14 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Jan. 12, 



(Touucutious. 



Tuscarawas and Muskingum, 0. 



Tin- Tuscarawas and Muskingum 

 Valley Bee-Keepers' Convention met 

 .ii Newcomerstown,0.,on Wednesday, 

 at 1 p.m. President L. B. 

 Wolfe being absent, Vice President 

 Rev. W. Ballentine, of Muskingum. 

 was called i" the chair . After reading 

 and approving the minutes of the last 

 meeting, the following questions pro- 

 posed tor discussion were taken u|>. 



The cells in brood-combs b] constant 

 use become small, does this reduce the 

 size "i the bee? This quest ion was 

 i bj Mr. A. B. Thompson and 

 followed bj A. A. Fradenberg and Rev. 

 \v. Ballentine. After being ably dis- 

 cussed it was refem d to A. A. Fraden- 

 berg for consideration at next meeting. 



Do bees make hone; ? The opinion 

 of the Convention was that honey was 

 a natural secretion of the Bowers, and 

 that bees iii'i not make hone] but 

 gathered i: from the Bowers. 



What is the best method of wintering 

 bees? A. B. Thompson's method oi 

 wintering was in chaff-packed hiv es on 



summer stands. Mr. .1. A. Bucklew's 



method was ti. crowd the bees in the 

 center of the hive by means of division 

 boards, ami then packing at each side 

 ..i' the bees with loose chaff, also tilling 



the in.]. ei' story with chaff. The I Ion 



vention after considering the different 

 methods ol « intering bees gave prefer- 

 . mi to wintering in chaff-packed hives 



on summer stands. 



The By-LaWS were read and six new 



members received. Adjourned till 9 

 a.m. 



HORNING SESSION. 



In the absence of the chairman pro 

 inn.. Vice President A. A. Fradenberg 

 occupied the chair : 



Do you work lor extracted or comb 



honey, ami from which do you realize 



the best results ? 



This question was one of some im- 



poi tance, ami was ablj discussed. On 



account Of a lark of a home market for 



extracted honey bee-keepers had almost 



entirely WOl kea lore I. honey as there 



was a reaily sale tor all that iiad been 

 produced. 



R. 1.. Shoemaker strongly favored 

 extracted honey, advising nee-keepers 

 to use the extractor, and to place it upon 

 the market in neatand attractive shape, 

 with a guaranty that H was pure, and. 



just i he b • as consumers had been 



getting in c b honey, only i hey would 



get ii cheaper. The opinion of the 

 Convention was that more hone] could 



he taken with the extractor than in the 

 comb, hut tor lack of a market and 



demand tor extracted honey it paid best 

 in the '-'.lull. 

 Can fertilization in confinement he 



made a if so. how ? It was 



answered that i! was not as yet a sue 



ami maj never he. 

 Introducing queens? A. A. Fraden 

 hern practiced the Betsinger plan ami 

 was generally successful. Mr. Nico- 

 demus used a wire-cloth cage, of his 

 owai make, ami mi i oduced b] Novice's 

 method. .1. A. Buckle w removed the 

 queen to be superseded ami placed the 

 new queen in a wire-cloth cage. between 



t wo ot the brood COmbS lor is hours ; at 



the end ol' that time he removed ' "I 



the stoppei B 1 1 t he cage and in its 



plaee put a plug "I comb honey and 



allowed the bees io liberate the queen 



themseh es when all was quiet. 



How shall we feed bees that lack win 

 ter siores w hal ami w hen to feed ? Ii 

 was answered that the tune in feed was 

 In August ami September, ami louse 



ime '"in of i he bee feeders now in use. 



or to lake a glaSS fi nil jar, Bll It, tie a 

 a cloth over I he mouth Of lie- jar and 



invert it over the cluster oi' bees, and 

 in that way a gallon of feed could be 



led in a few hours. Feed in August 



and September in order that the bees 

 maj ha\ e i one io cap ii o\ it befot i 

 cold weather. For feed, use hone] oi 

 best coffet A lugat made into s] i up ol 

 about the consistency of honey- 

 Mr. .v. A . Ii adenberg by the aid of a 

 hive favored the Convention with an 



explanation ol 1>. A. Jones. a Canadian 



bee-keeper's method of working bees as 



explained b] Mr. Jones at the National 



< omentum, at Cincinnati, < >. 

