THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



89 



they would be more than simply an- 

 noying.) Wherever water ia to be 

 found, they jjo, throw themselves 

 into it, and part with life for a drop. 

 When they feel the dark waves clos- 

 ing over them, they doubtless repent 

 of the rash deed, so, having taken a 

 drink and a bath, tliey are very grate- 

 ful if any one will ladle them out. 

 Then they crawl away like turtles, to 

 repeat, after awhile, the suicidal at- 

 tempt. The hives of these harmless 

 bees are most ingeniously built of 

 clay, held together and made ex- 

 tremely hard by a secretion proper to 

 the insect." 



Speaking of the superstitions of the 

 people, Mrs. Le Plongeon says that 

 they suspend from the bee-hives 

 jicaras filled with a drink called zaca, 

 so that the bees may not abandon 

 them, but may constantly bring 

 honey, and their owners keeja in good 

 health. 



I am sure that bee-keepers will 

 thank the talented writer and natur- 

 alist for even this brief contribution 

 to the history and habits of the in- 

 sect in which tliey are so deeply in- 

 terested. Possibly, if this should 

 meet her eye, she might be induced to 

 tell us more about bees in Yucatan. 

 It may be that the harmless bees of 

 Uxmal might be a desirable acquisi- 

 tion, and it would not cost as much to 

 procure a colony of them as it did for 

 Mr. Jones to get a few specimens of 

 Apis dorsata in a phial of spirits from 

 Java. 



Stratford, Out. 



For the American Bee Journal 



Cedar Valley, Iowa, Convention. 



The annual convention of the Cedar 

 Valley Bee-Keepers' Association was 

 held in ]5eckley's Hall, at Waterloo, 

 Iowa, on Oct. 1 and 2, 1884. The 

 convention was called to order on the 

 first day at 2 p. m. 



The President and Vice-President 

 being absent, Mr. J. M. Bennett was 

 elected President pro tern. The Sec- 

 retary then called the roll and read 

 the minutes of the last meeting, 

 which were approved. The Treas- 

 urer then read his report, which was 

 accepted. The following officers were 

 elected for the ensuing year : Presi- 

 dent, C. P. Hunt ; Vice-President, J. 

 F. Spaulding ; Secretary, A. D. Ben- 

 uett; Treasurer, J. Iv, Oren. Ad- 

 journed to meet at 7 p. m. 



The evening session was devoted 

 to the discussion of the following 

 questions : 



" W'hat is the best method of pre- 

 venting increase V 



Mr. H. O. McElhaney makes nuclei 

 from the strongest colonies by taking 

 out frames of brood. Mr. A. D. Ben- 

 nett thought that there would not be 

 any difficulty if the bees were prop- 

 erly managed for comb honey. Mr. 

 A. Quin would use an extractor. 



" Are eight frames better than ten 

 in an ordinary hive V" 



Nine were thought to be the best, 

 generally, for comb honey, and 20 for 

 extracted. 



" What is the best method of in- 

 creasing colonies V" 



Mr. A. D. Bennett would rear the 

 queens, and then when the bees are 

 in a normal condition, divide them 

 and introduce the queens. Mr. II. O. 

 McElhaney likes the nucleus system 

 the best. Mr. J. K. Oren prefers to 

 let his bees swarm naturally. In- 

 creasing by division was generally 

 thought to be the best. 



" Is it advisiible to clip the queen's 

 wing ?" 



Mr. E. A. Sheldon favors clipping 

 the queen's wing. Messrs. J. K. 

 Oren, A. 1). Bennett, H. O. McEl- 

 haney and L. L. Triem do not favor it. 



" W'hat is the best plan to separate 

 two or more swarms when clustered 

 together y" 



Jas. Rolston puts two hives close 

 together and places the bees between 

 the hives and makes half of them go 

 into each hive. Mr. H. O. McElhaney 

 would put them into a long box with 

 empty combs in separate lots for as 

 many as there are swarms, and leave 

 them 12 hours, and they will separate 

 themselves. 



" Do bees build comb at will V" Mr. 

 A. D. Bennett thinks that they secrete 

 wax only when they need it. Ad- 

 journed until 8:30 on the next day. 



The next session was called to order 

 at 10 a. m., with J. K. Oren, President 

 pro tern, in the chair. 



" What is the best seed to plant for 

 honey alone V It was decided that 

 sweet clover, motherwort and catnip, 

 sown in waste places, would be a good 

 thing. 



