278 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



May 6, 



clover as a prominent factor in the system as original with 

 myself. It has been tried by others, and its merits publisht 

 before 1 ever thought of the plan. 



Honey will never, perhaps, become a staple in the sense 

 that sugar or potatoes are staple commodities, but at moder- 

 ate prices it has already become so near such that it will com- 

 mand those moderate prices and bo in sufficient demand to 

 make honey-production as profitable a pursuit as the average, 

 if reasonably good crops can be obtained. Whether or not 

 this can be done I am convinced depends largely upon whether 

 or not farmers shall find it to their interest to grow crops that 

 will at the same time yield honey. 



Geo. F. Bobbins. 



It was the general opinion of the members that the meet- 

 ing had accomplisht much for the Association by its promi- 

 nence before the State F'armers' Institute. 



The convention adjourned sine die. 



Jas. a. Stone, Sec. 



Texas State Bee-Keepers' Conventiou. 



The 19th annual session of the Texas State Bee-Keepers' 

 Association met recently at the apiary of W. R. Graham. 

 Owing to the death of Rev. W. K. Marshall, President of the 

 Association, and feeble health of Vice-President W. R. 

 Graham, W. R. Howard, M. D., was elected temporary chair- 

 man. The following bee-men answered roll-call : W. R. 

 Graham, W. R. Howard, P. G. Carter, A. M. Tuttle, M. M. 

 James, M. Kimbrough, C. W. Simpson, J. N. Hunter, P. D. 

 Farmer, A. D. Morgan, A. A. Girdner, W. M. Stapleton, and 

 several visitors. 



The Association was given the liberty to go through the 

 large bee-supply factory and apiary of Mr. Graham. In the 

 bee-yard were nuclei and special hives for queen-rearing. In 

 the factory the manufacture of everything used by up-to-date 

 bee-keepers was in full blast. 



At 2 p.m. the meeting was called to order by W. R. How- 

 ard, and prayer offered by J. N. Hunter. 



A committee was appointed to draft suitable resolutions 

 on the demise of Rev. W. K. Marshall, who died .Ian. 6, 1897. 



The discussion of honey-producing flora was taken up, 

 especially cotton-bloora. It was generally concluded that the 

 best honey was gathered from the black-land cotton-bloom. 

 Honey-dew figured largely in the discussion. Next the dis- 

 eases of bees was discust, led by Dr. Howard. 



Queens, hives, feeding and feeders, honey-plants, and 

 sowing alfalfa for bees, all came up for discussion. An ad- 

 journment was then had until the next morning at 9:30. 



When the Association was called to order by the Presi- 

 dent, pro tern., \V. R. Howard, the committee on memoirs, re- 

 ported the following, which was adopted : 



Whereas, Our beloved President, W. K. Marshall, has 

 been called from his post of duty amongst us, and has been 

 removed to a higher and holier plane beyond this life ; 



Whereas, The Texas Bee-Keepers' Association has lost 

 one of its most ardent members, the State and community a 

 faithful citizen and a worthy Christian gentleman ; there- 

 fore, be it 



Reaolmd, That in this, our unanimous expression of sor- 

 row atid grief, we tender our sincere sympathy to the bereaved 

 family and friends ; that a copy of these resolutions be 

 spread upon the minutes of the Association, and that a copy 

 be sent to the bereaved family. 



W. R. Howard, .1. N. Hunter 



:| 



Committee. 



The following officers were elected for the ensuing year: 



President, W. R. Graham ; Vice-President, W. R. Howard ; 

 Secretary and Treasurer, J. N. Hunter, Leonard, Tex. 



The discussion of the diseases of bees was resumed and 

 discust at length. A resolution of thanks to Mr. Graham and 

 his family for their kind hospitality, and a tender of sympathy 

 to Mr. Graham in his alllictlon, was unanimously adopted. 



The convention adjourned to meet the first Wednesday 

 and Thursday in April, 1898, at Greenville. 



J. N. Hunter, See. 



■White Clover Seed.— We have quite a quantity of 

 White Clover Seed on hand that we will send you at a bargain. 

 A little of it goes a good ways. It usually retails at 25 or ;30 

 cents per pound, but we will mull you 2 pounds for 40 cents, 

 or for sending us one new subscriber to the American Bee 

 Journal for a year. 



OONDnCTKD BY 



DR. O. O. MILLER, MARMNGO, ILL, 



[Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal, or to Dr. MUIer direct. 1 



Combs of Honey from a Colony lliat Had 

 Paralysis). 



I had a colony of bees that I think had bee-paralysis, and 

 I destroyed them with sulphur. Upon examination I find the 

 combs nice and straight, nearly all worker. Can I with safety 

 use the combs '? As they were in a single story it will only be 

 a loss of ten combs, which I had rather lose than run the risk, 

 if there is any. The combs are filled with brood and honey. 

 Will it hurt the bees to clean them up ? 



A. v., Louisiana. 



Answer — I think no one has ever reported the conveying 

 of the disease from combs or honey, so I should use them. 



Use of the Dummy or Divistion- Board. 



In the book " A Year Among the Bees," we read on page 



49, line 1-1 : " When it frames ;" and on page 50, lines 



23 to 27: "The -4 or o frames top-bar." I tried this 



plan last year, but it did not work well with me. My bees 

 build new combs on the lath in the empty room and filled them 

 with honey before they went into the sections. Now I would 

 like to know : 



1. How wide is the dummy (empty space) between the 

 comb and division-board ? 



2. Has the empty room, north of the division-board, to be 

 shut up (so close) on top and below that no bee can get in if? 



G. R. 



Answers. — Bee-keeping is rather an unfortunate subject 

 to write a book about, because what seemed right ten years 

 ago may seem quite different now. At present I don't follow 

 the plan about which you are inquiring. Bees don't make 

 very good work in that part of the super that has no brood- 

 combs under it, and in general it is better to leave combs un- 

 der the whole super. But I'll try to answer your questions. 



Remember that a 10-frame hive was used, loj^ inches 

 wide inside, and over it was placed a super 12 'g inches wide 

 inside. When the super was put on, that left 2}-i inches of 

 the width of the hive uncovered, as explained on page 51. 

 Possibly you covered that 2)4 Inches, and if so you'd be pretty 

 sure to have plenty of comb built in the empty space. With 

 the dummy and division-board between them and the brood- 

 combs, and nothing bi t the open sky above them, the bees 

 were not much inclined to build. The dummy was made of 

 inch lumber, and was just the size of a frame of brood-comb. 

 The bees were not prevented from going into the empty space, 

 for althothe division-board fitted quite close at the ends, bees 

 could freely pass under It in most cases. As already said, the 

 freedom from comb-building came from the separation of the 

 bees and from the openness of the place. 



Swarming — InlroduoinK Queens— Early Queens 

 Dark. 



1. On the third Monday in March I had a large swarm 

 from a very strong colony of Italians. I caged the queen 

 when she came out, and let the bees hive themselves, by re- 

 moving the mother colony to a new stand. On examination 

 of the old colony I found 9 capt queen-cells. The same day I 

 made equal division of 8 strong colonies by removing 5 

 frames and the queen and all adhering bees, besides giving 

 them the bees from one more frame by shaking the bees oft. 

 I closed the entrance with wire-cloth until the next evening, 

 and then gave to the queenless part on the old stand a capt 

 queen-cell In a Doollttle queen-cell protector. Only two cells 

 were capt, and the two colonies swarmed as soon as their first 

 cell was capt. I caught the queens and returned them, and 



