AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



89 



Mr. Merritt — We haven't bees enough 

 to gather what nectar there is. Supply 

 and demand rules this, the same as in 

 other products of the soil. 



Frank Coverdale — He that "doeth all 

 things well," has attended to this mat- 

 ter, and our part is to keep plenty of 

 bees and manage them wisely. I think 

 the bloom yields about right. 



Mr. Bryan — Sugar is a staple article 

 — honey will not be. 



SHALL WE PAINT THE HIVES ? 



Mr. Hines — I believe that they should 

 not be painted. Unpainted hives throw 

 off the moisture through the pores of 

 the wood. 



Mr. Kimble — Hives should be painted 

 to keep the joints close, and covers from 

 warping. 



Mr. Hines — Won't the wax attend to 

 that all right? 



Mr. Kimble — Open joints increase 

 chances of moth and robber-bees. All 

 hives should be painted white — a non- 

 heat condensing color. If a hive is to 

 be porous to carry off moisture, raise 

 the cover or raise the hive up from the 

 bottom-board. 



Mr. Hines — That is a different kind of 

 ventilation. 



Frank Coverdale — Bees winter best in 

 hives that are not painted. 



Mr. Merritt— I agree with the ma- 

 jority, that for wintering, the hives 

 should not be painted. However, I like 

 to see nice hives. 



COMB HONEY AND SWARMING. 



" Can we secure more surplus comb 

 honey by allowing one prime swarm ?" 



Mr. Hines — All the time that it takes 

 to build a new set of brood-combs is lost, 

 and I would rather keep them at work 

 in the sections. 



Mr. Benton — I would rather my bees 

 wouldn't swarm, for in so doing the 

 comb honey crop is decreased, in my 

 location. 



Mr. Kimble — I want one swarm from 

 each colony, because then I will have 

 two colonies for the latter part of the 

 clover crop, and two colonies to gather 

 the fall crop, and the two will gather 

 more than the one. 



Frank Coverdale — I can't prevent 

 swarming, and so I have to do the best 

 I can with swarms. My method is to 

 run all the working force into the new 

 swarm for 14 days after hiving, then 

 double the increase for the fall crop, 

 and much nice comb honey will likely 

 be the result. 



Mr. Merritt — New swarms build much 

 nicer combs. 



SECOND DAY. 



The election of officers resulted as 

 follows : 



President — F. M. Merritt, of Andrew. 



Vice-Presidents — D. Benton, of El- 

 wood, and T. Hines, of Anamosa. 



Secretary — Frank Coverdale, of Wel- 

 ton. 



Treasurer — Wm. Kimble, of DeWitt. 



Anamosa was chosen as the place for 

 holding the next meeting. 



WINTERING BEES. 



Mr. Bryan lays a good, full frame of 

 honey on top of the frames, then packs 

 well on top. He loses about one-fourth 

 of his bees. 



Mr. Kimble — I have changed my mind 

 somewhat of late years, and think best 

 to keep it cool in early winter especially, 

 even below zero wou't hurt if it is dry. 

 Warm up towards spring. 



Frank Coverdale — A dry cellar is good 

 for bees in winter, even if the tempera- 

 ture does run low, but it is better to 

 keep it at 42°; and to make them winter 

 still better, build a fire every two weeks 

 — a quick fire — that will make summer 

 for a little while — 80° — and you will see 

 all dead bees rolled out, and all made 

 dry as summer, much the same as when 

 put in. Eight years of this treatment 

 has saved my bees. 



Mr. Benton — I like artificial heat in 

 my cellar. I never lost any bees when a 

 fire was built each week. 



Mr. Hines — My bees wintered quite 

 well in the cellar at 38°, but I think it 

 too low. 



Mr. Petch builds a fire in his cellar, 

 and the bees near the top of the cellar 

 winter rather the best, but all winter 

 well. 



Mr. Benton — Forty colonies of my bees 

 were wintered outside in chaff last win- 

 ter, all in long boxes, each holding 12 

 hives. The covers were left sealed 

 tight, and six inches of chaff packed 

 snugly all around them, and the en- 

 trance to the south. Not a single colony 

 suffered in the least, and all came out 

 very strong. 



Frank Coverdale — Aren't these discus- 

 sions tending toward keeping bees both 

 dry and warm for the best results ? 



Mr. Merritt — Never did I see bees 

 winter better than did two of my colo- 

 nies upstairs by the stove-pipe, where a 

 buzzing was kept up all winter. A 

 screen box was set in front for them to 

 play in. 



Frank Coverdale — I put three colonies 

 close to the stove-pipe upstairs, where 

 they buzzed all winter on account of 

 heat at times ; but they wintered per- 



