isy:. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



309 



days as long as you see the bees showing symptoms of in- 

 fection. 



I am very anxious that some one should treat a case of 

 foul brood In like manner with the electrolyzed salt water as 

 well, and report the facts as they occur under the treatment. 



I hope the foregolni? will be satisfactory to the many 

 questioners on this subject. Morgan Co., Ohio. 



Report of the North American Coaventioti Held 

 at St. Joseph; Mo., Oct. 10-12, 1894. 



REPORTED BY LOUIS R. LIGHTON. 



[Continued from page 792 of the Bee Jouiaal for 1894.] 



THIRD DAY— Morning Session. 



The convention was called to order at 9 o'clock, and pro- 

 ceeded to the work as Indicated by the program. 



Secretary B''rank Benton read the paper written by Mr. W. 

 S. Pender, of Hunter River, N. S. W., Australia, entitled, 



beekeeping in AUSTRALIA. 



The late Dr. Wilson, according to the Australian Bee- 

 Bulletin, Is credited with being the first person to successfully 

 import a colony of black bees Into the Colony of Tasmania, 

 and have them fully establlsht. Swarms from these bees were 

 sold at £5 (.Si^-l) each, a number finding their way to various 

 parts of the Ai)?itralian continent. Some further Importations 

 were made, of which we have no definite record. The black 

 bee is now to be found wild all over Australia. During sea- 

 sons of plenty, swarms are very numerous, and If an excur- 

 sion hi made throush the bush (forests), several may be often 

 seen hanging on the limbs of trees, a fence, or other conspicu- 

 ous place. Swarms often fly across towns, and It is not an 

 unusual occurrence for them to settle somewhere in a public 

 thoroughfare; the most noteworthy instance that I have seen 

 was last season when a passing swarm decided that the back 

 seat of a buggy, standing in the principal street of West 

 Maiilaiid, N. S. W., was the most suitable place to set- 

 tle on, from which place they were successfully hived In a box 

 by a passer-by without removing the horse from the vehicle. 

 Now and then a swarm will build comb and commence brood- 

 rearine on the place where it settles, as the branch of a tree, 

 and there thrive for awhile. 



In some seasons large quantities of honey are secured by 

 felling trees containing a nest, the hollow part being from •> 

 to 15 inches in diameter, the combs often extending a distance 

 of feet along the hollow. It Is not unusual for 100 pounds 

 or more of extracted honey to be obtained from these nests. 



The black bees in this country have proved to be exces- 

 sive swarmers during seasons when they could get just suffi- 

 cient nectar to keep up rapid brood-rearing, but when honey 

 was being rapidly stored they seemed to forget about increase, 

 and set to work to store. Swarming may commence in 

 August and continue to early in the following March. Swarms 

 can be purehast for from 60 cents each upward. 



Bees are mostly kept in any convenient box that can be 

 found. In some places the joints are so open, through 

 warping and splitting of the timber, that the bees and combs 

 can be seen from quite a distance; sometimes the hives are 

 sheltered with sheets of b.irk, rough boards, etc.; at other 

 times under a shed. After the swarm Is placed in a hive no 

 further care Is taken of It until the autumn — generally the 

 end of February — when they are driven to another box and 

 allowed to do the best they can for winter. In many localities 

 in a favorable season these driven bees will build complete 

 combs, rear brood arid store suflicient honey before winter, 

 which they will come through In very strong condition. 



Since the introduction of ihe frame hive and Italian bee, 

 mauy have adopted the more modern methods of bee-keeping, 

 which Is carried on similarly to American bee-keepers. In 

 fact, Americi'n bee-literature is what is mostly In circulation, 

 and the methods there described seem to suit this country very 

 well when modified to suit our honey-flows. 



