1897. 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



35 



strong in numbers of bees and watch- 

 ed results. In a very short time the 

 mothes were on the outside of the 

 hive squirming around, and I expect 

 they were holding a hasty consultation 

 as to how tliey came there and the 

 next course of procedure, while the 

 bees were busy mending the comb as 

 good as new. Too many combs at a 

 time would have discouraged them. 

 They should be placed among the 

 brood to insure best results. If the 

 mothes are left unmolested they soon 

 spin their cocoons, and if not destroy- 

 ed once or twice a week they take un- 

 to themselves wings and fly away to 

 fields anew or fill the combs with eggs. 



Many people make sad mistakes by 

 not caring for their bees at the right 

 time, then if the bees fail to store 

 honey all the blame is cast on them. 

 If the bees were caved for equally as 

 well as the prudent farmer cares for 

 his stock, I think there would be less 

 complaint of failures than there 

 often is. 



I sometimes see would-be bee 

 keepers vainly trying to keep bees in 

 a slipshod way, without a good bee 

 journal, text book, or anything to give 

 them the required information, then if 

 they ask for the needed information 

 of one that knows, and he kindly in- 

 forms them, they have the impudence 

 to contradict him or tell him he does 

 not know. The writer knows of sev- 

 eral such ones, and as a rule they have 

 quit bee keeping in disgust, saying, 

 " bee keeping don't pay," when they 

 were in the fault. Such people will 

 not learn, and it is hard work to talk 

 to them. "Where ignorance is bliss 

 'tis folly to be wise." 



In preparing bees for winter it is my 

 habit to commence the preparation 



during the fall honey flow which we 

 usually have here. This gives the 

 bees a chance to seal stores, be it honey 

 or sugar syrup, and so arrange their 

 brood nest as to be ready for the win- 

 ter nap which nature intends them to 

 take. Call it "somnolence " or what- 

 soever you will. All work in the brood 

 nest should be done early in the fall, 

 so when winter comes on the bees can 

 be kept in that quiescent state so need- 

 ful for safe wintering. Bees wintered 

 on their summer stands should be kept 

 as quiet as possible, with no sun shin- 

 ing on the hive entrance during the 

 afternoons, and the entrance to hives 

 should be kept clear from dead bees 

 and all other obstructions. 

 Chillicothe, Mo. 



Annual Meeting Ontario Oo. 



Bee Keepers' Association. 



The annual convention of the On- 

 tario County Bee Keepers was held in 

 Canandaigua last Friday and Satur- 

 day. The question box was an inter- 

 esting feature of the meeting and elic- 

 ited at times very spirited discussions. 

 There was a stereoptican entertain- 

 ment, "The Honey Bee," Friday 

 evening. The committee in charge of 

 the Apis dorsata enterprise reported 

 very encouraging progress. Apis dor- 

 sata is the giant bee of India. These 

 bees are twice the size of ordinary 

 honey bees and undoubtedly would be 

 able not only to gather the honey f I'ora 

 red clover but insure a more perfect 

 fertilization of the same, thus increas- 

 ing the seed production, which would 

 be of inestimable value to the farmer. 

 Owing to the rapid disappearance of 

 the bumble bee it was thought that the 

 introduction of these bees would be a 

 necessity in the successful growing of 



