Tune. I'llJ. 



American ISee Journal 



for a small bee-keeper, and if so. in what 

 way? Ans.— You can not afford to be with- 

 out one. if you have only lo colonies. It 

 costs somethinr. but the money expended 

 saves time, and it does better work. 



QuE.s.— Wliich is the better can for ship- 

 ping, the square or tlie round? Ans.— The 

 square can is preferable, because it packs 

 better and closer in the box, and is conse- 

 quently better for shipping. 



QUES.— Should cement coated nails be 

 used in nailing covers on shipping-cases? 

 Ans.— They are very objectionable, as they 

 split and break the cover in pulling them 

 out The attention of the manufacturers 

 should be called to this matter. 



QuES.— What can I do to prevent bees 

 from getting moldy and damn, wintering in a 

 damp cellar? Ans— Put bundles of dry 

 straw on the cellar bottom before putting 

 the bees in. The straw will gather moisture 

 and may help you. 



QuES.— What is the best way to prevent 

 all increase ? Ans— Shake the bees or 

 swarm into an empty hive or box. and keep 

 them there for 48 hours, and then shake 

 them into the old hive, after having first de- 

 stroyed all queen-cells. 



QuES— Is too much pollen detrimental to 

 successful wintering? Ans— It will not 

 hurt them if they do not cat it. But they 

 will winter better without any pollen in the 

 hive. 



QuES.— Is it practical to use a capping 

 melter at all times, when extracting honey ? 

 Ans — It may be practical, but it is not ad- 

 visable, as It will usually darken the honey. 



QuES.- Does clipping affect a queen in 

 laying? Ans.— If properly clipped it will 

 not affect her in any way. 



Ql'ES.— Will the Kretchmer wax press do 

 as good work as any other? .^Ns.- Mr. 

 France and others think it as good as any 

 other, and possibly better than some, ex- 

 cepting the Hershiser. 



The convention adjourned itntil H 

 a.m. Wednesday. 



WEDNESDAY— Morning Session. 



Jacob Huffman's bill of $8.65, travel- 

 ing expenses for attending the National 

 convention at Minneapolis as a dele- 

 gate, was read, and, on motion, or- 

 dered paid. 



On motion, the convention pro- 

 ceeded to the election of officers by- 

 ballot for the ensuing year, and the 

 following were declared elected ; 



President, Jacob Huffman ; Vice- 

 President, F. Wilco.x; Secretary, Gus 

 Dittmer; Treasurer, A. C. Allen; dele- 

 gate to National, A. C. Allen; alter- 

 nate, Harry Lathrop. 



On motion, F. Wilcox was selected 

 for judge of the apiarian exhibits at 

 the State Fair, to be recommended for 

 appointment by the State Board of 

 Agriculture. 



On motion, F. Wilcox, E. D. Ochs- 

 ner, and A. L. Kleeber were appointed 

 as a committee for revising and recom- 

 mending premiums on apiarian ex- 

 hibits. 



Mr. Lloyd V. France addressed the 

 convention on " The introduction of 

 an apiarian course in connection with 

 the agricultural course at the Wiscon- 

 sin University." 



Mr. France then asked the opinion 

 of the Association as to the advisability 

 of establishing such a course, and the 

 prevailing opinion being in favor of 

 such a proposition, a committee com- 

 posed of Lloyd V. France, Herman E. 

 Gloege, and L. W. Parman was ap- 

 pointed to consider the matter, draft 

 resolutions, and report at the afternoon 

 session. Said committee to be perma- 

 nent, and with power to act in any 

 manner necessary to obtain the course. 

 The convention adjourned until 1 :30 



p.m. 



Afternoon Session. 



The Committee on Apiarian Course 



at the Agricultural College, reported 

 the following resolution, which, on 

 motion, was adopted by a unanimous 

 vote of the ccjnvenion : 



Resolved. That the Wisconsin State Bee- 

 Keepers' Association request the Agricul- 

 tural College at Madison, to introduce and 

 add bee-keeping to its regular work as soon 

 as possible, and that we assure tha College 

 of our hearty cooperation and support as 

 an association, and as individual bee keep 

 ers. And in the event said College shall ac- 

 cept this resolution, the State Bee-Keepers' 

 Association will i;ladly donatea few colonies 

 of bees and supplies to introduce the same. 

 Signed. I.. V. France. 



Hkkman K. Gi.oege. 



L. W, Parman. 



The above resolution was ordered 

 countersigned by the President and 

 Secretary, and officially presented to 

 the proper authorities of the Agricul- 

 tural College. 



The committee on resolutions pre- 

 sented the following; 



Resolved. That the Wisconsin State Bee- 

 Keepers' Association deplores the loss by 

 death of one of its oldest members. Mr. A. 

 J. Ochsner. of Prairie du Sac. who. from the 

 earliest days of its organization, did all 

 that he could to foster whatever was best 

 for Wisconsin bee-keeping, and that we ex- 

 tend to his family our sincere sympathy in 

 their loss. 



