THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



821 



Wmmm 



North American Bee-Keepers' Society. 



We here present our readers with 

 some of the matter omitted in the 

 last two issues of the JJee Journal : 



REPORTS OF VICE-PESIDENTS. 



Mr. O. O. Poppleton, Vice-Presi- 

 dent for Iowa, made the following 

 report of the results of bee-keeping 

 in Iowa during the past 12 months : 



Bees were put into winter quarters 

 last fall in very poor condition gen- 

 erally, as regards numbers of bees in 

 each colony and amount of stores. 

 The winter was a very hard one, fol- 

 lowed by one of the worst— if not the 

 worst— springs experienced during a 

 long term of years. The result iias 

 been to entirely destroy nearly or 

 quite % of tlie total number of colo- 

 nies put into winter quarters last 

 fall, and to leave many of the colonies 

 tliat were saved in very poor condi- 

 tion at the commencement of the 

 honey harvest. 



The honey harvest itself was much 

 below the average, and from the best 

 information I can get, I estimate the 

 total production of honey in Iowa, in 

 188-5, at about 3-4 the amount obtained 

 last year. 



Foul brood, which was reported 

 last year as being present in our 

 locality in this State, is not reported 

 as being in existence anywhere in the 

 State this year. AVhat is known by 

 some as the " trembling disease," by 

 others as the " nameless disease," has 

 been reported from several apiaries 

 this year. As the causes and charac- 

 teristics of this disease, as well as its 

 prevention and cure, has never, so 

 far as I know, been thoroughly in- 

 vestigated by any competent person, 

 I would respectfully request that this 

 Society either appoint a committee to 

 make such an investigation, or form- 

 ally request Prof. N. \V. McLain, of 

 the United States Entomological Sta- 

 tion at Aurora, Ills., to make such 

 investigation. 



Mr. Wm. Muth-Rasmussen, of In- 

 dependence, Calif., reports as follows 

 for that State : 



As far as I know, no vice-president 

 has been appointed for California 



uring the last two years. I can 

 herefore only report for myself. 

 i While the southern counties,accoi'd- 

 ng to all published reports, have had 

 a very poor honey harvest, the season 

 here has been about an average one. 

 The reason is that while the southern 

 counties depend almost altogether 

 upon wild vegetation for bee-forage, 

 our principal honey scource, here, is 

 alfalfa, which is irrigated and never 

 fails to yield some honey. Although 

 alfalfa is grown to some extent in the 



southern counties, it is used there 

 mostly as cattle-feed, and is cut as 

 soon as the bloom appears, 4 to 

 times, according to the season. It is 

 therefore of no avail to bee-keepers. 

 Such hay is, however, not suitable 

 for horses, being to '• washy;" and as 

 alfalfa is iiere used also for horse- 

 feed, it is not cut until it has formed 

 seed, or is nearly out of bloom. On a 

 few farms alfalfa seed is raised for 

 the market, and therefore our bees 

 have the full benefit of the bloom 

 while it lasts. 



In " dry " seasons, when there is a 

 scarcity of wild flowers, the alfalfa 

 honey is stored in its purity, and 

 equals any honey in color, flavor and 

 body, being about as clear as white 

 sage honey. In " wet " seasons it is, 

 liowever, mixed with honey from 

 other flowers, and is of an amber 

 color. Our honey invariably granu- 

 lates when frosty weather sets in, 

 but until then it remains liquid, and 

 will be so thick that a dish of it may 

 be turned upside down, without its 

 running out. 



Alfalfa, if rightly treated, is, to my 

 mind, equal, if not superior, to any 

 other plant which can be cultivated 

 for honey, hay and seed. The stub- 

 ble also affords fine pasture for stock, 

 but cattle are liable to become bloat- 

 ed, if allowed to graze on it while it 

 is wet or frosted. This is the only 

 danger that has to be guarded against. 

 All grass-eating animals are exceed- 

 ingly fond of it, whether it is green 

 or cured. It also affords fine pasture 

 for hogs and poultry. As the tap- 

 root penetrates from 20 to 40 feet 

 down into the soil, the plant is not 

 affected by drouth, and, when in- 

 tended for seed, is not irrigated. 

 When it once has secured a " stand," 

 it will hold its own forever after, re- 

 seeding itself, and clicking out, by its 

 dense growth, all other plants which 

 may attempt to share the soil with it. 



