282 



Tmm mmmmi&mm mmn j©^kmmi^. 



conventions to speak plainly — put 

 stress on the consonants, show that 

 you feel what you say. He would not 

 take time to read the minutes, which 

 nearly all have read before. 



H. F. Moore said that to make a 

 convention interesting, be there your- 

 self, even though it costs money. The 

 information one gets, pays. Tell your 

 friends to come and participate ; they 

 will then thank you. 



F. A. Eaton has attended the meet- 

 ings of this Association for several 

 years, and it has paid him in money 

 value, to say nothing of the gain in 

 the social part of such gatherings. 



Dr. Miller, at a convention, saw a 

 little device, from which, he had no 

 doubt, came the T super. 



After some miscellaneous business, 

 the convention adjourned to meet at 

 1:30 p.m. Dema Bennett, Sec. 



CANADA. 



Report or the Haldiuiaiid Bee- 

 Keepers' Convention. 



The annual meeting of the Haldi- 

 mand, Ont., Bee-Keepers' Association 

 was held at Cayuga, on March 22, 

 1890. In the absence of the President, 

 Mr. James Jack was called to the 

 chair. The minutes of the last meet- 

 ing were read and confirmed. 



Among the subjects discussed was, 



SPRING MANAGEMENT OF BEES. 



Mr. Kindree said that the best way 

 to manage for spring, was to see that 

 the bees had plenty of honey in the 

 fall. He favored crowding the bees 

 on as few frames as possible, and 

 keeping them warm. 



Mr. Rose agreed with Mr. Kindree 

 as to crowding bees on a few frames, 

 and keeping them warm ; he did not 

 approve of spreading combs too early. 

 Packing in the spring is of more im- 

 portance than in the fall. 



The chairman said that he had not 

 much experience in spring manage- 

 ment, but gave the plan of others. 



The election of officers resulted as 

 follows : President, Frank Rose : Vice- 

 President, Wm. Kindree ; Secretary 

 and Treasurer, E. C. Campbell ; and 

 Directors, James Armstrong, Israel 

 Overholt, John Bell, Robert Coverdale, 

 and F. Mehlenbacher. 



REARING QUEENS — INCREASE. 



Mr. Coverdale asked whether it was 

 advisable to start to rear queens in 

 April so as to divide and make new 

 colonies ? The general opinion of the 

 meeting was against the practice. 



Mr. Overholt asked for the best way 

 to prevent increase of swarms. Mr. 

 Rose said that his plan was to put on 

 extra stories, giving them plenty of 



room, and putting two swarms into 

 one hive. 



It was decided that this Association 

 affiliate with the Ontario Bee-Keepers' 

 Association, and that the Secretary be 

 instructed to send $5 to the Secretary 

 of the latter Association. 



The next meeting of this Association 

 will be held at Cayuga, on Saturday, 

 May 17, an 1 o'clock. 



E. C. Campbell, Sec. 



BEGINNING. 



An Experience in Coninienoing; 

 to Keep Bees. 



Written for the American Bee Jouriial 

 BY J. P. SMITH. 



The beginner has to commence at 

 the foot of the hill, and learn by ex- 

 perience. True, he should have some 

 knowledge of bees and their ways, in 

 order to begin. He needs to x-ead 

 "Bees and Honey," or some other 

 good bee-book, and should take one or 

 more bee-periodicals. 



For about eight years previous to 

 1886, I had tried to keep bees in box- 

 hives, but I failed to keep them. Part 

 of the time I would have some, and 

 then again some spring would open 

 and find me destitute. I would tlien 

 buy a colony or two more. I con- 

 tinued thus until the summer of 1886, 

 which found me entirely without bees, 

 and about as destitute of bee-knowl- 

 edge. There were none but brown or 

 German bees anywhere in this vicinity, 

 and none but box-hives. If / could 

 succeed, any one may. I had one 

 qualification, however, that may be 

 deemed requisite, viz : I had a hun- 

 gering and thirsting for a knowledge 

 of bees and their habits. 



In the midst of these surroundings, 

 I began to read the American Bf.e 

 Journal, and from it came the first 

 ray of light. I learned of the book, 

 '■ Bees and Honey," written by Thomas 

 C Newman, which I procured, when 

 more light came. 



A neighbor oft'ered me the bees from 

 two colonies that he was going to 

 brimstone for the honey. I then 

 bought two movable-frame hives, with 

 necessarj' fixings to begin bee-keeping, 

 including a bee-smoker. By the time 

 I had the " transferring tools " all to- 

 gether, it was Sept. 25. I read that 

 "June is the month of swarming, and 

 tlie best time to transfer be^es from the 

 common to movable frame hives is 

 about the season of swarming;" but, 

 late as it was, I loaded the tools into 

 a wagon, and started for the bees. 



With unpracticed hands, in an awk- 

 ward way, I succeeded in filling the 

 frames with empty combs, the owner 

 reserving all the honey. I left them 



on the old stands to fasten the combs 

 in the frames, and in three days I 

 brought them home, taking off the 

 "wired sticks," as the combs were 

 well fastened. I prepared some feed- 

 ers, and sugar syrup, by taking eight 

 pounds of granulated sugar to two 

 quarts of soft water, and bringing it to 

 a boil over a slow tire, skimming it, 

 and being sure not to burn it. I fed 

 it at night, both at the entrance and 

 on top of the frames. 



I next got a blank book for a " bee- 

 register." On the first page I entered 

 "No. 1; transferred Sept. 25, 1890." 

 On the fifth page I entered "No. 2 ; 

 transferred Sept. 25, 1886." I mai'ked 

 the hives to correspond. These hives 

 have not been empty since, and the 

 bees in them are in good condition. 



Using the smoker, I examined the 

 colonies occasionally, watching the 

 increase of stores, until each had 30 

 pounds of nicely capped honey. About 

 Nov. 10, I surrounded the hives with a 

 box six inches larger on all sides than 

 the hives, preparing a winter passage 

 out from the entrance. I put Hill's 

 device on top of the frames, covering 

 them with burlap, and a chaff cushion 

 six inches thick. I tilled the space 

 between the hive and the outside box 

 with wheat chaff (I deem dry planer 

 shavings just as good), and left them 

 on the summer stands for the winter. 



Sunapee, N. H. 



MIGRATION. 



Experience with 9Ii|?ratory Bee- 

 Keeping on the mississippi. 



Written for the Amerirjy.n Bee Journal 

 BY BYRON WALKER. 



It appears from certain articles re- 

 cently published in the American Bee 

 Journal, that several parties, at least, 

 are becoming somewhat concerned as 

 to the out-come of my migratory 

 scheme. Having already presented my 

 views at length, while this topic was 

 the special one for discussion in the 

 Review, I have no desire to discuss the 

 subject further at this time. Still, 

 certain statements witli regard to my 

 doings in the past, and intentions in 

 the future, on the part of these corres- 

 pondents seem to require some expla- 

 nation by me. 



On page 145, Mr. M. M. Baldridge, 

 in commenting on this migratory en- 

 terprise as conducted by me last sea- 

 son, concludes that it has resulted in 

 failure, compared with what might 

 have l)een the result, had the same 

 number of colonies been purchased in 

 'Wisconsin instead of Tennessee, since 

 I only secured some 0,500 pounds of 

 honey — about two-thirds comb — from 

 about 100 colonies, at an expense of 



