162 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



May 25, 



But as I cannot explain in detail here 

 how I arrived at these figures suffice it 

 to say that I arrived at them hy actual 

 experiments, which experiments are 

 subject to conditions, such as climate, 

 weather, kind of comb used, etc. 



I think it but just to say that to my 

 knowledge the Dunham foundation is 

 the best in use. 



The Convention adjourned to meet 

 pursuant to the call of the President. 

 James Manchester, Pres. 

 L. H. Pammel, Jr., 6'ec. 



Eastern New York Convention. 



This convention was held at the 

 Schoharie Court House. N. Y., May 10 

 and 11, 1881. 



President A. Snyder being absent, at 

 2 p. m. the meeting was called to order 

 by the Secretary. W. L. Tennant was 

 elected President pro tern. Mr. Ten- 

 nant then delivered a short address, full 

 of practical interest to bee-keepers. 



W. D. Wright, N. D. West, I. Mar- 

 kle, Geo. Van Wie, and M. Snyder 

 were appointed a committee to select 

 questions for discussion. 



Question : " Is it necessary to give 

 bees upward ventilation in winter, if in 

 frame hives in cellars with temperature 

 at 45° ? " The general opinion was in 

 favor of wintering in cellars with up- 

 ward ventilation, but not enough to 

 cause a draught through the hive ; and 

 that bees should occupy 7 spaces of 

 comb for successful wintering. 



The evening session convened at 7 

 p. m., and had an interesting meeting 

 full of interest to bee-keepers. 



SECOND DAY. 



The meeting was called to order by 

 President Snyder, at 9 a. m. The fol- 

 lowing were elected officers for the 

 coming year : 



President, W. D. Wright; Vice-Pres- 

 ident, M. Snyder; Secretary, N. D. 

 West; Treasurer, W. L. Tennant. 



The next meeting will be held at. 

 Knowersville, Sept. 27, 1881. 



It was resolved that each bee-keeper 

 present should in the afternoon hand in 

 their reports for the last year, but they 

 failed to do so. 



The Secretary read the following 

 from J. H. Nellis, Canajoharie, N. Y. : 



The past severe winter has doubtless 

 made sad havoc in many apiaries and, it 

 may be,has well nigh discouraged many. 

 Here the theory of " the survival of 

 the fittest" will be exemplified, and 

 those who possess pluck will, with the 

 plucky bees that " pull through," make 

 a grand success in the future. Study 

 hard to learn the causes of loss, for we 

 all must realize that if the losses of 

 winter can be avoided we can make 

 bee-culture profitable, and we hold that 

 nowhere can more accurate informa- 

 tion be obtained than from a careful 

 comparison of facts, circumstances and 

 conditions, especially between the ex- 

 tremes of success and failure, which 

 honest men seeking for trutli can eluci- 

 date at our Bee-keepers' Conventions. 



Compared with the matter of success- 

 ful wintering, all other points of discus- 

 sion fall into insignificance, unless per- 

 haps the matter of creating a solid basis 

 for the honey market. This will be 

 done largely in the future in 3 ways, 

 viz.: Create and maintain a home de- 

 mand, avoiding as much as possible the 

 crowding of your product upon a cen- 

 tralized market where it is handled by 

 commission merchants. True, you will 

 learn of a few getting fancy prices for 

 their crops when so handled, but real- 

 ize that favorable conditions, as being 

 put on the market very early, or being 

 of gilt edge quality, or there may be a 

 little favoritism shown, or is it not pos- 

 sible that a few lots are accounted for 

 at fancy prices in order to allure con- 

 signments V Beware of all these we 

 say. 



Secondly. Be sure your packages 

 are of popular size and of line appear- 

 ance for box honey. 



Thirdly. Extracted honey can and 

 will find large sales at fair prices, put 

 up in cheap tin packages, varying from 

 2 to 50 lbs. in weight. These can be 

 shipped at cheap rates, are useful to the 

 consumer, are not expensive to the pro- 

 ducer, are not subject to breakage in 

 shipping, and finally, are common sense 



in themselves, which latter quality will 

 make a success of any article or man 

 when possessed J. II. Nellis. 



A vote of thanks to Mr. Nellis for 

 his able essay was unanimously carried. 



Question : " What are the requisites 

 for successful wintering ? " This was 

 answered by all as follows : Plenty of 

 young bees and honey, also a good cel- 

 lar or frost-proof repository, and the 

 bees should be put in before there is 

 frost in the hives. 



