THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



715 



Mr. Miller packed snow around his 

 colonies, and none froze, but some 

 died of starvation. 



Mr. Cook jiacked his bees in chaff, 

 with good success, the main point 

 being to keep them dry with plenty of 

 stores. 



On contraction some advocated 4, 6, 

 and S frames, and division-boards. 

 The Secretary prefers 4 or 5 frames 

 and 20 pounds of honey per hive. 



Mr. Singer did not intend to contract 

 his hives any, and packed some of his 

 bees in chaff and some in sawdust. 



Mr. Cook advocated upward venti- 

 lation. 



" What is the best way to avoid 

 moisture in the hives in winter, and is 

 it a cause of mortality ?" 



It was generally admitted that it 

 causes mortality, and the best way to 

 prevent it is, to so prepare the hives 

 as to absorb all the moisture possible. 



" Should bees breed late ? If so, 

 how late?" 



It was generally conceded that bees 

 hatched in September were the best 

 for wintering successfully, for old 

 bees or too young bees did not winter 

 well. 



" What way is the best to Italianize 

 colonies in the spring V" 



Mr. Cook takes eggs and brood from 

 his best Italian bees and lets them 

 rear a tjueen, or buys one. 



Mr. Singer intends to rear a colony 

 of drones, and take brood from the 

 best Italian colony, and remove it to 

 a place two miles distant, leaving 

 them there until the queens are mated, 

 and then take them home and intro- 

 duce them. He said that it did not 

 pay to rear a few queens in a small 

 way, and that it is better where only a 

 few are wanted to buy them of some 

 reliable dealer. 



SMALL HIVES VS. LARGE HIVES. 



Mr. Miller : I am using 8 and 10 

 frame hives, and get the best results 

 with the 10 frame ones. 



Mr. Cripe prefers the 8-frame hive 

 to anything larger, and if he were to 

 change he would use something 

 smaller. He said that the heat can 

 be kept up better in a small than in a 

 small hive. 



Mr. Lower has had good success 

 with any of the hives he is using. 



Mr. Singer : My best results are 

 from 10-frame hives, but I am going 

 to change to an 8:frame, as I think 

 they are more easily manipulated. 



DEEP vs. SHALLOW FRAMES. 



Mr. Com stock : All say that shallow 

 Langstroth frames are preferable on 

 account of the brood being near the 

 top-bar, but I find the same is the 

 case with deeper frames, and I like 

 the deep ones the best. 



Mr. Cripe prefers the shallow frames 

 for summer and the deep ones for 

 winter. 



Mr. Singer would prefer frames a 

 little deeper than the Langstroth, but 

 not so deep as some for general pur- 

 poses. A medium frame would suit 

 him best. 



" What is the best way to feed 

 bees ?" 



President : I feed my bees by nail- 

 ing scantling together and setting the 

 hive over them late in the evening. 

 The food is taken up at night, and so 

 I have no trouble from robber bees. 



Thirteen members reported 66 

 colonies, spring count, 209 colonies, 

 fall count, and 4,931 pounds of honey 

 as the crop of the past season. 



A vote of thanks was tendered the 

 various papers for publishing notices 

 of the convention, and also to the G. 

 A. E. Post for the use of their Hall. 



The convention then adjourned to 

 meet at Wabash, Iiid., on the second 

 Saturday in April, 1886. 



J. J. Martin, Sec. 



For the American Bee JournaL 



My Management— Extracting. 



