XHB xmrnmicmm mmm joiL^Rrimi^. 



171 



comb honey in conneetion with the 

 home apiary." Among other things 

 tlie essay stated the following facts: 



"My oiil-apiaries are located from 5 

 to 15 miles from my home apiary, at 

 the base of a mountain on the west 

 side. They are of easj' access. During 

 the months of April and May, with one 

 experienced assistant, I visit each 

 apiary once a week. An assistant re- 

 mains at each apiary during the swarm- 

 ing and houej' season. I aim to have 

 from 10(1 to 150 colonies in each 

 apiary. 



"My supplies for the out-apiaries are 

 prepared at the home apiary in winter, 

 and are distributed in early spring. 

 After much experimenting, I find it 

 advisable to permit the bees to swarrh 

 once, hiving a portion of two, and 

 sometimes three, swarms in one hive, 

 and returning a portion of each swarm 

 to the hives from which thej' came, 

 thus keeping each colony in working 

 condition. This plan, of course, gives 

 me 25 to 50 per cent, of increase, but 

 I get more honey. Out-apiaries cannot 

 be run as econoraicallj' as the home 

 apiary." 



" Betsinger's long-tried sj'stem of 

 non-swarming," was explained by N. 

 N. Betsinger, of Marcellus, N. Y., who 

 told of the best system to prevent 

 swarming, and the good results which 

 followed. Swarming is under control 

 of the leaders, and induced by them. 

 The longer bees are out on a limb, af- 

 ter leaving the hive, the less intense 

 will the swarming-fever become. 



AFTERNOON SESSION. 



At the afternoon session, which be- 

 gun at 1:30 o'clock, the following offi- 

 cers were elected: President, P. H. 

 Elwood, of Starkville ; Vice-President, 

 I. L. Scofield, of Chenango Bridge ; 

 Secretary, George H. Knickerbocker, 

 of Pine Plains; and Treasurer, N. N. 

 Betsinger, of Marcellus. 



The next meeting will be held in 

 Albany, N. Y. 



The leading essay of the afternoon 

 session was by Ernest R. Root, of 

 Medina, O., upon " The fraternity — 

 the honey-producer, queen-rearers, sup- 

 ply dealers and editors — their obliga- 

 tions one to another." 



Mr. Root was not present, and his 

 essay was read by Secretary Knicker- 

 bocker. The principal points of the 

 essay are as follows: 



The editor and supply dealer very 

 largely control progress in apicultural 

 matters — particularly the former. Bee- 

 papers are designed for the mutual 

 exchange of ideas. But, obviously, 

 there are some ideas and inventions 

 that it were better if they had never 

 been put before the bee-keepers. The 

 editor should carefully discriminate 

 between the useless and the useful. 



To be able to do this, hff sliould be a 

 bee-keeper himself, and alive to the 

 demands of th(! times. He holds in his 

 hand the (hroltle-valve of progress. 

 His readers will be pretty apt to fall 

 into his line of thinking, and if that 

 line is progri^ssion, they will be pro- 

 gressive; if he is conservative, and 

 clings to the " good old things " of the 

 fathers, his readers will be such. 



The editor of one of the leading 

 bee-keeping papers of France, even up 

 to the time of his death, which oc- 

 curred I'ecently, used his inlluence to 

 discourage the introduction of mova- 

 ble-frame hives among his patrons. 

 The result is, that a very large portion 

 of the bee-keepers of that country are 

 behind the times. The editor of one 

 of the other bee-keeping periodicals of 

 that country advocated, just as vehe- 

 mently, the use of the movable frame, 

 and he advocated it, too, as zealously 

 as his opponent had discouraged the 

 use of it. The subscribers to the paper 

 that advocated the movable-frame, are 

 progressive bee-keepers, and are using 

 what is called the " Dadant hive and 

 system," and, altogether, are a pro- 

 gressive lot of bee-keepers. While the 

 more advanced and intelligent class of 

 bee-keepers will not be swayed by a 

 non-progressive bee-paper, the mass of 

 its readers will follow closely in its 

 wake. 



