422 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



July 8, 



Bee-Keepers' Union be askt to make a report on the doings of 

 the organization. Carried. [This Report was publisht in 

 1894-.— Ed] 



The convention then adjourned until 2 o'clock p.m. 



THIRD DAY — Afternoon Session. 

 A 2 p.m. the convention was called to order by Pres. 

 Abbott, and upon motion the Question-Box was again taken 

 up. 



AN ADVANTAGE OF CONVENTIONS. 



Dr. Miller — I want to make an observation which may 

 apply to some here. It is a common thing to find out some 

 valuable points at a convention that we could not get else- 

 where. Here is a man out on a farm who does not say very 

 much about bees, and does not write anything about them be- 

 cause he thinks he cannot write a very elaborate article, and 

 so he keeps quiet. He might know something that I do not 

 know, but want to find out about. This is a kind of a one- 

 sided affair for you to get all of the good things and keep your 

 mouth shut about what you know, and not give the good 

 things to others. 



Pres. Abbott — Mr. Dadant said that he had gotten enough 

 information on one point at this convention to pay his ex- 

 penses here. 



Mr. Dadant — That is in regard to the sugar-cake for win- 

 tering bees. 



Pres. Abbott — I use the least amount of water that will 

 melt up the granulated sugar. I melt it thoroughly until it is 

 dissolved, boiling it very carefully until it will stay in a hard 

 cake like maple sugar. You can tell when it gets that way 

 by dropping it in water. The cake will weigh about seven, 

 eight or nine pounds, and I put a couple of sticks under it to 

 keep it off of the frames and make a bee-space under it. 

 There is one thing you want to do, and that is stir the sugar 

 while it is melting to make it granulate so that it will hold 

 moisture, and the bees can work on it better. 



Mr. H. G. Barbel, of the State University at Lincoln, 

 Nebr., assistant of Prof. Bruner, was introduced to the con- 

 vention by Mr. Benton. 



Mr. Barber — I am sorry that I cannot say very much that 

 will be of benefit to you. Mr. Bruner is the entomologist, and 

 I his assistant, having charge of his bee-work. We have had 

 a very poor year. We started out in February, purchasing 

 five colonies, but have not brancht out very much this year. 

 We lost one colony through accident. I came here to learn 

 what I could, and have been very much pleased to have this 

 opportunity to listen. 



Dr. Miller sang the " Land of the Leal " and a negro 

 spiritual sone, after which the convention closed its Quarter 

 Centennial meeting by all singing, " Blest Be the Tie that 

 Binds." Louis R. Lighton, Reporter. 



Xhe Horse— How to Break and Handle.— 



This is a pamphlet of 82 pages, giving couiplete instructions 

 for breaking and educating colts, teaching horses to drive, 

 and for use under the saddle, together with many instructions 

 which have never before been publisht, and which are the re- 

 sult of the author's experience covering a period of 20 years. 

 By Prof. Wm. Mullen, with whom the editor of the Bee Jour- 

 nal is personally accjuainted. Price, postpaid, 20 cents ; or 

 given as a premium for sending us one new subscriber to the 

 Bee Journal for the rest of the year at 50 cents. 



A Nc'w Binder for holding a year's numbers of the 

 American Bee Journal, we propose to mail, postpaid, to every 

 subscriber who sends us 20 cents. It is called "The Wood 

 Binder," is patented, and Is an entirely new and very simple 

 arrangement. Full printed direcllDus accompany each Binder. 

 Every reader should get it, and preserve the copies of the Bee 

 Journal as fast as they are received. They are invaluable for 

 reference, and at the low price of the Kinder you can afford to 

 get it yearly. 



CONDUCTED BY 

 DH. C. C. MII.hER. MAREnGO, ILL, 



[Questions may be mailed to tbe Bee Journal, or to Ur. Miller direct.! 



A Clipt Virgin Qiiceii. 



A friend of ours'clipt the wing of a virgin queen that 

 issued with an after-swarm or second swarm. What will the 

 result be ? Kansas. 



Answer. — The probability is that he will have a drone- 

 laying queen. Possibly she may never lay. But it may hap- 

 pen that the queen was fertilized at the time the bees 

 swarmed, in which case the queen will be all right. As you 

 put the question, however, a virgin queen, there can be only 

 one result — the ruin of the colony. 



A Case of Laying Workers. 



Three weeks ago I hived a small swarm of bees (about a 

 quart measure full), but could find no queen. Now they have 

 sealed brood in drone-cells, and in some of the unsealed cells 

 which I examined with a strong glass shows as high as 15 

 eggs in one cell, and that is what I cannot understand. They 

 have no queen yet, but two cells started. Novice. 



Answer. — Sorry to say you have a case of laying-workers. 

 The best and cheapest thing is to break up the whole business 

 at once, giving the combs and bees to other colonies, or unit- 

 ing the colony with some weak colony that has a normal lay- 

 ing queen. 



M I m 



Bruod-Combs Filled with Pollen. 



I notice some of my brood-combs have cells full of pollen. 

 Is there any way to get it out so that the queen can use them ? 



Kansas. 



Answer. — The queen cannot put eggs in cells that con- 

 tain either pollen or honey, and the remedy is the same in 

 both cases. Just let them alone and the bees will empty out 

 both when the right time comes. Beginners too often under- 

 value pollen. Bees cannot get along without it, and it's worth 

 as much to them as honey. A strong colony ought to have on 

 hand enough pollen to fill pretty well one comb. Better let 

 them manage the pollen business. If it's any comfort to you 

 to see the pollen emptied out of the cells, just take a comb 

 filled with pollen from one side of the hive where you find it 

 in a strong colony, put it in the middle of the brood-nest and 

 look some days later to see how much pollen is loft. But it's 

 a great deal better to leave it at the sideof the hive where the 

 bees placed it. 



I*erha|>s Bec.Paraljsig. 



I have one M-frame nucleus that I ordered from the West 

 June 1. I notice every warm day that some of the young 

 bees walk out of the hive before they can Uy. Some of them 

 act as if they wanted to lly, and some of them tremble a little. 

 I seldom have seen one of them return to the hive. They will 

 be very quiet for awhile, and then they get restless and run 

 and hop about. I have never read or heard of bees acting 

 that way, so I concluded 1 would ask if you could tell what is 

 the matter with them, and if there Is any way to stop it. 



West Virginia. 



Answer. — As you describe it, the case sounds just a little 

 like paralysis. If tliat is the case it may not be very destruc- 

 tive, altho farther south It becomes very bad. As yet there 



