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SECOND DAY— MORNING. 



The first session of the second clay 

 opened with a song by Dr. Miller, 

 followed b}- an essay by S. F. Newman, 

 on "Bee-Forage," which was fine, and 

 led to the following discussion : 



SWEET CLOVER AND OTHER PLANTS. 



Mr. Newman said that he did not 

 believe the tulip (poplar) tree was 

 appreciated as it should be. He had 

 seen it so thick with honey that when 

 he took blossoms of it to his children, 

 they were delighted to extract the 

 honey from them. 



Dr.Miller said sweet clover will grow 

 in out-of-the-way places ; had sown as 

 much as 20 acres, but it would not 

 grow under cultivation, for him. 



Mr. Newman has no faith in sweet 

 clover for honey. 



President Boardman asked if any 

 person present had ever known of a 

 large crop of honey being gathered 

 from sweet clover? Mr. Newman had 

 not ; J. F. Moore had known of a de- 

 cided sweet-clover flavor in the honey. 

 The question was asked, "What is 

 the quality of sweet clover honey ?" 

 A. I. Root said that experiments 

 showed that in order to know the 

 quality of anj- kind of honey, a large 

 area of plants of a kind is required. 

 Bees consume so much hou,ey in brood- 

 rearing that it is hard to get any one 

 kind of honej'. At Ogden, Utah, he 

 had seen large areas of sweet clover 

 upon which the bees did splendidly. 

 The honey was as nice and of as fine a 

 flavor as any he ever saw. He had an 

 idea that 100 colonies would want 100 

 acres of sweet clover, to do much 

 good. 



Mr. White had tasted sweet clover 

 honej' that was very fine. H. F. 

 Moore said that some claimed it a bad 

 weed. F. A. Eaton said there were 

 acres of it on one side of Toledo. He 

 thought that sweet clover honey was 

 disagreeable to the taste. Dr. Mason 

 thought that perhaps Mr. Eaton did 

 not know that the honey was pure 

 sweet clover ; it was hard to tell. He 

 had at one time about 70 pounds which 

 was nice, and he thought it was sweet 

 clover honey. 



Dr. Miller thought as locality had so 

 much to do with it, perhaps sweet 

 clover blossoms might secrete honey in 

 the West, and not in the East. He said 

 that the bloom of sweet clover extends 

 beyond that of white clover — blooms 

 forever. 



A general discussion followed as to 

 the feasibility of sowing or planting 

 for honey alone. The opinion seemed 

 to be that it would not pay. Alsike 

 clover was generally called a good 

 honey-plant, and well liked for hay. 



Dr. Miller thought that the produc- 

 tion of honey might be increased by 



inducing nurserj-men to plant and sell 

 basswood trees to those who wish to 

 plant shade-trees. He had at difl'erent 

 times planted for others, and got 

 others to plant basswood, he furnishing 

 the trees himself. He reported how 

 some one had cut down a basswood 

 and planted a linden, thinking it 

 another kind of tree. He also thought 

 it might pay to plant sweet and Alsike 

 clover. He thought that cattle could 

 be induced to eat sweet clover, and if 

 it could be made a forage plant it 

 would pay. as it yields honey. 



President Boardman said that cattle 

 will, under some circumstances, eat 

 sweet clover. Most of those present 

 had not much faith in sweet clover as 

 a honey or forage plant, though some 

 knew it to produce lots of honey. Some 

 claimed it as a weed. The President 

 said that it was not, as it would not 

 spread. 



Mr. A. I. Root thinks that alfalfa 

 may j"et prove valuable as a honey- 

 plant in Ohio, as it had in Colorado 

 and other places in the West. 



WATER FOR THE BEES. 



Dr. Miller said that bees need lots 

 of water. He uses crocks filled with 

 water, and puts in wooden floats. The 

 bees take the water from the wood, 

 and none are drowned. 



Mr. Newman uses rotten wood on 

 the water. Dr. Besae uses a trough 10 

 feet long and 4 inches deep, which 

 holds 5 pails of water. Bees had 

 emptied the trough twice in one day. 

