Feb. 21, 1907 



American Vee Journal 



been forced out. The Major, anxious 

 about the boy, followed liiin, and when 

 he noticed the honey on the plate, and 

 the condition it was in, he m;irveled. 



After some study he concluded that 

 the centrifugal force was the cause of 

 the occurrence, and at once constructed 

 a honey-e.\tractor, which he exhibited 

 in 1865 at a bec-keep'ers' meeting held 

 in Bruenn, Sept. 12 to 14, by the Ger- 

 man-Austrian bee-keepers. Great was 

 the enthusiasm over the invention. 



As soon .■ 

 honey could 

 by centrifuj; 

 honey-extr.u 

 market with 

 provemcnts 

 chine. Like 

 benefactors, 

 reward whic 

 poor man.- 

 Bztg. ' 



- )t was noised about that 

 I" separated from the comb 



il force, a good many 

 ("IS were thrown upon the 



Ihu slight changes and im- 

 (Aer Hruschka's first ma- 



niany other inventors and 

 the Major did not reap the 

 h was his due. He drcd a 

 Translated from the Leipz. 



>' 



. C^onvention 

 ' Proceedings' 



."%'^- 



Convention of Bee- Keepers' 

 Associations at Brantford 



REPORTED BY J. L. BYER. 



The annual convention of the bee- 

 keepers' associations of Brant and ad- 

 joining counties was held in Brantford, 

 Ont., on Jan. 29, 30, and 31, 1907. 



The meeting was called to order by 

 Pres. Shaver, of the Brant County As- 

 sociation, who asked Mr. O. L. Hershi- 

 ser to take the chair. Mr. Hershiser, 

 after thanking the members for the 

 honor conferred upon him, invited Mr. 

 Holtermann to open the discussion on 

 the subject for the evening, namely: 

 "Hints for present use in wintering; 

 either in repositories or outdoors." 



Hints on Wintering Bees. 



Mr. Holtermann said there were more 

 signs of dysentery among their bees in 

 the cellar than ever experienced before. 

 He attributed it to quality of some 

 honey gathered by the bees on Long 

 Point. Some of this honey showed air- 

 cells under the cappings; it was gath- 

 ered from a species of mint, had a de- 

 cided minty flavor, and was of a green- 

 ish color. 



Mr. Holtermann had a sample of this 

 honey at the convention, and all who 

 tasted it agreed that it was the most 

 peculiar tasting honey they had ever 

 sampled. Several bee-keepers said it re- 

 minded them of some samples of foreign 

 honey they had tasted. Mr. Holtermann 

 had been feeding some sugar syrup 

 about a week before, to the 20-odd colo- 

 nies afTected, and thought there was a 

 decided change for the better. 



Mr. Hershiser thought that feeding 

 a colony affected with dysentery with 

 thick sugar syrup would benefit every 

 time. Recently during a warm day, 

 some bees fed on sugar syrup did not 

 offer to fl\-, while those not so fed flew 

 freely. 



Mr. House — Outside conditions often 

 have much to do with the matter, but in 

 Mr. Holtermann's case the troube is un- 

 doubtedly being caused b\' an acid of 

 some nature in the honey. 



Mr. Taylor said a neighbor of his had 

 fed sugar syrup all winter to his bees 

 in a damp cellar, and they had wintered 

 perfectly. 



Mr. Smith thought that candy made 

 of sugar and honey was a splendid win- 

 ter food for bees, notwithstanding re- 

 ports to the contrary. In his opinion, 

 there had been something radically 

 wrong in making the candy. 



Mr. Chrysler — Two years ago my 

 bees gathered a large quantity of honey 

 from "spurges." When first gathered, 

 it made any one sick who would taste 

 it; later it lost some of its objectionable 

 features. The bees filled their hives 

 solid, and the winter loss was quite 

 heavy. 



Mr. Armstrong — Are you sure, Mr. 

 Holtermann, that the bees had been cov- 

 ering these combs of honey in which the 

 air-cells were noticed? 



Mr. Holtermann — Yes. 



