AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



419 



The meeting was called to oi'der by 

 President Kennedy. The reports of the 

 Secretary and Treasurer were read and 

 approved. An opportunity was then 

 given for members to pay their annual 

 dues, after which the following officers 

 were elected for the ensuing year : 



President, J. L. Kinney, of Cortland ; 

 Secretary, C. W. Wilkins, of Homer ; 

 and Treasurer, T. T. Barrows, of Groton. 

 They were immediately installed in their 

 respective offices, and the regular pro- 

 ceedings begun. 



Wintering Bees Under Snow. 



President Kinney opened the meeting 

 for questions and discussions, and asked 

 this question to start with : " How long 

 may hives containing bees be covered 

 with snow, consequently preventing the 

 bees from any opportunity for flight, 

 and the bees still winter safely ?" 



The general tenor of the remarks was 

 in favor of having the snow around the 

 entrances "shoveled out," and kept 

 clean by hauling out the dead bees by 

 means of a crooked wire. One exception 

 was ex-President Kennedy, who had 

 successfully wintered bees with the hives 

 covered completely with snow. 



The reasons given for desiring the en- 

 trances accessible to the open air, when 

 snowed up, were, that if the bees were 

 kept too closely confined by snow, the 

 hives would become damp, the combs 

 moldy, and the bees would commence 

 breeding too early. This would result 

 in lack of stores, or " Spring dwind- 

 ling," when the snow went down, and 

 they become exposed to the prevailing 

 temperature. 



The above discussion brought about 

 the advocating (by those who had suc- 

 cessfully experimented with them) 

 frames raised % of an inch above the 

 bottom of the hive for wintering, instead 

 of the usual % inch space used in this 

 locality the year around. ■ 



The points in favor of the change 

 were, that the accumulation of dead bees 

 could be more readily removed, and if 

 from neglect or other cause they were 

 not removed, the frames would not be as 

 apt to become clogged by cakes of moldy, 

 decaying dead bees and filth. 



Mr. Miles Martin, an extensive honey- 

 producer, advocated the use of a hive 

 with which he has experimented in his 

 apiaries to his entire satisfaction. It 

 has a %-inch space at the back, and a 

 ?^-inch space at the front, between the 

 bottom of the frames and the bottom of 

 the hive. 



Extracting the Early Honey. 



" Would it not be best to extract the 

 early yellow honey which sometimes 

 accumulates in the brood-chamber, 

 rather than allow it to remain for Win- 

 ter stores ?" was the next question. 



The spirit which prompted this ques- 

 tion seemed to be the idea araoug many 

 of the members, that this quality of 

 honey contains considerable pollen ; and 

 that when used as food for bees in con- 

 finement, it would have a disastrous 

 effect by causing diarrhea among the 

 bees. 



Many thought this yellow honey 

 should be removed, even if it had to be 

 replaced by feeding. It was supposed to 

 come from the sumac in July, but as to 

 the early yellow honey, some difference 

 of opinion prevailed. We should be 

 pleased to have correspondents of the 

 American Bee Journal enlighten us 

 on this matter. 



Stimulative Feeding- in the Spring. 



Mr. J. H. Manchester asked as to the 

 practicability of feeding in the Spring, 

 for the purpose of stimulating brood- 

 rearing, provided the colonies had 

 plenty of stores. 



The general verdict was against the 

 practice, but as soon as the size of the 

 swarm, and the warmth of the weather 

 would permit, take a frame of honey, 

 break the cappings, and place it in the 

 middle of the brood-nest. 



It was also advocated that contract- 

 ing the entrance and brood-chamber to 

 accommodate the capacity of the swarm, 

 was also a stimulant to the rearing of 

 brood, as it economized heat, preserved 

 the life of the stragglers endeavoring to 

 look after outside combs, and, in case of 

 a " cold snap," even chilled brood 

 would be unknown. Therefore, the 

 spirit of the colony was enhanced rather 

 than depressed. 



Spreading the Brood-Nest in Spring. 



" The advisability of spreading the 

 brood-nest during Spring," was the next 

 subject suggested. 



The experience of our best bee-keep- 

 ers, in this section, shows that it is not 

 a sanitary method. Sudden lowering of 

 the temperature, which so frequently 

 occurs here, especially in the Spring, is 

 almost sure to chill some of the brood. 

 Therefore, it was decided that the 

 queen was the best judge as to how fast 

 the brood-nest should be expanded for 

 the bees to be enabled to protect it at 

 all times. 