 He puts a handful of salt in the trough 

 once a week. He had a colonj' which 

 gained 40 pounds in 6 days from fruit 

 blossoms ; it was strongly flavored 

 with cherry. 



The committee to prepare a Consti- 

 tution and By-Lays for the association, 

 consisting of E. R. Root, H. F. Moore, 

 and Miss Dema Bennett, wei'e called 

 upon for a report, when Dr. A. B. 

 Mason moved that we adopt the Con- 

 stitution and By-Laws as prepared by 

 the committee, and trust to their judg- 

 ment, without taking time to have it 

 read and debated upon. The motion 

 was carried unanimously. 



Dr. A. B. Mason (committee on Res- 

 olutions) reported as follows : 



Resolved, That in the publication of the 

 Honey Almanac, by Thomas G. Newman, of 

 Chicago, we have something " new under the 

 sun," and of real merit, and would recommend 

 a. g^enerous distriV)ution of them, as a means of 

 increasing' the demand for honey, in the home 

 market. 



Resolved, That the thanks of this Associa- 

 tion arc due, and are hereby tendered, to the 

 railroads of the State, for their kindly gi\'ing: 

 us reduced rates of fare ; to Hotel, Cleveland 

 papers, and to the City Council : to Dr. C. C. 

 Miller, of Marenyro, Ills., who has favored us 

 with ills presence, and with his inimitable 

 renderiuf? of bee-keepers' sonijs, whicli have 

 enlivened our sessions, and for his hearty 

 ihterest and work during our meeting, we 

 cordially extend our most sincere thanks. 



The report was unanimously adopted; 

 also, a motion that this Association 



affiliate witii the " Interuiitional Bee- 

 Association." 



J. B. Hains then read an essay on 

 " Out Apiaries." 



Mr. S. F. Newman has 2 out-apiaries, 

 one of which he runs for extracted 

 honey, the other for comb honey ; he 

 allows strong colonies to swarm. As 

 soon as white clover blooms, he puts 

 the supers on ; does not extract until 

 the season is over ; puts an empty 

 story over the colony, raising the filled 

 super on the top, and gets better 

 honey in this way. The comb honey 

 apiary he visits often ; has 70 colo- 

 nies in the extracting apiary, and 50 

 where he runs for comb honey. Gen- 

 erally he gets some buckwheat bloom, 

 but extracts before this. 



F. A. Eaton read an essay on " Cel- 

 lar-Wintering of Bees." 



President Boardman, who is one of 

 the most extensive bee-keepers in the 

 State, leaves the bottom-boards on the 

 summer stands, and winters the bees 

 without them ; he tries to put them in 

 when the temperature is falling ; the 

 cellar should be kept dark, with a tem- 

 perature about 4rp ; and the bees 

 should not be removed from the cellar 

 to the open air when the temperature 

 outside is high. 



F. A. Eaton places blocks under 

 each corner of the hive, for ventilation. 

 Dr. Miller considers loose bottom- 

 boards and blocks superfluous. The 

 temperature should not be over 50°. 

 He had, at one time, when his cellar 

 was full of hives, raised the tempera- 

 ture to 72°, and the bees showed no 

 visible uneasiness. He then opened 

 the windows, and the next morning 

 the bees were more quiet than they 

 had been for some time. 



Dr. Mason thinks that 45° is the 

 right temperature, and said that where 

 he can keep vegetables in a cellar, 

 there he can keep bees. 



S. F. Newman put his bees into the 

 cellar last September, had looked at 

 them in November, and did not expect 

 to see them again until spring. He 

 would not give any one a dollar to in- 

 sure them as being all right. 



N. T. Phelps thinks that there are 

 large exaggerations in regard to con- 

 sumption of stores in wintering. His 

 bees do not consume as much as other 

 people's bees do, as tliey tell it. He 

 thinks that a cellar or cave for winter- 

 ing bees is much the cheapest. 



E. R. Root, who was to read an 

 essay on " Out-Door Wintering of 

 Bees," asked to be excused, owing to 

 the lateness of the hour. 



A. Webster said that any one pass- 

 ing his place would see three hives on 

 top of his house ; they have been there 

 for three years, and no colonies in the 

 apiar}' have wintered better. 



