April 13, 190S. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



279 



empties the cappings in a larger tank with screen bottom, 

 and leaves them to drain one week. 



O. H. Townsend does not extract clover honey until the 

 beginning of the basswood flow. Then he stores the honey 

 in a warm room for two weeks, and all unsealed honey will 

 then be ripened. Then he extracts. 



Mr. Bleach extracts at the end of each honey- flow. 



The pamphlet discussion was then taken up, with the 

 result that it was decided to get out a much larger edition 

 and try to send one to each grocer in Michigan ; also to 

 advertise in a good grocery paper. Some copies will be sent 

 to each member and one to each honey-dealer. It was also 

 decided to insert the names of all members whether they 

 had honey for sale or not. An edition of 5000 was advocated. 



CANNING NBW EXTRACTED HONEY. 



" Do you think that extracted honey should be canned 

 up air-tight before the natural heat is out 7" 



O. H. Townsend had no experience in that, but should 

 prefer to let it stand before canning. 



Mr. Beecham stores in tanks, then draws clear honey 

 from the bottom. 



EXCHANGING SUPERS. 



" Is there any advantage in changing supers from one 

 hive to another to secure more rapid storing and completion 

 of sections ?" 



Pres. Hutchinson thinks there is in some cases. 



Leonard Griggs says it pays any bee-keeper to manage 

 all possible ways to get bees to enter supers. He changes 

 supers, also uses bait-sections. 



Mr. Aspinwall doesn't want to go to that trouble. He 

 said his hives don't need it. 



Pres. Hutchinson advocates moving bees and all when 

 changing supers. 



Mr. Beecham places one section of drawn comb in each 

 corner of the super. 



Mr. Aspinwall thinks it better to put drawn comb in the 

 center. 



Mr. Manley puts the drawn comb in the center for bait- 

 sections, but to get unfinished sections filled he would put 

 them at the outside during the flow. He advocates running 

 for extracted honey at both ends of the flow, so as to get the 

 bees started in supers quicker, and also to have no un- 

 finished sections. 



Mr. York then being ready to announce his decision of 

 the winners of prizes, they were given as follows : 



Best 10 pounds of extracted honey— 1st, W. E. Forbes; 2d, W. D. 

 Soper ; 3d, C. A. Huff. 



Best 10 pounds of comb honey— 1st, Oscar Smith; 2(3, J. W. 

 Flieman. 



Best 10 pounds of comb honey produced in Danzenbaker hive — 

 1st, W. E. Forbes. 



CLEANING SECTIONS — PROPOLIS. 



" Who has tried sandpaper rolls for cleaning propolis ?" 



Mr. Aspinwall says it is not satisfactory as it fills up 

 too much. 



" Is there any use to which I can put the propolis 

 scraped from the hives ?" 



Mr. Aspinwall said it has the best flux for soldering 

 lead pipes one can get. 



O. H. Townsend said, to separate propolis from the wax, 

 put all in water and the propolis will sink while the wax 

 floats. 



HIVE BOTTOM-BOARDS. 



Mr. Soper asked for a talk on bottom-boards, and the 

 following discussion was brought out : 



Mr. Beecham prefers a removable reversible bottom 

 with %-inch entrance. 



Mr. Soper asked if the members practice reversing the 

 bottom-boards. 



Mr. Beecham thinks reversible bottoms preferable. 



Mr. Woodman prefers bottoms with %-inch entrance. 



Mr. Griggs prefers %-inch for summer and winter, and 

 Ji-inch for spring and fall. He likes a hinged bottom-board, 



Mr. Soper believes bees do as well with a small hive- 

 entrance. He has bad good results with an entrance ^z3 

 inches. 



Mr. Griggs says his bees did well with small entrance 

 until warmer weather. 



Mr. Manley wants a cheap bottom-board, and reported 

 a colony in a 12-frame hive with an eatmace '4^'^ Roches 

 giving 130 pounds of extracted honey, and the bees d.J not 

 hang out. He believes in plenty of surplus-room. 



Mr. Beecham believes bees can be given too mucU sur- 



plus-room. He thinks no colony needs more than three 

 half-stories at one time for extracted honey. 



Mr. Cady reports favorably on bottom-boards and covers 

 made of cement. 



On motion the ladies were extended a cordial invitation 

 to attend and become members of the Association and to 

 compete for any prizes offered. 



The question was asked if we could dispense with glass 

 in shipping-cases, but the majority thought not. 



SIZE AND SHAPE OF SECTIONS. 



" What is the best size and shape for sections ?" 



Messrs. Aspinwall and Beecham use 4>4:-inch square, 

 plain. 



Mr. Aspinwall thinks that narrow sections take too 

 much foundation, and are too thin and light to handle ; also 

 too many sections for the amount of honey. He wants as 

 little foundation used as possible, and predicts that in 10 

 years more there will be more square than tall sections in 

 use. 



Mr. Forbes has used A]i-s.A% sections for 20 years, but 

 prefers the tall to the square ones. He uses full sheets of 

 foundation with bottom starters. 



Mr. Manley found the honey not as well attached in tall 

 as in square sections. 



Mr. Kirkpatrick prefers the tall sections, and uses full 

 sheets of foundation. 



PUTTING ON EXTRA SUPERS. 



" Should the empty super be put under or on top of the 

 full one?" 



Mr. Manley puts the second super on top, and believes 

 it the better way. 



Mr. Short puts the second super on top. 



Mr. Aspinwall tried putting the second super on top 

 with poor results. He said the percentage of swarming 

 will be greater when the super is put on top. 



Mr. Hilton advises putting the empty super under the 

 full ones. 



CLOSED-END FRAMES. 



" Is there any advantage in closed-end frames over open- 

 end ones?" 



Mr. Aspinwall thinks there is, and Mr. Bingham said 

 there is a great advantage. He then gave a clear descrip- 

 tion of his hive, which he claims has the original closed-end 

 frames, and said he uses closed-end frames exclusively. He 

 advocated a frame i;4 inches wide, and shorter than the 

 regular Langstroth to prevent sagging. He also explained 

 the uses of his smoker and honey-knife. 



MOVING BEES — FREIGHT RATES ON HONEY. 



" When is the best time to move bees?" 



E. D. Townsend said during apple-bloom. 



Mr. Forbes brought up an objection to the handle on 

 the 60-pound cans, saying it often pulled off. He also 

 spoke on the freight rates on extracted honey being higher 

 than on syrup. 



A motion was carried that Mr. Hilton be asked to see 

 what can be done to secure a better classification on honey. 



A few more questions were discussed, but the Secretary 

 being busy with newspaper reporters, did not get them 

 recorded. 



The convention adjourned to meet at the call of the 

 Executive Committee. E. B. Tyrrkll, Sec. 



\ 



®ur> Sister 

 Sce^Kccpcrs 



Conducted by Emma M. Wilson, Marengo, 111. 



Loss of Bees— Queenless Colony 



Dear Miss Wilson : — 1. I visited my apiary of 35 colo- 

 nies to-day, and found 3 colonies dead and several more in a 

 hopeless condition. Do you think the intensely cold weather 

 which we have had for the past 6 weeks, could be the sole 

 cause of the loss ? 



2. It was not from lack of stores, for one of the hives (I 

 don't use any but the 8-frame Langstroth) had all the 

 frames full of sealed honey and pollen, with the exception 



