TH® 21MERICK1H mmW JOlQPKNai^. 



299 



A vote was taken, showing that 

 about lu'o-thirils of those present win- 

 tered their bees out-doors. 



In answer to a question, Dr. Mason 

 said that ammonia in water will re- 

 move ])ropolis from the hands. 



Tlu! Convention then adjourned till 

 1:30 p.m. 



The Afternoon Session 



opened with a song by Dr. Miller, who 

 was unanimously elected an honorary 

 member of the Association ; also Geo. 

 Spitler, of Mosiertown, Pa., wlio has 

 kindly assisteil in preparing this i-e- 

 port of the Convention. 



E. R. Root then read an essay on 

 " Thick Top-Bars and Honej'-Boards." 



A. I. Root remarked tl\at Father 

 Langstroth used thick top-bars 25 years 

 ago — the modern device was only an 

 improvement, because the combs are at 

 fixed distances. He does not, as yet, 

 know which is best. 



President Boai-dman said that since 

 using the thick top-bars, he had not 

 been troubled with burr-combs. 



In answer to the question, " How 

 many use honey-boards ?" it was shown 

 that only 9 of those present use them. 



Dr. Miller said that he had learned 

 to do awaj- with honey-boartls. 



President Boardman thinks that 

 wide frames are the most perfect, be- 

 cause the sections are better protected 

 from propolis. 



Dr. Miller has less cleaning with the 

 T super, than with auj' other method 

 that he has tried. 



C. A. Graves uses the T super, and 

 a top-bar scant f of an inch. 



Dr. G. L. Tinker then read an essay, 

 entitled, " Perforated Zinc for Queen- 

 Rearing." He was kept busy answer- 

 ing questions for quite awhile. 



C. A. Graves, chairman of the com- 

 mittee on Exhibits, reported that all of 

 the articles on exhibition were favor- 

 ably mentioned in their report. 



Mr. S. F. Newman, chairman of the 

 committee on statistics, reported for 

 the convention as follows : Number 

 of colonies in the fall of 1888, 3,524 ; 

 number in the spring of 1889,3,265; 

 and number in the fall of 1889, 4,067. 

 Number of pounds of comb honey in 

 1889, 46,099 ; number of pounds of ex- 

 tracted honey in 1889, 27,145 ; number 

 of pounds of beeswax in 1889, 756. 

 The average yield of honey was about 

 22 pounds per colonj', spring count. 



Dr. G. L. Tinker, of Nevv Philadel- 

 phia, Daniel White, of New London, 

 and O. S. Terrell, of North Ridgeville, 

 were appointed delegates to the Inter- 

 national Convention, at Keokuk, Iowa. 



An essay by Miss Denia Bennett, 

 (Secretary), on "Queen Rearing and 

 Shipping," was last on the programme. 



The Convention then adjourned to 

 meet at Toledo, Ohio, at the call of the 

 Executive Committee. 



LUSSONS OF' 



Convention. 



Those who havn attended previous Ohio 

 bee-couveutions, sooni to be well pleased 

 with both the altcndauce and interest taken 

 at this meeting; hut there is cue thing that 

 I noticed — too many of them took a silent 

 interest. tSevoral Itoe-keepers, who have 

 from 75 up to ;iOO colonies, and must have 

 had experience in some of the subjects 

 brought up, said never a word. I, for one, 

 would be glad to see this order of things 

 changed, liut how can it be brought about ; 



How would it do to divide the convention 

 into classes for each topic, thus; One class 

 to be composed of those who have had 

 experience, and the other those who were 

 interested, but have not had the experience, 

 who should be free to ask questions of the 

 other side — 1 question only — until the last 

 class had been "clear around," when, if the 

 time devoted to the topic was not all taken 

 up, they could ask <|uestions around again, 

 or the first class could each, in turn, speak 

 on the question a stipulated time, until all 

 had spoken. It is surprising how much can 

 be crowded into a short space of time in an 

 "experience meeting" where all are 

 interested. 



In some such way we would become 

 better acquainted with each other ; and, I 

 believe in "The greatest good, to the great- 

 est number." This would relieve the Pres- 

 ident of embarrassment, which proceeds 

 from not knowing the names of members, 

 and naturally enough calls on those he does 

 know, rather than to risk putting the right 

 man on the wrong subject. (I hope that 

 Pres. Mason will appreciate my considera- 

 tion for his bashfulness). 



