AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



713 



would be a low price for them. A little 

 figuring will help us in deciding their 

 value. In Root's "ABC of Bee-Cul- 

 ture," a quart of bees is estimated at 

 about 3,200, and at that rate 50 quarts 

 would be about 160,000. Bees are sold 

 by the pound rather than by the quart, 

 and at 5,000 to the pound, 160,000 

 would make 32 pounds. So early in the 

 season a pound of bees ought to be easily 

 worth a dollar, making 32 pounds worth 

 $82. One hundred and fifty pounds of 

 honey at 8 cents will bring $12. That 

 makes bees and honey together bring 

 $44. 



So you see, if you paid only $10 for 

 the contents of the log, and sold out at 

 $44.00, you would have good pay for 

 the trouble of getting out the honey and 

 shipping the bees. It is quite possible, 

 however, that there is some mistake in 

 the estimate both of bees and honey. 



On page 276 of the first volume of the 

 "American Bee Journal," you will find 

 that Dr. Donhoff shows that under the 

 most favorable circumstances, even al- 

 lowing a queen to lay 3,000 eggs every 

 day continuously, the maximum popula- 

 tion possible in one colony as the progeny 

 of one queen is 63,000. But no such 

 number as this could be expected to be 

 present in spring. 



I doubt the wisdom of your trying 

 to divide as you propose. On the whole, 

 perhaps you could adopt no better man- 

 agement than to leave the colony in the 

 log till it sent out a swarm. Then if it 

 is so very strong it will send out a second 

 and perhaps a third swarm. 21 days 

 after the issuing of the first swarm would 

 be a good time to transfer the combs to 

 a movable-frame hive. Other plans 

 might be followed which will suggest 

 themselves, if you read up thoroughly 

 some standard text-book on bee-keeping. 



With regard to the mating of the 

 queen in the open air, possibly it may be 

 sufiBcient to say that she is created with 

 an instinct that impels her to do so. 

 Several cases have been reported, at 

 least in some of the foreign journals, in 



which it was asserted that mating took 

 place in the hive. Even if there be no 

 mistake in these cases, they must cer- 

 tainly be regarded as very exceptional. 



COIKVENTION DIRECTORY. 



Time and place of meeting. 



1894. 

 Dec. 10.— AV. Washing-ton, at Tacoma. 



G. D. Litiooy, Sec, Tacoma. Wash. 



Dec.18, 19— Northern Illinois, at Rockford.Ul. 

 B. Kennedy, Sec, New Mill'ord, 111. 



Dec. 26, 27.— Eastern Iowa, at Anamosa, Iowa 

 Frank Coverdale, Sec, Welton, Iowa. 



Dec. 27, 28.— Texas State, at Bpeville, Tex. 

 Mrs. Jennie Atchley, Beeville, Tex. 

 1895. 

 Jan. 3. 3.— Michigan State, at Detroit, Mich. 

 W, Z. Hutchinson, Sec, Flint, Mich. 



Jan. 9.— Indiana State, at Indianapolis, Ind. 

 Walter S. Ponder, Pres., Indianapolis, Ind. 



Jan. 21, 22 — Colorada State, at Denver, Colo. 

 H. Knight, Sec, Littleton, Colo. 



Jan. 22-24.— Ontario, at Stratford, Ont. 



W. Couse, Sec, Streetville, ont. 



Jan. 28.— Venango Co., at Franklin, Pa. 



C. S. Pizer, Sec, Franklin, Pa. 



Jan. 30, 31.— Vermont, at Middlebury, Vt. 

 H. W. Scott, Sec, Barre, Vt. 



Feb. 8, 9.— Wisconsin, at Madison. Wis. 



J. W. Vance, Cor. Sec, Madison, Wis. 



. .—North American, at Toronto, Can. 



Frank Benton, Sec, U. S. Dept. Agriculture. 

 Washington, D. C. 



[^~ In order to have this table complete. 

 Secretaries are requested to forward full 

 particulars of the time and the place of 

 each future meeting. — Thb Editor. 



North American Bee-Keepers' Association 



OFFICERS FOR 1895. 



Pres.— R. F. Holtermann Brantford, Ont. 



Vice-Pres.— L. D Stilson York, Nebr. 



Secretary.— W. Z. Hutchinson... Flint, Mich. 

 Treasurer.— J. T. Calvert Medina, Ohio. 



National Bee-Keepers' XTnlon, 



President— Hon. R. L. Taylor.. Lapeer, Mich. 

 Gen'l Manager— T. G. Newman. Chicago, 111. 

 147 South Western Avenue. 



Xlie I>'ovelfy Pocket-Knife is 



worth having. Mr. A. G. Amos, of New 

 York, says this about it: " The ' Novelty' 

 pocket-knife which I received with the 

 American Bee Journal arrived all O. K., 

 and it is a dandy." Better get one your- 

 self, and then you will know what a 

 " dandy " thing it is. See page 730 for ad- 

 1 vertising offer. 