 Cambridge, Gurnsey Co., Ohio, was 



OS the plaee for the nest lueet- 



i a. Bucklew, Clarke, 0.\ R. L. 



Shoemaker. Neweomeistow n. ().. iilld 



F. .1. Wardell, of Uhrichsville, < *.. were 

 ih. .sen as a committee to arrange a 

 programme. 



( )u motion the Convention a. limn ned 



.iii Cambridge, < »hio,on the Bret 



Wednesday in May. 1881. 



A. 8. Thompson exhibited Pee t's com- 

 bined shipping ami introducing queen 

 cages. .1. A. Bucklew exhibited sam- 

 ple eopies of the four leading bee papers 



of the Initial States. The ('olivine ion 

 tendered their thanks to the eitizens of 



Newcomerstown for the use of their 

 hall. 



A. A. FltADKNItKUll. PlCS. prd Ii /... 



J. A. Bucklew, Sec. 



tion. and many of us had not put our 



bees iii winter-quarters when tin Id 



snap ea i ue upon us. I hope your Society 

 w ill not fail to appoint delegates to the 

 National Association. Permit me to 

 ask your Society for its m operation in 

 making the National Association a 

 power for good and that it may prosper 

 and prove a blessing 1" the hee-keepers 



of not only North America, hut the 

 world. N. I'. Allen, 



I'r.-.. National Association. 

 smith's Grove, Ky. 



Michigan State Convention. 



The Michigan State Convention id' 

 hee-keepers met at Lansing, on l>ee. S. 

 1880. As usual it was well attended and 



harmonious. 



Imitation honey and sugar were con- 

 demned and a committee, consisting of 



the State Board of Health, was ap- 

 pointed to bring the subject of adultera- 

 tion before the State Legislature at once. 

 A committee was also appointed to 



bring the question of foul brood before 



the Legislature with a view to prevent 

 its spread ami assist in its eradication. 



FoufbrOOd was reported to have existed 

 around Battle Creek last summer, to 

 some extent, but it is now believed to be 

 eradicated, exeepl in one small apiary, 



consisting of 6 colonies, in West Leroy. 



The owner refused to destroy it. even 

 when Mr. Salisbury and others offered 

 to give him (the owner) healthy colonies 



in place of his sick ones, without money 



ami without price. It is this ease ol 



seiiisli disregard to the interests of 



Others without excuse or palliation that 

 induced our Convention to bring the 



matter before the Legislature. We 



hope to have a law similar to Utah's on 

 the foul brood matter, and if it works 

 as well as OUT law relating to Yellows in 

 peach trees in this State, which was 



brought forward by the Michigan 



Pomological Association, this action of 



our Association will be regarded as of 



great value i" bee- keepers everywhere. 



Parties receiving queens in cages 



were urged to put them in other cages 



known in be clean, lie fore putting thera 



in their hives, End to destroy the bees 



ami boil i he cages in which queens were 

 received from other apiaries, as a means 

 ot avoiding the risk of obtaining foul 



brood in the purchase of ipieens from 

 other apiaries. 



Many congratulatory letters and 

 essays were received and read, and 

 votes of thanks were unanimously 



passed to the writers; among them 



were the following : 



I wish to call the attention of the 



Michigan state Association to the im- 

 portance of thoroughly organizing your 



State by counties, into liee-keepei s' iOCi- 

 eties. There are many who will attend 

 County Associations I hat will not at lend 



the State or District Societies. The 

 attendance at our meetings is stlj 



local and therefore the necessity of 



county organizations : not that I would 

 do away with the State and I listrict 



Associations, but build them up b] 



