10 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Jan. 4, 19(6 



of the alighting-board. Then I have two pieces of board about 

 20 inches long and 2 or 3 inches wide, which reach out in fan 

 shape from the two front corners of the hive. Then I shake 

 the bees from every comb down on the wide board, knowing 

 that the queen is outside of the prepared hive and cannot 

 get inside without passing through the zinc. It is a short job 

 to find a queen in this way. 



On some warm afternoons the past fall it was necessary 

 for me to do the work so late that darkness prevented me 

 from finding the queen until morning. Then I generally found 

 her in a small cluster of bees. When a good many bees mass, 

 and become motionless outside the hive, their entrance can be 

 hastened by stirring them gently with a stick. 



I was surprised at the number of queenless colonies I 

 found, and the entire absence of drones in all colonies. 



In only one colony have I seen any evidence of super- 

 sedure of the queen. At the end of the white honey-flow 

 this colony had brood in but two combs, and these were not 

 full. It was my design to requeen at that time, but observing 

 that there was but little unsealed brood in the combs, and that 

 there was a light-colored queen-cell on the face of one of the 

 combs, open at its lower end, I concluded to wait. Later I 

 found a queen in the hive, and there was a good-sized colony 

 at the end of the season. 



Feeding Bees for Winter. 



I had to feed about three-fourths of the colonies this fall. 

 The feed was prepared in a common wash-boiler, by first 

 putting in 30 pounds of water, and, when the water had come 

 to a bod. stirring in 60 pounds of granulated sugar and 10 

 pounds of extracted honey, thus making 100 pounds of feed 

 minus the loss by evaporation. 



I fed in atmospheric feeders, which are most satisfactory 

 for me. 7 hey held one quart each, and as many as needed 

 can be put on the hive at once. 



The feed was given quite warm, and in order to prevent 

 escape of heat from the brood-chamber, I put an empty hive- 

 body on it and then put a sack partly filled with chaff on top 

 ot the feeder, making the cushion fit snugly to the sides and 

 corners of the hive. Leon , Iowa. 



Contention 

 Proceebmgs 



j> 



Report of the Worcester Co., Mass , 

 Conventions 



IContinned from page 902.J 

 Testing the Purity of Beeswax. 



"Some of you may ask, How can we detect adulterated 

 Wa 'Y , Ch ? m,cal analysis is the surest way, but as I said 

 at the beginning, we are not all chemists; something easier 

 can be used even if it is not absolutely correct. 



"There is the float test, or, speaking more exactly, 

 the specific gravity test. Pure beeswax is lighter than 

 water, and most of the' adulterants are lighter than 

 beeswax. 



"We will first partly fill a jar with water, and in it 

 place a piece of wax that I secured from some burr-comb. 

 As you see, the wax floats. We will now pour into the 

 jar alcohol until the wax just touches the bottom." 



He then took a piece of wax purchased at one of the 

 department stores of the city, but this did not touch the 

 bottom, showing that it was lighter than beeswax, and 

 consequently adulterated? Several other samples were 

 also tried. 



"Another test is the benzine test, as wax will dissolve 

 m benzine almost as rapidly as sugar will in water. One 

 authority described the test something as follows: 'If the 

 wax is pure the benzine will appear nearly clear — color- 

 less—but if there is an adulterant the benzine will appear 

 cloudy, more or less as per the amount of adulteration, 

 and particles of adulteration will be seen floating around." 



Meeting of December 9, 1905. 



An apiarian exhibition in Horticultural Hall is what 

 the Worcester County Bee-Keepers' Association decided 

 would be the proper thing. No association or society in 



the country has ever had an exhibition wholly devoted to 

 bee supplies, appliances, literature, and the like, and the 

 bee-keepers of Worcester County think that such an exhi- 

 bition would not only be most novel, but one in which 

 people in all sections of the country would be much 

 interested. 



People seldom have an opportunity to learn or see 

 anything of bees unless they own a colony, except the 

 small exhibits in connection with agricultural fairs. Then 

 only a few hives are shown, and those, with a few bottles 

 and cakes of honey, comprise the whole exhibit. 



For some time bee-keepers have been considering 

 such an exhibition. The matter was brought up, and a 

 committee of five was appointed to find out just what can 

 be done. It consists of Adin A. Hixon, Burton N. Gates, 

 Charles R. Russell, Frank Drake, and Horace P. Jacobs. 



For the Worcester Horticultural Society, Secretary 

 Adin A. Hixon offered the association the use of Horti- 

 cultural Hall for the exhibition, for which the Horticul- 

 tural Society received a vote of thanks from the bee- 

 keepers. 



The exhibition will be on a large scale. Not only 

 will every bee-keeper in Worcester County send every- 

 thing of interest pertaining to bees that he has, but bee- 

 keepers from all sections of the country, as well as supply 

 houses, publishers of bee-literature and the like, will alt 

 want to send an exhibit. 



Manufacturers, publishers of bee-books, etc., might 

 find it to their profit to correspond with the secretary in 

 reference to the apiarian exhibit next fall. 



The Association met for the first time this winter in 

 Horticultural Hall at 2:30, with President Frank H. Drake 

 in the chair. About 25 members of the Association were 

 present. Secretary Charles R. Russell was not present, 

 and Burton N. Gates acted as secretary pro tern. 



At the time that the Secretary sent out notices for 

 the meeting he also asked for information about the num- 

 ber of increase in colonies, average yield of honey per 

 colony, total yield of honey for 1905, number of colonies 

 to go into winter quarters, and whether the bee-keeper 

 had seen any sign of bee-disease. Thirteen or 14 bee- 

 keepers sent in reports, and the first part of the meeting 

 was devoted to these. 



In one case one man extracted 200 pounds of honey 

 from one colony, while 460 pounds was the greatest yield 

 for 1905 for any one person. Mrs. Herbert A. Holmes- 

 sent in that number of pounds for her total yield for the 

 year, which was considerably above any of the yields re- 

 ported by the other members. Several claimed 300 to 350 1 

 pounds. 



From 10 to 30 colonies seemed to be the number to 

 go into winter quarters. 



Arthur Monroe talked of his experience as a bee- 

 keeper and how he happened to keep bees. His talk was 

 followed by remarks b}' Harry C. Shepard, W. W. Jacobs, 

 and Frank H. Drake. 



James Wheeler, manager of the White estate, was 

 recommended as a suitable speaker for the Association. 

 Arrangements will be made to secure him as speaker for 

 one of the winter meetings. 



The Secretary also announced that Arthur C. Miller, 

 who has spoken before the Association befoTe, had prom- 

 ised to address some meeting. C. R. Russell, Sec. 

 Worcester, Mass. 



The Illinois State Convention 



The 15th annual meeting of the Illinois State Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association met in the Supervisors' Room in the Court 

 House at Springfield, Nov. 21 and 22, 1905. A fairly good 

 attendance of our most active members was had. 



The first session was called to order at 10 a.m., with 

 Pres. Smith in the chair. ^SD f"Z 



The regular order of business was taken up, and the 

 reports of the several committees were read and accepted. 



C. P. Dadant moved that the report of the Legislative 

 Committee be adopted and the committee continued. Carried. 



Mr. Baxter moved that the Premium List Committee 

 be instructed to ask for a larger premium on designs in 

 beeswax ; and Mr. Black amended by asking that the pre- 

 mium on case of amber comb honey be restored. Carried. 



On motion of J. E. Johnson, which prevailed, it was 

 ordered that the Executive Committee be instructed to have 

 enough copies of the Sth Annual Report bound in cloth for 