Our climate is such that very little attention is given to 



wintering bees, beyond seeing that they have about 10 pounds 

 of stores, a good queen, and a watertight cover. In the 

 warmer parts the amount of stores for winter gives no con- 

 cern, as there is generally sufficient food to be obtained from 

 something, as grasses, weeds, underscrub. etc.; if there should 

 not be a winter honey-flow. To give an Idea of what a winter 

 flow Is sometimes like, I will cite the following : 



During the season of 1892, Mr. M. Scobie, of West Mait- 

 land, N. S. W., started the spring with 1 T colonies of black 

 and hybrid bees. Anticipating favorable weather for the 

 following winter, and noticing the spotted gum trees were 

 heavy In bud (the buds of this tree are from 15 to 18 months 

 from the time of forming to bursting), be allowed, or rather 

 encouraged, his bees to swarm, hived all first and after- 

 swarms on comb foundation, aud by April had 90 colonies 

 when the trees burst into bloom, and before the end of June 

 7,000 pounds of honey were extracted. This is very encour- 

 aging, is it not? 



Now for reverses : The past season has been very wet, 

 and that same bee-keeper started with 172 colonies, from 

 which he did not get one pound of honey, and then had to 

 feed some of his colonies for winter. 



In some seasons the trees seem to arrange their time of 

 blooming to make one continuous flow from August to the 

 following June, with very little break between, and during 

 such a season, with proper management. I believe It is quite 

 possible to average 500 pounds of extracted honey per colony. 

 These seasons are scarce, but taking one season with another 

 an average of 1.50 pounds per colony in bushy (forest) coun- 

 try, and 40 pounds when bees have to depend entirely on cul- 

 tivation, is obtained. The statistics at the end of this paper 

 do not paint things so brightly, but it must be remembered 

 that at least 80 per cent, of the hives are boxes in which a 

 swarm is placed to take its chance. 



The hive most generally in use is the Langstroth, with 

 Simplicity size of frame, with all its modifications. A large 

 number consider this sizeof frame too large, and have adopted 

 the % size, to take 6 instead of 8. The 8-frame hive with 

 Root-Hoffman frames is now being very much used. A small 

 number of bee-keepers use the Berlepsch hive. 



The honey produced is mostly extracted, comb honey 

 having very little sale. It is very varied in quality, the color 

 varying from water-white to the dark color of golden syrup. 

 The flavor may be very mild or very strong. Some of the 

 finest looking honey is so rank In flavor when first extracted 

 as to be almost unpalatable, but this rankness disappears 

 after a time. The quantity of this rank hooey produced is 

 small. Most of the honey produced is of excellent quality. 

 The largest quantity aud the best qualities are produced dur- 

 ing fairly dry seasons. Very little regard is paid by con- 

 sumers to the color of honey, and when it Is put on an open 

 market a dark kind of honey will generally realize as much as 

 a lighter colored kind. The price varies with the locality and 

 the state of the market, varying from 2}-j(f to 4d per pound 

 (i. e., 5 to 8 cents). It is mostly sold In 60 pound tins. 



At present fully as much honey Is produced as a market 

 can be found for, but as foreign markets are being opened up 

 our home markets will be much relieved. 



The wax produced is of the very finestquality, and is very 

 varied in color, from a pure "white to every shade of dark and 

 canary yellow, and some even has a pinkish color. The white 

 wax direct from the combs is very tough and quite different 

 from that made white by bleaching. What is it that gives 

 wax Its color ? I frequently find my bees build and seal their 

 stores with wax quite a canary yellow In color. Now seeing 

 that our honey is so varied in color, and that wax is a secre- 

 tionary production, is It not most reasonable to expect that 

 the difference lu color is due to the difference in food rather 

 than impurities ? 



Propolis the bees must have more or less of, and varies in 

 color and appearance from a dark red to a dirty brown, some- 

 times granular, hard and brittle, other times soft and sticky, 

 and will draw out in threads several inches long before break- 

 ing. I find that only certain colonies do much propolizius. 

 and these will gather more propolis than all the rest in the 

 apiary, bridging over all spices between frames, etc. Where 

 mats are not used I find propolis reduced to a miulmum. 



Bee-keepiug as an occupation is quite practicable here. 

 There are a number who follow the pursuit wholly as a busi- 

 ness, and others are going into it. 



The diseases of bees, viz., foul brood and paralysis, are 

 well represented, the former confined mostly to a few localities 

 and the latter pretty general all over Australia. Foul brood 

 is easily cured by simply hiving the bees on new frames hav- 

 ing comb foundation starters or full sheets In a clean hive, the 

 old hive scraped and painted inside and out. 



