1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



131 



sell for him a good deal of the seed, besides giv- 

 ing him a little larger percentage of honey. 



It was generally agreed, that, whei'e farmers 

 do use it. they regard it as the finest hay In the 

 world. Mr. West said that his cattle would 

 paw through the snow to get at it — a thing 

 they would not do for any other clover or veg- 

 etation. 



Referring to the scattering of seeds by the 

 roadside or upon other waste places. President 

 Elwood thought, as a matter of expediency and 

 abstract right, we should be careful not to scat- 

 ter upon the lands of others. We have a per- 

 fect right to do it on our own gi'ound. 



Somebody asked why clover seemed to yield 

 honey at some times and not at others. Mr. 

 W. L. Coggshall said that, if the atmosphei-e is 

 right, we get honey: but if not, we do not. 

 that's all. 



EvcniiKj Scssidii, First Day. 



The matter of the use and abuse of founda- 

 tion was brought up. Some argued that we 

 were using too much, and that only starters, 

 even in the brood-frames, were more profitable. 

 There were not wanting others who insisted' 

 that they wanted full sheets every time. Mr. 

 Ashmead thought that a good deal depends on 

 how we work the bees, and the time of year in 

 which the foundation was built out. 



WIinXG FOUXDATIOX. 



As is usually the case, a good many wired 

 their combs and they could not get along with- 

 out it; and a good many did not wire, and 

 could not see the need of it. The latter, as a 

 general rule, seemed to be those who do not 

 move their bees very much. W. E. Clark w iied 

 his frames horizontally. I asked him how it 

 could be done, and not have the combs wavy. 

 W. L. Coggshall replied by saying, "Don't 

 stretch the wires too tight." 



Our genial friend Mr. J. VanDeusen, of 

 vSprout Brook. N. Y.. who turns out that beau- 

 tiful flat-bottomed foundation, was present, 

 and he was called upon. He did not see the 

 need of wiring .f;v((/if.s' at all: but he would use 

 the light-weight brood foundation wired — that 

 is. wii-ed in the foundation. This prevents all 

 sagging, and his customers, as a general rul(\ 

 seem to be pleased. I noticed that a good many 

 nodded assent, and I was surpri-sed that theie 

 were so many large bee-keepeis who use the 

 flat-bottomed article. They like it, and prefer 

 it to the natural base. 



The discussion finally tnrned as to how to 

 fasten foundation into sections. Almost every 

 bee-keeper had a little different method, and 

 /lis method, of course, was the best. After re- 

 solving it down. I found that the methods of 

 all could be classed under two heads — those 

 who use the melted-wax plan, and those ^^■ho 

 use a machine whereby tlie edge of the founda- 

 tion is pressed into the wood. W. E. Clark, of 

 smoker fame, had bought one of Bro. Roofs 

 (Jray machines. He liked it very much. He 

 subsequently purchased one of his improved 

 Clark machines, and that was very much bet- 

 ter yet. This machine was simply perfect, and 

 with it he could put in foundation as fast as he 

 could count. 



Mr. Thomas Pierce. N. D. West, and quite a 

 number of others, used the melted-wax plan, 

 and they could do it very rapidly. They did 

 not see the need of any machine to do it witli. 

 They just dipped the edge of the foundation 

 into some melted wax. and then quickly set 

 it right down in the section. Mr. Chai'Ies Stew- 

 art had used both the improved Clark ma- 

 chine and the melted-wax plan. He had got 

 well used to both ways, but preferred the 

 melted-wax method. He could do it a good 



deal faster and a good deal better. George H. 

 Ashmead and several others nodded assent. 



Some one asked whether the three-cornered 

 starter was as good as full sheets. W. E. Clark 

 answered that ■■ climbers," as they are called, 

 are not as apt to be built clear out to the edges 

 of the sections as full sheets of foundation. 

 There seenud to be a general agreement on 

 this point. 



Morninij Session, Jan. 24. 



•• Shallow versus deep brood-chambers: nar- 

 row spacing and fixed distances." was the topic 

 of a paper by ^Ir. Noah D. West. " Narrow 

 spacing." he said. '• is something less than \y, 

 inch. We want that spacing that will give us 

 the most brood." His expei'ience was in favor 

 of 1?8'. As to bee-space, j^ has the preference: 

 but he admitted that he had burr-combs, and 

 had to use honey-boards. 



"DO AVE AVANT FIXED DISTANCES?" 



"Yes, sii'," said he; and he gave me a sly 

 twinkle as he peered over the edge of his paper. 

 Twenty years ago he began using the Quin by- 

 frame hive. He now uses ordinary hanging 

 frames spaced with wire nails driven into the 

 sides: and on some accounts he liked them very 

 much, but they wei'e unhandy for extracting. 

 He exhibited a modification of the Hoffman 

 frame wnich he preferred. This had straight 

 tob-bars, and the end-bars were enlarged to- 

 ward the top. As to deep frames, the bees did 

 not breed up soon enough in the spring. He 

 referred to the fact that he was obliged to use 

 a honey-board on account of burr-combs: but 

 he would like to dispense with it, as he ob- 

 served that be(is did not enter the sections as 

 readily as when they were out. 



Seveial intimated, at the close of this paper, 

 that the )eab.on he had burr-combs was be- 

 cause his bee-space was too large. Mr. Sco- 

 tield said, "Use a top-bar one inch wide, with 

 a bee-space above -j*,; inch, and you will have no 

 burr-combs." Sevej-al others put in that they 

 wanted -i*; sffnif. 



As to tlie matter of deep or shallow frames, a 

 considerable number seemed to prefer the 

 Quinby depth, although there were not want- 

 ing those who thought they could do just as 

 well with the L. frame, one of them being 

 prominently Mr. Scotield. Mi-. Elwood had 

 been around considerably in the spring of the 

 year. His observation was. that bees were do- 

 ing their best on the deep frame. They would 

 winter just as well on the L.. but they would 

 not breed up (jnite as well as they would on the 

 Quinby depth. Mr. Coggshall said the reason 

 was. deej) frames have more honey in them: 

 and this honey is directly over the bees, not oft" 

 at one end. Ttie moie honey over the bees the 

 better they will breed. 



Mr. Ashmead thought the bees bred equally 

 well in deep and shallow frames, but he prefer- 

 ]-ed the L.. for the bees go into sections earlier: 

 and I noticed that several nodded assent to 

 this. As to fixed frames, there did not seem to 

 be very much disagreement on this point. Most 

 of the bee-keepers present seenunl to prefer 

 them. Mr. W. L. Coggshall. an exti'acted-hon- 

 ey man. and one of the largest bee-keepers in 

 the State, however, does not use them and does 

 not want them, neither does Mr. Thos. Pierce. 

 Quite a number testified in favor of the Hoff- 

 man fiame. and there were not wanting those 

 who prefeired the (Quinby. But there was one 

 man in the convention. Mi'. A. E. Woodward, 

 of Grooms Corners. N. Y.. who had used ;.'(X)0 

 Hoffman frames, and had now discarded them 

 all for the plain loose hanging T^. frame. Quite 

 a number looked over toward me with a comi- 

 cal twinkle in their eyes, as much as to say. 

 "There, young man, how does that strike 



