202 



T'H® rn'mmmiGMM bb^ jQ^mmmi^. 



D. D. Daniher, of Madison, said that 

 lie had had some experience with the 

 Carniolaus, but had not found them as 

 gentle as even the Cjprians or the 

 Syrians. After handling Mr. Winter's 

 Carniolans, he found himself industri- 

 ously occupied in removing stings from 

 his limbs, and combing bees from his 

 hair. 



Mr. Turner, who had sold the bees 

 to Mr. Winter, said that they were not 

 pure Carniolans, but hj'brids, which 

 would account for their propensity to 

 use their stings. 



The question was asked by a mem- 

 ber as to the relative number of bees 

 wintering in-doors and out-of-doors. 

 About four-fifths were found to be win- 

 tering their bees in cellars. 



Mr. Taylor, of Minnesota, was pres- 

 ent with a sample hive, which, on 

 motion, he was requested to show, and 

 explain his management. He brought 

 the hive forward, and, placing it upon 

 a table, explained its construction and 

 showed its meritorious points. It is a 

 small hive, IGxlti inches, and some- 

 what resembles the Heddon hive. Dr. 

 Miller said it had many good points. 



BEE-KEEPING AS A BUSINESS. 



The next essay read was, ' ' Bee- 

 Keeping as a Business," by Frank 

 McNay, of Mauston. 



Mr. Freeborn thought that the qual- 

 ifications requisite for a successful bee- 

 keeper, were such as fit a man for a 

 mercantile or professional calling, a 

 banker, or for almost any business un- 

 dertaking; and he must make it a bus- 

 iness that the public will respect. 



Mr. J. J. Ochsner, of Prairie du Sac, 

 believes in making it an independent 

 business. 



Dr. Miller said that men with the 

 same amount of brains required in 

 other callings, can make money, and 

 have lots of fun, in bee-keeping. 



OVER-STOCKING A LOCALITY. 



The next essay read was on "Over- 

 Stocking." by S. I. Freeborn, of Ithaca. 



Mr. Lathrop thought that apiaries 

 ought not to be nearer than 3 miles. 



Mr. McNay said that it depended 

 mostly upon the season. Sometimes 5 

 miles was near enough; he had 350 col- 

 onies—about 35 in each. He thought 

 small apiaries were better, as less time 

 was consumed in visiting the pasture. 



Mr. Freeliorn found the best lioney 

 in isolated colonies. 



Mr. Root wanted to know about the 

 number of colonies around Boscobel. 

 He visited that locality last summer. 

 In one apiary which he visited, he 

 noticed the bees hanging on the out- 

 side of the hives. He thought they 

 ought to have been driven in, and set 

 to work. To the question he put to a 

 bee-keeper near Boscobel, with regard 



to the number of colonies in that vicin- 

 itj% he was told that there was no 

 danger of over-stocking; that 500 would 

 do just as well as 200, where there was 

 so much basswood. 



Mr. Freeborn had usually only about 

 150 or 200 colonies in one place. 



Mr. Root said that there were never 

 such crops of honey in one place as 

 about Boscobel ; yet he thought that 

 the Boscobel people had too many col- 

 onies for that locality. 



Dr. Miller thought that there ought 

 to be some way of preventing others 

 from coming and settling down with 

 bees, and spoiling the prospect of a 

 crop. What can Mr. Pike do to help it 

 if some man comes and locates his 

 apiary near him, and destroys his 

 chance of getting a crop? It does not 

 seem right. 



Mr. Taylor said that we all have to 

 take our chances, and put up with the 

 consequences. 



BEE-KEEPING IN CALIFORNIA. 



Mr. Freeborn was asked how he es- 

 teemed California honey. He said that 

 the white-sage honey of California is 

 very fine, but the sage does not alwaj^s 

 yield, especially in dry seasons. This 

 winter they have a cheering prospect 

 for the coming season. The white 

 clover is the most popular. He saw 

 considerable of bee-keeping and swarm- 

 ing while he was in California a few 

 winters since ; he noticed that church- 

 steeples were favorite resorts for stray 

 sxvarms. 