There is not a country that is more 

 progressive in bee-culture than the 

 United States ; and this progress is 

 largely due to its progressive bee- 

 papers. I find that a large number of 

 bee-keepers have a "baby" in the 

 shape of a hive, frame, or some appur- 

 tenance connected with bee-culture. 

 Some of these implements ai'e practi- 

 cal, and are giving large results in the 

 production of comb and extracted 

 honey ; and, again, others are as cum- 

 bersome as they are expensive and im- 

 practicable. To place a doubtful in- 

 vention Ijefore the bee-keeping public, 

 and herald it as a "big thing," or even 

 let it stand on its own merits, would 

 do harm to the fraternity. Old bee- 

 keepers would not be misled, but a 

 large number of amateur bee-keepers 

 would verj' likety want to invest their 

 first few dollars in something of the 

 sort. It is the business of the editor 

 to keep down useless inventions ; false 

 theories, false conclusions in regard to 

 the workings of our little bee, should 

 be relegated to the waste-basket. The 

 editor should consider the needs of 

 the times. 



The obligation which a supply dealer 

 bears to the frateruitj-, is ver}- similar 

 to that of the editor. He should re- 

 fuse to make useless contrivances, and 

 sell only that which may be of use to 

 his customers. For a similar reason, 

 the queen-breeder should put onl}' good 



queens upon the market ; iind the 

 honey-producer should aim to produce 

 the ver}' best hone}', and sliould have 

 th(! same carefully gi-aded. It is the 

 duty of the fraternity to keep posted, 

 to keep out of the ruts of old-fogyism, 

 and believe all to be honest, until they 

 have shown themselves to be dis- 

 honest. Ernest R. Root. 



The above essay was followed by a 

 discussion of the topic, " Is it advisable 

 to introduce laying queens to a parent 

 colony after having cast a a swarm, or 

 having been divided artificiall}' ?" 



Mr.Cyrenius thought that under cer- 

 tain circumstances it would be advis- 

 able to introduce the queen. It de- 

 pended considerably upon what the 

 bee-keeper had in view. 



Mr. Doolittle said that the result of 

 his experience was, that it did not paj'. 

 It brought about swarming, and in 

 the midst of a honey harvest this was 

 a condition not to be desired. 



The convention then considered the 

 comparative merits of tin and wooden 

 separators. Upon this subject, the dif- 

 ference of opinion was as marked as 

 upon the question of the Italian bee 

 and German black bee. 



During the afternoon session. Presi- 

 dent Elwood read an essay upon "The 

 honey markets." 



EVENING SESSION. 



The evening session was taken up 

 with a discussion of the best methods 

 of marketing honey, and of the cause 

 and eftect of the short crop of hone}' 

 and low prices last year. In the 

 course of the discussion, Mr. Doolittle 

 arraigned the liquor traffic as one of 

 the causes of low prices. He said that 

 the price of honey seemed to decrease 

 as the consumption of liquor increased, 

 and his conclusion from this state of 

 afiairs was, that a great many men 

 preferred to buy whisky for family use 

 rather than honey. 



The best kind of a paper box for 

 shipping honey- was also talked over, 

 and there was, as usual, a great va- 

 riety of opinions. 



The convention adjourned until nine 

 o'clock the next morning, when among 

 the others, the subject of " Shallow vs. 

 large frames in the production of comb 

 honey," was discussed in an interest- 

 ing essay by J. H. Martin, of Hartford, 

 N. Y. 



At the last afternoon session, several 

 important subjects were discussed, 

 after which the convention adjourned. 



I^" We always extend the term of re- 

 newal subscriptions fi"om the date of 

 expiration ou our books. Present sub- 

 scribers whose time may expire one, two, 

 three or six months hence, can safely 

 renew now, without fear of loss thereby. 