"Does it pay to stimulate brood- 

 rearing in the springy" It was gen- 

 erally thought that it pays, Mr. E. 

 A. Sheldon and others feed rye flour 

 to stimulate brood-rearing. Mr. A. 

 D. Bennett would give combs of 

 honey or syrup set in the centre of 

 the brood-hest. Mr. II. O. McElhaney 

 uses a division-board feeder. Mr. J. 

 K. Oren feeds his bees in troughs 

 out-of-doors. 



" What is the best way to introduce 

 queens V" 



Mr. E. A. Sheldon cages tlie queen 

 in the hive for 24 hours, for cheap 

 queens, but would also give a frame 

 of brood with valuable queens. Mr. 

 O. O. Poppleton practices putting in 

 the queen and a frame of brood, 

 direct, without caging them. Dr. 

 Oren recommends driving the bees 

 and then hiving them and the queen 

 together. II. E. Hubbard uses Alley's 

 cage with good success. A. D. Ben- 

 nett thought that any of the ordinary 

 ways of introducing queens would 

 work when bees are in a normal con- 

 dition to receive a queen. 



'• Does it pay to feed extracted 

 honey to finish up sections at the close 

 of the honey season V" 



Dr. Oren thought that it would not 

 pay. A. J. Norris thought that it 

 would pay. 



" Has any one used the zinc honey- 

 board, and with what success V" 



A. J. Norris said that he had used 

 it with good success. O. O. Popple- 

 ton does not like them. Adjourned 

 until 1:30 p. m. 



At 2 p. m. the convention was called 

 to order, and the discussion was con- 

 tinued. 



" What is the best method to rear 

 queens y" Messrs. O. O. Poppleton, 

 E. A. Sheldon, A. D. Bennett and 

 others practice the Alley system, ex- 

 cept that they would cut out queen- 

 cells one day sooner than he recom- 

 mends. 



It was decided to meet at (^edar 

 Falls, Iowa, about the middle of Feb- 

 ruary, 1885, the President and Secre- 

 tary to decide as to the day of meet- 

 ing. A. D. Bennett, Sec. 



C. P. Hunt, Pres. 



For tbe American Bee JoumaL 



Bees Have Suffered Terribly. 



W. MASON. 



Mr. Vennor's almanac for 188-5, says 

 that we are to have a very open win- 

 ter, but Christmas completely snowed 

 the prediction under, chasing the 

 mercury at low points several times, 

 and to-day it is still snowing, with a 

 heavy snow already on the ground. 

 Stock of all kinds have wintered well, 

 being clear of disease, and in a 

 healthy condition. But, oh, the bees I 

 how they have suffered ! This county 

 is, or was well populated with bees in 

 the fall, but, from the effects of dis- 

 ease, and with the severe cold 

 weather, the loss of bees has been 

 fearful where they have been neg- 

 lected both in treatment of disease 

 and winter protection. Bees which 

 were provided with proper protection, 

 have not suffered so badly, ' 



I have 47 colonies snugly stored in 

 my bee-house. They were put in on 

 Nov. 18, and on Jan. 9, they were put 

 out and had a fly, although it was a 

 little diilly. They showed some signs 

 of bee diarrhea, but I think that the 

 flight will keep them all right. I will 

 give them another fly at the first op- 

 portunity. 



This is my first experience in win- 

 tering bees in a bee-house, and I am 

 well pleased so far, but I will report 

 later. The bees all through here 

 were peculiarly diseased ; they would 

 at times rush out of their hives in a 

 pell-mell way, fluttering and running 

 aimlessly about on the ground, some 

 acting like a chicken with its head 

 cut oft' ; and then they would coil up 

 and die as if stung by other bees. 

 This continued in some apiaries until 

 they all died, leaving plenty of stores. 

 Some would swarm out and cluster 

 and die there. I had 2 colonies that 

 were in this condition, and I at once 

 applied a treatment of burgamot 

 well diluted with sweetened water 

 with a few drops of carbolic acid ad- 

 ded with a little salt, and gave them 

 a thorough drenching, and I have had 

 no more trouble in that line, and lost 

 no bees. 



I am more and more convinced by 

 experience and reading that if we 

 succeed we must know what is needed 

 and how and when to supply that 

 need, and at all times to know the 

 true condition of our bees, or we will 

 fail as we would in any other busi- 

 ness when neglected. Does the suc- 

 cessful stock raiser neglect the wants 

 of his stock y If he does, he fails 

 just as the bee-keeper does who neg 



