426 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



May 17, 1906 



If we are going to advance in bee-culture, we must have 

 a thorough knowledge of the bee, not only of its life his- 

 tory, but we have got to try and learn what influences the 

 bee reacts to. We are learning that excessive moisture 

 in the hive reacts unfavorably, and other facts, but we 

 have to know much more about them. 



"One question which has been asked me is, 'What 

 chance is there m Massachusetts to make money keeping 

 bees? With a few exceptions, I think bees are kept for 

 the honey they produce or for the fun a person gets out 



"The capital invested and the time expended are the 

 first two things to be considered. With a person having 

 one two or three colonies of bees, the outfit need not be 

 much. Counting the combs, hives, bees and so on $15 

 ought to cover it. In favorable locations, a couple of 

 colonies of bees intelligently handled will yield from 40 

 to ZUU pounds of honey per annum. 



♦■ " A wu the , be ? s ' i4 de P en ds upon atmospheric condi- 

 tions. What the farmers call good corn weather is good 

 honey weather. 



thJ'll a P . erS °? ' S g ° ir l g into ke eping more bees than 

 that, the ratio of cost is less; but if a man wants to make 



Pvtl S =" eSS , be e- kee ,P ln g or go into the business on an 

 extensive scale, he will do much the best thing if he hires 

 out for nothing with some experienced bee-keeper, if he 



so into h? T t0 W 2 rk f -? r Him -, Ab0Ve a » thi "gs don't 

 go into bee-keeping heavily at the start, because I don't 

 know of anything ,n which you can lose your money 

 much quicker, unless, possibly, it's the stock exchange " 

 Mr. Miller talked on the bees he had kept in an 



H^okT^ anSWered , many questions asked him 

 He spoke of the existing harmony in the Worcester 

 County Horticultural Society, which seems to belackin" 

 in most horticultural societies! racing 



whic"h U< h n A a =H am WaS t*u^ to explain a home-made hive. 



At the expressed request of one of the audience he 

 explained how he had his bees swarm. This consisted of 

 forming a tripod of three sticks, placing a branch over k 

 extending to the ground, and then shaking the bees out of 



hat sh 6 /- " , attention is , P a id to the queen-bee to see 

 that she crawls up on the branch, the bees w 11 soon 



Inraista^e^ bc CSrried a " d ^nsferredto^a tw hTve 

 was^S^d° f ^^A^JESt 



gsw ssas- ss^ izdrJB 



changing of the name of the organization,^ leas until 



next fa?] 6 3Planan fair which the s °eiety intends to have 



, lsiJ" v e discussion which followed it was suggested that 



be N fo7nSfa a tef on^T^ ° f bee - k eepers> soclftles m gh 

 ue iormea later on, to meet once a year, probablv in Wnr 



old te n r am W e hlCh " ^ ^ b « l *™™i2&&™?& 



Report of the Connecticut Convention 



BY J. ARTHUR SMITH. 



ers' ILo^nn T,?' ™™ ting 0f the Connecticut Bee-Keep- 



meetings. But the President, with a few others held „ 

 with the result that the 15th annual mseTing wa, it N ,a°d' 

 the largest and most enthusiastic in the "history of' the Asso 

 a \TZ fan 'tot nd,' M /- g U ««*»'* desire t0 to y ste f po e ne A d°; 



ss & a k s d to sas&ssr among those who ' rec - 



was a surprise to him, but he considered it his duty to accept 

 »«nt P «fi d ° Verh j s first meeti "g with ease, and by Intent 

 gent questions and criticisms, at the same time holding the 

 speaker to the po.nt under discussion, much interesting and 

 profitable information was brought out. We believe that 



under his leadership there is a bright future for the Connecti- 

 cut Bee-Keepers' Association. 



Rev. D. D. Marsh, of West Hartford, was elected Vice- 

 President 



Mrs. Edwin E. Smith, who faithfully served the Associa- 

 tion for three years as its Secretary and Treasurer, declined 

 a re-election, and was succeeded by the writer. It was at the 

 home of Edwin E. Smith, of Watertown, that the Connecticut 

 Bee-Keepers' Association was organized, in May, 1891, and 

 Mr. Smith has had the interests of the Association at heart 

 since that date, and the members recognize his fidelity, and 

 that of his wife's, with a sense of gratitude. 



The following Executive Committee was appointed : Geo. 

 W. Smith, S. .T. Griffin, and Edwin D. Barton. 



Some interesting articles were brought to the meeting for 

 exhibition. E. II. Dewey, of Massachusetts, brought a section 

 foundation fastener of his own invention, which was tried by 

 many present, and believed to possess merit. 



S. J. Griffin exhibited a neat contrivance for holding four 

 4x5 sections while the full sheets of foundation, also held in- 

 position, are waxed on three sides with a glass-tube and rub- 

 ber bulb. He also brought a device for enabling one to wire 

 brood-frames without cutting or hurting the hands. 



Mr. Latham brought one of his home-made hives, covered 

 with " Paroid " paper, which, I believe, has been fully de- 

 scribed in the American Bee Journal. The hive was an ob- 

 ject of genuine interest, and an apiarist present who repre- 

 sented more colonies of bees than the rest combined, arranged 

 to have the hive sent to his home. Mr. Latham is of a scien- 

 tific turn of mind, and gives careful study to a subject before 

 making a claim that may strike some of the veterans as too- 

 original to be accepted as truth. I believe that Mr. Latham's 

 theory in regard to placing certain kinds of dark-colored hives, 

 well ventilated, in properly shaded spots, virtually to elimi- 

 nate the desire for swarming, has not yet been disproved 

 when all the conditions have been complied with. 



J. Arthur Smith, Sec. 



Southern 

 * 33eebom -f 



j 



Conducted by Louis H. Scholi. New Braunfels, Tex. 



Newsy Notes of Current Topics, With Some 

 Comments 



How to Put Supers on Hives. 



I notice most bee-books and bee-papers, in speaking of 

 the proper way to add supers (when working for extracted 

 honey) is, when the one is full raise it and set the super of 

 empty combs underneath. My experience is, if the super 

 is put under the brood-chamber that the combs will be filled 

 with pollen, and but few if any of the combs used for brood 

 or honey. We always put our supers on top, and work the 

 brood below as fast as possible. 



Checking Eari,y Brood-Rearing. 



In almost all the Northern States bee-keepers are anx- 

 ious to have their bees start brood-rearing early so as to 

 have strong colouies when the first honey-flow comes. But 

 such is not the case with the Texas apiarist. Most of us 

 would be pleased to know of some practical method to hold 

 our bees in check on breeding. Most of my bees at the 

 end of March were at the swarming point, and we expect no 

 surplus honey before May 1, or perhaps June. 



Caucasian Bees, 



Wonder what they look like. One writer will say, 

 " We are favorably impressed with the Caucasian bees so 

 far as tried, but they so closely resemble our native black 

 bees in color that it would be difficult to tell when they were 

 crossed with them, so we could tell when we were breeding 

 them in their purity." 



Another writer will say, " Caucasian bees are beauti- 

 fully striped with yellow bands, closjly resembling our Ital- 

 ian bees, except they are a trifle smaller, and more slender 

 than Italians." 



Still another says, "Caucasiai. bees look very much 

 like Carniolan, only they have a little more of an ashy color, 



