THE mj^mmivRM mum jou^rnkil. 



2G7 



inontli of April 



Written for Vick's Mdgazine 



BY MRS. M. .1. SMITU. 



Patter, patter, patter. 



Hear her feet on yonder hill ; 

 Coiuine, coming, coming. 



How the little branches thrill. 

 Singing, singing, singing. 



Wakening every tiny rill; 

 Listen, sister, listen. 



Cease your shrieking, March, be still. 



Almost swelled to bursting, 



Holding scents to woo the bee, 

 With a gladsome knowledge 



Of the bloom we cannot see. 

 Little buds are peeping 



Upward, outward, just to be 

 First to let this maiden 



Kiss, and set the petals free. 



Poets call her fickle. 



In the far-off days of yore; 

 Poets call her changeful. 



And they sit beside our door; 

 But 1 call her constant. 



Ever bearing plenteous store. 

 At the time appointed 



Entering the humblest door. 



Were our friends as changeless, 



Were our lovers just as true, 

 If the thoughts we scatter 



Fell like April's morning dew. 

 Clear as crystal, giving 



To some cold heart impulse new, 

 Morrow's dawn would open 



The milleniura to view. 



CANADA. 



Report of tlic Brant Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Convention. 



Written Jot the American Bee Journal 

 BY R. F. HOLTERMANN. 



The Krant Bee-Keepepe' Association 

 met at Brantford, Ont., on March .SO, 

 1889, at 2 p.m., with President Howell 

 in the chair. 



The steps necessary to retain aflSlia- 

 tion with the Ontario Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation were taken, the members for 

 the Ontario being as follows : G. II. 

 Morris, S. A. Dickie, E. J. Howell, 

 Thoa. Murray, Thos. Birkett, and G. 

 W. Barber, with Representatives D. 

 Anguish and R. F. Holtermaun. An 

 invitation was received to meet at Har- 

 ley, Ont., at the next quarterly meet- 

 ing, which was accepted. 



It was decided that if the Grant 

 would allow, to give toward the prize- 

 list at Brantford and Harley, for honey 

 and bee-keepers' supplies. The prize- 

 list was then made up, which will 

 amount to over $BO.0O tor Brantford. 

 A list of names for judges was made 

 out, and the Secretary instructed to 

 correspond with those selected. 



Result!), of Wintering-, Etc. 



President Howell reported that he 

 had lost 4 colonies out of 32 ; two of 

 them had starved outright, and several 

 he knew were too light in the fall. 



Mr. Ramey stated that he had packed 

 chaff around his hives, about 6 inches 

 thick, and the colonies were all alive 

 and doing well. 



This question was asked : If a colo- 

 ny is divided, will the one left without 

 a queen build its own queen-cell? 

 Answer : Yes ; if brood three days 

 from the laying of the eggs is given 

 them, or eggs. It was, however, sug- 

 gested by one, that it would not be ad- 

 visable to divide colonies. 



Mr. Birkett said that hegenerally put 

 all second-swarms back, and had but 

 little trouble. 



D. Anguish reported that his bees 

 were all alive, yet he put 4 colonies out 

 ten days ago ; 3 of these had consumed 

 10 pounds of stores each. The temper- 

 ature was about 48° above zero. 



T. Birkett keeps his bees in the cel- 

 lar, and 3 colonies died (starved) out of 

 .56. The cellar was dry, and too warm 

 to keep potatoes in. The bees were 

 very quiet. 



Mr. Barber put 103 colonies away— 35 

 outside and the balance in the cellar. 

 One colony was starved, and the bal- 

 ance he thought were alive. The pres- 

 ent temperature of his cellar was 45° ; 

 but generally it was 42P to 43°. 



Mr. Murray winters his bees out- 

 doors, in a shed facing the south. The 

 hives are chaff-packed all around ex- 

 cept at the front, so as to expose them 

 to the sun. He uses a shade-board at 

 times, and leaves the entrance open 2 

 inches wide. One colony has perished 

 out of 18, caused by an undeveloped 

 queen. There were drones late in the 

 tall. 



C. Edmonson put 4 colonies away in 

 the fall, in saw-dust packed hives ; 1 

 colony has starved. 



W. R. Brown put away 12 colonies; 

 1 perished and the balance are dry and 

 nice. 



W. Morris wintered his bees outside, 

 in clamps. He put in 12 colonies, and 

 all are doing nicely. 



J. Mclntyre wintered 4 colonies, and 

 they appear to be doing nicely. 



StiniiilatiTe Feeding'' 



"Does it pay to stimulate brood-rear- 

 ing by feeding in the spring':"' was 

 asked. T. Birkett said: Give bees 

 plenty of food all at once, then let them 

 alone. AH present appeared to agree 

 with Mr. Birkett. 



Brantford, Ont. 



Confenlion Notices. 



S^" There will be a meeting ot the Susquehanna 

 County Bee-Keepers' Association at TiirbeU House 

 in Montrose, I*a., on Saturday, May 4, l hm9, at ui a.m. 

