AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



119 



batch. I could make some from it, and 

 then send some to you, some to Dadant, 

 and to others. 



Wm. Anderson — There is a great need 

 of experiments in regard to wintering. 

 There is no drawback so great as this, 

 here in the North. 



L. A. Aspinwall — I have experimented 

 for 20 years with machinery, and the 

 profits for the last five years have paid 

 for all the experiments. If we could 

 learn how to successfully winter our 

 bees, there would be a saving of thou- 

 sands of dollars. 



Upon motion of Mr. Hunt a commit- 

 tee of three (W. Z. Hutchinson, L. A. 

 Aspinwall and Wm. Anderson) was ap- 

 pointed to draft a resolution expressing 

 the views of the convention, in regard 

 to the desirability of having the experi- 

 mental work continued, the selection of 

 a man to do the work, and the appoint- 

 ment of a committee to decide in regard 

 to the line of work to be done. 



Next came an essay from the Hon. 

 Geo. E. Hilton, on the 



Advantages of Northern Michigan for 

 Honey-Production. 



That Northern Michigan has advanta- 

 ges over the southern or older portions 

 of the State, none familiar with the pro- 

 ductions of honey can deny. But to 

 know the advantages of any locality one 

 must be familiar with the flora. The 

 first advantage to be derived from these 

 newer localities is the early flow. In 

 springs following winters of deep snows 

 our bees are bringing in pollen and some 

 from the willows before the snow is all 

 gone. The soft maples soon follow, 

 then the hard or sugar maple, from 

 which we get large quantities of honey. 

 I have said" that I believed were the bees 

 in as good condition to store honey as 

 during the bassv/ood flow, it would come 

 in nearly as fast. The honey very much 

 resembles maple syrup. I think, how- 

 ever, that it gets its color from the mix- 

 ture of dandelion that comes in at the 

 same time. As I prefer to have this all 

 used in the brood-nest, I do not put on 

 the surplus cases until the raspberry 

 bloom opens, but I have extracted from 

 the stronger colonies' brood-nests to give 

 the queen room, and fed to the weaker 

 ones, and if you have never tried it you 

 would be surprised at the results with 

 the weak colony. 



From what I have already written, 

 you will readily see that our bees are in 

 the very best possible condition to store 

 surplus at the opening of the raspberry 

 bloom. The blackberry comes before 



this is gone, and lasts until clover, and 

 clover lasts until basswood, so you see it 

 gives a continuous flow of white honey 

 from berry bloom to close of basswood. 



Some years ago one of the oldest 

 honey-producers in the State (one who 

 lives in the village where they keep the in- 

 sane and raise celery, and who wintered 

 his bees in a damp cellar, and brought 

 them out in the spring reeking with 

 mold, and declared they wintered splen- 

 didly), came to make me a visit during 

 the berry bloom, before clover was in 

 blossom. We went into the yard, and 

 he remarked that my bees seemed strong. 

 " Oh, yes," I said, " they are doing very 

 nicely." 



I raised the cover to one of my chaff 

 hives — "What!" he said, "got siirplus 

 cases on f " Oh, yes," I said ; and step- 

 ping to the next hive 1 showed him one 

 tiered up, and the top one nearly 

 finished. 



" Well, if that don't beat me ! Why, I 

 had not thought of putting on a super ' 

 yet," he further remarked. On looking 

 further, he admitted there were more 

 bees in one of my hives than in any 

 three of his. 



That year I took 1,500 pounds of 

 berry bloom honey from 65 colonies, but 

 I never knew blackberry to produce so 

 much honey as in that year. My aver- 

 age, that year, was 80 pounds per col- 

 ony, comb honey. 



Two years ago last September, I was 

 sick the entire month. As soon as I 

 could safely get out, I commenced a trip 

 among the bee-keepers, partially for a 

 visit, but principally to buy honey. The 

 most promising fields I found were in 

 Mecosta, Clare, Isabella, Montcalm, 

 Osceola and Lake counties, and the 

 honey I found, as a whole, was of the 

 best quality I ever bought. At Martiney, 

 in Mecosta county, I found a fine lot 

 produced by a young lady. In Clare 

 county I found nice lots, also in Osceola 

 county. In all these counties they get 

 their honey principally from raspberry 

 and willow-herb. The willow-herb com- 

 ing soon after the berry bloom, and last- 

 ing until frost. In all these counties I 

 did not see a section of dark honey, and 

 here comes the sequel to their successful 

 wintering — the brood-chambers are well 

 filled with this white, well-ripened 

 honey, and very little pollen (the willow- • 

 herb produces but little pollen) ; the 

 bees breed -up so fast, and the hives are 

 teeming full of good, healthy bees. 



In these counties, in the spring and 

 early summer, there are thousands of 

 acres of wild berries, and in the latter 



