THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



the winter. When Mr. H. first ob- 

 jected to " my confinement," he cited 

 me to bees in Indiana and elsewhere 

 which had the bee-diarrliea badly and 

 died before thev had been confined 

 three weel^s. Does any one know 

 whether those bees had brood in their 

 hives at the time tlieir confinement 

 commenced y Unless good proof can 

 be given that they did not have brood, 

 I shall claim that they did, as my ex- 

 perience shows that snch must have 

 been the case ; and if so, the confine- 

 ment would have been as great to 

 them as it would have been to other 

 colonies suffering from bee-diarrhea 

 on March 1 , caused by brood-rearing 

 being commenced six weeks previous. 

 Tlie idea is that nature requires 

 that the young bee should fly and 

 empty itself at the age of fronl (i to 12 

 days, and if from confinement by 

 cold, or any other cause, it cannot do 

 so, a " breeze is raised " where many 

 such bees are confined. This results 

 in the normal condition of the colony 

 being broken up, a desire .seizes them 

 to get out, large quantities of lioney 

 are consumed, and brood reared ex- 

 tensivel}[ in the vain liojie to thus 

 keep their numbers good by repljicine 

 those which are dying daily. If a 

 chance now occurs for them to fly, 

 and is continued every two or three 

 weeks, the trouble is partially averted, 

 but weakened colonies in the spring 

 is the result. If, however, the con- 

 finement continues, the old bees are 

 worn out by this constant restless- 

 ness, while the young bees either get 

 out and die or soil the combs, hive, 

 and the other bees until all perish to- 

 gether. 



Kow,asI said two or three years 

 ago, I can see no other '■ prime cause " 

 for this state of affairs but confine- 

 ment ; for where bees lly every two or 

 three days no such thing can exist. 

 Because some colonies can stand a 

 period of confinement of five or more 

 months, it does not alter the case in 

 the least ; for a steady, unbroken con- 

 finement will sooner or later use up 

 the most normal colony, while a flight 

 every two or three days will keep any 

 colony in health. This must be con- 

 clusive to all, it seems tome. Wliat 

 we want to know is, in what condition 

 can we place our bees atthebeginning 

 of winter .so as to avoid brood-rearing 

 as the great secondary cause of bee- 

 diarrhea, or any other of the minor 

 causes which may tend to bring on 

 restlessness during the long confine- 

 ment which they must often pass here 

 at the North during the cold montlis 

 of the year. At jnesent I think that 

 no brood in the hive later than Oct. 1, 

 with plenty of stores of sugar syrup 

 stored close about the cluster, to- 

 gether with a good winter repository 

 or chaff hive, gives us the most suc- 

 cessful outlook. 

 Borodino.© N. Y. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Michigan State Convention. 



w. z. nrTCHIN.S0N (68—94). 



^" The Mahoning Valley Bee- 

 Keepers' Asso(-iation will hold its 

 next meeting in the Town Hall at 

 Newton Falls, ()., on the third Thuns- 

 day in .January, 1885. The meeting 

 will be instructive as well as interest- 

 ing. K. W. TuKNEu, Sec. 



L. Cakson, Pres. 



Tlie Michigan State Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation held its lOtli aiuuial meeting on 

 Dec. 10 and 11, 1!*4, at Lansing. Tlie first 

 session was called to order at 10 a. m., 

 with President Hutchinson in the >chair. 

 The first topic discussed was 



rkveksiule feames. 

 Dr. L. C. Whiting: Kever.sal causes the 

 bees to attach the combs to the bottom- 

 bar, and if iKJt done too late in tlie season 

 it causes the Ih'cs to it'iiKive the honey 

 from till' lini(j(l-c(iiiil>s td the sections. 



O. J. lli'tliiTiiiHtiin: A piTson needs ex- 

 perience to know when to reverse frames. 

 Keversible- frames, of the style which 1 

 use, are an advantage in moving or ship- 

 ping bees, as the frames require no 

 fastening. 



A. 1. lioot: lam inclined to think that 

 reversible frames are an advantage, but 

 none of the devices yet offered meet my 

 approval. The objection to the Ilethei- 

 ington style is that it does away with the 

 lateral movement, and unless the combs 

 are unusually free from bulges, bees are 

 crushed when the combs are reversed. 



Dr. A. B. Mason: If I could find a sat- 

 isfactory device, I would adopt reversible 

 frames. 



Some one said that bees give their cells 

 an upward slant, and asked if reversal 

 did not cause trouble by giving the cells a 

 downward slant. Several replied in the 

 negative, and gave instances where the 

 combs had been reversed in transferring 

 and no harm resulted. Comb has been 

 filled with honey and brood even when in 

 a horizontal position. 



T. M. Cobb: 1 have reversed the combs, 

 and the bees fastened them to the bottom- 

 bar, but did not remove the lioney to tlie 

 sections. It was late in the season. 



A. 1. Root: It is possible that reversal 

 too early in the season may cause trouble 

 the same as does spreading the brood too 

 early. 



