660 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 1 



hilbert's strawberries. 



A year ago last spring- I told you how 

 Mr. Hilbert and his children planted a 

 piece of four acres to strawberries. Pota- 

 toes were on the ground the year before. It 

 was made very fine, and smoothed off with 

 a float, and then marked with the chain 

 marker 2x4 feet. The weather was not 

 particularly favorable, but the plants made 

 a pretty full stand and looked fairly well 

 during the summer. Thej' were planted 

 just about the first of May, and the first 

 picking began the last of June, a year lat- 

 er, and continued nearly four weeks. They 

 were shipped to Chicago; and as the crop 

 seemed a partial failure further south, and 

 the berries were remarkably large and 

 firm, the first carload brought 15 cts. Mr. 

 H. said he was never more surprised in his 

 life when he got the returns, although he 

 had worked hard to send a choice lot of 

 berries. The last carload got in just as 

 the big strike of the teamsters and produce- 

 handlers started. This cost him about half 

 of the value of this last shipment. Now 

 hold your breath. His checks added up, 

 that he received for strawberries, amount- 

 ed to over seventeen hundred dollars. 



A part of these berries came from his old 

 patch, for he makes a new plantation every 

 year; but this four acres alone gave over a 

 IhoHsand dollars. Fitting the land was 

 done with ordinary farm tools, and I should 

 say cost but little more than to fit a piece 

 well for either corn or potatoes. The culti- 

 vation was almost all done with horse- 

 power — verj' little hoeing or weeding. It 

 took from 2U to 30 pickers nearly a month 

 to gather them. Two girls together re- 

 ceived S45 for picking. My j-oung friend 

 Alice made over S30, and picked 136 quarts 

 in one day. As the 4th of July came in just 

 the height of the season, and was also pret- 

 t_v close to Sunday, it threatened to make a 

 loss; but all who worked on the 4th were 

 given double pay, and this kept them at 

 work, a great part of them. This splendid 

 result is due somewhat to this favorable 

 locality and a good deal to the very favor- 

 able spring, with its cool weather and 

 abundant rains. Just as the berries were 

 ready to color up we had warmer weather 

 and enough sunshine, A year ago the crop 

 was nearly ruined by hot drj' weather at 

 the critical time. 



Now, dear reader, as I have said so much 

 about Hubert's successful moves perhaps I 

 better tell you a little on the other side. 

 Over ten j'ears ago, or perhaps more, he 

 got the plum-fever and planted an orchard 

 of 100 wild-goose plums. If I am correct 

 he has never yet had any plums worth 

 mentioning from this whole orchard. I re- 

 member well what a lot of talk there was 

 about this plum when it first came out — 

 that it was "curculio proof," etc., and I 

 should like to inquire if it has proved "no 

 good" in other localities. The trees are 

 now fine-looking and thrift}', but I could 

 find a plum only here and there when I 

 went through the orchard a few days ago. 



Convention Notices. 



PROGRAM OF THE THIRTY-THIRD ANNUAL CONVEN- 

 TION OF THE NATIONAL BEE-KEEPERS' ASSO- 

 CIATION, TO BE HELD IN DENVER, COL- 

 ORADO, SEPTEMBER 3, 4, 5, 1902. 



FIRST DAY, WEDNESDAY, EVENING SESSION. 



7 30. — Invocation; music; address of welcome by Pres- 

 ident Harris, llaj'or Wright, and Governor Or- 

 nian; responses by President Hutchinson, Secre- 

 tary Mason, and Director Sliller. 



8:30. — "Bee-keeping from the Atlantic to the Pacific, 

 as Seen Through the Camera and Stereopticon," 

 by E. R. Root, Medina, Ohio. 



SECOND DAY, THURSDAY, MORNING SESSION. 



9:00 — Music; president's address, " The Future of Bee- 

 keeping ; " discussion. 



10:00.—" Which is the Mo.st Hopeful Field for the Na- 

 tional Association?" by Ur. C. C. Miller, Maren- 

 go, 111.; response by Rev. E. T. Abbott, St. Joseph, 

 Missouri; discussion. 



11:00. — Question-box. 



AFTERNOON SESSION. 



-Music; "Reporting of the Honey Crop — When 

 atid How it .Should be Done,'' by C. A. Hatch, 

 Richland Center, Wisconsin; response by Frank 

 Rauchfuss, Denver, Colorado; discussion. 



-"Bee-keeping I,essons that May be Learned 

 from the Word Locality," by H. C. Morehouse, 

 Boulder, Colorado; response by E. R. Root, Me- 

 dina, Ohio; discussion. 

 — Question-box. 



EVENING SESSION. 



— Music; "The Outside and Inside of a Honey- 

 bee." illustrated bv the stereopticon, by Prof. C. 

 P. Gillette, Ft. Collins, Colorado. 



IHIRD DAY^ FRIDAY", MORNING SESSION. 



-Music; "Selling Extracted Honey at Wholesale 

 — How to Get the Best Prices," by J. F. Mcln- 

 tyre, .Sespe, California; response by T. Lytle, 

 Manzanola, Colorado; discussion 

 — " Putting up Extracted Honey for the Retail 

 Trade," by R. C. Aikin, Loveland, Colorado; re- 

 sponse by G. W. Yoik, Chicago, Ills.; discussion. 

 — Question box. 



AFTERNOO.N SESSION. 



-Music ; " Managing Out-apiaries for Comb Hon- 

 ey," by W. L- Porter, Denver, Colorado; response 

 by M. A. Gill, Longmont, Colorado; discussion. 

 -Question-box. 

 -Trolley-ride, " .Seeing Denver." 



EVENING SESSION. 



Banquet. A. B. Mason. Sec. 



1:30, 



2:30. 



3:30. 

 7:30. 



9.00.- 



10:00 



11:00. 



1:30. 



2:30- 

 3:30.- 



9:00.— 



PROGRAM OF TWENTY''-THIRD ANNUAL CONVENTION 

 OF COLORADO STATE BEEKEEPERS' ASSOCIA- 

 TION IN JOINT MEETING WITH NATION- , 

 AL BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOCIATION. 



11:00 



1:00. 

 1:30. 



2:r^0. 

 3:00.- 



WEDNESDAY', SEPT. 3. — FORENOON SESSION. 



— Invocation ; reading minutes ; president's ad- 

 dress. After the president's address ten min- 

 utes will be given for members to offer sugges- 

 tions or give notice of any business or discussion 

 that they wish to bring before the convention. 

 Come prepared. 



— A four-cornered di.scussion by four prominent 

 apiarists, speakers limited to ten minutes each : 

 1st subject, "Association Work, and Influence- 

 it Good or Bad, and Why ;" 2d, "Comb Honey — 

 Best Hive and System, and Wh}' ; " 3d, " Ex- 

 tracted-Honej' Production — Best Hive and Sy.s- 

 tem. and Why;" 4th, ' The Most Pressing Need 

 of Our Pursuit." General debate on the fore- 

 going subjects; speakers limited to three min- 

 utes except by consent of the convention. Ap- 

 pointment of temporary committees; dincer. 



AFTERNOON SESSION. 



-Ouestion-hox. 



-X'nfinished business ; reports of committees ; 

 new business. 



-Election of officers. 



-Paper, " The Bee in Literature," by F. L. Thomp- 

 son; miscellaneous business. 



