Nov. 20, 1902. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



741 



you are a small man." It was not I, but Mr. Harris (who is 

 not a *' small man "), who was insistin)^' on parlianuntary 

 rules, if insistinjr on parliamentary rules can be called 

 "pretty small," and I was merely tryinj;- to call the atten- 

 tion of the President to what Mr. Harris wanted. 



C. C. MiLi.KK. 



I Convention Proceedings, l 



THE DENVER CONVENTION. 



Report of the Proceedings of the 33d Annual 

 Convention of the National Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation, held in Denver, Col., on Wed- 

 nesday, Thursday and Friday, 

 Sept. 3, 4 and 5, 1902. 



(Continued from pae"e 72" ) 



Pres. Hutchinson then called upon E. R. Root to reply 

 to the paper of Mr. Morehouse, on 



"BEE-KEEPINQ LESSONS THAT MAY BE LEARNED 

 FROM THE WORD ' LOCALITY.' " 



E. R. Roqt — I read over the paper by Mr. Morehouse, 

 but I have given the matter no further thoug^ht until just 

 now. I don't know that I am prepared to give this matter 

 a consecutive and careful reply, but I will try to take up 

 some points he suggested. 



If I remember correctlj', he took up the matter in a gen- 

 eral way, leaving me to take it up in a specific form, to sug- 

 gest, if possible, how localities diifer as to the mode of treat- 

 ment of colonies in the United States. 



If we take the locality known as the Rain-Belt, or that 

 portion of the United States where rain falls, and they do 

 not depend upon irrigation, starting, perhaps, southward of 

 the Ohio River, northward taking from Minnesota to Maine, 

 the New England States, and all that portion of the coun- 

 try including New York and Pennsylvania, we have a spe- 

 cial mode of treatment for preparing colonies to bring them 

 up to the condition whereby they may take in the white 

 honey-flow that will commence anywhere from the first of 

 June to the first of July, and lasting anywhere from four 

 weeks to possibly two months. It seems to be necessary to 

 make the treatments in the East of preparing colonies and 

 getting them ready for the honey-flow that shall occur a little 

 later, getting the largest force of bees possible to gather 

 the honey-flow at that season of the year in June or July, 

 as we do not over the other portions of the country. 



Starting south in Texas, coming along through Arizona, 

 up into California and back into Colorado, the mode of 

 treatment has to be varied very considerably. Taking over 

 that portion of the country oUt West, of which I speak, the 

 seasons are longer, lasting anywhere from a few weeks to 

 several months ; the honey-flow is perhaps not so rapid as 

 we have in the East, such as we get from basswood ; it is 

 slower, and the flow comes at such a time that the bees 

 could readily take care of it. Take, for instance, in Texas, 

 they have a number of unimportant honey-plants, such 

 plants as are only useful for stimulating the bees for the 

 honej'-flow that comes on later ; those plants are of such a 

 nature that through a little honey-flow, slowly, brood- 

 rearing progresses satisfactorily, no feeding necessary, as 

 for us in the East ; and the consequence is, when the heavy 

 honey-flow comes on the bees are ready, and of the right 

 age, to gather the flow that shall come. The most impor- 

 tant flows in Texas, if I mistake not, are from mesquite, 

 guajilla and catclaw. Those follow one after the other, so 

 that the mode of treatment in Texas seems to be quite dif- 

 ferent from what it is in the Eastern States, and in the 

 northern portion of our country. 



Another peculiarity of locality is that which affects the 

 swarming problem, and in lower Arizona, and some por- 

 tions of California, it is not such a serious one as with us 

 in the East ; the swarming comes on earlier in the season, 

 with the minor honey-plants, and it seems that the bees are 

 not inclined to swarm when the heavy honey-flow comes on 



later, and the bee-keeperi arc prepared to take care of the 

 swarming when it does come, also the extracting, because 

 they come at a time when there is not much work to do. 