PLANTfNG BASSWOOD TREES. 



Mr. Root remarked that he had a 

 new hobby. Planting is a prettj- slow 

 business. He said, "We are going to 

 buj- timbered land, cut out the com- 

 mon timber, and plant basswood trees. 

 Under these conditions, they will be 

 more apt to grow." 



Mr. Freeborn asked Mr. Root if he 

 thought the}' would be of any use to 

 him, when they do grow. All basswood 

 does not yield honey. 



Mr. Ochsner inr]uired if his bees 

 should, in their flight in quest of honey, 

 get a smell of Dr. Miller's grove, could 

 he hinder them from lighting down 

 upon his basswood blossoms, and fill- 

 ing their honey-sacs? He thought that 

 all have the same right to the honey, 

 and for his ovvn part he had no ob- 

 jection to any man settling down next 

 to him with his ajnary. 



Mr. Turner said that the man who 

 has the most bees, will take precedence, 

 and will "root out" all other men. 



AI.SIKE CLOVER AND ALFALFA, ETC. 



President Hatcli — Nobody has said 

 anything about Alsike clover. I have 

 had 25 acres of it, and it will pa}' to 

 furnish your neighbors with seed gra- 

 tuitously. I would recommend bee- 



keepers to try 15 or 20 acres of it. 

 Alsike is not usually influenced by the 

 weather. 



Dr. Miller asked if an}' of the mem- 

 bers had tried alfalfa. President Hatch 

 said that he had talked with a bee- 

 keeper who had examined a field of it, 

 but had found no bees working on it. 



Mr. Root said he had had alfalfa in 

 his garden, but no bees worked on it. 

 In Arizona, a very dry climate, it is a 

 very productive honey-plant. The 

 honey is very fine, and resembles honey 

 from red-clover, and tastes like hum- 

 ble-bee honey. He furnishes Alsike to 

 any of his neighbors who will sow it. 

 It takes a good many acres to make 

 any show of success. 



Dr. Miller said that he had often 

 noticed no bees working on white clo- 

 ver, and yet his surplus comes from 

 white clover. It may be that bees do 

 work on alfalfa. He said that Mr. 

 Hatch made a good point on light soil, 

 which, in his opinion, is much better. 



Mr. Root told of a bee-keeper who 

 took nearly all the premiums at a State 

 fair, and got his honey from Alsike. but 

 it took a great many acres to do it. 



Mr. Freeborn said that there is only 

 a small proportion of the blossoms that 

 yield honey at any time. This is a fact 

 worthy of consideration. In Califor- 

 nia, where they irrigate, they are sure 

 of good weather. His experience with 

 basswood was that there had been only 

 five failures in thirty years ; two years 

 it failed to blossom. 



Mr. McNay said that there are two 

 kinds of basswood in Wisconsin that 

 yield honey ; one kind ten days later 

 than the other. The later variety 

 grows in valleys, each yielding honey 

 at about the same age. The extreme 

 limit of the honey-flow is from II to 29 

 days. 



Mr. Root said that it was three weeks 

 in his location — Medina, Ohio. 



Mr. Freeborn had known colonies 

 of his bees to gather II lbs. a day from 

 basswood, five miles away. 



COMB FOUNDATION AND ITS USE. 



Mr. E. France, being unable to at- 

 tend, sent his essay treating of "Comb 

 Foundation," to the Secretary, who 

 read it. 



Mr. France, in his essay, asked the 

 members with regard to the evai^ora- 

 tion of unripe honey. 



Mr. McNay said that he did not have 

 to evaporate his honey. 



Dr. Miller thought that a bee-keeper 

 who does not wire his frames is far be- 

 hind the times. 



A voice: "How about wooden foun- 

 dation, or rather, wooden combs?" 



Mr. Root had used them, but found 

 they took too much wax. He said that 

 Mr. Aspinwall claims that, with the 

 wooden combs, he can prevent rearing 



