April n, 1907 



309 



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in a certain way, tliat would be ac- 

 ceptable to the railroad companies to 

 handle. Now, in car-lots there is not 

 so much danger, but in small pack- 

 ages is where the trouble comes in. 



Mr. Kimmey — I wish to re-state that 

 my motion was that this matter be re- 

 ferred to the Committee on Resolu- 

 tions. This slip was handed to me ; it 

 reads, "Ship your honey in proper pack- 

 ages," and the man who handed it to 

 me said, "I have handled it in small 

 packages, and I have carried the pack- 

 age in my arms on account of the small 

 packages getting broken." It is the duty 

 of this committee to advise us what 

 kind of package to use. 



Pres. Dadant — It will save time to 

 refer to the Committee on Resolutions, 

 because they can discuss it and present 

 it to us later. 



The resolution was adopted. 



ADVERTl.SING TO SELL OR TO BUY HONEY. 



"Which would be the better way to 

 advertise honey, in a bee-paper that 

 bee-keepers read, or in a public news- 

 paper that thousands of people read?" 



Mr. Werner — I asked that question. 

 I have advertised honey for sale, in 

 bee-papers, and not gotten as much as 

 a postal card ; and then I have adver- 

 tised in the St. Louis Post-Despatch 

 and sold as much as 3,000 pounds of 

 honey. 



J. F. Teel — If I were going to try to 

 buy a whole crop I might advertise 

 in a bee-paper; but if I want to sell it 

 out in local lots I prefer the news- 

 paper. I have found the Dallas News 

 to be the best medium to sell through, 

 and I have sold something like 3,000 

 pounds from one advertisement. 



Mr. York — I think it depends a great 

 deal upon the class of people. If you 

 want to sell to consumers, advertise in 

 the newspapers; if to the dealers, ad- 

 vertise in the bee-papers. 



ANY PROGRESS IN NON-SWARMING BEES? 



"Has there been any progress made 

 in the past ten years towards securing 

 a non-swarming strain of bees?" 



Mr. Chambers — I believe from my ex- 

 perience that there has not been any 

 success. For 4 years I have had no 

 swarming in my apiaries. I have had 

 no success as far as I know, and I 

 don't believe that there has been a 

 practical advance in that line. 



O. P. Hyde — I don't think the nature 

 of bees today is the same as it was a 

 few years ago. I think the nature of 

 swarming is just the same, and they 

 are swarming just as they used to 

 swarm, because of instinct ; and, so far 

 as any progress being made in the bee 

 within the last ten years, none has been 

 made. You will see this in advertis- 

 ing, "A non-swarming bee ;" but I think 

 the non-swarming bees and the breed- 

 ing of the long-tongue bees — there is 

 nothing in them ; I think it is only a 

 catch to make a profit and sell bees. 

 I think the bee's tongue is as long as 

 it was a thousand years ago, and they 

 swarm under the same surroundings. 

 Now, I don't know if I have had two 

 swarms this year. It is the nature of 

 bees to swarm ; give them plenty of 

 room. If you want your bees to swarm, 

 put on a box of sections and have noth- 



American liee Journal j 



ing above and no foundation in the sec- 

 tion, and your bees will swarm right 

 away. Put on new supers, give them 

 plenty of room, and sec that they are 

 (iff the ground. 



Dr. Bohrer — .'\rc there not some races 

 of bees more inclined to swarm than 

 others? 



Mr. Hyde— Yes, sir; the Holyland 

 bees arc the hardest to control. 1 am 

 glad you mentioned this. Another thing 

 is to go through the hives and clip 

 the queen-cells. I go through my hives 

 once a week — just as soon as I think 

 they are fixing to swarm; and then I 

 go there and clip those cells ; but the 

 Holyland bee is the most prolific bee 

 that we have in the South, and it is a 

 bee that will breed up and make a 

 strong colony quicker than any other 

 race. 



Mr. Victor — I cannot see why we can- 

 not make selections in regard to the 

 honey-gathering, color, or anything else. 

 .'\s for my part, with the same manage- 

 ment I had a few years ago, I would 

 not have over a fifth what I had when 

 I commenced. I think the disposition 

 of the bee can be selected in regard to 

 swarming, and as to stinging; and I 

 think the conditions under which we 

 rear our queens have a good deal to 

 do with the disposition of the queens. 

