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TM® MBdEMIC'MK BE® JQ^UKKMIL-. 



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The remarks of IMessrs. Alley and 

 Jones are ileadly shots fired at the 

 whole array of wage-workers — them- 

 selves iiifluded. 



What is it but asking alms like a 

 mendicant, for IVIr. AUej-. or any one 

 I'lse, to say to a bee-keeper, •■Please 

 [live me ail article detailing your dear 

 bought knowledge, experience and 

 Ijost methods ?" Tlie slirewd, sensible, 

 and big-hearted editor of the Ixcvietv, 

 W. Z. Hutchinson, sees this clearly 

 enough, and though he has fought his 

 way into the chair he fills so well, 

 though a sea of diflieulties that would 

 have engulfed almost any other man. 

 is able to sa}". w'ith honest pride, tiiat 

 he has paid for nearly everj- article 

 that has appeared in his journal, and 

 that when it comes to begging articles 

 he will have done with bee-journalism. 

 He also says, and it hits hard in cer- 

 tain quarters, that the editor of a bee- 

 periodical who depends ou the stray 

 scraps of information that come in 

 at hap-hazard. stands a poor show in 

 comparison with one who has at his 

 command the pens of the most experi- 

 enced apiarists and the best of writers. 

 I am a Canadian, proud of m}' coun- 

 trj'. and among its other products, 

 proud of the galax}' of bee-keepers it 

 can boast, but I shall never cease to 

 regret the fact that here •■ the first $1 

 weekly " was born into the world of 

 apicultural literature. It would never 

 have been done, had counsel been 

 taken with representative Canadian 

 bee-keepers. No man is more sensible 

 of Mr. Jones' many excellent qualities, 

 and of the eminent services he has 

 rendered to bee-keeping ; no man has 

 been and is more readj' to acknowledge 

 these, by tongue and pen. than I ; but. 

 in his foolish ambition to be the Great 

 Mogul of apiculture, he was unwilling 

 to leave any sphere for others to fill, 

 and determined to have " no rival 

 near his throne." Tlie results of his 

 grasping, monopolizing spirit have 

 been disastrous in many waj's. Bee- 

 literature has had to be published at 

 prices that did not afford a living 

 profit to editors and contributors ; here 

 in Canada, we have only half a bee- 

 periodical, when we miglit have had a 

 whole one, as good as the best ; and a 

 pauperized, -Cheap John" air has 

 been thrown around the whole pursuit. 

 The approaching International Con- 

 vention could not do a better thing 

 than take up the state of our bee-litera- 

 ture with a view of creating a more 

 just and generous public sentiment 

 among bee-keepers, and a willingness 

 to pay something more like 'value 

 received "as the subscription price of 

 such apicultural journals as have hon- 

 estly earned the riglit to live, by being 

 willing to "let live." and -help live." 

 Guelph. Ont. 



IN" COUNSEL. 



Report of the ITiiiun Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Convention. 



Wnttcnior the American Dec Journal 

 BY DANIEL SHANK. 



The Union Bee-Keepers' Association 

 met at the City Hall in Hamilton. Ills., 

 at 1 p.m.. on Oct. 10, IStlO. There 

 being present at the hour of opening. 

 President S. N. Black. Daniel Shank, 

 Secretary ; W. Williams. Treasurer, 

 and several others. The minutes were 

 read and approved. 



The first question w.as, "Extracted 

 honey ; how to obtain it, and how to 

 dispose of it." and was answered bj- 

 C. P. Dadant. 



"How to get the most prolific 

 queens," was answered by T. S. 

 Wallace. 



S. N. Black asked ; • How old must 

 a queen be when she mates with a 

 drone, in order to become a prolific 

 queen ?" 



Mr. Wallace said : From 10 to 12 

 days. She will then Lay in 3 or 4 days 

 after mating. 



Mr. Black asked: "Has any one 

 had experience in rearing queens in 

 the upper stories of hives ?" No one 

 present had ever tried it. 



