THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



617 



It seemed to be generally under- 

 stood that all could dispeuse witli 

 separators bv using narrower sectious. 



Adjourned to meet in Sec. Chamber- 

 lain's oiHce, in the State House, at 

 7 p. m. 



EVENING SESSION. 



The question was asked, " Which 

 is preferatile, natural swarming, or 

 dividing colonies y 



Dr. Besse : I would rather divide 

 three colonies tlian hive one natural 

 swarm. By division one has complete 

 control of the bees. I rear early 

 queens from the best stock, and get 

 early drones by inserting a drone- 

 comb in the centre of a lull colony. 

 When a colony indicates swarming, I 

 divide it, putting the old queen on 

 the new stand, and the new queen on 

 the old stand. 



C. E. Jones : I am in favor of nat- 

 ural swarming. I also reared early 

 queens. I make two swarms out of a 

 large one. I think it more natural for 

 them to swarm. 



Secretary : I let my bees swarm 

 naturally, or I divide them, according 

 to the circumstances and conditions 

 of a colony at the time. No general 

 rule can be laid down. It may be 

 best to divide one, and best to leave 

 another to swarm. One must learn 

 to determine by experience. I clip 

 my queens' wings. 



Mr. Pierson : I prefer natural 

 swarms. I also clip my queens' wings. 



President : Where you desire in- 

 crease, divide ; if you wish honey and 

 no increase, let them swarm if you 

 cannot help it. 



Wm. Oldroyd described how he 

 took a swarm out of a very high tree, 

 which led to a discussion on hiving 

 swarms. 



Mr. Benedict : I would smoke a 

 swarm down from a high limb by 

 tying burning rags to a piece of iron 

 fastened to a long pole, or I would use 

 a swarming-box, which is the most 

 natural. I divide by the " drumming " 

 process. The bees thus swarmed are 

 tilled with honey ; and as a swarm 

 takes about 6 pounds of honey with 

 them, this gives them a start. I put 

 the old queen on the new stand, and 

 run the new queen in the other part. 

 In 1-5 days I can drum them again. By 

 putting in the new queen, I always 

 have the hive full of bees. 



Dr. Besse : To hive a high swarm, 

 I would shake the bees off on a pole, 

 to which a caged queen is fastened. 



C. E. Jones : In swarming time I 

 watch my bees closely. I can tell 

 within 10 minutes of the time when a 

 swarm is going to come out. Bees 

 generally alight low. I take the 

 swarms from a limb in a swarming- 

 basket with a spring lid. I generally 

 catch swarms in a basket just as they 

 are coming out. If two or three 

 swarms alight together, dump them on 

 a sheet, catch the queens, and divide 

 them equally, as nearly as possible. 



A. Benedict : I separate my swarms 

 with a smoke-pole, holding it near the 

 swarm already settled, which will pre- 

 vent others from settling. 



Pesident : I used to keep a caged 

 queen to catch swarms, as stated by 

 Dr. Besse. 



Secretary : Mr. Ed. Miller, a neigh- 

 bor bee-man, who is a carpenter by 

 trade, and who is away from home 

 duriug the day, clips his (lueens' 

 wings, and during the swarming sea- 

 son sticks in the ground a stout bush, 

 with some branches on, a few feet 

 from the front of each hive. When a 

 swarm comes out his " better half " 

 catches the queen, cages her, and 

 fastens the cage in the bush. The 

 bees settle on the bush, and at noon, 

 or in the evening— after work — Mr. 

 M. liives them. 



Adjourned to meet at the Fair 

 Ground the next morning at 9 a. m. 



PKIDAY MORNING SESSION. 



In the absence of the President, Mr. 

 Benedict acted as chairman; 



GETTING THE MOST HONEY. 



Mrs. Gulp : I get more than twice 

 as much extracted honey as comb 

 hojiey by putting in empty frames. 



Secretary : Last season I had a 

 large number of sections filled with 

 empty comb, and I believe it was due 

 to this fact, that I had my good yield 

 of comb honey this season. I think if 

 we can always manage so as to get 

 the sections tilled with comb we can 

 get as much comb as extracted 

 honey. 