spreading the knowledge of bee-culture 

 among i tie farmers and thai class of 

 bee-keepers who are still ignorant of 

 the inventions and discoveries In 

 scientific apiculture. Asall the Bchools 

 of learning in various sciences have 

 adopted titles to distinguish them from 

 other professions. I suggest that yon 

 bring the matter before your Associa- 

 tion for investigation, &c., of adopting 



a title for beekeepers. May your light 

 h nun c and nun e. until igleu anCe 



ami Bupersl ii Ion w ill be vanished I 



..in land ami the light of scienl Iflc bee 

 culture shall be seen ami appreciated 



by all the world. We are having Very 



cold weat her for t ins climate, I he i ber 

 mi .meter w as dovi n to zero In No> em 



ber. Thai is something' new with lis 

 and I fear many colonies ol bees will 

 perish tins winter. We w inter on sum- 

 mer stands and with but liltle proteC 



It is very difficult to write anything 

 fresh and new upon the subject pertain- 

 ing to apiculture, and I hesitate to be- 

 gin; but 1 like the friendly way you 

 brethren in the tar north have of calling 

 upon your southern friends to join you 



in your onward stride towards improve- 

 ment in our pel science ot apiculture. 

 1 was talking with a gentleman from 

 your State yesterday, and he expressed 

 his surprise at the thrift of our people, 

 and the friendly reception tendered to 

 any and all gentlemen from the north 

 by the southern people, [f any one of 



you have any fears, from political rea- 

 sons, to come among us. tell him or 

 the in. one and all. that they are deluded, 

 for our hospitality is as broad as our 

 tields. s. c. Dodge. 



Chattanooga. Tenn., Nov. :.'::. isso. 



Several other letters Were received by 



the secretary too late for theConvention, 



among which were one each from II. 



A. Burch and O. .1. Betberington. 



The following essay, by .Mrs. I,. B. 

 Baker, was lead : 



Cellar vs. Out-Door Wintering. 



I assume that the three following con- 

 ditions are essential to the best success 

 in wintering bees, in-door or out. name- 

 ly, perfect quiet, total darkness, and 

 pure air of uniform temperature; and 



further, that these conditions Should all 



be under control by the apiarist. 



For the present purpose we will con- 

 sider the most approved chaff hive on 

 the one hand and the best arranged cel- 

 lar on the other, in the attempt to prove 

 that the indispensable conditions re- 

 ferred to may be more nearly approxi- 

 mated in the cellar than out of door-. 



The I i rst condition in the order is per- 

 fect i|iiiet. That this cannot be so 

 nearly attained out of doors seems evi- 

 dent when we consider that there are 

 six months of exposure to storms of 



rain, bail and snow, with the accompany- 

 ing changes of temperature, which, 

 despite the double-wall and packing. 



must have a disturbing effect upon the 

 sensitive cluster within. Furthermore, 

 unless the apiary i.e securely fenced, 



disturbances may arise from swine and 

 unruly cattle, or possibly from human 

 depredators. 



The obstaelesin the way of the second 

 condition, namely, total darkness, are 

 U..I so gnat, bill do in a degree exist. 



Tic entrance left open for air will 

 also admit light, and although hut a 

 faint ray. nuiv be sufficient to tempt 

 them to flight when a disturbance oc- 

 curs, at a time when exposure would be 

 fatal, thus gradually depleting the 



colony. In the cellar special]} prepared 



fur them there is not . as I can show, the 

 slightest obstacle ill the way of secur- 

 ing total darkness. 



The third condit Ion pure air of uni- 

 form temperature although last in the 

 order, is. 1 am sure, first in importance. 



This secured, and the problem ol u in 

 lerillg bees has been practically so hid 



Changes of temperature, if felt, produce 

 disquiet . That a colon] of bees wit h 



ill their packing and oilier absorbents 



can be as thorough!] protected from 



these changes when the niurcury stands 

 on one day at :'."> above zero and on 

 another at In below . as the] could in a 



dry repository, with a range .a tem- 

 perature not to exceed lb . docs not 

 seem possible. I believe thai till- COD 

 dition call be better secured ill tin eel 

 lar than by any method Ol out door 

 packing that has yet CO under niv 



obsen al ion. 