To say that we were greatly indebted to 

 Dr. Miller for inspiring the convention with 

 his kindly presence and cheering voice, is 

 needless to those who know that the Doctor 

 is a "host in himself," and we sincerely 

 hope tliat now he is one of us, we shall meet 

 him again in the Buckeye State. 



I wish to put this Association on record 

 as having disposed of all the topics on the 

 programme, by the reading of an essay, 

 followed by discussion, excepting a talk by 

 Mr. A. I. Root, and the absence of 1 person ; 

 but the topic was taken up in its regular 

 time, and the convention closed promptly 

 on time on the last day. 



Dema Bennett, Sec. 



[The many interesting essays read 

 at the above Convention will appear 

 in the Bee Journal, as we may be 

 able to find place for them. — Eu.] 



BEES IN SPRING. 



The Early Spring management 

 of Bees. 



Written for the Michigan Farmer 



BY GEO. E. HILTON. 



The time of year is upon us again, 

 when the bees should be watched 

 closely, to see that they do not get out 

 of stores. Look over the colonies 

 closely, and be sure that they have an 

 abundance. You may find some colo- 

 nies that have more than they need, 

 while the next may be on the point of 

 starvation; these may be equ.alized, but 

 be sure that you do not roll the plente- 

 ous one, for one good colony is worth 

 more than two weak ones, and plenty 

 of stoi'cs at this time of year, means 



plenty of bi'cs in time to gatlier thi' 

 first fiow of nectar. 



The instinct of the bee must approacli 

 the ability to reason more (dosely than 

 is common in tlie insect kingdom, for 

 as soon as tlicir stores begin to grow 

 short, and no honey in the fields, the 

 production of eggs lessens in propor- 

 tion. So you see it is very poor econ- 

 omy to stint the bees, with the thought 

 that if you can keep them along until 

 honey begins to come in, they will be 

 all right. The bees may get along 

 very well, but their keeper (if he de- 

 serves the name), will come out at the 

 "small end of the horn." I have often 

 said that it we could have our colonies 

 strong when the hard maple blooms, 

 as they are when the basswood blooms, 

 we should get as much honey from the 

 former as the latter. 



I once secured 200 pounds from the 

 raspberiy and blackberry bloom before 

 the white clover bloomed ; that season 

 nay colonies were very strong early, 

 and while I did not get any surplus 

 from the maple bloom, the bees gath- 

 ered large quantities, and fitted the 

 brood-nest in the best possible shape 

 for the berry bloom. J could have ex- 

 tracted considerable from the brood- 

 nest, but it would have meant just that 

 much less berrj'-bloom honey in the 

 sections. 



I speak of all this to show how nec- 

 essary it is to have plenty of stores in 

 the brood-nest during the next 30 days. 



A noted bee-keeper of this State once 

 told me that he would just as soon have 

 5 pounds of honey in the hive on May 

 1, as more. But I will venture the as- 

 sertion that I can take a colony with 

 the same numerical strength, having 15 

 pounds of honey, as one having 5 

 pounds, the first of May, and take 20 

 pounds more surplus from it during 

 the season, and leave each the same 

 number of pounds to winter on. 



Of course, my advice is to make all 

 this preparation the previous season, 

 but if, as some colonies do, they use up 

 so much during the winter that they 

 are short at this time of year, by all 

 means feed them. Feed honey, if you 

 have it ; if not, make a syrup of sugar, 

 just as you do for table use. I once 

 fed quite a quantity of maple syrup, 

 and it answered very nicely for breed- 

 ing purposes. 



In feeding, if you have hives with 

 tight bottoms, just raise the front end 

 of the hive about 2 inches, and pour 

 the food in it at the rear end of the 

 frames while quite warm. I prefer to 

 do this just toward evening ; it wall all 

 be cleaned up before morning, and 

 there is no danger of robbing. Don't 

 open the hives or handle the frames 

 more tlian necessarj', at this time of 

 year, and keep the bees tucked up as 

 warm as possible. 



