1871.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



101 



constructed over four hundred queen cells ; if 

 started in May the same number of bees would 

 make only about one hundred and lifty cells. 



I have read all that has been said in the 

 Journal about rearing queens. Now, I will 

 challenge the most scientific beekeeper and 

 queen bee-raiser to produce from ten to one 

 hundred queens better than I will raise in nu- 

 cleus hives, five inches deep, eight inches from 

 side to side, and five inches from front to rear. 

 The queens shall be selected at random, from 

 two hundred and fifty nucleus hives, between 1st 

 of Jviue and 1st of September. Any man has 

 the privilege to call within the time named, and 

 select the queens from any hive he pleases ; and 

 if he finds better queens than he can find in my 

 hives, he will not be asked to jjay for those he 

 has from me. I have always had better success 

 in raising queens in nucleus hives than in full 

 full stocks ; and, as a general thing, I can get 

 more queen cells constructed by putting one 

 quart of bees in a nucleus hive, than I cau get 

 in a full stock. 



During the month of June, when the honey 

 harvest was at its height, I removed the queens 

 from two of the fullest colonies I had. The re- 

 sult was, sixty odd cells were built, about twenty 

 producing good large queens ; from the rest 

 came the smallest queens I ever saw. The 

 large queens were started from eggs just hatch- 

 ing ; whereas, the small queens were reared 

 from larva;, just about i*eady to be sealed up 

 when the queens were removed. And as the 

 larvae, from which the smaller queens were 

 reared, were several days older than those from 

 which the large queens were raised, of course 

 the small queens hatched first ; and if the cells 

 had not been removed from the hives before the 

 first queens hatched, those hives would have 

 had very small (ten days) queens. This has 

 always been my exiJerience in raising queens in 

 ] full colonies. Queens raised in nucleus hives, 

 I after the plan I have given in this article, will 

 ! be found large and prolific. " * " ' — 



: WenJiam, Mass., Oct., 1871. 



H. Alley. 



'Michigan Beekeepers' Convention. 



Agricultural College, 



Lansing, Sept. 29, 1871. 



EDITOR AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Dear Sir : — The annual meeting of the 

 Michigan Beekeepers' Association, which took 

 place at Kalamazoo, was well attended, the 

 papers read very able, and the discussions very 

 lively and interesting. 



One gentleman present, Mr. Bingham, of 

 Allegan, contended that the black bee was supe- 

 rior to the Italian. The only point of superiority 

 named was greater readiness to store in boxes. 

 This opinion was assailed by nearly all present. 



Mr. Bingham uses a hive with frames only 

 five inches in depth. With this, and black bees, 

 he has taken sixty pounds of box honey from 

 each of his colonies. Said honey was reported 

 to be the best sold in the Chicago market this 

 season. 



Favorable reports of the honey season come 

 from all quarters. 



Foul brood was reported in Wayne, Oakland, 

 Monroe, and Lenawee counties. 



Valuable papers were read, all of which I will 

 send you, in hope you may find room for them 

 in the Journal. 



A. J. Cook, Secretary. 



report op proceedings : 



Kalamazoo, September 19, 1871. 



The annual meeting of the Beekeepers' Asso- 

 ciation of Michigan was held in Corporation 

 Hall this evening. President A. F. Moon, of 

 Paw Paw, was in the chair, and A. J. Cook, of 

 the State Agricultural College, was secretary. 

 But a very few members were in attendance. 



The topics of foul brood and diseases of bees 

 were discussed. No one knew of any remedy 

 for foul brood, but it was the opinion of tiie 

 speakers that it was caused by the want of 

 proper ventilation in the hives. 



Adjourned till to-morrow morning, at 8 o'clock. 



second day. 

 Kalamazoo, Sept. 20, 1871. 



The meeting was called to order by president 

 A. F. Moon, of Paw Paw. J. H. Porter was 

 ai^pointed secretary. Dr. Bohrer, of Indiana, 

 was appointed president pro tern. 



Mr. J. H. Everard, of Kalamazoo, proposed 

 as a subject for discussion, " What is the best 

 method of extracting surplus honey ?" Mr. 

 Everard related his experience and what he ha,i 

 seen at Allegan in hives used by Mr. Bingham. 

 Mr. Bingham took from one hive nine boxes, 

 containing si.x pounds each. Mr. Marvin asked, 

 " What is the shape of the hive and the manage- 

 ment?" Dr. Bohrer stated that if the boxes be 

 too small, enough bees cannot be clustered to 

 keep up animal heat ; therefore in cold climates 

 two sets of frames will be preferable to small 

 hives. 



Professor Cook, of Lansing, suggested that 

 the subject would be dsicussed to-morrow when 

 it would be in order. On the subject of artifi- 

 cial fertilization, Mr. Everard said that in his 

 experience artificial fertilization had proved a 

 failure. Professor Cook related his experience 

 in the trial made in the green-house of the Agri- 

 cultural College under the most' favorable cir- 

 cumstances. Failure was the result. Mr. Knapp 

 had tried Mitchell's plan pretty thoroughly and 

 practiced the plan. After visiting Mr. Mitchell 

 and getting all the information, he did not suc- 

 ceed in a single instance. He tried thirty queens 

 and lost them all. ^Ir. Balch stated that he had 

 one queen with a defective wing, which was fer- 

 tilized and was i^rolific. In other cases he failed. 

 Mr. Moon stated that he received a letter from 

 Roynl Oak stating that a wingless queen was 

 fertilized and became very prolific. He thought 

 the old way was the best. He said that by feed- 

 ing early in the spring and getting them out 

 before black drones were matured he was suc- 

 cessful in raising working bees. Mr. Balch 

 stated that by hiving bees very late he had suc- 

 ceeded very well, and thought it better than 

 early in the spring. 