Mr. Benedict: I advise beginners 

 to go slow in extracting, and learn the 

 business, or they may produce bad 

 results, and get discouraged. I use a 

 movable-bottom hive, and tier up in 

 extracting. If the colony swarms, I 

 hive it on foundation under the old 

 colony, placing a wire cloth between 

 the two for a day or two. The queen 

 soon begins to occupy the lower story, 

 and as the bees hatch out above, the 

 honey is stored in the frames. By 

 this method I get a large body of bees 

 at work in a single hive. In working 

 for comb honey, I use the same 

 method of keeping my colonies strong 

 by hiving back the swarms. If I hive 

 swarms by themselve.s, I take a sec- 

 tion-rack from the old hive and put it 

 on a new one. 



Mrs. Gulp : My practice is similar 

 to that described by Mr. Benedict. 



"How soon is it advisable to ex- 

 tract after putting the swarms backi"' 

 Ans. — In two or three days, or as 

 often as necessary — whenever the 

 honey is partly capped. 



Dr. Besse : This, in my experience, 

 will not work well. If you extract 

 the next day, the queen will go up 

 and occupy the frames, and the bees 

 will build drone-comb below. I have 

 no particular method of working for 

 extracted honey. I usually extract 

 from the brood-chamber as soon as 

 the queen gets crowded. I tier up my 

 hives two or three stories high, and 

 always let the bees cap about two- 

 thirds of the honey before extracting. 

 Bees work downward. I put an 

 empty hive under the full one. 



A. Benedict : In tiering up section- 

 cases, always put an empty one be- 

 neath a full one. 



The convention then adjourned to 

 meet sometime in January, 1886. 



G. F. Williams, ISec. pro tern. 



far tlio American Bee JuuraaL 



Bee-Keeping in E. Pennsylvania. 



C. U. liEITEL. 



On Sept. l."), the Farmers' and Me- 

 chanics' Institute Fair opened at 

 Easton, Pennsylvania, and continued 

 four days, and for the first time in the 

 history of old Northampton county, 

 there was a display of real live bees. 

 Mr. John Maddock, of Glendon, a 

 very enthusiastic amateur bee-keeper, 

 exhibited a colony on six frames, the 

 hive being glassed on both sides, and it 

 seemed to be the greatest object of 

 wonder at tlie Fair. In connection 

 with it, he also showed honey in one 

 and two-pound sections and in frames, 

 hives, foundation, extractor, and in 

 fact all the paraphernalia of bee-keep- 

 ing. Mr. Maddock deserves great 

 praise for his effort, especially as it 

 was voluntary, unexpected, and with- 

 out the offer of any premium, 



Northampton county is one of the 

 oldest in the old Commonwealth of 

 Pennsylvania, having been organized 

 March 11, 1752, and which is one of 

 the most forward in manufactures, 

 boasting between SO and 40 iron blast- 

 furnaces alone, and is up to the times 

 in agriculture and almost everything, 

 yet is not as far advanced in bee-cul- 

 ture as many of the counties in the 

 Western States. It is true that bees 

 have been kept here for a hundred 

 years and upwards, but of all the bee- 

 keepers in the county, perhaps not 

 over a dozen have ever had a frame 

 hive — a large number never saw one. 



The country is covered by a net- 

 work of railroads, and 1 frequently 

 travel on them, and I am always on 

 the lookout for bees ; only a few days 

 ago I noticed two apiaries under 

 sheds, each containing about 2-5 colo- 

 nies, in the one they were in box- 

 hives, and the others were without 

 exception in straw skeps. and re- 

 minded me of the plate and illustra- 

 tions accompanying Riem^s Bienen- 

 zeucht, published in 1795. I hear of 

 many who will " brimstone" a large 

 numlser of colonies this fall. 



From the foregoing it must not, 

 however, be inferred that utter dark- 

 ness reigns among us, as the display 

 of Mr. Maddock, above mentioned, 

 proves ; besides there are a number of 

 intelligent bee-men in our midst, 

 foremost of whom is Mr. William 

 Christ, of Nazareth, now 7.5 years of 

 age. He commenced bee-keeping 

 wiien but 12 years old, with one col- 

 ony, and for (i3 years has never been 

 out of bees; he has had as liigh as 130 

 colonies, and often less than 20; his 

 present number is some 60. 



Mr. G. has always kept up to the 

 times, keeping himself posted by the 

 periodicals and works on bee-culture 

 as they appeared. When the frame 

 hive was invented he adopted it ; and 

 when the Italian bee was introduced 

 he was one of the first to get it. He 

 perceived the advantages of comb 

 foundation and the extractor, and was 

 not slow to adopt them. 



Mr. Christ is perhaps one of the 

 the oldest bee-keepers in tlie land, and 

 while he is modest and unassuming 

 in his ways, yet the novice who ac- 



