TITE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



81 



Ntttioniil Boe-Koepors* AHsocialion. 



Tlic anuuul nmoliug of the NiUioniil 

 Bei'- Keeper's Association was lield at 

 Toledo, Ohio, Dec. 1,2. As tl>e Secretary 

 ha.M not furnished uh with tlie detailed re- 

 port, we glean the following from the 

 Toledo Blade : 



The first (pieslion discussed was, "What 

 is llu' hesl method of preparing bees for 

 winter anil spring nianagcn\ent ; also, 

 liow n\any bees are iicicssary V" 



Caplain W. V. Willianis, of fiiberty 

 Center, Ohio, said he was in favor of 

 plenty of ventilation. Had had a colony 

 of bees for the last cigiit years tiiat iiad 

 openings in the iiive, so liial the litth; fel- 

 lows could look out at any tin»e and ad- 

 mire tiie starry heavens, and those which 

 were tiius exposed weic always •■strong 

 and hc.'dthy. His ini>tlo was to keep 

 strong, full colonics, wilii plenty of vcn 

 tilnlioM, dry and ((uiet. Successful spring 

 management depended upon successful 

 fall and winter maniigement. He had 

 trie<l double walled hives, with no better 

 success than those with a single wall. 



.Mr. H. li. Ov(!rmey<'i', of Findlay, Ohio, 

 said that his e.\i)ericnce had taugiil him 

 thai the best time to begin to jirepare bees 

 for winter was about the lirslof August, 

 and see that they got jilenty of stores and 

 young bees until frost, came, as tin^ weather 

 became cold, to contract the size of the 

 hive so that there would be no unneinis 

 sary room to keep warm, with plenty of 

 comb to cluster in and over and down 

 two sides of swarms with a little ventila- 

 tion in the cap, and abunt one-third sum- 

 n\ei' lly-hole open below, to protect hives 

 frcun storms of rain and snow, and let the 

 bees rest in peace until spring, then stim- 

 ulate them and eidarge the room as needed, 

 but no faster. 



The ne.\t ((uestion discussed was, " What 

 Caused the (Jreat Mortality of liees 

 Throughout the ('(umtry last Winter V" 

 Mr. Jonas Schell, of ("onnellsville, In- 

 diaiui, said that in his section sbuvation 

 was |)rincipally caused by bees not being 

 able to get any honey on account of tlu^ 

 cold. Mr. IJhur thought thai bees did not 

 freeze, as a general thing. The good hon- 

 ey s-ason, bees crowded the((Ueen bee out 

 HO that the swarms were too small, and in 

 conse(pu'nc«! of tiie same they froze. 



Mr. (}. W. Zimmerman thought young 

 bees were wanting according to his idea, 

 and recommended placing in a warm place 

 fro(iuently to recui)erate. President \\v\w- 

 dict Ihoughl tiniL when thert^ was loo 

 mucli honey it slnuild be extracted in 

 time, and bees should not be loo young to 

 Winter. A swarm loo small would (diill, 

 of (N>urs(!. 



The President thought tlie mortality 

 among bees last Winter was caused by a 

 disease. 



The ((uesiion tif what, how and when 

 bees should be fed, was next taken up and 

 discussed. 



S. L. DichI thought sugar syruj) was an 

 excellent food lor bees, and cited an in- 

 stance where one bee-keeper had feil over 

 a hundred pounds of sugar and witli good 

 suc(>ess. Mr. Zimmerman wished to know 

 if the bees did not cap over bonify, nuide 

 wiiere sugar was fed. Mr. Dieiil replied 

 that they did not. Mr. .1. W. Lindley, of 

 Iowa, said he lived where they had honey 

 by the bushel. He bad generally taken a 

 sharp shovel, and shoveled olV Uie t<i|) of 

 the comb, and given the bees free access 

 to it. The thing worked well in the fall, 

 but he did not know how it would do in 

 winter. Mr. H. II. Boardman had sue 

 iH'ssfully fed bees a com|)osition of two 

 pounds of sugar to ij. gallon of water, and 

 a |)ound of Hour. This made a food some- 

 thing like honey, and he had been suc- 

 cessful ill feeding it. The i'resideni said 

 it wouhl not do to give; l)ees honey or mo- 

 lasses through the winter as it would occa- 

 sion dysentery. He fed clarified "A"siigar, 

 eiglit pints sugar to five pints of water; 

 it made as good food as honey itself. 



'I'he next (luestion debati^i was, " The 

 iJest Mode of Increasing Swarms." Mr. 

 .1. VV. Ijiiidley had used all styles of hives. 

 His wife said lliat if he raised bees he 

 must, do so naturally. He put the new 

 (pieen back in the hive and generally had 

 largesvvarms in two or three inonths*;ifter. 

 Mr. A. Hair said hi' had read that tiiiinby 

 remarked that a ipieen bee introduced to a 

 few bees was e(|iial to a. swarm of bees. 

 Mr. liindley had had a dilferent experi- 

 ence; only a /(■/■^//<; (|ueen put back in the 

 hive, as he had expcrimciilcd, was cciual 

 to a. swarm of bees. In twenty-four liours 

 after she was put back he "would have 

 plenty of nurses. Mr. Hill thought that 

 this process was well enough wliere the 

 object was to make honey, but where in- 

 crease of slock was desired, he thought 

 that \\\v better plan was to divide up the 

 swarms. He hail done so si^vcral times, 

 and subdivided them as often as he found 

 queens, and very successlully too. Mr. 

 Linilley always caged the old'iiueeii, and 

 had most gtinerally been successful in so 

 doing. 



Mr. .1. W. ZimmiMinan had made swarms 

 in August from strong swarms. It was 

 always proper to consider the condition 

 of bees when swarms were made. Tliey 

 should be divided into as many (U'lls as 

 there were swarms desired. lie would 

 advise that course mort! I ban any oilier. 



Mr. A. Hair would advise arlillcial 

 swarming. 



Mr. H. H Hoardman's plan was to 

 double the hives one (»ver the other. 

 When they brooded in both hivt^s, and 

 the ((iieeii could not lay enough eggs to 

 keep them busy, he separated them and 

 let them lly into either liive. 



