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Various intorestiug apioultviral sub- 

 jects wero pvolitably ilisciissetl. among 

 them being tlio following : Feeding 

 Bees ; Swai'niing ; Honey — Comb anil 

 Extraeteil ; Marketing — Style and 

 Manner of Putting Up Honey ; Bee- 

 Hives ; Extractors and Smokers ; 

 Locality for Bee-Keeping, etc. 



The election of officers for the en- 

 suing year resulted as follows : W. R. 

 Graham, President ; H. B. Furbee, 

 Vice-President ; G. A. Wilson, Treas- 

 urer ; and J. N. Hunter, Secretary. 



It was decided that the time and 

 place of holding the next meeting 

 should be left to the Executive Com- 

 mittee ; also, that we as bee-keepers 

 would make an exhibit of bees, honey, 

 and bee-tixtures at our next annual 

 meeting. 



The convention was very much 

 saddened on account of Judge W. H. 

 Andrews being kept away from the 

 meeting by reason of severe illness, 

 being one of the oldest members, and 

 his first absence since the association 

 was organized. Suitable resolutions 

 of condolence and sympathy were in- 

 troduced by Dr. W. K. Marshall, and 

 adopted, and a copy of them ordered 

 to be sent to Judge Andrews. [They 

 were published last week on page 347 

 of the American Bee Journal. — Ed.] 



D. W. Yeager, also a member of the 

 Association, died on April 24, 1890, 

 and similar resolutions were ottered. 



The convention then adjourned until 

 the next regular meeting. 



J. N. Hunter, Sec. 



CHAFF HIVES. 



Heavy Rainfall — Prefers Largrc 

 Hives. 



Written for the Amcricmi Bee Journal 



BY S. J. YOUNGMAN. 



Chaft' hives and out-door wintering 

 have scored another point, as the 

 first swarm in this vicinity came from 

 a ehafl' hive to-day — May 24— in my 

 apiary. Drones tirst made their ap- 

 pearance on May 10, and the bees 

 bred up very rapidly on forest bloom. 

 The plum and cherry are now at their 

 best ; tlie apple is just opening, and 

 will be very abundant, and with the 

 bees as strong as in basswood time, 

 they will undoubtedlj' gather some 

 sui'plus from that source. 



Some of the colonies have starved 

 to death, and nearly all lack in stores, 

 as we have had so much cloudy and 

 rainy weather. I will give a few 

 figures concerning the amount of rain- 

 fall the last four days : 



Wednesday, May 21, one inch ; 

 Thursday, May 22, one inch ; Satur- 

 day afteinoon and evening, 11 inches 



— total, 8i inches of i-ain on the level. 

 How is that for a rain ? It almost 

 equals the daj' of Noah ! I think if 

 that swarm had not been hived, and 

 had been out in all that rain, the bees 

 would have been sadlj' demoralized. 



ADVANTAGE OF LAKGE HIVES. 



Now as to large hives : My hives 

 are mostly the t^uinby style, and the 

 most are two-story, and have 14 

 frames, a few, however, have but 8 

 frames. Now, the 14 frames are cov- 

 ered with bees, and have, of course, a 

 large amount of brood ; the 8 frames 

 are only filled with bees, and probably 

 contain only about one-half the bees 

 and brood that the large ones have. The 

 bee-keeper can draw his own conclu- 

 sions — two bees are better than one, at 

 this time of the year ! 



Lakeview, Mich., May 24. 1890. 



QUEEN-REARING. 



Several Ways of Rearing and 

 Introducing Queens. 



Written for the American BeeJounuil 



BY C. A. BUNCH. 



One of the most common ways of 

 rearing queens is to give a comb of 

 eggs and just hatched larvie to a 

 queenless eolonj- ; this will produce 

 some good queens, but a part of them 

 will be inferior in size andproliflcness, 

 as the bees will commence- the con- 

 struction of too many cells ; also the 

 just-hatched workers must have their 

 share of food, which should go to per- 

 fect the growth and laying-qualities of 

 queens. 



Of all the artificial methods of 

 queen-rearing that I have tried, I like 

 the Alley plan the best ; that is, to 

 have the cells built in a row, about 

 15 cells to a full colony. Cells built 

 in this way are uniform in size, and 

 probably as good as the best. 



Natural-swarming cells are as good 

 as any ; they can be had by giving 

 combs of brood to the colonies that we 

 want to breed from, to cause the bees 

 to swarm ; the queens and half of the 

 swarm to be hived on combs of brood, 

 to cause them to swarm again if we 

 want more cells ; and the other half of 

 the swarm to be returned to the old 

 colony, to help finish the cells. This 

 last plan I have practiced quite a good 

 deal, and I find that one breeding 

 queeu will furnish a great many cells 

 in a season, as a general thing. 



INTRODUCING QUEENS. 



If I had a valuable queen that I 

 wanted to introduce to a colonj' of 

 bees, 1 would open the hive that had 

 the queen to be superseded, and re- 



move the (iHe(!n, close up the hive, and 

 let the bees get q\iiet and flying ; say 

 half an hour after the queen was re- 

 moved, pick up the hive and carry it a 

 rod or more away to a new stand. 

 This will draw the old workers away 

 from the hive, which can unite with a 

 hive near by, or go to a hive and comb 

 of brood on the old stand. The queen 

 can now bo introduced with a Peet 

 cage, or some cage that has the en- 

 trance closed with the " Good " candy. 



Another way to introduce queens 

 that is the least trouble, if we should 

 happen to go away from home for that_ 

 purpose, is this : Open the hive, re^ 

 move the queen to be superseded, pu 

 back the frames, blow smoke between 

 the frames, so as to drive the bees 

 down to the bottom of the hive ; now 

 place the cage between two of the 

 central brood-combs near the top of 

 the hive, the entrance to the cage to 

 be stopped with bee-candy. Now blow 

 smoke on the queen and cage, and 

 close the hive, which should not be 

 disturbed for 3 or 4 daj's, and if no 

 honey is coming in, the hive should 

 not be opened for a week. If the bees 

 keep on building cells after the queen 

 is introduced, it is a pretty good sign 

 that the queen is being neglected ; if 

 such is the case, the combs of brood 

 should be exchanged for combs with 

 no unsea^pd larva3, which will bring 

 the workers " to time." 



Nye, Ind. 



BEE-CULTURE. 



X- Woman's Experience 

 Keeping of Bees. 



in tlie 



Written for the Ameriean Bee Journal 



BY AUNT MARY. 



It is seldom that people know the 

 good they do, and, if so, they do not 

 get thanked for it ; but I want to re- 

 turn to Mrs. L. Harrison my sincere 

 thanks in this public manner for what 

 she has done for me. About nine 

 years ago I often found articles in the 

 Prairie Farmer from her pen, in re- 

 gard to bees ; and they gave me the 

 " fever" to h.ave some. I knew noth- 

 ing about bees, only that the honey 

 was delicious, and that they woukl 

 sting. I did not know a drone from a 

 queen or worker ; and my husband said 

 that if I got them, I must take care of 

 them entirely, for he did not mean to 

 be stung ! 



I procured a colony, watched them, 

 and read everything pertaining to bees 

 that I could get hold of, saying that 

 " if Mrs. Harrison could handle them, 

 I could learn something about them." 



The first year my colony died in 

 wintei'ing, and seven j'cars ago I ob- 