JamesUre: I object to reversible frames 

 bti'Miisi' tlicy give the cells a downward 

 sliiiil, ill senile styles the lateral movement 

 is (Icstniycil, and because they cause the 

 bees to carry their best honey, which is 

 well ripened, into the sections, and fill up 

 the brood-combs with a poor grade of late- 

 gathered honey. 



Dr. Whiting: A neighbor of mine wlio 

 uses reversible frames, received, upon an 

 average, 1(1 jiouiuls more honey jier colony 

 tlian myself. 1 do not use them. 



Geo. E. Hilton: Were his bees left as 

 well supplied with honey as your own ? 



Dr. VV biting: They might not have 

 been; tliey certainly had more brood, and 

 if they lacked honey, it was because it 

 had been stored in the sections, and had 

 been sold for twice as nincb as it would 

 cost to buy sugar to winter them, and the 

 sugar is a safer food than honey for winter. 



I'lof. A. .I.Cook: If we can get the 

 honey into the sections, have the brood- 

 combs full of brood, and the condis left 

 empty in the fall so that sugar can be fed; 

 if we can receive all these advantages by 

 using reversible frames, they are certainly 

 a preat thing. 



As J'resideiit Hutchinson found it some- 

 what ditlicult to jireside and " take notes " 

 at the same time, Vice-President Taylor, 

 by request, took the chair. 



TWO KNTHANCES. 



Some one asked It it was advisable, 

 when using hives more than one story 

 IiIkIi, to have an entrance for each story. 

 Answered in the negative. Such en- 

 trances allow the escape of heat and in- 

 vite the attacks of robbers. One entrance 

 is sufficient, and that should be at the 

 bottom. 



GETTING DEES STAItTEI> IN SECTIONS. 



A question was asked upon the above 

 subject, and answered by Dr. Whiting as 

 follows: If bees are getting honey in 

 such quantities that they begin to build 

 new, white brace-combs they are ready to 

 besin in the sections. Sections jiut on 

 before this time will only be soiled, not 

 filled. A colony is sometimes found 

 which is very slow in beginning work in 

 the sections. It can usually be started by 

 giving it two or three sections, with the 

 adhering bees from some colony which is 

 well started in Ibe sections. 



Adjourned to meet at 1 :30 p. m. 



AFTERNOON SESSION. 



The Convention was called to order at 

 1:30 with Vice-President Taylor in the 

 chair. The first topic was 



SEPAK.VTORS. 



President Hutchinson: To dispense 

 with separators use sections not more 

 than 1% inches wide, fill them full of 

 foundation, and do not give the bees too 

 mncli room. 



Dr. Whiting: If the colony is weak, or 

 honey conies in slowly, the combs are 

 likely to be bulged. 



Secretary Cutting: I once took a nice 

 section of honey which was produced 

 without separators, by one of our promi- 

 nent apiarists, carefully scraped and 

 washed away the honey from the founda- 

 tion, put the section on one of my hives, 

 and bad a second comb of honey built 

 upon the same piece of foundation. 



President Hutchinson: I fail to seethe 

 point, I do not think that the thickness 

 of the foundation has anything to do with 

 the .straightness or evenness of the combs 

 when no separators are used, and you re- 

 member that Mr. Doolittle found one 

 sample of foundation to be even thinner 

 than natural comb. 



T. M. Cobb: By using sections only IK 

 inches wide, I have, for two sea.son.s. suc- 

 ceeded in getting straight combs without 

 separators. 



BESTjWIDTII FOn SECTIONS. 



President Hutcbinson: I used, the past 

 season, two widths of sections, one width 

 was lli inches, the other the merest trifie 

 less than !*.( inches (T to the foot), and so 

 far as the straightness of combs is con- 

 cerned, tliere is no appreciable difference 

 in the widths; the thinner combs are 

 sealed over quicker, but whether this 

 is of sufficient advantage to give the 1>^- 

 inch size the preference, will require at 

 least auother season to enable me to 

 decide. 



WrOE FRAMES VS. CASES. 



A. I. Root: My preference is for the 

 wide frame, or for such a style of case 

 that the sections are protected upon all 

 sides, for, in our locality, propolis is so 

 plentiful that everything is soon covered 

 with it. 



Dr. Whiting: My preference is for the 

 wide frame, but I want one in which the 

 top is removable, so that the sections can 

 be taken out with less trouble. 



A. 1. Root: Many bee-keepers use a 

 " follower " to remove the sections from 

 both wide frames and cases. 



T. M. Cobb: 1 have used wide frames 

 for two years, but tliey are now stowed 

 away upstairs, where they are likely to 

 remain. I use the Heddon case, and like 

 it very much. 



Prof. Cook: 1 have used both wide 

 frames and cases, and I must say that I- 

 think Mr. (;olih is justified in making his 

 remarks. I have used the Heddon case 

 during the past season, and I must say 

 thatl like it. 



President Hutchinson: It was not until 

 I saw the Heddon case that I could be 

 induced to go into the busini»ssof produc- 

 ing comb honey. Objection has been 

 made to the bee-spaces between the sec- 



