1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



149 



President — We have quite a number of other ladies pres- 

 ent. Let us hear from them. 



Mrs. Poindexter — I commenced with 11 colonies, and in- 

 creased and added till I had 200. These 200 we had in three 

 locations in DeWitt country, 12 or 15 miles apart. At my 

 home yard I had 80 colonies. At the time we had 200, we 

 had 12,000 pounds of comb honey, besides what extracted 

 was taken. 



Mrs. Stow — I had 37 colonies iu the spring of 1895, and 

 increased them to 60. I now have 55; 5 were destroyed by 

 the mice. My crop was 1,200 pounds. 



MICE DESTROYING COLONIES. 



Question. — "What should be done to prevent mice from 

 destroying colonies ?" 



Mr. Draper — Contract the entrances so the mice cannot 

 get in. 



President — I use wire-cloth three meshes to the inch, 

 tacked over an entrance that is two inches deep, as long as the 

 entrance of the hive is wide. 



STORING HONEY AND NUMBER OF BROOD-FRAMES. 



Question. — " Will bees store as much honey when there 

 are 16 frames in the brood-nest as when there are only S ?" 



Mr. Walker — A friend of mine, Mr. N. Doane, of Breeken- 

 ridge, Mich., tried the 16's and 8's. He said the 16's were 

 ahead. 



Mr. Ellis- -Bee-trees, you know, have large brood-capaci- 

 ties, and they generally contain considerable honey. 



Mr. Draper — The Dadants have been preaching large 

 hives for years. I use them myself, and prefer them. I see 

 that Mr. Root has been testing larger hives, and I should like 

 to have him tell what he knows about them. 



Mr. Root — I have reported in Gleanings from time to time 

 my experiments in testing S-frame and 16-frame colonies at 

 our out-yard. Colonies in the latter gave us more honey by 

 considerable ; in fact, they were the only ones last season that 

 seemed to get any honey at all ; and, more than that, they do 

 not offer to swarm. While the 8-framers did little or nothing 

 toward getting honey, they gave us no little annoyance 

 swarming out. There may be localities and conditions when 

 a single 8-frame body will give the better results; for the 

 present, at least, I should prefer the double hive. Perhaps I 

 ought to state that we were running this out-yard for extracted 

 honey. 



Mr. Walker — Last season I got better results from large 

 hives, especially from 3-story 10-framers. But large hives 

 will not give the honey unless you have the bees and a good 

 honey-flow. However, I should be satisfied with a 12-frame 

 hive for extracted, and 10-framo for comb honey. 



Mrs. Stow — I hive swarms on 7 frames, and later on I 

 add 3 others, as the need of the colony may demand. 



Mr. Draper — Bro. Root ought to get a good scoring for 

 pushing an 8-frame hive in his catalogue when he says he can 

 get better results with large hives ! [Laughter.] 



Mr. Root — Yes; but all people do not think alike. Wo 

 give our customers their choice between 8, 10, and 12-frame 

 hives ; but we generally recommend them to get the 8, and 

 then if their locality or honey-flow justifies it, they can use 

 two 8-frame bodies, one above the other. So far as I can yet 

 see, the 8-frame hive, for the present at least, offers a very 

 good solution for the large and small hive problem. 



Question. — " Will two 8-frame hives, one above the other, 

 give as good results as one large hive containing 16 frames all 

 in one brood-chamber?" 



Mr. Walker — I should prefer the single brood-chamber. 



Mr. Thompson — I would have two. 



Mr. West — I get more honey from one 8 than from two S's. 



Mr. Draper — I want large hives for brood-nests, and I 

 want that brood-nest all in one. I want it full of bees and 

 brood ; then when the honey-flow comes on, I put shallow ex- 

 tracting Dadant supers on top. 



THE AMALGAMATION QUESTION. 



Mr. Newman — If there is nothing else before the conven- 

 tion, I should like to see an expression from this body regard- 

 ing the advisability of amalgamating the North American Bee- 

 Keepers' Association with the National Bee-Keepers' Union. 



