THE AMERICAN EEE JOURNAL. 



711 



E* leted, which can be done just as tlie 

 oney harvest is closing, and tluisnot 

 alhfw tlie bees to stop comb building. 

 There is money in it if carried out in 

 this manner. I feed by using feeders 

 inside the hive. 



A. A. Baldwin: I have fed ex- 

 tracted honey for this purpose, and I 

 think it will jiay, but I have not 

 tested it by actual weighing and 

 experiments. 



" Which race of bees is the best for 

 producing comb honey V" 



Mr. K. B. Leahy plead for the black 

 bees, as far as getting white, capped 

 and Hnished-up comb honey for 

 market. lie thought they entered the 

 sections more readily before swarm- 

 ing, and were less disposed to swarm. 

 James II. .Jones said that he would 

 not keep bees if he had to keep the 

 blacks. The discussion was quite 

 animated in bringing out the differ- 

 ent traits of the Italians and the 

 black bees, but the convention was 

 almost unanimously in favor of the 

 Italians. Other races of bees were 

 mentioned, but no one had handled 

 them sufficiently to be very enthu- 

 siastic over them. 



" What way is the best to winter 

 bees y" 



L. W. Baldwin : I winter my bees 

 in the cellar, and I have found by the 

 use of the scales that on an average 

 bees consume from 10 to 12 pounds 

 more honey per colony when wintered 

 on the summer stands than when 

 wintered in the cellar. This is quite 

 an item in wintering a large apiary. 



A. A. Baldwin : I think that out- 

 door wintering brings the bees 

 through with more vigor, and they 

 usually swarm a week or ten days 

 sooner than those wintered in the 

 cellar. I feel confident that bees 

 packed with chaff will consume at 

 least .5 pounds less honey than if not 

 so packed. 



The President said that chaff pack- 

 ing saved stores. The general opinion 

 was that bees wintered on the summer 

 stands should be crowded upon as 

 few combs as they would occupy, 

 have 20 or 25 pounds of stores, and be 

 well packed. 



" Does it pay to use reversible 

 frames and section-boxes V" 



No one present had used them 

 much, excepting Mr. Conser who had 

 used them, and was well satisfied with 

 them. 



'' How far apart should large 

 apiaries be located in a good honey- 

 yielding country V" 



This question brought out state- 

 ments of long tlights of bees In search 

 of honey, but the opinion most gen- 

 erally accepted was, that if the 

 apiaries were placed not less than 4 

 miles apart, there would be no con- 

 flictions. 



The convention then adjourned- 

 until 9 a.m. the next day. 



SECOND DAY. 



The convention met at 9:.S0 a.m. 

 The President being late, Vice-Presi- 

 dent R. 15. Leahy occupied the chair. 

 Mr. L. W. Baldwin was selected to 



prepare the table of statistics, which 

 is as follows : 



There being no business to transact, 

 the discussion of questions was re- 

 sumed as follows : 



" Does it pay to use wired frames ?" 



Mr. Conser : I have used them. In 

 shipping bees I think they are of 

 great benefit, but in handling combs 

 at the apiary they are not of so much 

 use. 



L. W. Baldwin : I have had con- 

 siderable experience in handling and 

 moving bees for several years, and in 

 all this time I have not had a half- 

 dozen combs injured, even if not 

 transported on a spring-wagon. As 

 far as I have observed, I cannot see 

 anv use for them. 



R. B. Leahy : If I were going to 

 work my apiary for comb honey, 

 using frames with short top-bars, I 

 should not have them wired. In 

 handling I would rather have them 

 wired for manipulating lower stories. 



" How can we remedy the turning 

 out of the starters in sections as the 

 bees work them y" 



This question called out the experi- 

 ence of several leading bee-keepers 

 this season, and it was generally 

 thought that the cause was the slow 

 flow of honey, cool weather, and 

 colonies being light in bees. Some 

 advocated using smaller starters, 

 others turning the sections aroimd, 

 while others thought that crowding 

 the bees would remedy it. 



•' In what direction is it best to have 

 the hives face in winter 1"' 



Mr. Thorne : I would have them 

 face the same way in summer and in 

 winter. 



S. W. Salisbury : My hives have 

 loose bottom-boards, and I raise the 

 hives in summer to prevent the bees 

 from lying out, and let them down on 

 the bottom-board in winter. I tliink 

 that the hives should face toward the 

 south. 



"How should young colonies be 

 handled to secure ilie largest amount 

 of honey V" 



L. W. Baldwin : I make a nucleus 

 from the swarm and put the rest in 

 the parent colony. 



P. Baldwin : A good way is to put 

 the swarm on 5 or 'i friimes and 

 compel them to go into the sections at 

 once. 



"Is there any successful way of 

 introducing queens V" 



Mr. E. M. Ilayhurst having stated 

 that he could introduce 500 queens 

 without the loss of one, was asked to 

 give liis method, which he did as 

 follows : After making the colony 

 queenless, I have a young queen caged 

 in a Peet cage, and I place the cage 

 directly over the cluster of bees and 

 leave it there till 1 see that the bees 

 are perfectly reconciled to the queen ; 

 this will require two, three, and some- 

 times several days. I then remove 

 the queen-cells and place the cage on 

 an outside comb over some honey, 

 remove the slide and rim out a plug 

 through the comb, letting the plug 

 remain in place and leave it undis- 

 turbed for a week. If the bees are 

 disturbed before the queen begins to 

 lay, she will become frightened, will 

 run about and pipe, and the bees will 

 chase and kill her. The important 

 point is to have the bees perfectly 

 reconciled, every queen-cell out, and 

 no robbing. 



L. W. Baldwin : I have found that 

 it is very diflicult to introduce queens 

 into colonies that have long been 

 queenless. It is almost an impossi- 

 bility with me. 



The convention then adjourned 

 till the afternoon. 



AFTERNOON SESSION. 



The convention was called to order 

 at 1:30 p.m.. President Ilayhurst pre- 

 siding. The following question was 

 then asked : 



" What is the most simple, cheap 

 and expeditious way for the practical 

 bee-keeper to change his stock by 

 re-queening V" 



L. W. Baldwin : I put in queen-cells 

 after the colony has swarmed, and 

 again immediately after the honey- 

 harvest, by taking the queen away 

 and the next day giving the colony a 

 queen-cell. 



A. A. Baldwin : I had just as soon 

 as not have colonies queenless for 20 

 days after the honey harvest, and 

 would take this time to give them a 

 queen. 



S. W. Salisbury : I. re-queen colonies 

 with swarming queen-cells. 



The question, " Is it advisable to 

 clip the queen's wing ':"' brought out 

 a lively discussion. 



James H. Jones : I prefer to have 

 my queens' wings clipped. 



S. W. Salisbury : I have tried clip- 

 ping the queens' wings, and I think 

 that it induces the bees to supersede 

 their queen immediately. I also have 

 great trouble in finding a queen whose 

 wing is clipped, when swarming. 



L. AV. Baldwin : The ease and 

 facility in handling swarms is much 

 in favor of queens whose wings are 

 cliiiped, and I like the practice. 



