i889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



My heart has often been touched to see how 

 patiently, and with What fidelity they will 

 stick to their task until it is done well and 

 thoroughly, and oftentimes in striking con- 

 trast to the heedless and slack way in which 

 we Yankees '• hustle" things. I had a 

 Strong love for the German people before ; 

 but as the glimpse of that Sunday-school 

 comes again and again to my memory, and 

 as the snatches of melody from the hymns I 

 h&ard there sung by many voices come 

 again and again to my ear through memory, 

 1 feel a stronger love and a greater desire 

 to grasp these friends from another shore 

 by the hand, and bid them welcome. I like 

 to get hold of the hands of the mothers and 

 of the little children ; I like to grasp the 

 stout heavy hands of the fathers— hands 

 that have been made tough and hard by 

 years of toil ; and I like to say, " Welcome, 

 dear friends, to these broad lands of ours, 

 offering so many opportunities and privi- 

 leges to those who love to work." Yes, I 

 love the German people, and 1 love Chicago 

 too, in a way that I never did before, since 

 staying there through the Sabbath, in obe- 

 dience, as I believe, to God's holy command. 

 Not only had I found many neighbors in 

 Chicago who spoke my own language, but I 

 found neighbors among those who spoke a 

 language I did not understand at all ; yes, 

 and neighbors who worshiped God in that 

 to me unknown tongue. I shall be less 

 afraid, I think, should God ever call me to 

 stay there again ; for is it not true that all 

 nations and kindreds and tongues and peo- 

 ples shall stand before the throne, clothed 

 in white robes, .... saying, " Salva- 

 tion to our God, and unto the Lamb "? 



THE NORTHWESTERN BEE-KEEPERS' 

 CONVENTION AT CHICAGO. 



AN ABBREVIATED REPORT, MOSTLY FROM MEMORY. 



IT was my good fortune to be present at 

 m the deliberations of the bee-men of the 

 W West, on Friday and Saturday, October 

 ■*■ 11 and 12. Having it come so near the 

 last of the week was, on many accounts, 

 objectionable, but the reasons for doing so 

 were that we might take advantage of the 

 reduced rates offered, esptcially to those 

 who wished to attend the Chicago exposi- 

 tion. Although reduced rates were an- 

 nounced in the papers, none of the railroad 

 officials this side of Chicago seemed to know 

 any thing about it. I presume it was a mis- 

 take, or an omission somewhere ; but I 

 think that such mistakes are unfortunate, 

 especially for the railroads, as it encourages 

 people to make unkind remarks in regard to 

 railroads in general — that " they make these 

 offers just to get our money, without any 

 expectation of giving reduced rates at all," 

 and such like expressions. I do not believe 

 this is true ; but I think it more likely that 

 it was through somebody's neglect. There 

 is a good deal of machinery connected with 

 our great railroads ; and although the work 

 they have accomplished is stupendous, we 

 must still keep in mind that the individual 

 members of these great companies are all 

 ,human. Some of them are dishonest and 



tricky, it is true ; but by far the larger part 

 are only guilty of forgetfulness, procrasti- 

 nation^ and neglect, just as you and I are. 



The first familiar face 1 met Was our old 

 friend J. A. Green, whose writings have 

 made his name a familiar one. Shortly 

 afterward I met friend Ileddon and his son, 

 a nice young man perhaps some younger 

 than Ernest. The president, our good friend 

 Dr. C. C- Miller, came a little later, accom- 

 panied by his sister and sister-in-law. Mr. 

 Aspinwall, of potato-planter celebrity, was 

 there with his combs made of wood. He is 

 getting to be quite enthusiastic in bee cul- 

 ture, and it was quite a pleasure to hear 

 him talk. 



How early shall we put bees in the cellar i* 

 was decided by a vote— the greatest number 

 favoring about Nov. 25. I was a little sur- 

 prised at this, because I supposed experi- 

 ence of late was in favor of almost one 

 month earlier ; and most of the friends 

 present came from a much colder locality 

 than our own. 



In regard to the best size of section, the 

 general preference was in favor of the one- 

 pound, or, perhaps a little better still, 

 something a little less than a pound. The 

 objection to having them run over a pound 

 was, that consumers usually inquire first the 

 price of honey. If the reply is, " Sixteen 

 cents," and a section is handed out, if it 

 weighs up only 15 or 14 cents, it is all satis- 

 factory. If, however, the dealer explains 

 that, although it is a pound section, it 

 weighs more, and the price is 17 or 18 cents, 

 many feel a little as if there were some 

 kink about it that was not quite straight. 

 Very likely this is true. But our Simplicity 

 section, as a rule, especially where sepa- 

 rators are used, runs a little less than a 

 pound, rather than over. Friend Heddon 

 remarked that he sold half-pound sections 

 readily for 10 cents apiece. With us, how- 

 ever, half-pound sections have not been a 

 success. Our customers have become used 

 to a pound, and they do not take readily to 

 something different. Perhaps one reason 

 is, that we have pasteboard boxes made ex- 

 pressly for the one-pound section, and we 

 have not as yet had any made for the half- 

 pound. In regard to supers for comb honey, 

 something like the T super seems to receive 

 the preference. When one has more bees 

 than he wishes, uniting in the spring, so as 

 to make colonies extra strong, is recom- 

 mended. To facilitate the disposing of ex- 

 tra queens, I would suggest timely advertis- 

 ing. 



PREVENTION OF SWARMING. 



With out-apiaries it is especially desira- 

 ble to have as little swarming as possible. 

 Our enthusiastic friend Aspinwall thinks 

 he can prevent swarming by the use of his 

 wooden combs. If the bees have no drone 

 comb, and no opportunity of making any, 

 they can not rear drones ; and friend Aspin- 

 wall says no colony swarms until it has 

 drones or drone brood. I do not remember 

 that this matter has ever come up before in 

 just this way. It has set bee-keepers to 

 thinking, and the matter will be tested 

 pretty thoroughly, doubtless, during the 

 coming season. 