 Precise!] the best kind ol cellai n ill 



doubtless, like the various kind-, Ol 



bives we use. be a subject fordiffi 



of opinion and del. ale ; but with the 



essential characteristics secured, meth- 

 ods may vary. A cellar for the accom- 



modation ot 50 colonies can be easily 



constructed from a portion of any ordi- 

 nal \ vegetable cellar, if square, it 

 should '"' about i' 1 feel each waj . with 

 double plastered wall with air space, 

 plastered overhead, and made imper- 

 vious io frost. If the Boor is not dry . 



nave and cement it. The door should 

 be tight-fitting. \ window is not 



necessary for the bees, i should by no 



means omit it. however, as it makes the 

 room a treasure, worth all it > cost, for 

 a milk room or pantry in the heat of 



summer. The window should be double- 

 glassed and provided with a close-litfing 

 shutter that will exclude every ray of 

 light when desired. The room thus ar- 

 ranged is complete, and its ventilation 



is a-- simple and inexpensive as its con- 

 construction. Connect one side of the 



room, near the Boor, in the most con- 

 venient way with the chimney in most 



constant use. i.y means of a Btove-pipe. 



From the opposite side of the room. 

 midway between floor and ceiling, run 



a common liv six-inch drain tile — 



at any convenient angle, wtdl below the 



frost about .mi feet in length, bringing 



it to the surface In a right angle, and 

 covering it in such a way as to exclude 

 leaves and other substances while 

 allowing a free ingress Of air. It vou 

 close t he door you will perceive a steady. 



quiet flow of tempered air through tin 



room. The draft can be regulated by a 

 damper in the slo\ e-pipe. In extremely 



cold weather the air should flow through 



the tile very slowly, that it may be 

 brought to' the temperature of the 

 earth surrounding it. 



In a cellar similar to this I have kept 

 bees for the last four Vears without the 

 loss of a colony. We estimated the 

 cost of the cellar at Sin. lam informed 

 that a chaff hive like Shuck's cannot be 



manufactured for less than $4.00, a price 



just double that of a single-wall hive. 



For mi hives of each kind the difference 



ill (.rice would amount to $100. Deduct 

 $40 for the cellar and we have a balance 

 of $60 in favor of cellai' wintering. 

 Another item in its favor is that a 



hive securely housed one half the yi 



will last, much longer than one that is 



constantly exposed. A common objec- 

 tion made to cellar-wintering is the 

 labor of carrying tin- hives into and out 



of it. and perhaps doubling the opera- 

 tion i.\ giving them a mid-winter flight. 

 We paid a man 50 cents for putting 25 

 colonies into the cellar mf course under 

 our supervision). At this rate the cost 



for the season of moving nil colonies 

 would amount to $4.00. Will that sum 



cover the cost of packing 50 ehalt hives? 



A superiority claimed for the double- 

 wall hive is tlial it will better protect 

 the bees from the heat of the sun. 

 Will it not also retain the heat generated 

 within by brood-rearing longer than the 

 single hive, the walls of which come 



into immediate contact with the cool 



night air? for summer protection we 

 think we have something that has all 

 the advantages with some of the disad- 

 vantages of a chaff hive, and at a slight 



cost, n is an awning made ot canvas. 



.il" nil three leet wide b\ four lent long. 

 furnished With slats at each end. and 

 with four screw hooks, one a', each cor- 

 ner, which fasten I" four stakes. The 



canvas is prevented from resting on the 

 top of the hive by a strip of board three 



or four inches wide, which serves as a 

 sml of ridge-pole, ruder the awning 



the breezes play, and the line is shaded 



and fanned when desirable, and when it 

 is ii.it it can be laid aside. In the hot- 

 tesl weather, with our hives and awn- 

 ings, the bees do not cluster out except 

 when ventilation has been neglected. 



The aw n i i ig. it must be remembered, is 



n pi nlccl ion Io (he hiv e from weal InT- 



beating as well as a source of comfort 



to the bees. 



I am now done with the subject under 



special consideration, but would like to 



add a few w.uds. personal and other- 

 wise, Upon bee-keeping for Women. 

 Within the last two Or three vears I have 

 heard from various sources Hint I was 



about to give up i.e keeping, and the 

 inference was invariably that it was 



no longer profitable. The facts are that 



I III \ e not given Up bee keeping. Mill 



probably never shall entirely. To what 



extent I shall continue it will depend 

 Chiefly upon whether or not it will con- 

 flict with other duties that cannot be 

 ignored. 



