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"He desires me to eay that were he able. It 

 would ffive him great pleasure to meet with 

 the Ohio convention, that he mij^ht look upon 

 the faces of his bee-lteeping friends, and plve 

 them a kindly clasp of the hand. He desires 

 to be kindly remembered to them all, and 

 wishes you a pleasant and helpful meeting, 

 and to all a prosperous and happy year." 



On motion, it was unanimously car- 

 ried that the Secretary be instructed to 

 convey to Father Langstroth, our sym- 

 pathy in his affliction, and hope that he 

 ■will regain his health so as to be with 

 us at our next meeting. 



THE QUESTION-BOX. 



Is it best to hive swarms on frames 

 filled with comb foundation, or on 

 empty frames ? 



The majority were in favor of using 

 comb foundation. 



Is it advisable to put in full size, or 

 only partly till sections with founda- 

 tion ? 



A large majority — nearly 3 to 1 — 

 would fill the section with foundation. 



Is it advisable to encourage those 

 about us to embark in bee-keeping ? 



Dr. Miller said that it might be, if 

 the ground was not already full}' occu- 

 pied ; if it was, he would advise all to 

 stay off the field. The President said 

 that there was room for all — let them 

 try it. A. I. Root advised no one to 

 go into bee-keeping, but if any person 

 wanted to go into the business, he 

 would do all he could for them by 

 giving advice, etc. ; but it is essential 

 that they " go slow " — commence with 

 a few swarms, so as to learn the busi- 

 ness as they go. 



Toledo was chosen as the place for 

 holding the next meeting. Ofiicers for 

 the ensuing year were chosen as fol- 

 lows : 



President, Dr. A. B. Mason, of 

 Auburndale; Vice-President, S. F. New- 

 man, of Norwalk ; and Secretary and 

 Treasurer, Miss Dema Bennett, of Bed- 

 ford. 



The convention then adjourned until 

 7 pm. 



Evening Session. 



The convention was called to order 

 at 7 o'clock, with Pres. Boardman in 

 the chair. Dr. Miller sang a song en- 

 titled, "Higher than I," after which 

 the question-box was opened. 



FASTENING BEES IN HIVES. 



Is it advisable to fasten bees into the 

 hive in cellar-wintering? 



A. I. Root said that at one time he 

 had fastened bees into the hive, but 

 they had plenty of air. They did well. 

 He would not shut them in, if tight 

 bottom-boards were used. 



Dr. Miller would not shut the bees 

 in, because bees would die in the hive, 

 and so become filthy, which would not 

 be if the hive is left open, as the dead 

 bees would be dragged out. He would 

 rather have dead bees on the cellar- floor 



than in the hive, because they could 

 then be swept up. He thought that no 

 bees but those which were about to die 

 would leave the hive. They would also 

 be uneasy if shut in the hive. 



A. I. Root said that at one time he 

 picked up a lot of bees which had left 

 the hive and were chilled, and after 

 warming them up, he used them to 

 strengthen a weak colony, which did 

 well. 



The President said that this was an 

 important question. Mr. Root's report 

 might induce a young bee-keeper to do 

 the wrong thing. Bees will not toler- 

 ate anything in their hives which is not 

 clean. If hives are shut up tight, they 

 cannot remove the dead bees. By 

 shutting them in, we break one of their 

 laws. He knew of a man that bought 

 40 or 50 colonies, put them into a 

 cellar in closed hives, and all died. If 

 they would remain quiet, they might 

 come out all right ; but if they were to 

 become uneasy when the weather was 

 a little too warm, the combs might be 

 melted down. Shutting the bees in 

 the hive produces an abnormal condi- 

 tion. With plenty of room below, the 

 conditions would be bettered. 



N. T. Phelps related how a man had 

 fastened his bees at the top and bottom 

 of the hive with wire-screens, and they 

 all died in April. 



Dr. Tinker thought that with wire- 

 cloth they might be successfully win- 

 tered. 



