IJI.h.AXLNCiS llv' BEE CULTURE. 



APHir. 15. 



gentleman — no. the treasurer, had exhausted 

 himself and the subject, the convention pro- 

 ceeded to the election of officers; and, remem- 

 bering the hours of wrangling, the tables were 



NO liAMBLER AI.LOWKD IX IIKKK. 



nicely turned on the treasurer, and anotluM' 

 man elected instead— Mr. Abbott, of I'asadena. 

 The secretary was made happy by having his 

 action indorsed by a unanimous re-election. 

 The Rambler also felt as happy as a bright sun- 

 flower. The ex-president tried to put in a few 

 more remarks, but nearly every bee-keeper 



TABI-KS nHNKI* AT TIIK roX VKXTIOX. 



arose and buzzi^d so loud that his voice was 

 drowned, and it looked as though a swarming- 

 out mania had taken possession of them. Mr. 

 Abbott, the new treasurer, took the chair, the 

 buzzing ceased, and the swaini (of t)ee-keepers) 

 alighted in their seats again. 



Conventions are suppo.sed to be held for mu- 

 tual instruction, advancement, and the having 

 of a fraternal era of good feeling: but this con- 

 vention had so much wi'angle that but little 

 time was left for mutual benefit, and many re- 

 turned to their homes not satisfied with Ijhe 

 results. The moral learned is, that associations 

 are not formed for the benefit of any one person 

 or clique, but for the many; and when their 

 interests are ignored, there is always more or 

 less music in the air. 



Quite a number of bee-keepers live in I.,os 

 Angeles, and in that other charming town, 

 Pasadena; but while their homes are in town 

 their apiaries are miles out in the mountains, 

 which are cn'er i)resent in this portion of Cali- 

 fornia. 



There seems to be a sort of mutual under- 

 standing, or an unwi'itten law. among bee- 



keepers in relation to the I'ights of location. Jf 

 a person secui'es a piior right by establishing 

 an apiary in a certain field, it is seldom that a 

 man will crowd in whei'e he is not wanted, or 

 where it will be a detriment to his own interests 

 as well as to his neighbor^. 



Wishing to find an apiary in the sage district, 

 I wandered due southeast fi'om Los Angeles; 

 and until further notice the shades of night 

 and the Hotel Temescal will hide the 



Ramki.ki:. 



SPRING DWINDLING. 



.lamks iieddox dkpides ix favor of oitdoor 



wtxtkrixg: hk prkfers outside wixter 



ca.ses, axi) whv; iiow his cases are 



MADE, ETC. 



The time is drawing near when we shall read 

 from the pens of various bee-keepej-s the follow- 

 ing: '■ My bees wintered pretty well, but I lost 

 heavily by spring dwindling." Now. Mr. p]dit- 

 or, I am not going to say any thing I haven't 

 said before, nor offer any arguments that are 

 new, except only as all arguments are new un- 

 til they are answered. Immortal youth is one 

 of the attributes of an argument which can not 

 be answered. Neither am I going to suggest 

 any methods that I haven't wi-itten for bee- 

 papers long ago, and practiced even longer. 

 Vour readers change, and it may be of value to 

 some of your present subsciibers to know what 

 methods I have found most successful in win- 

 teriftg and springing an average of 5()0 colonies 

 during the past l."> years in a locality where bee- 

 diarrhea seems to be right at home nearly every 

 winter. 



As I have before said, and feel that I know, 

 the excreta of bee-diai'rhea is undigested pol- 

 len: and pollen-eating'during cold and confine- 

 ment is the cause of that malady, compared 

 with which all other cau.ses of winter losses 

 combined sink into insignificance. Again, I 

 claim as heretofoiv that tlieiv is no such thing 

 as spring dwindling among bees which are well 

 wintered: that a normal colony of bees nevei' 

 dwindles away to nothing in spring after the 

 time comes when tlu^y can gath(>r pollen, and 

 lly most of the time, unless the bees of such col- 

 ony had intestinal inflammation when they 

 crossed the line between winter and spring, as 

 we term it. Confinement w ithout (extreme cold 

 will produce the malady when the food is right 

 for it; consequently, during all such winters as 

 the one just past, and three or four preceding 

 it, in Southern Michigan bees are safer proper- 

 ly packed outdoors than in any special reposit- 

 ory. Every winter I hav(> had them both ways, 

 and have observed icsults in other apiaries 

 round about. 



But now comes tlie question, "• How should 

 bees be packed for outdoor wintering'.'" I have 

 packed in so many dift'eient ways during tlie 

 same and different winters, that I feel positive 

 of the superiority of the one I am about to de- 

 scribe: and tlie reason of this article at this 

 datt> is because I have found that (^very colony 

 wintered indoors should be packed the same 

 way for springing, whether they are partially 

 diseased from wintering or in perfect health; 

 because, <'ven if the latter, and no spring could 

 kill them if not packed, even thc^se healthy col- 

 onies will be (enough stronger when the surplus 

 harvest opens, because of this packing, to repay 

 the owner several times over for all cost and 

 trouble. I once discussed this question with 

 W. Z. Hutchinson, I taking the opposite and he 

 my present position: but I afterward found out 

 my mistake, and admitted it — yes. declared it 

 several years ago. 



