460 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Feeding Honer Troni Depopulated 

 Hives, etc.— W. "K. Fulton, Aledo,^ 

 Ills., on July 9, 1SS5, writes thus : 



I wish to ask a few questions in regard 

 to my bees. I lost over ^ of tliem during 

 the past w inter and spring— most of them 

 alter they were taken from tlie cellar on 

 April 1— and they left lots of clean wliite 

 clover honey ; they starved to death with 

 their store-houses full. Why it is, is some- 

 thmg I cannot understand. The most of 

 tliose that died had the diarrhea. 1 liave 

 never fed any, always depending on their 

 natural stores, and "I have always been i 

 successful in wintering bees in the cellar, 

 until tlie past winter. My cellar Is dry, 

 and well ventilated by a flue in the chim- 

 ney. The bee-room is separated from the 

 rest of the cellar by a brick wall, so that 

 the bees were not often disturbed, except 

 when 1 went purposely to see them. I 

 extracted the honey left, and I do not 

 know what to do with it, for 1 cannot sell 

 it for table use. as there was enough of 

 old comb to make it dark colored. 



1. Will it do to feed it to the bees, when 

 it is necessary to feed them ? 



2. Where is the best place to keep the 

 extracted honey so that it will not get 

 thin and sour ? Would a dry cellar be a 

 good place to keep it hi ? 



3. Why is it necessary to feed bees 

 when they have plenty of stores of tlieir 

 own ? 



4. When bees rob, do the robbers store 

 the honey, or is it wasted ? 



5. I have never had an v except the black 

 bees, but I have been thinking of intro- 

 ducing Italian queens ; if I make a success 

 of it, can I keep my stock pure when 

 there are bees kept within % of a mile of 

 my apiary? 



I think that Mr. Heddon's plan to or- 

 ganize a national defense association 

 should be taken hold of by all bee-keep- 

 ers, whether large or small ; and my plan 

 is to send in the cash— promises do not 

 pay attorneys' fees, and the best counsel 

 should be "had to defend the Freeborn 

 case. The honey season in this locality 

 was three weeks later than usual. The 

 bees are doing well now. There have 

 been but few swarms ; last year we had 

 too many swarms. 



[1. Tes. 



2. Yes ; a dry cellar is a good place for 

 it. It should be allowed to ripen, by 

 leaving the bungs out, and covering tlie 

 hole with wire cloth. 



3. It is not necessary, unless you want 

 to feed them sugar syrup for winter stores. 



4. The robbers store it in tlieir own 

 hives. 



5. If you purchase fertilized queens you 

 may lose, unless your neighbors' drones 

 l)revent it, by visiting your apiary, which 

 they will do, if not more than a mile 

 away.— Ed.] 



Uasswood a Failure.— B. H. Stan- 

 dish, (80—125), Evansville, 9 Wis., on 

 July 15, 1885, says : 



The white honey harvest is practically 

 over here. 1 do not think that the sur- 

 plus will exceed .5 pounds per colony, 

 spring count. But little clover survived 

 the winter, and basswood has not one 

 blossom to 100 trees ; the weather is cold 

 and unfavorable. 



Hope for a Good Fall Crop.— Jacob 

 Emmons, St. George, d Kans., on July 

 15, 1885, says : 



My bees wintered well, but a dry spell 

 following apple-bloom caused, them to 

 dwindle considerably, and I had to feed 

 some. They appear to he doing fairly 

 well now, but 1 have taken no surplus yet; 

 I hope for a fall crop. 



No Honey to (iather, —Smith & Mor- 

 fran, Columbus,© Wis., on July 13, 

 1885, write thus : 



We have 300 strong colonies of bees, but 

 we are getting no honey to .speak of, and 

 the prospects are that we shall not be able 

 to supply our local demand. Last year, 

 at this time, we had 4 tons of comb houey, 

 against two boxes of 12 pounds each, this 

 year. We have spread our bees out in 7 

 different yards, in the best localities that 

 we could find, but there seems to be no 

 honey to- be had. 



