March 20, 1902 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



181 



Mr. Covcyou says beginners liave a good deal to do mi 

 getting hardy bees, by llieir losing the weaker in winu i- 

 and breeding from llic remaining strong ones. 



Mr. Pinncll lhinl<s it best to' keep good strain. 



Mr. Chapman tliinks it is better to cross. He .s.iy^ i 

 hybrid queen did good work, but lie tried rearing fiMin 

 one and could not duplicate her. He thinks it safer to liii\ 

 a few good queens. 



I'LACIJ OF MEETI.N'G — KLF.CTIO.V Or OFFICERS. 



It was moved by Mr. Cliapman that the next annn.il 

 meeting be held at Lansing, at a time to be .set by cxern 

 live conniiittec. The motion was seconded, and carried. 



The election of officers resulted as follows: W. Z. Hutch- 

 inson, president; Geo. H. Kirkpatnck. vice-president; 

 James A. Dart, of Petoskey, secretary; and Samuel D. Chap 

 man, treasurer. 



Former treasurer, W. 7.. Hutchinson, reported a balauLX- 

 on hand of 65 cents. 



LOC.\TING OUT-APIARIES. 



"What are the essential points to be considered in locat- 

 ing out-apiaries?" 



Mr. Chapman advises locating so that bees will take 

 advantage of all of the pasturage; not too close to a small 

 patch, as the bees will work that to death. Pick the loca- 

 tion so that there is good pasturage in equal distances sur- 

 rounding. He prefers three miles between good-sized 

 apiaries, the distance depending on the pasturage and the 

 number of colonies. He says he gets little basswood now, 

 mostly raspberry to take its place ; uses a tent in the out 

 yard, and pays farmers $10 a year for a location in an 

 orchard, and gives the farmers all the honey they want. 



Mr. Kirkpatrick says 3^ to 4 miles bees worked success- 

 fully on basswood. 



Mr. Smith never saw a bee over two miles from home. 



Mr. Coveyou has had bees work successfully 2^4 miles, 

 and a neighbor 4 miles away had bees come four miles to 

 his place. 



INCREASE BY SWARMING OR DmDING. 



"Should we increase by natural or artificial swanuing? 

 Which is the better practice to get white honey? and what 

 method? 



Mr. Chapman takes the queens away after the spring flow 

 after queen-cells are capped. He takes a comb having capped 

 queen-cells, making increase in that way. He has no swarm- 

 ing. 



FRUIT-GROWERS AND BEES. 



"Can a fruit-grower atTord to be without bees, pro- 

 vided there is no bee-keeper within two miles of his orchard?" 



Mr. Woodman says some fruit-growers in his region 

 say the yellows are spread by bees, but he had one neigh- 

 bor raising pickles who had a double crop while the apiary 

 remained there ; that it would be better for a fruit-grower 

 to keep bees. 



Others said they would keep bees, and that honey-bees 

 are earlier at the work and more to de depended upon than 

 other insects. 



The afternoon meeting was enlivened by music. A quar- 

 tet of Petoskey singers beautifully sang, "The Hum of the 

 Bees in the Apple-tree Bloom," and "Buckwheat Cakes and 

 Honey." Emmet Co., Mich. 



Report of the Vermont Bee-Keepers' Convention. 



BY M. F. CRAM, SEC. 



The meeting of the Vermont Bee-Keepers' Association 

 was held at Vergennes. Dec. IS, 1901. It was a joint meet- 

 ing with the Horticultural Society, they holding their meet- 

 ing the day before, with a joint session in the evening. 



The meeting was opened with prayer by H. L. Leonard : 

 the secretary's and treasurer's reports were read and 

 adopted; and the following committees were appointed by 

 the chair : On nomination, H. L. Leonard, W. G. Larra- 

 bee, and R. H. Holmes. 



R. H. Holmes and M. F. Cram were appointed to confer 

 with a like committee of the Horticultural Society, to see 

 if the two societies would best unite and report at the next 

 convention. 



CAUSE OF RECENT WINTER LOSSES. 



W. Blackmer — The loss was caused by dysentery. The 

 disease was caused by young queens laying in winter, and 



by being confined for too long a time without a flight. 