W. H. STEWART. 



In continuation of my management 

 of an apiary (see page (i'Ol) : If I think 

 that a part or all of the combs in the 

 super are ready for extracting, I pry 

 the top-bars loose, and lift out the 

 one that by its appearance is best 

 calculated to be taken up without 

 scraping the other combs, or crushing 

 the bees. I give it a careful shake 

 over the super, when most of the 

 adhering bees will be dislodged, and 

 then with a large feather I brush off 

 the remaining bees, also letting them 

 fall into the super. This comb and 

 all others that are capped over about 

 one-third or more, I hang in the comb- 

 basket, and till the super again with 

 empty combs from the basket. I 

 repeat this operation until the basket 

 is full of combs of honey. I now 

 leave the fuel basket at the hive 

 which I next intend to operate upon, 

 and wheel the load of honey into the 

 extracting room. Here I have a deep 

 dish (a coffee-pot is good) full of hot 

 water in which the honey-knife is 

 dipped to clear off the wax and honey 

 that sometimes accumulates on its 

 edge. On a table I have a dish over 

 which I hold the combs while the 

 sealed part is being uncapped. A boy 

 can do this uncapping and then hand 

 the combs to the one doing the ex- 

 tracting. When the honey is out of 

 the combs, I return them to the comb- 

 basket to be taken to the hives and 

 exclianged for full ones. 



In the honey-room I have one or 

 more barrels in which to store the 

 honey. If one has not hives and 

 combs enough to practice tiering-up, 

 and let the honey become weU cured 

 before it is taken from the bees, it is 

 better to have a number of barrels 

 with only one head in each, and when 

 they are filled, tie a cloth over the top 

 and let the honey cure and thicken by 

 evaporation. 



As I take the honey from the ex- 

 tractor, I pour it through a strainer 

 made of cheese-cloth that I tie over 

 the evaporating barrel. When the 

 barrel is full, I remove the strainer 

 and tie over the barrel a piece of 

 muslin heavy enough to exclude all 



dust. When it has stood two weeks, 

 I remove the cloth and skim off a 

 white scum (pollen dust, I presume) 

 that is found on the surface, and then 

 the honey is ready to barrel up for 

 market. 



Sometimes I extract three times 

 during basswood honey-flow. In this 

 locality the basswood flow generally 

 stops abruptly, and as there is but 

 little honey that the bees can get for 

 a few days, nearly all of them remain 

 at home, and are very cross and more 

 difficult to handle, and, as a rule, it is 

 better to discontinue the work of ex- 

 tracting until buckwheat or other 

 plants begin to give the bees a little 

 honey ; then they can easily be quieted 

 with smoke while the work of ex- 

 tracting is completed. The Hnishing 

 up of this work of extracting is a 

 most important item. 



We have now from one to three 

 supers on the hive of each old colony, 

 and all full of surplus combs. If 

 these combs are properly handled 

 they will be found in good condition 

 when wanted next season ; but if not 

 properly managed, they will be likely 

 to give much trouble, and most likely 

 the majority of them be destroyed by 

 the moths, in the end. 



When extracting this last run of 

 basswood, I take away all supers as 

 fast as I get the combs out, and when 

 all are off, I place the cap oli the 

 brood-chamber, confining the bees to 

 the brood-combs. 



When all the surplus combs have 

 been run through the extractor, I pile 

 them up in the extracting room, until 

 about half an hour before sundown, 

 when I put them out in the open air, 

 so that the bees can take away the 

 honey ; then hang them in the supers 

 again about two inches apart, and 

 place the supers 4 or 5 tiers deep, 

 with the bottom-boards under and 

 the covers on them. They may 

 remain out-of-doors or in a store room 

 where there is no fire, and the moths 

 will not destroy them. It may be 

 well to set the combs out more than 

 one evening, but never let them 

 remain out over night. Wind or 

 storm might destroy them if left out, 

 or the bees would be apt to get crazy 

 over them in the morning; and if 

 they thus become aroused in the early 

 part of the day, robbing might ensue. 

 jSever place the combs where they 

 would be exposed to the hot sun, or 

 thev may be melted down. 



Orion, ? Wis. 



Convention in Italy. 



The Central Apicultural Society of 

 Italy held a large and enthusiastic 

 meeting at Milan, commencing Sept. 

 24, wlien Dr. Angelo iJubini took the 

 chair in the absence of Pres. Barbo. 

 Besides a number of Italian bee- 

 keepers, Mr. E. Bertrand, editor of 

 the Swiss Oee-paper. and Mr. T. W. 

 Cowan, editor of the British Bee 

 Journal, were present and took part in 

 tlie deliberations. There was a large 

 exhibition of bee-keepers supplies, 

 and honey, as well as articles in which 

 honey is used. 