President — In order to vote intelligently, perhaps it will 

 be well for us to discuss for a few minutes some of the objec- 

 tions as well as the advantages of such a union of the two 

 societies. Mr. Newman, will you tell us some of the objec- 

 tions that have been urged against this amalgamation ? 



Mr. Newman — Occupying the position that I do, I take 

 no sides ; but from letters that have come in, entering their 

 protest, it is evident that some can see no advantage. Others 

 object to taking the funds given to the Union for defense and 



using them for some other purpose after the two societies are 

 combined. Again, others say that the objects and interests of 

 the two societies are dissimilar. 



President — I have been an advocate of amalgamation, 

 and can see no disadvantage, but some very decided advan- 

 tages, in favor of it. For one thing, the two combined socie- 

 ties would have a larger membership, greater influence, and, 

 consequently, more power. 



Mr. York — There are many reasons why amalgamation is 

 desirable. As I understand it, there would be no change in 

 the constitution of the amalgamated society that would 

 weaken the effectiveness of the present Bee-Keepers' Union. 

 I believe we will have a representative apiarian society much 

 sooner in this country with the two societies in one than if 

 they remain separate. It would be a saving of expense in 

 membership fees, and I see no good reason why arrangements 

 could not be made to present to each member a year's sub- 

 scription to his choice of one of the bee-papers besides. [See 

 editorial on this subject on page 152 of this number.— Eds.] 



After some further discussion a rising vote was taken to 

 test the feeling of the convention as to the desirability of 

 amalgamating the two societies. The vote was practically 

 unanimous for amalgamation. 



As many were desirous of going home, the convention 

 adjourned at 3 p.m. Ernest R. Root, Sec. pro tern. 



CONDUCTED BY 



DR. C. O. MILLER, MARENGO, ILL, 



[Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal, or to Dr. Miller direct. 1 



Bees Uneasy in the Cellar. 



I have my bees in a cellar which is very damp. I can 

 keep the cellar about an even temperature now, but I think it 

 will be too warm as the weather gets warmer. Bees seem un- 

 easy when the cellar door is opened, leaving the hives and 

 flying out. The cellar being under the kitchen is the reason 

 I think it will be too warm. Would you advise me to put the 

 bees out and leave them out? A. B. 



Bladensburg, Ohio. 



Answer.— I think I'd try to leave the bees in the cellar 

 till they can fly when put out. If you put them out during 

 weather too cold for them to fly, you may ruin them thereby. 

 There will be no trouble whatever in making the cellar all 

 right for them if there is an outside window or door. Just 

 open the door or window as soon as it begins to get dark in 

 the evening, and by morning they will be quiet. Don't be 

 alarmed if they make a tremendous racket when the cellar is 

 first opened, running all over the hives. They'll quiet down 

 by morning, and in the morning if they appear to want to fly 

 out you can darken again. If the cellar opens only on the in- 

 side the case will be more difficult, but by leaving the door 

 open at night, that goes from the kitchen to the cellar, and 

 also leaving the kitchen door open you can probably get them 

 cooled off. After all, it is not so much that they need to be 

 cooled off as it is that they need to have the air changed. 

 Very likely a warm day will come in March when you can put 



them out. 



^ I M 



Honey from Flax — Suiarlwecd and Hcart'§-Ease 

 Honey — Wintering Bees. 



On page 394 (1895) M. R. asked these questions : " Does 

 flax yield honey ? Can bees gather it ? If so, what color is 

 the honey ?" This spring I sowed 2 bushels of flax seed on 

 about two acres of ground, which gave me a very nice stand. 

 I sowed it the latter part of April, and for 10 or 12 days past 

 it has been in bloom, and the bees just swarm on it. Close by 

 I have a strip of alfalfa that has been iu bloom ever since the 

 flax has, but so far I have failed to see any bees on it — they 

 fly right over it and go to the flax, which is, except the alfalfa, 

 the only bloom we have at the present writing. 



The bees get only honey from flax, and no pollen. The 