I hope that you may have a pleasant 

 and profitable meeting. 



Mr. H. L. Jeffrey, "\'ice-President 

 for Connecticut, gave the following 

 report : 



Connecticut has not produced over 

 two-tliirds as much lioney this year 

 as last (1884), and perhaps not over 

 half the amount, last year being the 

 best season for white clover and buck- 

 wheat that we have known for eleven 

 years. It gave us two unusually good 

 "honey-flows, which made almost an 

 incessant flow from May 8 to Sept. 27, 

 or more than 140 days of average 

 abundant honey-flow, against less 

 than 50 days in 4 flows this season, 

 with no white clover or buckwheat. 



Though it has been common for 

 well-cared-for colonies of bees of good 

 blood to produce 100 pounds each, this 

 year, it is also more common for the 

 uncared-for "scrub" colonies to be 

 deficient in winter stores, without 

 yielding any surplus. Altliough Con- 

 necticut annually consumes from 100 

 to 12.5 tons of honey, and although 

 bee-keeping is in a growing condition, 

 yet it would be extremely difficult to 

 collect 40 tons of surplus Connecticut 

 honey. Judging the State by an effort 



to obtain a close canvass of Vi towns, 

 it gives only a return of 12,400 pounds, 

 whicli is far less than half what the 

 grocers sell in some of the towns. 

 Learning that the local producers 

 have customers, and retail their pro- 

 duct, and that the store supply is 

 almost exclusively an import (the 

 production being from 40 to perhaps 

 70 tons as a minimum and maximum 

 amount), and that well-cared-for api- 

 aries of selected colonies will give a 

 surplus of 100 or more pounds per 

 colony, it shows that Connecticut is a 

 remunerative location for the skilled 

 apiarist. 



Connecticut possesses a few well- 

 read apiarists, but not one specialist, 

 that I know of, as a honey producer. 

 In all cases it is only a "side-show," 

 and yet not a few could cast a vote on 

 either the reversible frame, 4I4 sec- 

 tion-box, skeleton honey-board, or on 

 any of tlie other modern fixtures, and 

 all of them tried extensively enough 

 to warrant an impartial decision. One 

 apiarist has tried the IJJ^-inch wide 

 end- bar, with the reversible wire, to 

 the extent of 25 hives, and they have 

 been tried to stay : there are about 1.50 

 of such constructed hives put into 

 winter quarters, and trying a few by 

 the side of other hives for 8 years, the 

 number has gradually grown until 

 another season will see a few thou- 

 sand of the % -inch-wide end-bar 

 combs for sale cheap, or some kind- 

 ling wood and wax in the place of 

 the frames and combs. Saw 1% inch 

 thick plank in %-inch thick strips, 

 and make the tops and bottoms 5-16x- 

 ]-s, let into the ends, and use reversi- 

 ble wires, the hives to be V2}i inches 

 wide, with 2 division-boards scant 3^- 

 inch thick, confining the heat between 

 each two combs to its own space. 

 The advantages are, tlie prevention 

 of hoar-frost at each end of the combs, 

 the prevention of each comb being 

 built to the end of the hive at every 

 sudden flow of honey, the possibility 

 to take out any one comb without 

 being obliged to move each of the 

 others separately, the convenience of 

 moving a hive without every comb 

 swinging against its neighbor, the 

 ease with which a hive or nucleus can 

 be set up in a hurry, as well as many 

 other superior reasons. 



This is the out-growth of some old 

 cast-off Quinby stauding-frames 

 forced into use iii 1S77, by a sudden 

 call for frames and hives, and from 

 then until now they have been used 

 as standing-frames at one time, and 

 at anotlier time as hanging-frames, 

 by driving a nail in the end-bar; and 

 sometimes one side being up, then 

 the other side up, the twisting and 

 turning for fun and for fact caused 5 

 complete hives after having wedge- 

 slicks placed between the combs to 

 be turned bottom-side up, in 1883, to 

 get the crates of 18 prize-boxes each 

 as the receptacles of about 3 inches 

 deep of honey under the top-bars of 

 all the combs, because the first crates 

 of boxes were not taken off soon 

 enough, and up went the honey. The 

 same thing was tried in 1881, with 4 

 American hives whose combs were 

 half full, and, lo, the honey was 

 moved. 