Defense Fund, and an annual fee of 25 

 cents, for which he shall receive a printed 

 receipt makmg him a member of this Union, 

 entitled to all its rights and benefits. The 

 annual fee shall be due on the first day of 

 ,lulv in each year, and must he paid within 

 30 clays in order to retain membership in 

 this Union. 



Aktici.e VI.— Donations of any amount 

 may be made at any time to the Defense 

 Fund, in addition to the entrance and 

 meiubership fees and the regular assess- 

 ments made upon the members by the 

 Advisory Board. 



Akticle VII.— The Defense Fund shall 

 be used for no other pur)iose than to defend 

 and jirutcct bee kccjiers ui tlieir riglits, after 

 such cases are ;i|iiir(ivi'il by tlic Advisory 

 Board, and shall only be subjected to Drafts 

 regularly made in writmg h*" the Advisory 

 Board. 



Aetici.e VIII.— Theannualfeespaid by 

 the members shall become a general fund, 

 from which shall be paid the legitimate 

 expenses of this Union, such as prmting, 

 postage, clerk-hire, etc. 



Article IX.— Meetings of this Union 

 shall be held at such times and places as 

 shall be designated by the Advisory Board, 

 or upon the written requisition of ten 

 members. 



Article X.— This constitution may be 

 amended by a majority vote of all the 

 members atany time. 



LIST OF .ME>rBERS -iT THIS D.4TE : 



Prospects Not Encouraffiug.— C. H. 



Dibbern, (215), Milan,^ Ills., on July 

 15, 1885, says : 



The white honey harvest is about over, 

 and the result is that the yield is only 

 about equal to that of last year. Early in 

 June the weather was too cold, and colo- 

 nies were too weak to store much surplus; 

 July came with dry, hot days and cool 

 nights, and prospects are not very en- 

 couraging. With less than one half the 

 bees in the country, and considering the 

 very moderate yield, honey ought to bring 

 a fair price this fall. Bees have swarmed 

 only moderately, and about two-thirds of 

 my colonies have not swarmed at all. 

 Unless we get rain soon the fall bloom 

 will not amount to much. 



The National Bee- Keepers' Union. 



OOSNSTITUXION. 



Severe Drouth.— S. Valentine & Son, 

 Hagerstown,-o Md., on July II, 1885, 

 write : 



The honey crop must be a failure 

 throughout this country, as there is noth- 

 ing for the bees to work on except some 

 dried-up blue'thistle. We have had cold, 

 dry, windy weather the whole season 

 through, and the fields are almost destitute 

 of any green vegetation. Never, to onr 

 recollection, have we had such a drouth, 

 and unless it rains soon, the farmers will 

 be compelled to use the little feed they 

 have gathered, before winter comes. We 

 liave not heard of any honey being ob- 

 tained. We have aliout 20 or 2.5 colonies 

 that are working in the sections, but what 

 tlie result will be we are not able to say 

 now. 



Article I.— This organization shall be 

 known as the "National Bee -Keepers' 

 Union," and shall meet annually, or as 

 often as necessity may require. 



Article II.— Its object shall be to pro- 

 tect the interests of bee-keepers, and to 

 defend their rights. 



Article III.— The officers of this Union 

 shall consist of a President, five Vice- 

 Presidents, and a General Manager (who 

 shall also be the Secretary and Treasurer), 

 whose duties shall he those usually per- 

 formed by such othcers. They shall be 

 elected by ballot, and hold their several 

 ottices for' one year or until their successors 

 ai'e elected ami iiistallcMl; lilaiik hallnts 

 for this purpose to he uiailrd to e\ cry mem- 

 ber by the General Manager. 



Article IV. — The oflicers shall consti- 

 tute an Advisory Board, which shall 

 determine what action shall he taken by 

 this Union, upon the apiilicaliou of any 

 bee-keepers for defense, and cause such 

 extra assessments to be made upon all the 

 members as may become necessary for their 

 defense. 



