264 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



when apple blossom honey came he 

 did not care to secure any surplus 

 from that source but when clover 

 came he liked to have some partly 

 filled sections to place in the hives. 

 Bees were like ladies and as usual might 

 be coaxed but not driven; hence he 

 adopted the above mentioned method. 

 Mr. Barber suggested tiering up, shad- 

 ing hive and giving plenty of air. 

 Keep bees interested at home. Mr. 

 Pettit asked Mr. Barber what he 

 meant by plenty of ventilation, and 

 received the following answer: "I 

 raise my hive (a twenty-inch hive) one 

 inch at the front." 



Mr. Bacon said that he did not care 

 to prevent first swarming as he did not 

 find it profitable to keep too large 

 stocks but more profitable to let them 

 swarm once. He never succeeded in 

 preventing bees from swarming en- 

 tirely. In using foundations in the 

 sections one will seldom be troubled 

 by the queens occupying them. More 

 trouble will come, however, from 

 drawn than from worker foundations. 

 He agreed with Mr. Hall as regards 

 keeping partly filled sections for future 

 use, 



Mr. Clark expressed his belief that 

 the natural tendency to swarm should 

 not be interfered with and he did not 

 approve of artificial swarming. The 

 main question to be considered he held 

 to be "to what extent swarming can 

 be repressed without injury to the 

 bees." 



Mr. Thompson said that he had 

 nearly solved this question by following 

 the method of "top storing" and using 

 wide frames on both sides of the hive 

 thus providing plenty of room for the 

 bees and raising the whole hive one- 

 half of an inch" from the stand. He 

 commenced this season with 1.50 colo- 

 nies of bees increased to 200 and se- 

 cured 10,000 lbs. of honey; from 

 115 colonies in Simplicity hives con- 

 taining seven frames, 12X12, he had 

 but two swarms. He keeps his bees 

 shaded well. 



One member asked Mr. Locke if up- 

 ward ventilation was used in prevent- 

 ing swarming and was answered as 

 follows : 



Mr. Norton of North Madison, who 

 is quite successful in obtaining surplus 

 honey uses the tiering-up system and 

 leaves the tops of the frames in the 

 upper surplus arrangement under the 

 caps all open and uncovered, especially 

 where the colonies are strong. 



Mr. L. C. Boot said " I am not an 

 advocate of natural swarming and can 

 hardly see how any person of large 

 experience can advocate it. We must 

 have a system of management to con- 

 trol this. One great stumbling block 

 in the way of advancement in beekeep- 

 ing is the fact that the natural laws 

 must not be interfered with." We must 

 have a successful method of preventing 

 the desire to swarm and he believes 

 that the time will come when we shall 

 have such system. He had tried to 

 control swarming by dividing but this 

 was unsuccessful. One good method 

 was to supply young queens just before 

 the swarming fever commenced; this 

 exerts a great influence over the bees. 

 He recommends a large entrance, good 

 broad roof and above all we should 

 give them plenty of room. 



After some more discussion the fol- 

 lowing resolution was adopted : 



liesolvecl, That this convention can 

 give no fixed rules for the entire pre- 

 vention of swarming while producing 

 comb honey. But the following meth- 

 ods tend to its prevention : plenty of 

 room, air, shade, and introducing 

 young queens at the beginning of the 

 surplus honey harvest. 



Mr. L. C. Root then made some very 

 interesting and appropriate remarks 

 regarding the convention of the North 

 American Association held at Toronto 

 last fall. He regretted very deeply 

 that he was unable to be present but 

 was pleased with the kind and gentle- 

 manly spirit with which the matter of 

 selection of the officers of the asso- 

 ciation was conducted, and he would 

 have been pleased to have met the Rev. 

 L. L. Langs troth there. 



He had endeavored to give the notice 

 of this convention held at Rochester, 

 a thorough and complete circulation 

 and make this one of the largest and 

 best ever held. Had examined the old 

 bee journals regarding the matter of 

 noticing conventions and felt proud 

 to say that no other person had been 

 more faithful in this matter than W. F. 

 Clark of Speedside, Ont., and was very 

 glad to meet him here, as much so per- 

 haps, as any person excepting, of 

 course, our honored and favored Langs- 

 troth whom we would have loved to 

 welcome here. 



After this the meeting adjourned to 

 meet at 7.30 p. m. 



[Tb be contiimed.^ 



