294 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



test, and noting all the outward sur- 

 roundings of every test ; also commit- 

 tees on experimenting with the differ- 

 ent races of bees ; also on reversible 

 frames to increase the amount of 

 comb honey ; and so of everything on 

 which such wide diversities ot opin- 

 ion now exist. The reports of these 

 various committees would be looked 

 forward to with intense interest, and 

 the conventions would be filled with 

 our most progressive honey-producers, 

 because it would pay them to attend. 



Other things being equal, certain 

 methods will always produce the 

 same results, and I believe it is possi- 

 ble by some such means as we have 

 here only hinted at, to determine the 

 surrounding circumstances over 

 which we have now no control, so as 

 to get the very best results out of any 

 locality of which it is capable of pro- 

 ducing. We will thus be acting in 

 concert with other associations, rap- 

 idly attain results which, acting 

 singly, would require years to pro- 

 duce. Agriculturists long ago estab- 

 lished experiment stations in many 

 Earts of the country, and the results 

 ave been gratifying, and I can see no 

 reason why apiculturists should not 

 follow their example. What is good 

 in one locality may be worthless in 

 another, and methods of management 

 with one class of surroundings may 

 work admirably, while the same 

 methods pursued under different cir- 

 cumstances and other surroundings 

 would produce certain disaster. 



Experiments scientifically con- 

 ducted and regularly reported at our 

 conventions, should be commenced 

 and continued until the races of bees, 

 the honey-flora, and the methods of 

 management in the respective lati- 

 tudes best adapted to each of them, 

 shall be uniform— because the best. 

 Had I known 18 months ago what I 

 now know, I would never have taken 

 90 colonies of Italians, and only 10 of 

 Holy-Land bees, to the island of 

 Cuba, for the Holy Lands have more 

 than doubled the Italians both by in- 

 crease and the amount of surplus 

 honey taken ; and I am credibly in- 

 formed on authority based on years of 

 practical experience with modern 

 methods, that the Holy Lands can be 

 made to produce an average yearly 

 crop of surplus extracted honey of 

 from 350 to 500 pounds per colony. 

 Why this difference between these 

 two races in Cuba and not here { 

 Simply that the great four months' 

 honey-flow of Cuba embraces the 

 months of November, December, 

 January and P''ebruary, and the Ital- 

 ians, not being fall breeders, cannot 

 be induced to fill their hives with 

 young bees, but instead, the queen 

 gradually lessens her laying until 

 about the middle of November, when 

 she almost entirely ceases, and the 

 bees assume a condition of semi-tor- 

 por; while the Hcly-Land queen 

 keeps up a vigorous breeding, and 

 her workers keep bringing in the 

 honey (a sufficient supply for breed- 

 ing purposes is always to be had in 

 Cuba), so that by the commencement 

 of the great harvest, the hive is 

 crowded with the busy workers ready 

 to store it as surplus. I mention my 



Cuban experience only as a simple 

 instance of what might have been 

 gained had I known the facts in the 

 case as I now know them. 



Further, if a whole convention were 

 thus divided up into committees, each 

 person would feel a responsibility 

 resting on him, to discharge the 

 duties imposed, in a creditable man- 

 ner, and we should at once come into 

 possession of a knowledge of the 

 various departments of our profession 

 based on the facts of careful experi- 

 ment, and acting on the same, our 

 business would soon cease to be re- 

 garded as one of luck or chance. 

 Hitherto our conventions have travel- 

 ed too much in ruts. Our programmes 

 have been hastily gotten up and filled 

 with the old subjects which have been 

 discussed from year to year in a man- 

 ner so nearly alike, that many of our 

 most prominent honey-producers 

 have ceased to attend because, as they 

 declare, that aside from visiting and 

 hand-shaking, and the making of some 

 new acquaintances, nothing is gained. 



As an illustration, take the subject 

 of foul brood, which has been dis- 

 cussed in most of our conventions for 

 many years, and yet hardly a new 

 idea had been advanced, till within a 

 very few months, Mr. Cheshire, of 

 England has, as the result of long and 

 careful experiment, aided by what he 

 could find out by the experiments of 

 others, probably discovered the true 

 cause and certain cure of this dread 

 malady, and thus conferred a blessing 

 on all progressive bee-keepers through- 

 out the world. Each member of the 

 convention should know definitely 

 what is expected of him, and then he 

 should have plenty of time to experi- 

 ment so as to reach intelligent con- 

 clusions before being called upon to 

 report. This done, our future con- 

 ventions will not be void of interest 

 for the want of new ideas, and the re- 

 sults of our meeting cannot fail to be 

 beneficial. 



