and get the 

 bees out, when one understands how to do it, 

 and with the right kind of hive and fixtures. You 

 may now, as soon as you can, scrape the propolis 

 off the top and bottom of the sections as they are in 

 the clamps, so that they will not stick together 

 when piled one over the other. You will have but 

 a few days longer to remain here at the apiary, as 

 you will be needed at home to assist in preparing 

 the honey for market." A. E. Manum. 



Bristol, Vermont. 



Friend M., in behalf of our readers we 

 tender you our sincere thanks for your very 

 ingenious night-caps and night-gowns for 

 the horses. The experience of a man who 

 raises honey by the ton is certainly worth 

 considering ; and such appliances are usual- 

 ly the outcome of the wants and needs of a 

 large business. Our readers will notice that 

 you use the term " clamps" where we say 

 " crates " for the box that holds the sections 

 as they stand on the hive. I thought, a 

 short time ago, that J. A. Green struck 

 on the shortest method of getting the bees 

 out of the boxes ; but I do not know [but 



you are ahead of him. I should not have 

 supposed it possible to take the honey out 

 from 100 hives between 9 and 12 o'clock. 

 Your process of inducing the bees to come 

 out of the sections and go down into the 

 hive is indeed novel. I suppose that this, 

 too, was the result of much experiment and 

 much experience. When I worked with Dr. 

 Miller I thought his system and plan could 

 hardly be improved upon ; but with the 

 vivid explanation you give us of your ar- 

 rangement, perhaps jou are ahead. It may 

 be, however, that you will get along better 

 on your plan, and he will get along better 

 on his ; but for all that, it is extremely 

 helpful to have it explained so we can un- 

 derstand it, just how each large honey-pro- 

 ducer goes about to do his work. 



WHERE SHALL WE HOLD THE NEXT 



NATIONAL BEE-KEEPERS' 



CONVENTION? 



SHALL IT BE CHANGED FROM BRANTFORD, ONTA- 

 RIO, TO BUFFALO, N. Y.? 



The Canadian Bee Journal for Sept. 18 

 contained an editorial touching upon a point 

 that I had been thinking of for some time. 

 It reads as follows : 



While at Buffalo we lost no opportunity of invit- 

 ing our American friends to be with us at the com- 

 ing international convention, to be held at Brant- 

 ford in December, and we were encouraged by many 

 promises to be present. We hope thatour Canadian 

 bee keepers will not forget to be present, and give 

 our visitors such a welcome as they deserve. By 

 the way, would it not be mere justice to place the 

 holding of the next convention at Buffalo? The 

 bee-keepers there would like it, and it will give 

 Canadians a erood chance of again being present. 

 Besides, the Eastern States are deserving of it in 

 their turn. Think of it, and come prepared to do 

 the matter justice, in the best interest of the asso- 

 ciation. 



This set the ball rolling ; and, of course, 

 in view of the foregoing considerations I 

 could not help giving it another boost by 

 writing the following letter to Dr. Mason, 

 president of the Association, which will ex- 

 plain itself : 



Friend Mason:— The last leading editorial in the 

 Canadian Bee Journal for Sept. 18th strikes upon a 

 point that I have been thinking of for a long time. 

 The reason the next international convention was 

 located at Brantford was because its secretary 

 lived there, and could see to all the necessary busi- 

 ness; but now I am informed he has moved away, 

 and has been away for some time. The publica- 

 tion of the Canadian Honey-Producer has also been 

 discontinued. Now, the question comes up, What 

 attraction or what reason is there for having the 

 convention in a small town in Canada, with noth- 

 ing particularly to call it there now'? The popula- 

 tion of Brantford is only 13,000, and it is but 70 

 miles from Buffalo by rail. Why wouldn't it be a 

 good scheme to change the convention to Buffalo, 

 on the border of the two countries, in a city of 

 350,000 population, and in the vicinity where some 

 of the best bee keepers in the world are located? 

 We can surely get better rates of travel to Buffalo. 

 Furthermore, there is a good live man by the name 

 of O. L. Hershiser, with whom you are acquainted 

 in that vicinity, and you may be sure he will leave 

 no stone unturned to make the next international 



