I am of the opinion that races, or strains, 

 of bees vary much, in their ability to bear 

 winter grief. If I was buying bees or queens, 

 I should favor those who had good " luck " 

 in wintering, as well as pilling up surplus ? 



BEST TIME AND MODE OF INCREASE. 



A paper by Crowfoot Bros, of Hartford, 

 Wis., was read, as follows : 



There are several objects in view— such as 

 immediate profits and the surest increase ; 

 a very good way for a person who does not 

 intend to learn the business, and for the old- 

 fashioned bee-keeper, who already knows 

 too much in his own estimation, is to let the 

 bees do their own swarming. But scientific 

 bee-keepers know better. The best time to 

 increase bees is when there is an abundant 

 supply of natural forage, and colonies are 

 very strong. Under any other circumstances 

 it is dangerous. Sometimes it works first- 

 rate to take a comb of bees and brood from 

 a hive, about the 1st of June, and let them 

 work up to a colony by winter ; but it is un- 

 safe. Again, it will sometimes work very 

 well to divide after the main honey crop is 

 over, if they have honey enough for both 

 colonies. June is usually the best time to 

 increase. Then, if anything goes wrong, 

 there is time to make it right from strong 

 colonies, by taking brood from strong and 

 giving it to weak colonies. For immediate 

 profit, to double them is enough. 



PRODUCTION OF COMB HONEY. 



The following interesting paper was read 

 by Mr. Claussen, of Mishicott : 



The most essential and necessary thing, to 

 raise comb honey, in a favorable season, is 

 to have the colonies you intend to use for 

 comb honey strong in numbers early in the 

 season. To realize this, if the colony has a 

 good fertile queen, you can help them by in- 

 serting an empty frame of worker comb into 

 the brood nest, between the brood combs, 

 though never more than the bees can cover 

 well, as this will spread the brood, and 

 induce the queen to greater activity. Feed- 

 ing them, although they have plenty of 

 honey in the hive, will stimulate them much, 

 so that they can stand the cold snaps better, 

 which we generally have in this climate. If 

 too many empty combs are inserted at once, 

 it will sometimes weaken, aye, even destroy 

 a nice colony, if cold, rough weather sets in. 

 Bees then concentrate, in order to keep 

 up the necessary animal heat, and, conse- 

 quently, the most outside brood will chill, 

 and, if left in the hive, may, I think, cause 

 foul brood, as the chilled brood and bees 

 will begin to decay, which the bees do not 

 like to remove. 



The next point is what kind of a recepta- 

 cle the bees are given. Section boxes, I 

 think, are superior to any other box or thing 

 that may be put into a hive. To make them 

 work in them, 1 put some pieces of comb 

 (generally drone), which I cut out of some 

 frames of the brood chamber, where they 

 sometimes build drone instead of worker 

 comb. For this purpose 1 have a pan with 

 some melted wax wherein 1 dip the edge of 

 the comb, and paste it to the upper piece of 

 the section. If one has no piece of comb, 

 comb foundation answers just as well, but 



if one has enough of new comb pieces, I 

 consider them better than foundation ; any- 

 how, they are a great deal cheaper to the 

 bee-keeper. Heretofore I have been using 

 larger sized boxes, that weigh, when well 

 filled, 5 lbs. and over ; they are glassed on 

 two sides, and wood on tour. But, after 

 visiting the office of the Amebican Bee 

 Jouenal, at Chicago, and in Cincinnati 

 with our brother bee-keeper C. F. Muth, I 

 saw the section filled for the first time. I 

 made some after that and find that bees 

 work in them more readily than in the 

 larger boxes, as they can get into the sec- 

 tions the whole length, whereas the old 

 boxes had only holes bored in the bottom. 

 For another reason I like the sections better, 

 which is in getting out bees after they are 

 filled. It was quite a bother with the old 

 boxes, but the sections can be taken out one 

 by one, and the bees brushed off. 



The third and last point is favorable 

 weather from March to October. Frosts like 

 we had in May, have a great influence on 

 bees, for the production of honey, for they 

 spoiled a great lot of blossoms. For 

 example, the basswood or linn, this year 

 had no blossoms, except those that hung 

 over the water, which, I believe absorbs the 

 frosts. If the weather is not favorable, 

 although the bee-keeper may understand 

 his business ever so well, and pay ever so 

 much attention to his " pets," all is in vain. 



At 9 a.m. on the 4th, all the bee-keepers 

 gathered at the apiary of Mrs. Dunham, and 

 an informal meeting was held till nearly 

 halt past eleven. They found there all the 

 modern improvements, in her neat and 

 roomy honey house, a place for each of them, 

 and each one in its place. Her apiary, of 

 40 colonies, in nicely painted white hives, 

 with raspberry bushes to protect them from 

 the sun, in connection with her charming 

 residence, with its wide gravel walks and 

 neatly mowed lawn, forms a beautiful 

 picture, in its setting of dark green leaves 

 of oak and hickory, which surround and 

 overshadow her pleasant home, while the 

 cheerful hum of the bright-bar.ded Italians, 

 the merry voices of children, left no idea of 

 incompleteness in their minds, as, after a 

 couple af hours spent in conversation and 

 examination of implements, etc., they re- 

 turned to the hotel, where Mr. Hart gave 

 the following on the 



BEE FORAGE OF WISCONSIN. 



I am sorry that I am not better qualified to 

 do justice to so important a subject as bee 

 forage in Wisconsin. It would require a 

 well qualified botanist to do anything like 

 what the interest of bee-keepers would 

 seem to demand, for I hold that persons 

 going into any business should be posted as 

 to the facilities for transacting such busi- 

 ness—for instance, if a man is going into 

 the bee business, and is not a judge of the 

 honey resources of his location, he is quite 

 likely to make a mistake, and a serious one. 



My remarks in regard to bee forage will be 

 principally confined to north-east Wisconsin, 

 as the limits of our Convention, and most of 

 the information I shall be able to give, if 

 any, will be from my own practical experi- 

 ence, with what I have gathered from other 

 reliable bee-keepers. 