New York City. 



For tlie American Bee Journal. 



Des Moines Co., Iowa, Convention. 



The Des Moines County Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association met in the Grand 

 Jury Room in Burlington, Iowa, on 

 April as, 1885. The President, Geo. 

 Bischoff called the meeting to order 

 at 11 a. m. At the afternoon session 

 the Treasurer's report was read and 

 approved, and 12 members reported 

 344 colonies last fall, 208 this spring, 

 and 6.680 pounds of honey as the total 

 of their last season's crops. The elec- 

 tion of ofticers resulted as follows : 

 President, Geo. Bischoff, of Burling- 

 ton ; Vice-President, W. N. Smith, of 

 Burlington; Secretary, JohnNau,of 

 Middletown ; and Treasurer, S. J. Mc- 

 Kinney, of Burlington. 



Various subjects of importance 

 were discussed, which made the meet- 

 ing very interesting. It was then de- 

 cided to hold the next annual meet- 

 ing on the fourth Tuesday in April, 

 1886, in Burlington, Iowa, at 10 a. m. ; 

 also to have a special meeting in 

 Burlington on the fourth Tuesday in 

 August, 188.5. John Nau, Sec. 



Geo. Bischoff, Pres. 



For tlie American Bee JournaL 



Preparing Bees for Winter. 



W. D. SJIYSER. 



I have read all the various plans of 

 wintering bees, and I find all of them 

 wanting in such a winter as the past. 

 I will now give the plan of preparing 

 bees for winter as practiced in this 

 section, and which, I think, accounts 

 for the terrible losses of bees. Wlien 

 people get their summer's work done 

 they have no time to fix up their bees, 

 for they must " go to town " every 

 day, and when they get home, if 

 asked what they were doing, tliey 

 would reply, " O, nothing ;" but they 

 knew all about politics and what hogs 

 were worth. I have asked them why 

 they do not prepare their bees for 

 winter, when they say, " O, it's too 

 soon. This is only September, and 

 we are too busy ; we can't now. We 

 are bound to go to a sale to-morrow, 

 and there is lots of time yet to put up 

 the bees." 



They continue this until November, 

 or until it begins to snow, then they 

 commence in earnest to fix for winter. 

 The first thing done is to make a calf- 

 pen, and the farmer says : " Well, 

 now boys, them last-spring calves 

 must be sheltered. There is money 

 in them.'' " How long will they have 

 to be fed, pa ?" says one of the b.)ys. 

 •' O, not long ; about five months. 

 Now, them bees must have a few 

 shucks stuffed around them, and a 

 few old boards over them to turn 

 water. I guess they have enough 

 honey to winter on. The robbers are 

 so bad I can't look." And so it goes 

 on until March, and how are things 

 then ? The calves are about half 

 dead, and the owner gets perhaps -50 

 cents apiece for their hides, after 

 making 300 trips to feed them. How 

 are the bees V They answer, " Well, 

 our bees wintered bad ; all dead." How 

 were they fixed for winter? "O, 

 they was well packed ; they had too 

 much honey-dew and pollen." 



One-half of the bee-keepers in the 

 country winter their bees on the 

 above plan. Nine-tenths of the bees 

 in this county (Johnson) are dead. I 

 put up 13 colonies, and the rats :ind 

 mice destroyed 2 of them. There is 

 no more use in letting bees die than 

 other farm stock. I winter my bees 

 on the summer stands. To read of 

 the slaughter of bees during the past 

 winter seems simply awful ; and then 

 to read about the various causes to 

 which bee-keepers attribute their 

 losses, such as pollen, " bug-juice," 

 honey-dew, freezing, starvation, etc., 

 is amusing. When I get to reading, I 

 think that all are trying to see who 

 can beat. It reminds me of the little 

 boy that went to set the old hen, and 

 when he returned his mother asked 

 him how many eggs he put under her. 

 He replied that he had put 40 in the 

 nest. " Why, Tony, she can't cover 

 that many eggs." " Well, mammy, 

 you ought to come and see her spread 

 herself." 



Hereafter, I will endeavor to de- 

 scribe my method of preparing bees 

 for winter. They came through the 



