1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



341 



or from the 25th of June to the 4th of July, should it be late, 

 I frequently get a few from five to eight days earlier, and also 

 a few, that number of days later ; but the great bulk come 

 about as I have given. 



The date of swarming is put on each hive, thus : " N. S. 

 6— 21 " being put on the swarm, and "Sw'd, 6—21 " on the 

 old hive, if that is the date. On the evening of the eighth 

 day I listen for a moment or two at the side of the old hive, 

 and if swarming has been done "according to rule," I hear 

 the young queen piping, when I know a young queen] has 

 hatched, and an after-swarm will be the result if it is not 

 stopped. If no piping is heard, I do not listen agail#until the 

 evening of the loth day, for the next rule is that the colony 

 swarmed upon an egg or small larva being in the queen-cell, 

 which allows the queen to hatch from the 12th to the 16th 

 day after swarming. If no piping is heard by the evening of 

 the 17th day, no swarm need be expected. When it is heard, 

 which will be in nine cases out of ten, on the eighth day, I go 

 early in the morning and take every frame out of the hive, 

 shaking the bees off of each (in front) as I take them out and 

 return them again, so I shall be sure and not miss a queen- 

 cell, but cut all off, for we know that a queen has hatched. 

 This is a sure plan, while I have found by experience that 

 none of the other plans given are sure of the prevention of 

 after-swarms. 



The colony is now "boxed " to its full capacity, and if the 

 queen gets to laying all right it will produce a larger amount 

 of comb honey than the swarm will. In 21 days from the 

 time the swarm is hived, young bees will begin to hatch so as 

 to reinforce that colony, so on the 23rd to the 25th day after 

 hiving, I give the full capacity of surplus room to this also, if 

 I think it requires it, which tends to keep them from having a 

 desire to swarm again. 



In this way the very best resiflts are secured, the same 

 being what I have practiced successfully for the past 25 

 -vears. Borodino, N. Y. 



Report of the Michigan State Conveotioa. 



BY W. Z. HUTCHINSON. 



The illness of the President, and of the Secretary's daugh- 

 ter, caused the postponement of the holding of the Michigan 

 State Bee-Keepers' Convention until April 23 and 2-i, when 

 it met in Lansing". Owing to its being " out of the season," so 

 to speak, for conventions, and the poor honey crops that we 

 have had of late, a large attendance was not expected, but it 

 was thought best to hold a meeting, even if it should bo slimly 

 attended, as better years will probably come again, and an 

 organization is needed, and a year or two of good crops will 

 probably bring out a crowd again. As was expected, only 

 what might be called "leading" bee-keepers were present, 

 but a good, social time was enjoyed. 



The meeting was called to order by Pres. M. H. Hunt, 

 who then read the following address, on 



Bee-Coiiveiitloiis. 



A few years back our conventions wore well attended— it 

 was no trouble to get out 50 or 100— but now our State meet- 

 ings scarcely ever exceed a score, and that number is made up 

 of those who have been the life of its existence, the veterans, 

 I might say. 



I See those here to-day whom I have met with pleasure 

 year after year, and it seems to me when for some cause they 

 fail to come our conventions must cease. Others may develop 

 enough enthusiasm to keep it alive, but the signs of the times 

 do not point that way. The very excellent periodicals and 

 books published in our interest, and so cheaply, have, I think, 

 lessened the attractions of our meetings, especially to those 

 who seek knowledge for what there is in it for their own in- 

 dividual benefit. It comes much cheaper to read the reports 

 of a convention at home, than to attend it. The average ex- 

 pense of attending would pay the subscriptions to all the bee- 

 journals published in this country. 



The several poor seasons in succession have, no doubt, 

 had a bearing on the matter, they having a tendency to incline 

 him to economy, and also to rob him of some of his enthu- 

 siasm. A few good seasons, with fair prices, would help us, 

 but should the seasons continue like the few just past, we will 

 have to devise some means to stimulate our brother bee-keep- 

 ers, or we will not see them at our gatherings. 



Conventions are for the advancement of our business and 

 social interests, and help much to place our industry on an 

 equal with other pursuits. It was through them that the 

 World's Fair provisions for a honey show were made, and 

 many premium-lists increased and revised. 



The Bee-Keepers' Union owes its origin to them, and it 

 has shown itself worthy of its parentage. Its history is one 

 of glorious achievements from the very commencement. of its 

 existence. 



Our State association is a necessity. Important matters 

 will be continually coming before it for adjustment. So let 

 us make an individual effort to make our future meetings, 

 each one more interesting than the last, and more numerously 

 attended. m. H. Hunt. 



W. Z. Hutchinson — We need to have an organization, even 

 if it is poorly attended in times of poor seasons. It was 

 through the influence of this organization that bee-culture 

 was added to the list of subjects that are experimented upon 

 at our State Experiment Station. There may be a time when 

 we will need legislation on the subject of bee-keeping, and it 

 can be more readily secured through the influence of a State 

 organization. 



Pres. Hunt— One or two good seasons would bring out a 

 crowd again. 



R. L. Taylor— I think that is right. If a man gets no 

 honey, he can't afford to attend a convention. 



Mr. R. L. Taylor then read a paper entitled, 



Lessons in "Wintering. 



One of the experiments made during the past winter was 

 planned for the purpose of bringing out as prominently as pos- 

 sible the comparative advantages of wintering bees in the 

 cellar and out-of-doors without protection. In addition to that 

 the same experiment was made to serve another purpose. A 

 bee-keeper of long experience advised me that bees would winter 

 well without other protection if placed against the south side 

 of a building where the sun does double duty. I confess that 

 influenced by former experience I had a strong leaning to that 

 opinion myself. Accordingly I selected five colonies on the 

 whole in every respect better than the average except that 

 two were in 8-frame Langstroth hives instead of Heddon hives 

 in which all the others destined to All the out-door part of the 

 experiment were. These were placed about three feet up 

 from the ground against the south side of my honey-house and 

 barn, which extended beyond them on either side about 25 

 feet. 



These bees flew out at rather frequent intervals during 

 tlie winter. On two or three occasions when the air was still, 

 and the sun bright, they came out the hives with the ther- 

 mometer at so low a point in the shade as 363, apparently 

 without the loss of bees. Sometimes surrounding objects were 

 spotted slightly. Nevertheless, both the colonies in f^ang- 

 stroth hives died about the middle of March, and one of those 

 in Heddon hives early in April, leaving plenty of stores, and 

 showing moderate evidence of dysentery. The two other col- 

 onies came through in good condition every way. 



T^'s raises the question whether it is true that frequent 

 flights prevent disastrous results from dysentery during the 

 winter months, and also whether it is not worth while to in- 

 quire whether hives composed of two shallow sections are not 

 better for the wintering of bees than hives with frames no 

 deeper even than the Langstroth. 



The five hives in question were weighed on the 26th of 