Quite a merriment was caused by 

 the question, "Who is the best bee- 

 keeper in Ohio ?" 



" What is the best remedy for bee- 

 stings?" provoked quite a discussion, 

 and many remedies were given. Dr. 

 Mason said that any essential oils, such 

 as oil of cinnamon, cloves, peppermint, 

 etc., was good. Have them on hand, 

 and if visitors are stung, apply at once. 

 In bad cases, call a physician. Some 

 recommended cold water as the best 

 remedy, and other remedies were also 

 suggested, such as Pond's extract, etc. 



H. F. Moore read a very interesting 

 essay on marketing honey. 



Dr. Mason read a letter relating to a 

 sample of what was bought in Cleve- 

 land as honey. Proper resolutions 

 were passed, and committees ap- 

 pointed to investigate the matter. 



H. F. Moore exhibited samples of 

 honey in packages, both comb and ex- 

 tracted. He sold to one druggist 68 

 quart-cans ; to another 60 pounds. 

 They prepare it in small packages. 



After a recess, "Spring-time Joys" 

 was sung by Dr. Miller. 



PRODUCTION OF COMB HONEY. 



N. T. Phelps, of Kingsville, made a 

 few remarks of much interest on the 

 production and mai-keting of comb 



honey. He winters his bees on tho 

 summer stands and practices several 

 methods. The important thing is to 

 know your locality — when honey-pro- 

 ducing llowers bloom — and have the 

 bees ready lo take the honey. He 

 always keeps a i-ecord of the time 

 when the ditl'erenthonej'-plants bloom. 

 He takes brood from the weak colo- 

 nies to strengthen those that are 

 stronger, as weak colonies would not 

 store any honey. He uses mostly wide 

 frames in the production of comb 

 honey. His hardest work is to control 

 swarming, which he tries to do until 

 basswood blooms, when, if they swarm, 

 he puts them back and takes out 

 queen-cells, when they are not likely 

 to swarm again. 



He uses small wide-frames, holding 

 3 sections apiece, using wood separa- 

 tors 3J inches wide, made of basswood. 

 He thinks the comb honey is whiter for 

 using wood, and claims that a person, 

 even if inexperienced, could pick out 

 the honey which had been produced 

 with tin or wood separators. Wood is 

 far cheaper than tin. He cannot get 

 honey in good shape to crate for 

 market without separators ; has used 

 a few T supers ; controls swarming by 

 cutting out queen-cells and drone- 

 brood, and by expanding the brood- 

 nest ; contracts the brood-nests after 

 the bees have swai'med, and uses wide 

 frames because he can the better grade 

 the surplus according to size of colony. 

 About one-third will swarm. 



SHIPPING COMB HONEY. 



Dr. Miller explained how he packed 

 his honey into a car, and it carried 

 in fine condition to Pittsburg. 



The President told how he had 

 bought honey, which was shipped to 

 him over 500 miles, and was badly 

 broken. He thinks that if there had 

 been a separator between the sections 

 as when on the hive, it would have 

 carried all right. 



Dr. Besse said that dui-ing the Cen- 

 tennial at New Orleans, he shipped to 

 that city 2,000 pounds ; put sections 

 lengthwise of the cars, and it went 

 through in fine condition. He took at 

 the same time, the same amount of ex- 

 tracted honey in bottles, and did not 

 break a bottle. Some of the frames 

 in his hives of bees were broken. 



Dr. Miller would not ship a section 

 if the top and bottom were not well 

 fastened into the sections. To have 

 them well fastened, put a strip of foun- 

 dation at the top and bottom. 



H. F. Moore would ship in a 2-tier 

 crate holding 24 sections. Mr. Phelps 

 shipped 120 pounds in sections to a 

 point 180 miles south-west of Denver, 

 Colo., and not a pound was broken. 



The convention then adjourned to 

 meet at 9 o'clock a.m., the next day. 