Article V.— Any person may become a 



member by paving to the General Manager 



I an Entrance Fee of one dollar to the 



Anderson, Wm., 

 Angell, C. S.. 

 Baldwin, B. T., 

 Barnes, Wm. M., 

 Baxter, B. J.. 

 Besse, H,.M. D., 

 Bitzer, Wm., 

 Brickey, Peter, 

 Buchanan, J. W, & Bro, 

 Burton, L., 

 Chapman, J.. 

 Cheney, H. II., 

 Clarke. Rev. W.F.. 

 Connley, John T.. 

 Cook, Prof. A. J., 

 Dadant, Cbas., 

 Dadant. C. P., 

 Darby. M. E.. 

 Decker, A. A., 

 Demaree, G. W.. 

 Dibbern, C. H & Son, 

 Dickason, T. B.. 

 Dittmer. Gus, 

 Doolittle, G. M., 

 Dunham, P., 

 Dunn, John. 

 Eastwood, L., 

 Featliers, Harvey, 

 Flanasan. E. T., 

 Follett, Charles, 

 France, E. & Son, 

 Freeborn. S. I., 

 Fulton. W. K., 

 Funk, H. W., 

 Furness. Dwight, 

 Green, Charles H., 

 Grimm, Christopher, 

 Hatch. C. A., 

 Havens, Reuben, 

 llayhurst, E. M.. 

 Ileaton, J.N., 

 Heddon, James, 

 llensley. J. P., 

 Hettel. M.. 

 Hills. Mrs. H., 

 Hilton, George E., 

 Howard. J. B., 

 Hoyle, George H.. 



Huse. Wm. H., 

 Hyne, James M.. 

 Junes, George \V., 

 King, T. Frank, 

 Langslroth. Rev. L. L., 

 Le Roy, J. W., 

 LudUey, Charles, 

 Mallory, S. H.. 

 Marden, Henry, 

 Mason. Jas. B.. 

 McConnell, James. 

 McNay, Frank, 

 McNeill. James, 

 Miller, Dr. C. C, 

 Miller, Henry, 

 Minnich, F., 

 Minor, N. L., 

 Muth-Rasmussen, Wm., 

 Nelson, James A., 

 Newman. Alfred H., 

 Newman, S M., 

 Newman, Thomas G., 

 Nipe. James, 

 Pennoyer, L. A., 

 Powell. B. W., 

 Pray, G. L., 

 Rey, John, 

 Reynolds. M. G., 

 Shapley. D. L.. 

 Shearman. J. O., 

 Shirley, W. II.. 

 Smith. George, 

 Stearns, J. K.. 

 Stephenson, H. W., 

 Stewart, W. H„ 

 Stolley, Wm., 

 Theilmann, C. 

 'I'hompson, Geo. M., 

 Tinker, Dr. (i. L., 

 Tongue, L. N., 

 Travis, F. VV.. 

 Trim be rgnr. John, 

 Vanhoulen, C. W., 

 Walton. Col. R.. 

 Webster, U.S.. 

 Wilbins. Miss Lucy A., 

 Wright. W. D., 

 Zwlener, H. L. 



Convention Notices. 



^F" The Cortland Union Bee -Keepers' 

 Association will hold a basket picnic at the 

 apiary of Mr. Miles Morton, at Groton, N. Y., 

 on Tuesday, Aug. IS, 188.5. All bee-keepers, 

 with their' families, are cordially invited to 

 be present. W. H. Beach, See 



tW The Union Bee-Keepers' Association 

 o( Western Iowa will meet in Stuart, Io\ya, 

 on July •-;.'), isar,, at 10 a. in. 



M. E. D.VRBY, Sec. 



^r"Thene.\t meeting-of the Northwestern 

 Illinois and Soiitliu-csterii Wisconsin Bee- 

 Keepers' Association will be held at Rock 

 Citv, Ills., on Aus'. '-:.'>, 18S.5. 



J. Stewart, See. 