 U. M. Seelet, Sec. 



13?" The Darke Cnuntv Union Bee-Keepers' Soci- 

 ety will holfl their sprint.' meeting in the court-house 

 at Greenville, O., on Friday, April 26. 1«89. 



J. A. Bob. Sec. 



8^g~ The nth annual session of the Texas State 

 Bee-Keepers' Assnciati'>ii will beheld in the apiary 

 of W. K. Graham, nf (ireenville. Hunt Co.. Te.x.. on 

 May 1 and ;;, lK«;t. All hce-keepers are invited. The 

 last meeting was held here last May, and was the 

 best ever held. So we look forward to a good time 

 next May. A cordial welcome and hospitality will 

 be tendered to all who come. G. A. Wilson. Sec. 



IC»" The semi-annual nieetinn and basket picnic 

 of the Progressive Uee-Kccpers' Association will i,e 

 held at " Welcome Apiary "—the residence of Mr. J. 

 B. Hains— In Ucdlnrd.O., on Thursday. May 2. IH-a 

 All Interested arc Invited to come early and brinR 

 their friends. A spi'cial invitntlon is extended to 

 the ladies tobc pri-sent. Manufacturers of bee- 

 keepers' suppllesare ric|iiested to brinir with them, 

 orsend, samples tor I'.xliiiiillon. Let all come pre- 

 pared to do tliclr part towards niuklnK it an Inter- 

 estiiiK. as well as a prolltalde. meetlni!. 



MliiS DEMA BENNETT, i'fC. 



COXVEMTIOSf DIRECTORY. 



1»«9. nme and Place of Meeting. 



April 2G.— Darke County and Union, at Oreenvllla. O. 



;ounty and union, atureenvllle. t. 

 J. A. Hoe, Sec, Union City, Ind. 



May 1. 2,-Texas state, at Greenville, Tex. 



U. A. Wilson, Sec, McKlnney, Tex. 



May L',— ProKresslve, at Bedford, O. 



Miss Dema Bennett, Sec, Bedford, O. 



May 4,— Susquehanna County, at Montrose, Pa. 



H. M. Seeley, Sec, Harford, Pa. 



May 15.— York and Cumberland, at Waterboro. Me. 



C. W. Costellow, Sec, Waterboro, Me. 



May 21.— Northern Ullnois. at Pecatonica, Ul. 



D. A. Kullcr, Sec, Cherry Valley, His. 



Dec. 4, C— International, at Brantford, Ont., Canada. 

 K. F. Holtermann, Bee, Brantford, Ont. 



tW In order to have this table complete, Seore* 

 tarles are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetlnffs.— Bd. 



.Oranges in Florida.— W. S. Hart, 



Hawk's Park, Fla., on April 15, 1889, writes : 



It looks pretty bad for Florida orange- 

 growers, according to " The Eastern Mar- 

 kets" item on page 179, doesn't It? Let 

 me say that our oranges dropped badly the 

 past season, have been delayed on the way 

 to the north, and many have arrived in bad 

 condition; but the prices have averaged 

 well, and still continue to do so. Nearly all 

 of my crop went to Boston, and 83.50 per 

 box was the lowest price obtained, with 

 S4..50 for " fancies." There are fortunes in 

 such prices, or halt as much. It was the 

 dropped oranges that rotted here. 



Tentllalion of Bee - Reposito- 

 ries.— H. B. Sisson, Ottumwa, Iowa, on 

 April 15, writes: 



As a constant reader ot the principal bee- 

 papers of the country, and as the ventila- 

 tion of the winter quarters of bees has been 

 my hobby for the last 35 years, I can also 

 Slate that 1 too know a little about the sub- 

 ject, as I have wintered from 1,50 to 200 col- 

 onies year after year with only a loss of 

 from 3 to 5 per cent. Dr. Miller states in 

 his article, on pa?e 231, that he knows a lit- 

 tle about ventilation, yet he gives the reader 

 no information in regard to his method. 

 Oxygen is necessary to the life of the bee, 

 and to remove the poisonous gases is the 

 question that I have settled, and have given 

 my methods to the public heretofore. 



Sis^niii of a <iioo(1 Honey Crop. — 



Rev. Stephen lioese. Maiden Kock, Wis., on 

 April 19, 1SS9, writes: 



Of the 84 r-olonies that I put Into the bee- 

 house last fall, 1 took out, on March 19, 83 

 alive; but4were queenless, judging from 

 there being no brood in the hives, and they 

 united at their first Bight with a colony hav- 

 ing a laying queen, and 3 more have, since 

 the cold spell, dwindled away, which I 

 united with other weak colonies. The 

 weather is fine but cool, and the bees do not 

 feel like venturing far home; consequently 

 close watch must be kept, so that robber- 

 bees will not get into some weak colonies. 

 The maple and elm buds have opened, and 

 pollen is coming in during the midday hours 

 very fast. With the exception of ", or 4 col- 

 onies, my bees are all in good condition, and 

 1 consider them a month ahead, judging 

 from last season at this time. We have all 

 the signs of a good honey crop this season. 



