616 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Dr. Besse : Bees will never injure 

 the tender Delaware grape, unless 

 the skin is first ruptured. Bees are a 

 benefit to corn-growers. 



A. Benedict : After grapes are 

 bursted they soon rot any way, and 

 might the bees not as well get the 

 sweet from them as to let it waste V 

 Bees are a benefit to all fruit-growers. 



Dr. Besse : Fruit-growers ought to 

 be thankful for the bees. If there 

 "were no bees there would be little 

 fruit. 



President : A Massachusetts fruit- 

 man once compelled a beekeeper to 

 remove, because he claimed that his 

 bees injured his fruit. A trial of sev- 

 eral seasons without the bees was a 

 failure, and the bee-keeoer was pre- 

 vailed upon to come back. 



ABE CIDEK-MILI.S INJURrOUS TO BEES? 



A. Benedict : T am satisfied that 

 cider-mills are injurious to bees. 



C. E. Jones : I lost 73 colonies, 

 ■which had plenty of clover honey ; 

 tlie cider that tliey carried in killed 

 them. I had better have spent $100 

 in screening the mill. 



President : As a means of harmony, 

 I suggest that bee-keepers furnish 

 some kind of screen to keep out the 

 bees. We furnished one for a neigh- 

 bor cider-maker which kept out flies, 

 etc., as well as bees, and cost only $2. 



It was decided that the President 

 appoint a committee to see that a 

 suitable building be erected by the 

 Agricultural Society of the State, on 

 the new Fair Ground, for the use of 

 bee-keepers, as a place of exhibition 

 and meeting. Dr. Besse, Delaware, 

 chairman ; C. E. Jones, Delaware, 

 and Aaron Benedict, Bennington, 

 were appointed a committee. 



It was next proposed to have the 

 Ohio Agricultural College take up 

 apiculture as a branch of study. The 

 President said he thought the college 

 ought to take such measures, and 

 that it would elevate bee-culture in 

 our State. It was decided that a com- 

 mittee be appointed to confer with 

 the directors of the Agricultural Col- 

 lege, to have a station of bee-culture 

 established there. 



" What is to be the object of this 

 department i"' 



Dr. Besse : The object is to test for 

 best bees, best methods of manage- 

 ment, to report from time to time, 

 and to educate students in bee-culture. 



The committee appointed were Dr. 

 Besse, chairman ; J. W. Newlove. \V . 

 Oldroyd, Dr. Mason, A. I. Root, Chas. 

 Muth, Dan White. 



PUOPER SIZE OF COLONY TO WINTER. 



• Dr. Besse : I think that too many 

 bees do not winter as well as a small 

 colony. 



A. Benedict : I cannot quite agree 

 with Dr. Besse. I want a large col- 

 ony of bees; a small one will eat 

 much more honey in proportion to its 

 size than a large one, to keep up ani- 

 mal heat. 



C. E. Jones : My experience in this: 

 Get a colony in as nearly a natural 

 condition as possible — large, and 

 plenty of honey. 



" IIow many bees are necessary for 

 such a colony V" 



Dr. Besse : About 3 pounds. 



Mrs. Gulp : I do not care for such 

 large colonies. I do not stimulate 

 them in the fall, for I am satisfied 

 that small colonies are the best. I 

 winter my bees in chaff hives, and 

 stimulate them in the spring. 



Dr. Besse : Winter half the bees, 

 and extract and sell half the honey. 



President: Dr. Besse and Mrs. Gulp 

 may be right, but I think there ought 

 to be caution used here in the use of 

 terms. A large colony will sometimes 

 contract in cool weather to the size of 

 a popcorn ball, and winter well. 



Dr. Besse : If you stimulate bees in 

 the fall, feed early enough so that 

 voung bees can have two or three 

 flights before they cluster for winter. 



WHEN TO FEED BEES FOR WINTER. 



Dr. Besse : Any time— the sooner 

 the better. 



President : I have the best results 

 by feeding gradually. Feed, say i4 of 

 a pound every night, and during Sep- 

 tember if possible. 



Mrs. Gulp : I think my plan of put- 

 ting away full combs, and giving 

 them to the bees in the fall, is the 

 best plan. 



Dr. Besse: We should throw out 

 the uncapped honey before putting 

 bees into winter quarters. 



" How many combs of honey are 

 necessary to winter a colony ?" 



Dr. Besse : Twenty-five pounds of 

 honey. 