Mr. Coggshall thought possibly pollen 

 in the honey was responsible for dys- 

 entery, but Mr. Hershiser thought not. 



Mr. Smith said formerly he thought 

 pollen caused dysentery, and for some 

 years he extracted all honey from the 

 brood-nest and fed sugar syrup. He 

 had discontinued the practise as he 

 thought results did not pay for the ex- 

 tra work. 



Mr. Holtermann — Confining bees 

 closely in the summer will bring on 

 dysentery. 



Mr. Hershiser — When putting bees 

 into the cellar last fall, I found one 

 colony so badly affected with dysentery 

 that I had no hopes for them, but they 

 appear to be better now. 



Mr. Smith — Probably unsealed stores 

 caused the trouble. Now they are on 

 sealed stores and it disappears. 



Mr. Craig — Will _ thin syrup ferment 

 in the combs as quickly as poor honey? 



Mr. Holtermann — Yes. 



Mr. Craig and Mr. Armstrong said 

 they had had sugar syrup left in ves- 

 sels all winter and it did not ferment. 



J. L. Byer — It is all a question as to 

 how thick the syrup is. 



Celi.ar-Winterinc of Bees. 



"What is the first requisite in cellar- 

 wintering, temperature or ventilation?" 



Mr. Chrysler — Temperature. 



Mr. House — Temperature before ven- 

 tilation. 



Mr. Hershiser — Captain Hethering- 

 ton's first cellar had sub-earth ventila- 

 tion, but later he discarded these ar- 

 rangements and much better results 

 were obtained. 



Mr. House said his father used to 

 lower the temperature in his cellar by 

 sub-earth ventilation. The cellar was 

 moist, with water on the bottom, but 

 upward ventilation relieved that. 



A Member — Too quickly lowering the 

 temperature is apt to disturb the bees. 



Mr. Holtermann — Go into a cellar, 

 three or four at a time, and the tem- 

 perature will rise. 



Mr. Hershiser. — My bees are next the 

 furnace, and they don't mind my com- 

 ing in continually; door is open mostly 

 with temperature 32 to 44 degrees. Last 

 year as high as 72. 



Mr. Byer — What about outside bees 

 affected with dysentery? 



Mr. Coggshall — Nothing but a flight 

 will help them. 



Mr. Byer reported having half a 

 dozen strong colonies quite badly af- 

 fected, and as Mr. Hershiser and others 

 thought sugar syrup would help them, 

 Mr. Byer was asked to experiment and 

 report results. 



A Member — What is the cause of a 

 few colonies getting dysentery, while the 

 rest are wintering perfectly? 



No one could give a positive answer 

 to the question, but some thought bees 

 differed in constitutional matters, the 

 same as animals. 



Mr. Adams thought the unusual 

 amount of dysentery was caused by the 

 damp season. He was using a gas 

 flame to counteract the dampness of 

 the cellar. 



Mr. Laing asked Mr. Holtermann how 

 often he found it necessary to use a 

 stove in his cellar. 



Mr. Holtermann — It all depends upon 

 the conditions of the cellar. 



Mr. Byer — Are Italians more apt to 

 take dysentery than other races of bees? 



Mr. Hershiser — Some strains of bees 

 are more liable than others, but not 

 necessarily Italians. 



Mr. Byer said that he had noticed in 

 his j'ards. that Italians were more sub- 

 ject to the disease than were Carnio- 

 lans. 



Snow Around Hives. 



"Is it desirable to allow snow to re- 

 main around hives?" 



Mr. Smith would not object to snow, 

 but would not want the entrances to get 

 clogged. He recommended a small hole 

 in the hive-front, half-way up, as a safe- 

 ty-valve. Mr. Hershiser endorsed this 

 view. 



Mr. Holtermann — The Michigan con- 

 vention was unanimous in agreeing that 

 it was not necessary to remove snow 

 from hive-entrances: The heat of the 

 bees would melt away the snow. 



Mr. Chrysler used a hive with a por- 

 tico, the entrance of the hive open full 

 width. The portico has a door with a 

 contracted entrance. 



