118 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



COWYEXTIOIV DIRECTORY. 



1892. 



Time and place of meeting. 



Jan. 27, 28.— N. E. Ohio., N. Pa. & West. N. Y. 

 at Ashtabula, Ohio. 

 Geo. Spitier, Sec, Mosiertown, Pa. 



Feb. 10, 11, 12 —Ohio State, at Cincinnati. 

 S. R. Morris, Sec, Bloomingburg. O. 



In order to have this table complete, 

 Secretaries are requested to forward full 

 particulars of the time and the place of 

 each future meeting. — The Editor. 



North American Bee-Keepers' Association 



President -Eugene Secor.. Forest City, Iowa. 

 Secretary— W. Z. Hutchinson Flint, Mich. 



« * » ♦ « 



STational Bee-Keepers' Union. 



President— James Heddon . .Dowagiac, Mich, 

 Sec'y and Manager- T. G. Newman, Chicago. 



Bee ajid Honey Gossip. 



^P~ Do not write anything for publication 

 on the same sheet of paper with business 

 matters, unless it can be torn apart without 

 interfering with either part of the letter. 



Bees Flying Frequently. 



With January Winter commenced 

 here. We had our first snow to-day. 

 My bees are all out in the cold, snugly 

 packed, though. Up to. January our 

 bees were not confined ten days without 

 flying more or less, in consequence their 

 winter stores, perhaps, have been 

 greatly reduced. I am pretty sure they 

 have plenty to carry them through all 

 right, however. 



D. A. Cadwai.ladek. 



Prairie du Rocher, Ills., Jan. 7, 18UL?. 



Skunks in the Apiary, etc. 



My bees wen- troubled by skunks 

 until 1 devised a convenient trap, viz. : 

 Dig a hole 23^ feet wide, and 18 inches 

 deep near the place they enter the 

 apiary ; lay an empty barrel on its side, 

 and projecting over the hole so far that 

 a slight w(!ight will cause it to fall into 

 it, where it will remain upright. 1 put 

 a few bits of meat or cheese in the bar- 

 rel near the bottom. The skunk will 

 soon find it, and liis weight will turn the 

 barrel on its end in the hole. (One head 

 is removed from the barrel.) He is 

 caught, and can be carrif^d, if done care- 



fully, a long distance without rousing 

 his ire, or any unpleasant odor. I have 

 found cremation the best way to dis- 

 pose of skunks when caught. Put some 

 bush around the barrel, wet it with 

 kerosene, set it on fire, and your nearest 

 neighbor need not know you have had 

 so unwelcome a visitor. I used, the 

 past season, equal numbers of the new 

 Dibbern and Little Giant bee-escapes. 

 Both worked very satisfactorily. There 

 was no difference in them. When there 

 is anything better invented, I want to 

 see it. J. M. Doudna, 



Alexandria, Minn., Jan. 6, 1892, 



Swarming'. 



1. Which is best, natural or artificial 

 swarming? 2. Will artificial swarming 

 prevent natural swarming ? Please an- 

 swer in the Bee Journal. 



Augustus L. Woodliff. 

 Metropolis, Ills. 



[1. While many good, practical api- 

 arists allow bees to swarm naturally, 

 dividing for increase is very desirable, 

 especially when the apiarist cannot be 

 near the bees all the time, and it pre- 

 vents loss by swarms "taking to the 

 woods," etc. 



2. Swarming is often prevented by 

 giving the bees room, by dividing, or by 

 the abrasion of the combs of honey, 

 giving them something to do besides 

 swarming ; but after all of these meas- 

 ures have been taken, bees will seme- 

 times have the " swarming fever," which 

 is very difficult to control. — En.] 



Bees Flying too Much. 



I fear the bees in this part of New 

 England are not going to winter well. 

 About 5 days out of 7 last month they 

 were on the wing. Hundreds of them 

 get so far from home that the chilly air 

 of nightfall overtakes them, and of 

 course they perish, while thousands of 

 them are wearing out. I have not as 

 yet put the cushions on, but have every 

 thing ready to do so as soon as I think 

 it advisable. Unless the apiarist attends 

 to them early in the Spring, and helps 

 them all he can, they will be too late for 

 the harvest, if they live through the 

 Wint(>r at all. It is hard to tell what t* 

 do. E. S. A.NDKi's. 



Torrington, (."onn. 