Resolved. That we as members of the Wis- 

 consin State Bee-Keepers' Association con- 

 sider it the paramount duty of each one to 

 attend all the sessions of the annual meet- 

 ings each year, unless prevented by some 

 unavoidable cause, and that it is the duty of 

 each one to encourage other bee-keepers to 

 become members. 



Resolved. That this Association is thankful 

 for the kindness of the officials of Dane 

 county in allowing us the use of a room in 

 the Court House for our convention. 

 Signed, Harry Lathrop. 



Herman F. Gloege. 

 L W. Parman. 



The above resolutions were adopted 

 unanimously. 



Mr. Ochsner spoke at length on the 

 subject of a better and more satisfac- 

 tory grading of honey, to be established 

 by the next National convention, and 

 suggested that our delegate work to 

 that end. 



Prof. Sanders, of the Agricultural 

 College, being present, addressed the 

 convention on the subject of adding 

 apiculture to the agricultural course. 

 His talk was well received, and pleased 

 the members. 



After an informal discussion of pa- 

 pers that had been read at this conven- 

 tion, the convention adjourned at 3:15 

 p.m. Girs Dittmer, Sec. 



Dr. Miller*s 



Answers^ 



Send Questions either to the office of the American Bee Journal or direct to 



Dr. C. C. Miller. Marengo, fLi,. 



He does not answer bee-keeping questions by mail. 



What to Do for Wax-Worms 



What can I do for worms in bees ? 



Cuba. 



Answer.— The best remedy for wax- 

 worms, as the larvae of the bee-moth are 

 called, is a big lot of bees. The worms are 

 not likely to get much of a start in a rousing 

 colony, but a weak, discouraged colony is 

 their proper prey. If your bees are blacks, 

 you will find that changing to Italian blood 

 will be a great help. Indeed a colony of good 

 Italian blood, even if quite weak, will keep 

 the worms at bay. 



If the worms have made a fair start, it 

 may be worth while to give the bees some 

 lielo. At least you can dig out the big fel- 

 lows. Take a wire nail and dig a hole into 

 one end of the gallery that the worm has 

 built. Now start at the other end. and as 

 you dig the gallery open the worm will 

 crawl along and come out of the hole you 

 first made, when you can dispatch it. 



first swarming. But if a colony is not very 

 strong, it will be better not to shake until it 

 becomes pretty strong. All this is rather 

 indefinite. Better be definite. Look in the 

 hive and see if the queen-cells are present. 

 If not. wait a week or 10 days and look again. 

 If you never find any started by looking 

 every week or lo days, let them alone and be 

 thankful that you have such an unusual 

 thing as a colony that has no desire to 

 swarm. If you find queen-cells started, 

 shake— or at least shake before any cells 

 are sealed, for the colony will swarm about 

 the time the first cell is sealed. 



Preventing Swarming With Alley Queen-Trap and 

 by Shaking 



1. Can I use an Alley uueeii-trap to catch 

 the queen in swarming-time, or will the bees 

 kill her? 



2, How can I tell when to shake a swarm to 

 stop it from swarming ? New York. 



Answers.— I. You can use an Alley queen- 

 trap, and when the bees swarm the queen 

 will be caught in the trap, and when the 

 swarm discovers the lack of a queen it will 

 return. But that leaves you still to attend 

 10 the case. You may take all but one frame 

 of brood, put it in a new hive with enough 

 bees to keep the brood from chilling; set 

 this on a new stand {only be sure not to 

 shake the combs so as to kill the queen- 

 cells 1. and leave the rest of the bees with the 

 queen on the old stand with the one frame 

 of brood, filling up the hive with drawn 

 combs or frames filled with foundation. If 

 you prefer no dividing, you may remove or 

 kill the old queen and kill all queen-cells 

 but one, leaving brood and all on the old 

 stand. 



2. If you can tell when swarming begins in 

 your neighborhood, shake at time of very 



Prime and After-Swarms— Entrances at End tr 

 Side of Hive 



1. What do you do when you have a prime 

 and after-swarm unite; or don't you have 

 them do those tricks ? They do so with me, 

 and then they kill both queens. The bees 

 liave been swarming more than usual. My 

 first one issued April 2d. and 1 have had 

 from one to 10 swarms every day for a week 

 — not less than 5. and some days 7 or H May- 

 be there wasn't some humming around here. 



2. One man from Texas said that it was 

 generally understood and believed that bees 

 get more air with an opening in the end 

 rather than in the side of the hive. I don t 

 believe they get more air-from the end than 

 fromtheside. I make myown hives, and they 

 open at the side, except a few that I have 



• gotten of other people, which have their 

 entrances at the end. The bees in hives 

 opening at the side do better, and we have 

 some warm weather down here. 



Louisiana. 



Answers.— I. Where much swarming is 

 going on it is not a very uncommon thing for 

 two swarms to unite, sometimes more than 

 two. and they may be prime swarms or 

 after-swarms, or both. It may happen, as in 

 your case, that both queens arc killed 'I'he 

 usual thing, however, is tiiat one of the 

 queens is left, and in the case of a laying and 

 a virgin queen, the laying queen is more 

 likely to be left. If the after-swarm is small 

 there may be no loss in having the two 

 unite. Neither queen is likely to be killed 

 immediately, but both balled for some time. 