 If we rear our queens under the swarm- 

 ing impulse, those queens will naturally 

 want to swarm more than those that 

 were not around the swarming bees ; 

 and I am satisfied, so far as I am 

 individually concerned, that my bees will 

 swarm fully 50 per cent less than they 

 would six, eight and ten years ago. 



NON-SWARMING AND COMB-HONEY CON- 

 DITIONS. 



"What is the best plan to keep bees 

 in out-yards from swarming, when run- 

 ning for comb honey?" 



Sec. York — Mr. Louis Scholl is asked 

 to answer this question. 



Mr. Scholl — I don't know whether I 

 can answer that question, because I do 

 not produce section honey as they do 

 up North, and I always produce comb 

 honey in connection with extracted 

 honey. 



E. J. Atchley — I have some experi- 

 ence along that line, producing comb 

 honey in out-yards, and I have failed 

 to prevent swarming, as a rule; but on 

 general principles, the best plan under 

 all circumstances is to try to have a 

 virgin queen in each colony in the out- 

 yard at the beginning of the honey- 

 flow. In other words, I suppose that 

 should mean apiaries where some one 

 should be there daily, and our queen- 

 breeders can nearly always have young 

 queens maturing or hatching at any sea- 

 son of the year. I know but few in- 

 stances where I had swarms in other 

 sections on black comb where I had a 

 virgin queen in that colony at the be- 

 ginning of the honey-flow, and this is 

 a pretty easy matter. Every man should 

 study his lioney-flow, and know just 

 when it comes, and at the proper time 

 arrange to have the queen in each 

 colony. 



Mr. Kinimt'v — Is the result' accom- 

 plished by reason of the absence of the 

 laying queen rather than the queen be- 

 ing a virgin? 



Mr. .'\tchley — I like to have colonics 

 that arc qucenless during a honey-flow. 

 When we have a virgin queen in that 

 colony it is supposed to be a colony 

 that is will organized, and more bees 

 can be supported from the brood, sim- 

 ply because there is less brood to care 

 for and less pollen, and, consequently, 

 the bees in the supers store more honey 

 because they are in shape to do so. 



Dr. Bohrer — My own personal experi- 

 ence is that during the swarming and 

 honey-flow seasons, to give them plenty 

 of room has something to do with it. 

 I almost entirely use a two-story hive, 

 and by extracting some of the honey 

 above and using the queen-excluder; 

 and if the queen is confined below, it 

 seems to subdue the inclination to 

 swarm. 



Mr. Anderson — There is a matter in 

 my mind that is very important, and 

 now we are in the middle of our 

 convention. It is going to trend to- 

 wards decline from now on ; members 

 are going away because their tickets 

 are exhausted, and they are needed at 

 home, and we all have faith in the good 

 judgment of our President in the ap- 

 pointment of committees. The question 

 of freight-rates ought to come before 

 the body from the Resolutions Com.mit- 

 tee this afternoon. Could the Commit- 

 tee prepare it this afternoon or this 

 evening? We desire that no one leave 

 until this is settled. Now, then, we pro- 

 duce bees and honey to sell, but the 

 freight-rates are so high we cannot sell 

 them. In the North there are as good 

 members as there are here; they are 

 not here because the tarriff is too high. 

 If they were here they would voice 

 their sentiments as affecting the tariff. 

 Now, then, we know that with this 

 matter being put in the proper hands 

 it is going to result in good. 



Pres. Dadant — The Committee will 

 make a report this afternoon in regard 

 to the transportation question. Now, 

 Mr. Adkins started to make a state- 

 ment in regard to a personal matter, 

 let us hear from him. 



Mr. Adkins — I ask that we ad- 

 journ till 2 o'clock this afternoon. 



The motion was seconded and car- 

 ried. 



SECOND DAY — Afteknoon Session. 



The members were called to order 

 by President Dadant, who said, "We 

 are yet without the papers that were 

 to be read, but some one has gone to 

 the postoflice for them, so we will pro- 

 ceed with the questions until the papers 

 come. The Secretary will read the next 

 question. 



young QUEENS TO PREVENT SW.\RMING. 



"Can I prevent swarming by the in- 

 troduction of young queens?" 



Dr. Bohrer — As no one seems to want 

 to take the matter up, I will give my 

 own observations. I have given a 

 queenless colony a queen just before 

 she was hatched, and was almost white, 

 and sometimes they are well received, 

 and I have never known them to swarm 

 again. I don't know whether there 

 would have been any difference if I 

 had introduced a fertile queen. When 

 I was a queen-breeder, the queens were 

 almost white when thev were first 