W. (i. Larrabce asked why bees die with honey close to 

 the cluster. The cause is not known. 



A. M. Mill in(|uircd whether to winter his bees in a eel 

 lar with the temperature .^2 to .IK degrees, or in his fruit 

 house. He was advised to do neither. Mr. Leonard said he 

 would not ri.sk his bees in a cellar where there was frost or 

 that lacked ventilation. 



Mr. Lowrey said that at the Vermont Experimental 

 Station, two years ago, they lost 22 out of 2.^ colonics packed 

 with sawdust on top and all around. Last season they lost 

 one out of 16 packed with planer-shavings. 



BLEACIlINf, IIONEV. 



J. E. Crane said he had more or less stained honey. 

 Last year he had bleached some of his darkest honey so it 

 passed for No. 1. He had built on a room 10x1.5 feet, with 

 glass on three sides of the room. He can bleach 1000 

 pounds at one time. He used sulphur, but not too much, as 

 it gave the comb a green color. In a room containing 850 

 cubic feet, burn 6 ounces of sulphur, then let it .stand 20 

 minutes. He had to do it several times to make the comb 

 white. This season the color was caused by propolis. He 

 showed several samples which had been bleached by the 

 side of that which had not been bleached. (Jut of 6500 

 pounds, 500 pounds could not be brought out to No. 1. One 

 sulphur bath would not do as much as a week of sunlight. 

 When the combs are slightly stained, they can be brought 

 to a pure white ; but when badly stained it can not be re- 

 moved at all. If he were to build another room he would 

 have it light overhead. 



G. C. Spencer — Would it turn the comb yellow ? 



Mr. Crane — It would not. 



Mr. Holmes — What makes some honey so yellow ? 



O. J. Lowrey — It is caused by the bees working on corn, 

 but the yellow largely goes off in time. The temperature 

 has not much to do about bleaching, but it helps ripen the 

 honey. 



Mr. Crane had not been able to discover that the honey 

 was injured by bleaching. He thought it had paid him 

 financially for building the room. 



How can this stain be prevented ? was asked. The only 

 way is to take off the honey as soon as completed. Black 

 bees make the comb look whiter than the Italians. 



CONTROLLING SWARMING IN OVT-API ARIES. 



Mr. Holmes — He had some help in each yard, but that 

 was not what he wanted. It was when he left the bees 

 without an attendant. They must have plenty of room to 

 keep down the swarming-fever. 



Messrs. Blackmer and Lowrey remove the brood and 

 let the bees go back on starters or full sheets of foundation. 



Mr. Lowrey uses queen-excluders 14 by 2 inches. 



Mr. Larrabee thought the swarming instinct could be 

 bred out. He had brought home from an out-apiary 15 colo- 

 nies which had been run 10 years for extracted honey, and 

 not one offered to swarm in 1900, or until late in 1901, 

 although run for comb honey. 



A vote of thanks was extended to the people of Vergen- 

 nes for the use of hall and lights. 



AFTERNOON SESSION. 



The committee on nominations nominated the old board 

 of officers, and they were re-elected. 



WAX-PRESS — LONG-TONGUED BEES. 



Mr. Crane talked on the use of the wax-press, which was 

 very instructive. We have been losing a large amount of 

 wax by not having proper facilities for extracting the same. 



Mr. Leonard spoke of long-tongued bees, saying he had 

 not measured their tongues, but had measured the other 

 end of the bee a good many times, and it reached clear 

 through his pants, and some besides. 



Mr. Crane thought there was something in long-tongued 

 bees, but it was more in the hardiness of the bee. He had 

 known that some of his queens had transmitted desirable 

 qualities for two or three generations. He spoke of one 

 queen he purchased whose bees had produced more honey 

 than any other colony in the yard, and had capped their 

 honey in a very peculiar manner, so much so that he could 

 distinguish it after it was all mixed up with other honey. 



Mr. Lowrey read a paper on the loss of virgin queens. 



Mr. Holmes — There is more loss some seasons than in 

 others. 



RESOLUTIONS. 



Whereas, An All-Wise Providence has seen fit to re- 



