242 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Michigan Beekeepers' Convention. 



The following additional items of the proceedings of 

 this Convention were received from the Secretary, Mr. 

 A. J. Cook, of tho Agricultural College at Lansing, 

 after the first six pages of our present number were 

 stereotyped, and it was consequently impracticable to 

 insert them in regular course. They form the conclud- 

 ing portion of the proceedings : 



The President said that all wideawake bee- 

 keepers would have none hut movable frames. 



Dr. Conklin. My hive has about two thou- 

 sand cubic inches. The frame is square, and a 

 corner is at the top. 



Mr. Balch preferred low hives, so that he 

 might get much surface for surplus honey boxes. 

 He thought frames should not be more than 9^ 

 inches deep. 



Mr. Moon wished for deep hives, as they 

 were warmer. Bees were more sure to winter 

 well in tliem, especially on out-door stands. 



The President thought Mr. Langstroth de- 

 serves great credit for bringing movable frames 

 into use. These frames could be made deeper. 

 He would have them 12 inches in depth. 



Mr. Otis said Mr. Langstroth does not patent 

 any shape of frame. Frames could be made of 

 any shape. He said 8^ incbes in depth was all 

 sufficient. If wintered in-doors, 7 inches was 

 deep enough for the frames. 



There were three kinds of hives exhibited. 

 One by Mr. Haywood, of earthenware in lieu 

 of wood, He thinks it is cooler in summer, and 

 warmer in winter. 



It was moved and carried that the Secretary 

 send a copy of the proceedings to the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal for publication. 



[For the American Bee Journal. 



Birds and Bees in Louisiana. 



[For tlie American Bee Journal.] 



Loss of Bees. 



Mr. Editor :— That bee disease which I read 

 about in your paper, exists here to an alarming 

 extent. If I had not given my bees plenty of 

 sugar syrup, every colony would have been 

 dead long ago. I wintered one hundred and 

 thirty-two colonies in a cellar, and only five 

 died with that disease, and that was from want 

 of food. 



Nine-tentbs of all the bees in the northern 

 part of this State are dead. Italian bees have 

 no more honey than the black. One of my 

 neighbors lost one hundred colonies out of two 

 hundred Italians, with tbat bee disease. I am 

 inclined to think bees have not had proper at- 

 tention. It is well known that there was a 

 scarcity of honey last year, and I suspect that 

 was tbe cause of the bee disease. 



I use the Langstroth hive, and can feed all 

 my bees in one hour. Fruit trees are now in 

 full bloom here, but there is no honey in the 

 blossoms. Most people say if bees cannot now 

 live, they may die. 



S. W. 



Bat a via,* Ills. 



Wi; have a bird here, in Louisiana, that is a 

 bee eater, and has destroyed its hundreds of 

 bees. It is said to be a variety of ortolan. 

 The female is about the size of the bee-martin ; 

 plumage dirty yellow. The male is about the 

 same size, and its color red. 



The operation is thus : Early in the morning 

 they will be found flying around the hives, and 

 if no bees are on the wing, they alight before 

 the hive and tap at the entrance, giving a suc- 

 cession of blows with the bill. Of course bees 

 soon appear to reconnoitre, one of which is 

 snatched up and carried to a limb of a tree, 

 where it is rolled about between the ends of the 

 beak of the bird, with a snapping sound, such 

 as a "cardinal" makes when eatiug corn, and 

 then swallowed. One bird swallowed thirty 

 (30) bees in less than ten (10) minutes. They 

 are very expert at catching bees on the wing. 

 So troublesome were some of these birds, that 

 I made a sort of barricade with laths around my 

 hives, to prevent them from getting near the en- 

 trance. 



Orange flowers were very abundant, and 

 gave a good supply of honey. "White clover is 

 now abundant. Swarms came out on the 6th 

 of March, and from that date until April 10th. 

 The season is now probably over. The swarms 

 were very large ; and having been so much an- 

 noyed by the birds, were unusually cross. 



More swarms were noticed this year than ever 

 before. 



We have no Italians here. My friend Dr. A. 

 W. Smyth, Surgeon of Charity Hospital, New 

 Orleans, has several colonies, and is much 

 pleased with them ; though one of the colonies 

 is far more difficult to handle than the ordinary 

 bees— a hybrid, probabty, though well marked. 

 Will give you an occasional note from here, if 

 of any interest. 



George Howe, M. D. 



Point a la Hache, La. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Getting Bees out of Honey Boxes. 



In the Bee Journal, volume 4, page 219, 

 Mr. J. T. Rice gives his method of getting bees 

 out of honey boxes, and says if any one has a 

 cheaper, quicker, or easier way, that is not 

 patented, he would like to know it. I will give 

 Kim my way, which is more sure. I have tried 

 his method often, and failed to get all the bees 

 out. 



I take off the boxes late in the evening, and 

 set them in any dark room, on a shelf or long 

 bench, in such a manner that the bees can get 

 out of the boxes and crawl from one to another. 

 I then cage a queen and place her in an empty 

 box about the centre of the row or pile of honey 

 boxes, and every bee will collect around her. 

 Next morning the queen may be taken back to 

 her hive, and the bees set at liberty near the 



