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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



April 12, 1900. 



shine ? Ans. — The majority present prefer a lig-ht shade 

 in the middle of the day. 



QuES. — Will bees work in very hot weather ? Ans. — 

 Yes, if the flowers are secreting- honey. 



QuKS. — How many sheets of comb foundation to give to 

 a colony at once. Ans. — Two are enough. 



OuBS. — If a colony produces SO pounds of comb honey 

 per j'ear, how much extracted should be secured from 

 another of the same strength ? Ans. — 75 to 85 pounds. 



Too many use an extractor who do not leave honey 

 enough for the bees to winter on. 



:ZD SECOND DAY— Morning Session. 



The election of officers resulted as follows : President, 

 N. E. France ; vice-president, Jacob Huffman ; secretary', 

 Miss Ada Pickard, Richland Center ; treasurer, H. Lathrop. 



A committee to revise the Wisconsin State fair premium 

 list was appointed as follows : N. E. France, F. Wilcox, and 

 E. D. Ochsner. 



The judge of the apiarian department of the State fair 

 was named — N. E. France. 



On motion, W. Z. Hutchinson was made an honorary 

 member of the association. 



An essay, entitled, "Honey — From the Hive to the 

 Table," by George W. York, was valuable and instructive. 

 It was followed by a long discussion on packages for ex- 

 tracted honey. As many Wisconsin extracted-honey pro- 

 ducers have markets that use large quantities of honey, 

 they use barrels ; but the soakage and other troubles com- 

 mon to barrels found the 60-pound cans equally good. 



A. G. Wilson then read a paperon " Barrels for Honey," 

 and F. L. Murray read one on local associations. 



The question-box being full, it was again opened with 

 interest until noon. 



At the afternoon session A. T>. Barnes, of Waupaca 

 Co., having a large nursery and small fruit farm, offered, 

 free of charge for a term of years, a site for an apiary on 

 his farm, so that his fruit would have the assistance of the 

 bees in fertilizing the bloom. 



Aug. Weiss had a large display of hives, smokers, and 

 comb foundation on exhibition. There was also a fine dis- 

 play of the following bakings sweetened with honey, pre- 

 sented by the American Bisctiit Company : Honey-jumbles, 

 iced honey-jumbles, iced honey-cocoa jumbles, honey-fin- 

 gers, iced honey-fingers, honey-cocoa fingers iced, honey- 

 gems, iced honey-gems, iced honey-cocoa gems. 



" Resolved, That contraction is better than expansion 

 for spring management of bees," was discust, H. Lathrop 

 taking the affirmative, and Jacob Huffman the negative. 

 Both debaters being old, experienced bee-keepers, and the 

 large room full of practical bee-keepers to act as judges, all 

 were well pleased with the debate. At the close the secre- 

 tary presented the debaters with the above choice bakings, 

 which they divided with the members. 



Several cities ofi'ered special invitations for the next 

 meeting of the association. On motion, the executive com- 

 mittee were authorized to say when and where the next 

 meeting shall be held. 



The convention then adjourned, sine die. 



N. E. France, Sec. 



[The various papers referred to in the above report 

 will appear later. — Editor.] 



Celluloid Bee-Button. — We have had made to order a 

 very neat ^-inch celluloid button to pin on the coat-lapel. 

 Upon it is the picture of a golden queen-bee, and around 

 the edge these words: "Our toil doth sweeten others." It 

 will especially please the boys and girls, and is a neat thing 

 for members of bee-conventions to wear. It is a nice badge 

 or emblem of the sweet industry in which bee-keepers are 

 engaged. Prices, postpaid : One button, 8 cents ; two or 

 more, S cents each. 



The American Fruit and Vegetable Journal is') just 

 what its name indicates. Tells all about growing fruits 

 and vegetables. It is a fine monthly, at SO cents a year. 

 We can mail you a free sample copy of it, if you ask for it. 

 We club it with the American Bee Journal — both papers one 

 year for $1.10. 



CONDUCTED BY 



O^. O. O. AIJLLER, Afareng-o, III. 



[The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal ofBce, or to Dr. Miller 



direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the 



Doctor to send answers by mail. — Editor. 1 



Bees that Swarm the Least, Etc. 



1. Which race of bees are supposed or known to swarm 

 the least ? 



2. What method is generally used by learned bee-keep- 

 ers to prevent swarming ? 



3. Are there any better bees than the Italians for the 

 production of comb honey ? 



4. Are the Adel bees superior to any others ? 



Subscriber. 

 Answers. — 1. .There probably is not a very great differ- 

 ence, only Carniolans are supposed to swarm more than 

 others. But it sometimes happens that a particular strain 

 swarms less than others of the same race. The Dadants 

 have bees so good in that respect that not more than three 

 to five colonies in a hundred swarm, but they attribute it to 

 their large hives. It is claimed that the Adels are little 

 given to swarming. 



2. The answer to that question is what they are all 

 after, but a satisfactory one has not been given. Earge 

 hives, abundant ventilation, shade, etc., are among the 

 things that help. The matter is easier when working for 

 extracted honey, and some report entire success by putting 

 all the brood in an upper story over an excluder at the be- 

 ginning of the honey harvest, leaving the queen below with 

 foundation or empty combs. 



3. Very doubtful. 



4. They are undoubtedly superior to some others, but 

 are not generally supposed to be superior to all others. 



Sweet Clover. 



1. Would it pay me to sow sweet clover seed by the side 

 of the road, where there is a dried-up spring? The ground 

 is never dry here, and is about 10 rods from my bees. The 

 ground is used for nothing, and is a heavy sod. 



2. Will sweet clover grow if sown on the sod ? 



Michigan. 



Answers. — 1. It will probably pay big, as the expense 

 for seed is trifling, and the land is of no value otherwise. 



2. Yes, if you simply scatter the seed on the ground you 

 will find a good many of them grow, and the second year 

 the seed will fall and seed more. It will be well for you to 

 sow two years in succession, for sweet clover is a biennial, 

 and if you sow only one year you will have pasturage for 

 your bees onlj' alternate years for the first few years. The 

 seed will catch much better if the groutid after sowing is 

 trodden down by cattle or horses, especially when it is a 

 little wet. Perhaps there is enough travel along the sides 

 of the road to tread in the seed. 



Lack of Pollen May be the Cause of No Brood. 



I had a weak colony of bees that had been queenless 

 quite awhile, and I bought a queen for them. My bees are 

 all hybrids, and the queen I bought was an Italian, and 

 seemed to be a hustler last fall. It was a small colony and 

 had few bees. I fed them grantilated sugar syrup for 

 winter stores, and they had their combs full of stores, and 

 had the combs the bees covered, full of brood. I think it 

 took nearly all the pollen they got to feed the young bees. 

 They reared young bees all the while I was feeding, in the 

 forepart of November. They came thru very nicelj' this 

 winter, stronger than any of the rest of my bees, according 

 to theij- size in the fall. Wheti I lookt at them one warm 

 day last week there was no sign of brood or eggs, but the 

 queen was alive and all right apparently. Now what I want 



