234 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar 1 



I am thoroughly convinced that, with more 

 heed to the rearing of the highest grade of 

 queens, there would be far less complaint of 

 poor seasons and small honey yields than is 

 now the case. 



Washington, D. C, Dec. 5, 1904. 



MINNESOTA STATE BEE-KEEPERS' CON- 

 VENTION. 



BY THE SECRETARY. 



[When I stated on page 120 that I had not heard from 

 the secretary in reference to a report of this convention, 

 she had ah-eady written us, saying that the report 

 would be forthcoming, but the letter had not come into 

 my department. This report, to a very great extent, 

 will be supplementary to the matter given on page 121. 

 -Ed.] 



The largest and most enthusiastic meeting 

 the Minnesota Bee-keepers' Association ever 

 held was the one of December 7 and 8, at 

 Minneapolis. It was held in connection with 

 the annual meeting of the State Horticul- 

 tural Society. Prominent bee-keepers from 

 seven different States participated in the 

 program, and the room was filled to its 

 utmost capacity at every session. 



The chairman of the committee on adul- 

 terated honey reported that, of the 96 sam- 

 ples submitted to the State Dairy and Food 

 Commissioner, but nine were found impure, 

 and that he found hearty co-operation on the 

 the part of the commission in investigating 

 alleged adulterations of honey. 



The matter of co-operation created con- 

 siderable discussion ; and an admendment to 

 the constitution, allowing the association 

 to broaden its work along that line, was 

 proposed but defeated. 



The first paper, by Mr. H. V. Poore, of 

 Bird Island, Minn. , on " Some Things I have 

 Learned about Bee-keeping," gave some 

 very interesting experiences. Among others 

 he mentioned going to a plum-tree in Octo- 

 ber to shake down some plums, and finding 

 a swarm of bees which had evidently hung 

 there a long time, as they had built a large 

 comb and filled it with stores. So much for 

 our glorious Minnesota, where one may gath- 

 er plums and honey at the ^same time from 

 the same tree. 



Mr McEwen, of Minneapolis, then spoke 

 on " Diseases of Bees and Legislation Per- 

 taining Thereto," particular reference being 

 made to foul brood. The Executive Com- 

 mittee was authorized to make every pos- 

 sible effort to secure the passage of a foul- 

 brood law as soon as possible. 



In this connection it is urgently requested 

 that every Minnesota bee-keeper send his 

 name and address to the secretary, Mrs. W. 

 F. Wingate, 3022 South Dupont Ave., Min- 

 neapolis, to aid their committee in this work. 



The next paper on "Bee-keeping as an 

 Occupation," by Rev. J. H. Kimball, of De- 

 luth, emphasized the point that those who 

 keep bees should use every possible means to 

 gain a better knowledge of the art by study 

 and observation, and also to enlighten the 

 general public on the progress of the industry. 



Mr. V. D. Caneday, of Taylors Falls, a 



poultryman of large experience, and also a 

 bee-keeper, gave a very interesting paper on 

 "Poultry as an Adjunct to Bee-keeping." 

 His point was that, as the busy seasons in 

 these two industries did not conflict, they 

 could easily be combined under one manag- 

 ment, with both pleasure and profit. 



Dr. E. K. Jaques, then followed with the 

 president's address, which was greatly en- 

 joyed. 



Mr. C. H. Harlan, of Mora, could not be 

 present, and his paper, ' ' Insuring Bees, ' ' 

 was not read. The gist of it was that it was 

 impossible to get insurance on an apiary. 

 With this the Secretary took issue, and gave 

 a recent experience along this line. In 

 August last her home and all its contents 

 was totally destroyed by fire. With it was 

 some 500 lbs. of honey and a large quantity 

 of supplies, for which the insurance compa- 

 nies paid full market price without question. 



The clause in the policy read, "while con- 

 tained in the above described dwelling or on 

 said premises," a limit of $5.00 being placed 

 on the value of any one colony. 



Her forty colonies now in winter quarters 

 are covered in the same way, and it will be 

 noted that, having the policy in this form, 

 makes it good for summer or winter. 



Wednesday evening a large audience greet- 

 ed Prof. Washburn, of the State Experi- 

 mental Station, who gave a most able and 

 instructive lecture entitled, "The Anatomy 

 of the Honey-bee, ' ' illustrated by stereopti- 

 con views. It was well worth hearing and 

 seeing. 



During a short delay at the beginning, 

 Mr. Abbott, of St. Joseph, Mo., gave a short 

 talk on the " Comb-Honey Canard," and 

 " Honey as an Article of Diet." 



Mr. E. R. Root, of Medina, O., followed 

 with his moving pictures, which have been 

 so much enjoyed at other recent conventions. 

 The handling of swarms, dumping them in 

 front of the hives, and even the discomfiture 

 of the bee-keeper when stung, were as real 

 as hfe. 



The Thursday-morning session opened with 

 a paper on " Late Feeding," by Mr. A. D. 

 Shepard, of River Falls, Wis., which was 

 followed by a most interesting discussion. 



Mr. Abbott was called upon to give his 

 method of late feeding, which is, giving the 

 bees a pancake of sugar in preference to 

 syrup. His theory is, that bees will never 

 starve if they have stores directly over the 

 cluster, no matter how cold the weather; 

 but they have often been found dead with 

 combs of sealed honey on the sides of the 

 cluster. 



Mr. G. W. York, of Chicago, in a well- 

 written paper on ' ' Selling Honey to Gro- 

 cers" (see Pickings, Feb. 1st issue) made 

 several good points on putting up honey in 



Packages of convenient form for grocers to 

 andle. He is a strong advocate of selling 

 honey through grocers rather than directly to 

 consumers. 



Dr. L. D. Leonard, in his paper on "The 

 Size of Hive Relative to the Honey-flow," 

 urged the use of large hives in running for 