 Then, after the honey-flow comes on, the swarming ceases 

 and the bees get down to hard work. That condition does 

 not prevail in the East, only to a slight extent, when the 

 heavy honey-flow comes on ; that is, the bees may let up 

 somewhat from swarming, but they do not cease entirely 

 until the honcy-llow stops. In Texas and Arizona, and 

 some parts of California, the honey-flow comes on with 

 such a rush, and continues for such a time, that the swarm- 

 ing stops almost entirely, or lets up enough so that it is not 

 a difiicult problem, and out-apiaries can be left to them- 

 selves. I see Mr. Scholl nods assent, so I am correct. 



Then there is the question of disease. Bee-paralysis is 

 much more virulent in the South, in some portions of Cali- 

 fornia and the West than it is in the northern and central 

 portions of the United States known as the Rain-Belt. 

 When I speak of the Rain-Belt you will know exactly where 

 I mean : Those States that I referred to in the East, north 

 of the Ohio River and between the Atlantic Ocean and 

 Mississippi River, and taking in perhaps Iowa, Minnesota 

 and Wisconsin ; in that portion the disease known as bee- 

 paralysis never amounts to anything ; we see, occasionally, 

 colonies having that disease, where the bees are tremulous 

 in their motions, some of them die oS', but I never knew 

 where it was very serious ; it might amount to the killing 

 of one colony. 



When we go southward into the Southern States, espe- 

 cially Florida, we find bee-paralysis is a very serious dis- 

 ease ; why, we don't know. 



Then the question of foul brood and black brood seems 

 to be somewhat a matter of locality. We find, so far, that 

 black brood is confined mainly to the State of New York ; I 

 don't think there is very much in the West. I have known 

 of one or two cases where it was in California, but I never 

 knew of a case in Texas or Arizona ; and, if I mistake not, 

 there is very little or no foul brood in Texas. Am I correct 

 in that? 



Mr. Scholl— Yes. 



Mr. Root — The conditions do not seem favorable for the 

 propagation of that disease, but I advise my friends in 

 Texas not to try the experiment. 



Then the question of hives (the size of) depends largely 

 upon locality. Large hives seem to be better in warm 

 localities where the honey-flow continues for a considerable 

 length of time. 



Then the question as to whether comb honey or ex- 

 tracted honey is another factor ; if extracted only, then the 

 lOfrarae Langstroth, or Jumbo, seems to be preferred : if 

 comb honey, then the S-frame Langstroth, or some similar 

 small brood-nest would be used as in the East. In Texas 

 and California comb honey can be produced over the 10- 

 frame hive very satisfactorily, because that hive can be 

 used for extracted or comb honey ; it seems to prevail very 

 largely, although there are marked exceptions to this rule. 



There is another peculiarity that I noticed in Colorado 

 from talking with a number of bee-keepers, and that is the 

 matter of tiering-up. The question of tiering-up in the 

 Rain-Belt is quite a complicated one. We don't know how 

 long the honey-flow is going to last, or when the weather 

 will change suddenly ; that prevails over large portions of 

 the United States ; but in Colorado, if I understand it, you 

 know just when your honey-flow is going to stop, or nearly 

 so — when the mowing machines have gone over the field; 

 you know when they will have about all the alfalfa cut, and 

 )'0U know when the honey-flow will stop. If I understand 

 correctly, you tier-up in such a way that nearly all the sec- 

 tions will be completed at the end of that honey-flow, when 

 the cutting of the alfalfa is through. The question of tier- 

 ing-up in Colorado is quite peculiar. 



Another peculiarity here is, you do not have to look out 

 for the moth-worm or the moth-miller: I don't think that 

 pest bothers at all in any of the localities except in the 

 southern portions of the United States, among bee-keepers 

 who are not possessed of the modern methods of handling 

 bees, but it is somewhat a matter of surprise — was to me, 

 certainly — to know that the moth-miller had not been 

 known to exist here or do any harm whatever, even when 

 the bees were handled by the old-fashioned method, and 

 even when the box-hive with the black bees was used. 



Then the question of wintering seems to vary a good 

 deal in the United States. Take it on the Atlantic Coast 

 and up as far as Massachusetts, a single-wall hive will do 

 very well. In northern Minnesota, northern Michigan, in 

 the northern States, and through the Rain-Belt, the cellar- 

 wintering seems to prevail, because it gives better results 