Question: "Are half-blood queens 

 larger than those of full-blood ?" Mr. 

 Wallace and Mr. Dadant both replied. 

 Yes. 



Question : "Which is the best, pure 

 Italians or hybrids ?" Mr. Dadant an- 

 swered : Full bloodetl Italians. 



Mr. Dadant asked Mr. Wallace : 

 "Do you select your drones with ref- 

 erence to color ?" 



Mr. Wallace : Yes. I select my best 

 and yellowest drones. 



Mr. Dadant said : Qualitj' cannot be 

 measured by color. 



Mr. Wallace : My most prcdific 

 queen is a half-blooded Italian. 



Question : " Are the drones of mis- 

 mated queens pure as to the mothers' 

 stock ?" 



Messrs. Dadant. Black and Wallace 

 all answered. Yes. 



Question: " Does the color of the 

 drone have anything to do with the 

 purity of the colony " Mr. Dadant an- 

 swered. No. 



Mr. Lefler : " How do you rear the 

 most prolific queens ?" 



Mr. Wallace answered : My old plan 

 was to take tlie best queen out of a 

 pure colony, then cut out the queeii- 

 itells from the same hive and graft 

 them into the combs of a queenless 

 colony. By my new plan. I now rear 

 them in the parent colony, by putting 

 wire-cloth cups over the queon-cells. 

 By this method you can leave the 

 queen in the hive all the time. 



Mr. Black said : I get a prolific 

 queen by feeding the colony liberally 

 early in the spring. 



Mr. Dadant said : A queen reared 

 from a worker egg from 3 to 6 days 

 old, is as good as a queen reared from 

 eggs in queen-cells. 



Question : "Are the characteristics 

 of drones as important as those of 

 queens in producing prolific queens ?" 

 Mr. Dadant answered. Yes. 



Mr. Ogle said : The best time to rear 

 a prolific queen is during swarming 

 time. Take out 2 or 3 frames of brood, 

 and make nuclei. I find that such 

 queens are best. 



Question: "How would you dr- 

 crease the number of colonies ?" 



Mr. Wallace answered : Double up 

 the weak ones in the fall, and select 

 the best queen. Do your work about 

 sundown, and smoke both colonies 

 thoroughly while uniting them. 



Mr. Djidant said : I use peppermint 

 diluted with water, sprinkling them 

 freel}' while uniting the colonies. 



Mr. Ogle : I unite colonies by put- 

 ting one ou the top of the other ; put- 

 ting wire-cloth between them, for a 

 few days ; then I draw it out. Of 

 course I killed one of the queens when 

 first put together. 



Question: " Has anj? one tried the 

 queen-excluding honey-board ?" 



Mr. Ogle said : Yes. The queens 

 never get through it. I was well 

 pleased, and I think I obtained more 

 honey in that way. 

 Mr. Dadant said : 

 never kill drones. 

 Mr. Black said : 

 bees in September, 



Queenless colonies 



When a colonj- of 



and later, are full 



of drones, I am sure they are queenless. 



Question by Mr. Black : ■ ' Have 

 drones been plenty in your colonies 

 during the season just past ?" Messrs. 

 Dadant, Shank and Wallace answered 

 that the drones were very few. 



Question: "How do you reduce 

 drone breeding?" 



Mt. Dadant answered : Cut out al- 

 most all the drone comb, early in the 

 spring ; graft in worker-comb, or use 

 comb foundation. 



S. N. Black said that he thought that 

 matured drones eat a great deal of 

 honey. He also thought that black 

 queens and Italian drones produced 

 the best of all hybrid bees. 



Question: "Are drones good for 

 any other purpose than breeding?" 



Mr. Dadant answered : No ; one 

 good colony with drones is enough for 

 a whole apiary. 



Question : " Why do bees sometimes 

 desert their hives, leaving plenty of 

 hone}' and brood ?" 



Mr. McDaniel said that he had such 

 experience, but knew of no cause 

 for it. 