President : Five full combs, 



BEST HONEY LOCALITIES IN THE 

 UNITED STATES. 



Central Ohio, California in a good 

 season, Florida, and the basswood 

 locality of Wisconsin and Michigan 

 were named. 



Dr. Besse : Ohio extracted and 

 comb honjy, taken by me to the Ex- 

 position at New Orleans, took the 

 first premium. 



A Stranger : Hardin county is as 

 good as any county in the State, for 

 honey. 



Mrs. Gulp : Franklin county is a 

 good locality. I tested one colony, 

 and took 252 pounds of extracted 

 honey. 



Adjourned until 2 p. m. 



AFTEllNOON SESSION. 



The subject of '' Moving bees during 

 the working season," was taken up. 



Dr. Besse : Move 5 or 6 colonies 

 every evening. After the bees are 

 all in the hives, place the hives far 

 enough apart so as to put others be- 

 tween them when moved the next 

 evening, Place a board, or three or 

 four sticks of stove-wood, in front of 

 the coh)ny moved. I moved 100 colo- 

 nies 250 or 300 feet, and very few bet-s, 

 if any, went back, and they were 

 caught in nuclei hives on the old 

 stands. I would advise moving the 

 strongest colonies first, then tlie re- 

 turning bees would re-enforce the 

 weaker ones left. 



A. Benedict : When putting bees 

 out of the cellar, be sure to put the 

 hive on the old stand. 



Dr. Gordon : I have no trouble in 

 moving bees short distances, and I do 

 not think it makes any difference 



whether we put the bees on the old 

 stand when taken out of the cellar or 

 not. 



Mrs. Gulp : I put my bees further 

 apart last fall, and saw no bad result. 

 I was trying to see if I could make 

 them do as I wanted, and I did. 



Dr. Gordon : I winter my bees out- 

 of-doors, with corn-fodder placed 

 around them, leaving an opening on 

 the south side, so the bees can fly on 

 warm days. I move them together 

 and set them on scantling two tiers 

 high. 



Mr. Morris : I wintered my bees 

 successfully in a bee-house for three 

 years, I never put them out-of-doors 

 for a flight when they are quiet. The 

 house has a brick foundation, double 

 wall, 1 foot of space filled with saw- 

 dust, and 1 foot of sawdust on top, 

 with cement floor. 



President : In regard to cellar -win- 

 tering, there is a diversity of opinion 

 and experience. Chaff-hives seem to 

 be the most practicable, with the 

 variable winter weather we have in 

 Ohio, and public opinion seems to be 

 getting in favor of them. 



A. Benedict : Bees need more ven- 

 tilation in winter than in summer. 



President : My practice is to leave 

 the entrance open full width all 

 winter. 



Mr. Goodrich : I prefer cellar win- 

 tering, and I keep the temperature of 

 the cellar as neai' the freezing point 

 as possible, and think it best. 



Dan White : I think the cellar, with 

 an experienced bee-keeper, the best 

 place to winter bees, although I win- 

 ter my bees in chaff hives out-of- 

 doors. I lost half of my bees last 

 winter. 



C. E. Jones : The cellar is a good 

 place to winter bees, if properly pre- 

 pared. 



President : The cause of last win- 

 ter's losses was poor stores and severe 

 weather. 



SPRING DWINDLING. 



Mr. Morris : Our spring losses were 

 caused by there being too few young 

 bees wlien they were put into winter 

 quarters. 



Dan White : The cure is, plenty of 

 young bees. 



President : There is some mystery 

 about " spring dwindling." A colony 

 "dwindling" seems to get discour- 

 aged, and will not even gather pollen. 

 I am sometimes inclined to think it a 

 disease of some kind, and may l)e 

 contagious, affecting whole apiaries, 

 and missing others in the same local- 

 ity. A disastrous winter is a benefit, 

 in one way, by making a demand for 

 bees and lioney. 



THE USE OF SEPARATORS. 



Dr. Besse : I do not use separators, 

 and I think it is better without them. 



Secretaiv : I have abandoned them. 

 To get the nicest and straightest 

 combs, use 1%-inch sections ; such a 

 section, 4J^x45^, will hold a pound, 

 and you can have as many rows of 

 sections as you have brood-frames — 

 the frames being spaced 1% inches. I 

 reverse the sections. 



A. Benedict: I use IJ^-inch sec- 

 tions with no separators. 



