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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Oct. 15, 



filled with honey, it will be air-tight when the cover is shut 

 down upon it. 



Where one has considerable comb honey in sections to 

 market, the plan of furnishing a small, upright show-case to 

 the grocerymen handling your honey, I have found to work 

 well. These cases are made with three glass sides, using 

 glass 16x30 inches, set in a cheap frame, the wood filled and 

 varnished. These cases will cost §2.50 to $3.00, but soon 

 pay their cost, as they exclude flies, dirt and dust. Upon the 

 front pane have your name and address painted in showy 

 letters. When the honey is sold low, replenish from time to 

 time from your stock at home. 



Honey placed upon the market in this or some such form 

 will attract notice and inspire confidence in its genuineness 

 by having the producer's name back of it, as well as its own 

 truth-telling good looks. Small and medium-sized packages, 

 neat, and above all, tight, so as not to be leaking the contents 

 and daubing everything they come in contact with ; full 

 weights and pure quality ; honey in this form will command a 

 fair price when the same goods might go begging for sale 

 wanting these requisites. — Ohio Farmer. 



^ 



The Large vs. the Small Hive Again. 



BY C. P. DADANT 4 SON. 



The following letter, addressed to the editor of the Bee 

 Journal, has been referred to us for reply: 



Mk. Editor: — I have been very much interested in the 

 large and small hive question, and especially what the Dadants 

 have had to say on the side of the large hive. I want to call 

 your attention to an article by Chas. Dadant, on page 822, of 

 the Bee Journal for Dec. 26, 1895. I will quote the last 

 paragraph : 



" But in our own practice, although we contract our hives, 

 when the colony is feeble, to keep it warm, we never try to 

 harvest any honey unless the lower story is filled to the full 

 capacity. Here, evidently, our 8-frame bee-keeper thinks he 

 has the advantage over us ; but we do not think so, and we 

 will tell you why in another article." 



But so far Mr. Dadant has not told us " why." He has 

 evidently forgotten. Would you please jog his memory on 

 this point. I would very much like to know " why," and how 

 he fills the lower story to its full capacity. 



F. E. Henry. 



Mr. Henry has probably not read all of the articles writ- 

 ten by us during the season, for we at one time stated that 

 our reason for leaving a great deal of honey in the lower story 

 is to enable the bees to breed plentifully in the spring. The 

 advantage that we thus have over the bee-keeper with small 

 hives lies in our having much better means of securing a 

 powerful colony through the breeding of young bees at a time 

 when their action is most needed. A colony which is stinted 

 cannot go through the spring months with the same chances of 

 success as one that has a plentiful supply. Let it be under- 

 stood that we do not try to crowd the honey in the lower story 

 for this purpose, but simply that if there is more than a fair 

 supply we make no attempt to remove it from the brood- 

 chamber in the fall. We used to extract honey from the out- 

 side combs in 10-frame Quinby hives, and after a few years 

 we stopped this practice. 



We have already told in a previous number, how we acci- 

 dentally found out the difference in results between a colony 

 that is allowed a large surplus and one which is only allowed 

 to retain the exact amount supposed to be sufficient for win- 

 ter. The thing may bear repeating. We hope it may not 

 prove tedious to those who have remembered it. 



It was some 20 years ago, before we were accustomed to 

 use foundation in the hives as guides. We had a great deal of 

 work, had gotten behind, and the swarming season found us 

 unprepared. In an apiary away from home a number of colo- 

 nies swarmed and were hived in hives without any guides in 



the frames. The result was a lot of crooked combs built in 

 such shape that it was impossible to remove any of the frames 

 until the combs had been transferred, the same as if the col- 

 ony was in a box-hive. This would not do for fall work, so it 

 was put off till spring. The following spring neglect or some 

 other cause made us leave those hives in the same condition. 

 As a matter of course no honey had been taken from the body 

 of these hives in the fall, since the frames could not be re- 

 moved, while we bad taken the usual amount of extracted 

 honey from their neighbors, whose combs were straight in the 

 frames. The result was that these colonies yielded the best 

 crop. 



This was continued for two or three years, and we finally 

 came to the conclusion that it was the greater amount of 

 stores left in them for winter which caused those bees to 

 harvest the best crop. Further tests proved this correct, and 

 we have always since that time left the entire lower story un- 

 touched for their winter supply. Instead of 25 pounds, as 

 customary, we figure that our bees, when they are in right 

 condition for winter, have an average of 40 pounds of honey. 

 It is quite an amount, but since they harvest it themselves, 

 and pay us pretty well when the crops are good, we believa 

 ours is the proper policy to follow. 



For the past four or five years bee-culture here has been 

 a failure, but the clover looks beautiful now, and we hope for 

 a fair crop in 1897. Hamilton, 111. 



^ 



Report of the Southeastern Minnesota Conven- 

 tion. 



BY JOS. H. BOLTON. 



The Southeastern Minnesota Bee-Keepers' Association 

 held their annual convention at Winona, Sept. 24 and 25. At 

 the opening session there was no program ; every one seemed 

 busy getting acquainted with every one else, and judging from 

 the spirit manifested throughout the meeting, this session was 

 an entire success. Really, the most enjoyable part of it, or 

 what made it so, perhaps, was that we were all farmers, and 

 all interested in the same subjects. In the discussions which 

 followed each paper, there was hardly one of the 50 or 60 

 present who did not take part. 



In the afternbon, Pres. Turnbull, of La Crescent, presided 

 and made the opening address. He referred to the present 

 political agitation, and the fact that the " little busy bee," 

 with its joyous hum, worked on unmindful of these things. 

 He thought the farmers who kept bees the most happy and 

 independent people on earth ; they raised nearly everything 

 they needed, and enjoyed luxuries beside. The excellence of 

 the honey exhibit at the State Fair was mentioned. Mr. 

 Turnbull referred briefly to the experience of the year, which 

 had not been the best for honey. He hoped for a pleasant 

 and profitable meeting. 



An interesting paper upon " The Management of Bees," 

 was then presented by Mr. W. K. Bates, of Stockton. This 

 gave rise to much discussion, mainly upon the question of top 

 ventilation of hives in cellar wintering. It was almost the 

 unanimous opinion of those present that ventilation at the 

 top was a necessity, but the methods for securing it differed 

 greatly. 



Mr. E. B. Huffman, of Homer, spoke briefly upon his ex- 

 perience, and exhibited a number of home-made implements 

 for lessening even the light labor now required in our pursuit. 



The evening was given oyer to entertainment and refresh- 

 ments provided by the ladies of Winona. 



The morning session of the second day was opened by a 

 paper on " Foul Brood," by Mr. S. W. Judge, of Pickwick. 

 Mr. Andrew Quist, of Hokah, followed with a paper on "The 

 Nameless Bee-Disease, or So-Called Bee-Paralysis." Mr. W. 



