18i« 



r,i.EANiN(i.s IN HER cii/nin-: 



U>-i 



Dayloii. is iiriiiiaiily, as we iiiidtMslaiul it, to 

 control iimu'ft'ssary lii-ood-rt'ariiin out of sea- 

 son, ami thus prrvciit a laiiri" f(iii'<'of consiinuMs 

 at a tiinr of >iar\\lifh tlific is no liom-y to lie 

 Sallicft'd. .Itist iiow far it will prevent swarnt- 

 intf we are not alile to sa\ .] 



THE OHIO STATE CONVENTION. 



DI!. MII.I.KH S KKI'OIM OI" 



The Ohio Siai(> eoiiNiMition at ('iiu'lMuali. 

 Fell. ID- rj. was (lilTei-ent eniuiirh from the prexi- 

 ons nieetinjj: of tin' same sdeit'ty. so far as mem- 

 bers in attendance were concerned, to have 

 been a meeting in a difTerent State. Hiit Ohio 

 is a good-sized State, and Cincinnati is at the 

 sonthc rn extrcinity. The meeting was not un- 

 wieldy on account of great numbers, hut there 

 was no lack of interest from beginning to end. 

 Some matters came in for more discussion 

 sometimes than they i)robably would havi' had 

 if the veteians had been out in fuliiM' force. 



1 hadn't seen the i)r(^sident. C. V. Muth. for 

 several years, and was sur[)rised not to lind him 

 older looking. Oni" Thinij that undoubtedly 

 helps to keep iiim young is the f.ict that he has 

 a son so competent to take his father's place in 

 business matters, and this allows the father 

 less anxiety and more outdoors. At one of the 

 sessions of the conx'eutiou (lus came in to speak 

 to his father about something, in a w hisper: 

 and as he did so. standing behind his father's 

 chair, he stooped forward and put his hand on 

 his father's sluiulder and partly about liis neck 

 in that easy, good-natured way that said more 

 plainly than woi-ds. '• \\'e're old cronies, and 

 fully undei-stand each otliei." It did me good 

 clear through. 



That same long geared (ierman. ('. F. Muth, 

 is a tlioroughly wi^ll-iiostcd bee-keeper, and you 

 can not hear him take up any topic in bee- 

 keeping without being lil<e!y to learn something 

 from him. He mentioned an item as to ship- 

 ping bees that I do not remembei- to have heard 

 heforft. He has had a good deal of experiiMice 

 in having bees shipped long distances from the 

 South: and his instructions are. to move to a 

 new location any colony to b(^ shipped so that it 

 may -rand there a day or two before shipment. 

 and allow its flying forci- to go back to the old 

 location. This leaves only young bees to be 

 shijiped. and he says they will stand along con- 

 finement. I believe he allows another cokmy to 

 be on or near the old stand, to catch the return- 

 ing bees, and I'm not sure but he sometimes 

 may allow young bees from other colonies to be 

 shaken in front of the one to be shipped. 



^Vithout attempting to srive any report of thi' 

 conv(>ntion. I will mention some of the points 

 that seemed of special interest. It, was asseitcd 

 that, when bees woik on asters, a sour smell is 

 readily di.scernible. even at some distance from 

 tho hivfis. somethinff like tlie smell of old sour 

 milk. 



Rev. L. Johnson said aster honey was all right 

 till fi-o<t: but if Im'cs wuiked on it after it had 

 h<'en frosted. such honey was poisonous to them. 



In peddling extracted honey in the city. Mr. 

 Titus, insti'ad of weighing it. measured it out 

 in a lioiind or a two-poiuid bottle, letting the 

 purchaser furnish his f)\\ n dish. -Some honey 

 would slick to the bottle each time, but his 

 honey didn't any more than hold out in weight, 

 because the amount, tasted in sampling balanced 

 what stuck to the boiih ^. 



Quite a discussion oc urrod as to how much 

 help the bees .should have in cleaning out theii- 

 hives in s[)ring. Mr. Mulh said he had given 

 HI) helping the bees elean house, as he fouiid 



much of the snulV-lilo' material found undej- 

 bottom-bars was wax which the bees used over 

 again to cap their brooil. .Mr. Haines held that, 

 it wasinainl\ f;eces, au<l asked bee-keepers to 

 note w hellier. in the spiing. such material was 

 not always fdiind direclly under the cluster, in- 

 stead of under the outside seams, wheri' some 

 argued it would lie found, dropped by the bees 

 as cappings gnawed from the outside combs in 

 uncapping them. 



The unjust railroad rates on extracted honey 

 were vi-ntilated. Mr. Muth said it costal. 50 to 

 get a barrel of molas.ses or syrup from New 

 <)rl(>ans to Cincinnati, and ?r),5i) for a barrel of 

 extiacted honey. The ditTcrence between the 

 two. if it had any elVect on the rate of freight 

 at all. should lie in favor of the honey, for hon- 

 ey is a little heavier for the same bulk, and, if 

 granulated, not so likely to leak. 



Comparing the ditferent kinds of comb honey 

 as to toughness of comb. Mi'. Muth said linden 

 comb is vei-y tender, hence liable to be brok(Mi 

 in shipment: clover not so tender, and alfalfa 

 very lough. 



A bee-keeper had shipped honey to Mr. Muth 

 in a glucose-barrel, the barrel showing what it 

 had previously contained; and this barrel, being 

 seen at his place of iiusiness, had secured for 

 him a little free advertising in the newspapeis, 

 for which he was not anxious. 



Mora?.— Don't ship honey in any thing that 

 I()()];s like adulteration. 



At this convention I had occasion again to 

 notice the importance of having outside condi- 

 tions all right at a convention. The meetings 

 were held in a hall having the very coniiuon 

 fault of being too large, making it very difficult 

 to hear some of the things said, even if all were 

 perfectly still, and the difficulty was further in- 

 cri-ased by the hall facing on one of the princi- 

 pal streets with its constant rumble and lattle. 

 On the second evening the session was held in a 

 comparatively small inside room, frotu which 

 the noise of the street could not be heard. The 

 contrast made a very favorable iiupresslon in 

 favor of the smaller room. C. C. Mii.i.kr. 



Marengo. 111.. Feb. :.'.'.. 



Ud/es' Conversazione. 



ALSIKE CLOVER. 



IIS V.VI.IK. AND HOW TO HAISK VV . 



Th<' value of alsike to the bee-keeiier makes 

 it worth his while to extend its culture in every 

 way possible. In inducing his farmer neigh- 

 bors to grow it he not only benefits himself but 

 also his neighliors as well. Few appreciate its 

 value. Riglitly managed it may be made to 

 yield three products— honey, hay, and seed, 

 which, in a little tuore than a year, are equal in 

 value to the land on which it grows. 



With suitable; soii. and in compi'tent haiuis. 

 ten bushels of s<'ed to the acre is a possibh' 

 yield, which, at the pi<'-ent prices. .^T-TiO to Sii.tK). 

 will pui-chase an acre of good farming land al- 

 most anywhere. There are. besides, the hay 

 and honey. 



WIkmi the cultivation of alsike is recomtnend- 

 ed to farmers, one or more of the following ob- 

 jections ari- usually offered: 1. It does not 

 germinate well: :.'. It does not produce a paying 

 crop of seed: 3. It does not produce as much 

 hay as i-ed clover: 4. The hay is of inferior 

 <iuality. If fi'd to milch cows.the butter pro- 

 duced is white. 



In the first case, either the seed was poor or 



