54 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



in the hives on Sept. 30th ; if not, feed. 

 Give full-sized entrance, no upward ven- 

 tilation ; pack them as warmly as you 

 can on the summer stands, contract the 

 entrance in April so as to make them 

 uncomfortably warm, and do not feed 

 them unless to prevent starvation. Let 

 them alone till you put on the surplus 

 receptacles. 

 Chicago, 111., May 26. 



Central California Conyenlion. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY J. F. FLOKY. 



The first quarterly meeting of the 

 Central California Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion was held at the City Hall, in Han- 

 ford, Calif., on June 6th. On account 

 of the rain the day before, and the 

 threatening aspect on the day of the 

 meeting, only a few were present. 



Neither President nor Vice-President 

 being present, Mr. C. F. Flory was 

 called to the chair. . The minutes of the 

 last meeting were read, corrected, and 

 approved. 



SHAKING PALSY. 



Mr. J. F. Bolden, of Tulare, had used 

 the 30 drops of carbolic acid to a gallon 

 of honey, as recommended at our last 

 meeting, pouring the honey in the hive 

 in the evening, tipping the hive back, to 

 prevent running out. He also sprinkled 

 powdered sulphur on top of the frames 

 of the others. Both plans seemed to 

 prove effectual, and it is to be hoped 

 that others will try the sulphur cure and 

 report. 



SWARMING. 



Which is considered the better, nat- 

 ural or artificial swarming? 



It was pretty generally admitted that 

 where bees swarm on time and enough, 

 it is best to let them do so ; but if not, 

 and increase is wanted, increase by 

 dividing should be. rtisorted to. 



Which is the more profitable, to divide 

 your colonies, or buy them at $1.00 per 



swarm, the purchaser furnishing the 

 hive? 



This was answered thus : Where the 

 most of our honey comes during the 

 middle, or latter part of the season, it is 

 best to divide them, as they could be 

 be built up strong until then ; but if the 

 most of the honey-flow came during and 

 after swarming-time, perhaps it might 

 pay best to buy them. 



HONEY EESOURCGS. 



It was generally agreed that alfalfa is 

 the leading honey-plant in this valley; 

 that camphor-weeds frequently furnish- 

 ed a good flow of fine honey, and that 

 the alkali and other weeds and wild 

 flowers frequently furnish considerable 

 honey of a less favorable grade. 



SPECIAL MEETING. 



There seemed to be a universal feel- 

 ing that we should have a special meet- 

 ing between this and our next quarterly 

 meeting, on the first Wednesday in Sep- 

 tember, to consider the question, How 

 to best dispose of our honey ? Those 

 that sold for cash f. o. b. were generally 

 satisfied, but many of the consignments 

 were unsatisfactory. Parties shipping 

 400 cases of comb honey, and others of 

 a less number, have no returns. Quite 

 a feeling prevailed against those 



COMMISSION-MEN 



doing business in that way. And right 

 here is where one of the great advan- 

 tages of our social gatherings come in. 

 The men that deal either fair or unfair 

 are prominently brought to public no- 

 tice. 



It was decided to have our special 

 meeting on the first Wednesday in Au- 

 gust, at Hanford. 



QUEEN-KEARING. 



Mr. Orr thought the Doolittle method 

 was perhaps the best, although he had 

 never tried it. 



Mr. Stearns put several frames of 

 just-hatching eggs into an empty hive 

 with a goodly number of young bees, 

 and then removed a colony to another 

 place, and put the new colony in its 

 place, and thus secured his queens. 



Th« Secretary uses a modification of 

 the Doolittle plan, and got queen-cells 

 anywhere and in any way he could. He 

 cuts them out, and by means of melted 

 wax, sticks them on what he calls a 

 " slide," and puts in a frame holding 

 from 16 to 24 slides with cells, and re- 

 moves the larvtc in the cells, and then 

 transfers into them larva3 from select 



