376 



THE MMEMICIRH mWM JQUMKMI*. 



NEW YORK. 



Report of the Firtit Erie County 

 Convention. 



Written Sor the American Bee Journal 

 BY OREL L. HEESHISER. 



THE UUTTERCUPS. 



Written for the Farmers' Home 



BY NELLIE F. O'NEILL. 



At the call of Mi-. Charles PentoQ, of 

 East Aurora, N. Y. , several prominent 

 bee-keepers of Erie county assembled 

 at his house on the afternoon of May 

 29, 1889, for the purpose of perfecting 

 an organization. 



Mr. P«nton stated briefly the objects 

 of the meeting, which were, to bring 

 the members of the bee-keeping frater- 

 nity into closer relations for social 

 and intellectual purposes ; to impress 

 upon its members the growing impor- 

 tance of the honey-industry ; to bring 

 more prominentlj' before the public 

 the healthfuluess of a common com- 

 modity, both for domestic and manu- 

 facturing purposes ; and to educate the 

 honey-producers in the latest and most 

 approved methods of the production of 

 the purest and most delicious of 

 sweets. 



On motion by Hiram P. Hopkins, 

 Charles Penton was chosen chairman 

 of the preliminary meeting, and Mrs. 

 Chas. Foville, Secretary. 



After considerable discussion, it was 

 decided that the society be known as 

 the "Erie County Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation." The election of permanent 

 officers for the ensuing year resulted 

 as follows : 



President, Charles Penton, of East 

 Auroi-a ; 1st Vice-President, Robert 

 Meatyard, of Ellicott ; 2nd Vice-Presi- 

 dent, L. D. O'Dell, of Protection ; Sec- 

 retary, Mrs. Foville, of South Wales ; 

 and Treasurer, Mr. S. S. Sleeper, of 

 Holland. 



A Board of Directors was selected as 

 follows : T. S. Johnson, of Morilla ; 

 J. D. Havens and J. McMillan, both of 

 East Aurora, and Ralph Evans, of 

 Brant. 



By special resolution, Orel L. Her- 

 shiser, of Big Tree Corners, was chosen 

 special correspondent. The yearlj' dues 

 were fixed at 50 cents per member, by 

 the payment of wliioh all bee-keepers, 

 and others interested in bee-keeping, 

 may become members. Ladies were 

 exempted from the payment of dues. 



Orel L. Hershiser was elected a dele- 

 gate to represent the Association at 

 the International Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation, to be held at Brantford, Out., 

 Canada, on Dec. 4, 5 and 6, 1889. 



After a vote of thanks to Mrs. and 

 Miss Penton, for their generous hos- 

 pitality, the new-born association ad- 

 journed to meet in the village of East 

 Aurora. N. Y., on June 15, 1889. 



Big Tree Corners, N. Y. 



They lausjh and dance all through the day, 

 They nod and smile in winsome way, 

 No other flowers are half so gay— 

 The merry-hearted buttercups. 



Atop the verdant hill they dwell, 

 Adown the grassy slope as well ; 

 They lift their heads within the dell— 

 The golden-crested buttercups. 



They stand beside the river deep, 

 And at their shadows gayly peep ; 

 They smile upon the refuse lieap, 

 The lowly-hearted buttercups. 



The mansion's lawn they scatter o'er, 

 Like bits of gold on emerald floor ; 

 They blossom by the beggar's door— 

 The simple-hearted buttercups. 



They 'fore the grand cathedral wave, 

 The prison yard in sunshine lave ; 

 They nestle on the baby's grave— 

 The tender-hearted buttercups. 



They glow and glisten everywhere, 

 In city parks, in meadows fair. 

 Ah ! well their regal crowns they wear— 

 The kingly-hearted buttercups. 



BEE-SMOKERS. 



Tlie Best Kind of Fuel to Use in 

 ]See-!$inoker«. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY T. F. BINGHAM. 



Especially is this true if the stove-wood 

 is placed in the sunshine, on sunny 

 days, to dry it perfectly. It cannot be 

 too dry, nor dried too often. It does 

 not burn faster for being dry, neither 

 slower. With long, dry sticks, the 

 direct-draft smoker is simply a base- 

 burner — that is, sound wood burns 

 onl3' at the bottom, close to the grate, 

 anil this is one of several valuable fea- 

 tures peculiar to sound wood. 



Here it may be well to specify a 

 weakness or two incident to rotten 

 wood. One of them is, that it does 

 not last long ; the reason why it does 

 not is, that it takes fire all over, and 

 so, while yielding a cloud of smoke 

 and steam, puts the operator to the 

 needless trouble of refilling so often. 



Of course, if you have a smoker in 

 which only rotten wood and rags can 

 be made to burn, the question of fuel 

 decides itself. On the contrary, if 

 your smoker will burn anything com- 

 bustible, you have a wide field to 

 select from, and convenience in ob- 

 taining may be to j^ou the feature of 

 all others determining which is best. 



I trust that the above may aid iu 

 the convenience and comfort of select- 

 ing bee-smoker fuel. 



Abrouia, Mich. 



On page 230 is a query on this sub- 

 ject, and the answers to the same. I 

 was much interested in them, as an 

 interested party, and also as having 

 experimented considerably with vari- 

 ous kinds of fuel, etc. 



The query, while one of a specific 

 kind, does not specify in what smokers 

 the fuel is to be used. This feature 

 makes all imaginable difi'erence — so 

 far as the facts are concerned — and 

 precludes the possibility of the real 

 value of answers. Generally the an- 

 swers seemed to indicate that the cor- 

 respondents used direct-draft smokers, 

 as sound stove-wood and also rotten 

 wood was regarded as valuable. 



If the querist will bear in mind that 

 none of the " cold blast" smokers have 

 draft sufficient to burn sound wood, 

 the answers will he plainly misleading, 

 if applied to them ; but if to the direct- 

 draft smokers, no confusion will occur, 

 as almost any kind of material will 

 burn in them. 



While rotten wood is valuable as a 

 quick means of kindling a sound-wood 

 tire in the direct-draft smokers, it is 

 much more trouble to control and keep 

 burning steadily than sound stove- 

 wood. The sound wood also makes a 

 much stronger smoke ; i. c, it is not 

 steam and air mixed, but clean, strong, 

 pungent smoke, containing very little 

 creosote, and freer from condensation. 



CANADA. 



Report of tlie Haidimand, Out., 

 Convention. 



WritUn for the American Bee Journal 

 BY E. C. CAMPBELL. 



The Haidimand Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation met at Nelles' Corners on Tues- 

 day, May 28, 1889. The minutes of 

 the previous meeting were read and 

 confirmed. 



The President read a number of 

 postal cards relative to securing a lec- 

 turer for the meeting, and the reasons 

 why one was not secured. 



Best Pacltaae for Coinl* Homey. 



The President said that the first 

 thing was, to get the honey in pound 

 sections, and well finished in the hive ; 

 they should then put the sections in 

 cases holding a dozen, glassed on both 

 sides, so that the sections can be seen 

 without opening the case. He also 

 said it was important that the sections 

 should be all of good quality, both 

 front and back. 



Best Package tor Extracted 

 Honey. 



The President said that for shipping 

 in large quantities the 60-pound tin- 

 can was the best he had used ; and for 

 small packages, the 10-pound pail was 

 preferable. The pail was useful after 

 the honey was taken out ; and for re- 



