298 



Tmm m^^mmi€Mn be® jo'umnmi^. 



prepared ever3thiug to handle them, 

 and I took a sheet and enveloped the 

 "whole thing — bees, keg, and all — and 

 pnt them on a spriug-vvagon and took 

 them home. 



The next day the bees were deter- 

 mined to leave their new home, but by 

 throwing water on them, pounding on 

 pans, and making a great noise, we 

 induced them to sta}'. I then obtained 

 Prof. Cook's " Manual of the Apiary," 

 after which I proceeded in a little bet- 

 ter waj-, and those bees did remark- 

 ably well. The next season I took -4 

 colonies on shares, and as my colonies 

 increased, I increased in the knowl- 

 edge of bee-keeping. I cannot esti- 

 mate the value of the American Bee 

 Journal to me, as I have received so 

 much valuable information from it. I 

 cannot do without it while I keep bees, 

 and I never expect to stop bee-keeping 

 while I live. 



My bees did tolerably well last year, 

 considering the dry season, as I got 

 about 2,000 pounds of honey from 30 

 colonies, which I sold in my home mar- 

 ket at 15 or 20 cents a pound. I am 

 looking forward to a more prosperous 

 season this year. My bees have win- 

 tered well, and are in good condition 

 for the coming season. 



Aurora, Nebr., April 19, 1889. 



MICHIGAN. 



Report of the Ionia County 

 Convention. 



Written for tlie A.merican Bee Journal 



The Ionia County Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation met in annual session at Ionia, 

 Mich., on April 18, 1889. The follow- 

 ing officers were elected for the ensu- 

 ing year : President, J. H. Robertson, 

 of Pewamo ; Vice-Presidents, Geo. W. 

 Stanton, Sheridan ; and I. A. Balch, 

 Ionia ; Secretary, Harm Smith, Ionia ; 

 Treasurer, M. Guernsey, Ionia. 



The report of the Secretary showed 

 the result of the year with the 18 mem- 

 bers present, to be as follows : Fall 

 count of colonies, 885 ; spring count, 

 784. Honey taken during the year, 

 8,891 pounds ; pounds of wax, 101. 



J. H. Robertson then delivered the 

 following 



President's Annual Address : 



I am here as a member of this So- 

 ciety to assist as best I may, in throw- 

 ing light upon the subjects brought be- 

 fore us for discussion. I am in hopes 

 that we liave passed the crisis in the 

 history of bee-keeping in our county, 

 and that all well-informed bee-keepers 

 are aware of the fact that the time 

 has passed when large and remunera- 

 tive proKts can bo realized from the 



pursuit. It will not be my purpose to 

 instruct those of you who are already 

 experts in the business, whose lessons 

 have been taught you by dearly-bought 

 experience. Many of you, I think, 

 witli mj'self, have learned that it is not 

 advisable to carry all j'our eggs to 

 market in one basket. 



I have found that one of the great 

 difficulties we liave to encounter is that 

 bee-keeping is a charming pursuit, and 

 tliat its beauties are many times magni- 

 fied ; while its dark or black side, with 

 its many discouragements, is kept clear 

 in the background. 



" Spriugin; 



Bees. 



We have now arrived at the season 

 of the year when large colonies grow 

 larger, and small ones smaller, rob- 

 bing and dwindling being our greatest 

 spring trial ; aud these I think, with 

 even the expert, the hardest mile-post 

 he has to make. Robbing being well 

 under waj', the colony is discouraged 

 usually before the trouble even catches 

 his practiced eye, and with dwindling 

 he has but the queen and a small hand- 

 ful of bees, whereon the last examina- 

 tion was to all appearance a fairly 

 prosperous colonj'. Teach us how to 

 successfully spring our bees, and I 

 think that the most of us could make a 

 fair remuneration for our outlay in 

 even such tlu-ee poor seasons as we 

 have just passed through. 



Bees Ready for tlie Harvest. 



The next point essential to success 

 is to get the bees ready for the harvest. 

 The tlowers may bloom in vain, so far 

 as securing a crop is concerned, if our 

 colonies are not in that strong, popu- 

 lous condition, ready to take advantage 

 of Nature's provisions. The apiarist 

 must know his colonies, work hard 

 early and late, and leave no stone un- 

 turned that will add one more pound 

 of honey to his crop. Bees will store 

 honey in a box, straw-skep or log- 

 gum ; but the time honey could be sold, 

 taken from such a repository, has 

 passed away. So that if we realize tlie 

 most for our labor, we must compel 

 our bees to store it in neat and attrac- 

 tive sections. This will lead to methods 

 of which the first is contraction, whether 

 vertical or horizontal, with the relative 

 merits of each system. System would 

 mean the hive, making it necessary, 

 without large outlay, to adopt the sys- 

 tem best suited to the hive we have in 

 use. 



Control of Increase. 



An interesting topic being discussed 

 through our papers is the control of 

 increase, or to handle bees in sucli a 

 manner as not to decrease the profits 

 of the apiary colonies. Allowing a 

 part to cast many swarms, or even to 



swarm at all, makes serious inroad in 

 the profit of the stock. This I think a 

 subject well worthy of your fullest con- 

 sideration. 



In conclusion, allow me to say that 

 the prospects for a successful season 

 were never lietter. Reports from all 

 the Southern States are that their bees 

 are booming, and that their prospects 

 are better than for a number of seasons 

 past ; and we are enjoying the same 

 state of facts. 



In the growing industry that we 

 represent, Ionia county ranks well in 

 the production of honej-. Our breezes 

 are tempered by our great inland sea, 

 and our soil is generous in foliage and 

 tlowers. We are strangers to extreme 

 drouths and pestilential moisture. We 

 are not in the path of tlie blizzard or 

 the de.ath-dealing tornado ; and I sin- 

 cerely hope that at our next meeting 

 we can report to our Secretary that 

 once more our favorite pursuit has re- 

 turned us a bountiful harvest. 



J. H. Robertson. 



W. Z. Hutchinson, of the Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Review, was invited to address the 

 fall meeting of the Association. 



After a discussion of various perti- 

 nent questions, the convention ad- 

 journed to meet at the call of the Sec- 

 retary, in the latter part of September 

 next, at Ionia. Harm Smith, Sec. 



WINTERED WELL. 



Oood Outlook for Honey — Some 

 Experience. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY J. B. SYPHRIT. 



I took my 19 colonies of bees out of 

 the cellar on April 10, and found them 

 in splendid condition ; in less than two 

 hours they were carrying in pollen. 

 The}' are working very industriously 

 on willows and peach-bloom. The out- 

 look for honey is very good, white 

 clover here being very promising. 



I winter the bees in a cellar 18x32 

 feet, walled with stone ; a diagonal tile 

 runs through it, with tile ventilators in 

 the cud windows. I always have win- 

 tered my bees successfully. lu 1887 

 the bees starved, but I fed them sugar 

 syrup for wintering, and brought them 

 through the winter ; but in the spring 

 of 1888, I lost 13 colonies by spring 

 dwindling, being nearly all old bees. 

 Last season I got a little honey from 

 fruit-blossom, then I had to feed until 

 sometime in August, when wc liad 

 plenty of rain, and the bees accumu- 

 lated nectar very rapidly. I got about 

 •100 pounds from 10 colonies, in sec- 

 tions, and the lower stories were full, 

 and they are still ver}' heavy. I use 