Question : "Dobeesneedwaterwhile 

 wintering in the cellar ; if so, is the 

 condensed vapor arising from the bees 

 sufficient, or should they be supplied 

 with fresh water ? " 



Mr. Boomhower said : Bees do not 

 need water in winter, the vapor arising 

 to the top of the hive is sufficient and 

 good for this supply ; I have tasted of it 

 many times and found it good and 

 sweet. I winter in a clamp — no ventila- 

 tion at the bottom of my hives ; I put 

 on a piece of factory cloth covering the 

 whole top of the hive, I then put on the 

 honey board, so as not to cover the 

 whole top. I examine them often and 

 if any are uneasy I shake the drops of 

 water on the honey board down upon 

 the factory cloth ; I sometimes sprinkle 

 them with fresh water ; they will come 

 up and eat like pigs and be quiet. I 

 winter very successfully. 



J. G. Quinby winters his bees in box 

 hives inverted, without water. 



S. Vroman never tried water but 

 thinks the vapor of the bees gives all 

 the water needed ; he does not disturb 

 his bees in winter quarters ; he thinks 

 he would prefer water to honey for 

 feeding to stimulate breeding in Feb- 

 ruary. 



W. Tennant thinks bees do need 

 water when wintered in the cellar ; he 

 has been very successful in wintering 

 when he used it ; he said he had some 

 box hives inverted one winter and he 

 sprinkled water on them with his hand; 

 they took the water freely ; they kept 

 quiet and bred in the cellar and came 

 out the strongest of any he ever had. 



J. G. Quinby keeps his bees dry and 

 gives a large amount of upward venti- 

 lation. He winters best in this way 

 and never gives them water. 



G. Van Veris : No water is needed. 



President Wright was not in favor of 

 giving water. 



In the afterooon the meeting was 

 called to order at 1 p. m. and the follow- 

 ing discussion ensued : 



Question : "What is the cause of the 

 so-called dysentery V " 



The President indorsed Mr. Heddon's 

 theory and thought it was the most 

 plausible as the cause of dysentery. 



W. Tennant thinks G. M. Doolittle is 

 correct ; he uses his name frequently 

 when speaking and indorses his writ- 

 ings. 



S. Vroman thinks that cold is the 

 cause.- 



G. Van Veris : cold and dampness. 



A. B. Simpkins : I believe nearly all 

 the bees that die have the dysentery. 



The following essay was read on 

 Spring Management. 



All experienced apiarists well know 

 that this is an all-important subject. 

 All depends upon the nee-keeper after 

 the bees are wintered to bring them 

 through the coming spring, and he must 

 determine whether they will be a suc- 

 cess or a failure. 



Two practical points must be consid- 

 ered : First, to know the exact condi- 

 tion of the bees ; second, after know- 

 ing their condition to determine just 

 what they require to bring them through 

 strong and ready for business. In try- 

 ing to find out their condition, see 

 that they have plenty of sealed honey, 

 and the main point of all, a queen — not 

 a poor, shriveled up object, that might 

 never be capable of doing the duties 

 of her majesty, but one that looks as if 

 she will be capable of doing her duty 

 under all circumstances. If you should 

 find a colony queenless unite it with 

 some other weak colony, if you have 

 any in your yard. By uniting 2 weak 

 colonies you can make quite a good col- 

 ony of them. Here is where bee-keep- 

 ers make their mistake : they will try 

 and nurse along a weak colony thinking 

 they will have so many more colonies to 

 gather honey and the result is they will 

 hardly gather honey enough for their 



own use the coming winter, where, if 

 they had united 2 of those weak colo- 

 nies in the spring they would have 

 gathered quite a surplus. 



The next necessary step is to keep 

 the bees confined on as few combs as 

 they will cover ; the object of this is to 

 keep as much heat as possible confined 

 in the cluster for the benefit of brood- 

 rearing. To do this remove all combs 

 not occupied by the bees, leaving both 

 sealed honey and empty combs neces- 

 sary for the brood nest ; put all combs 

 taken out where it is dry, for future 

 use. After removing all surplus combs, 

 have two division boards manufactured 

 out of some thin boards about % of an 

 inch thick, and have them so that they 

 will fit closely on all sides ; put one on 

 each side of your frames, thus closing 

 up on both sides of the brood nest mak- 

 ing it the same as if yourhive was made 

 to fit the size of your colony, thus your 

 bees will not have any unoccupied 

 space to consume their much needed 

 warmth, for plenty of warmth is the 

 success of spring management. It is 

 also quite necessary to put some chaff 

 on both sides of the" brood nest, and, in 

 fact, in every unoccupied space about 

 your hive, as it will keep out the cold, 

 bleak winds, and help to generate 

 warmth. After you have your colonies 

 all in this condition and there are any 

 that require feeding, I should advise 

 some kind of top feeder, that is a feeder 

 to be placed on top of the frames right 

 over the brood nest, and feed them, as 

 they require it, some good white sugar 

 made in a thin syrup, or honey if you 

 have it, and by all means do not use 

 any glucose or grape sugar, as it is a nui- 

 sance and not worthy the attention of 

 any bee-keeper. There is nothing bet- 

 ter than good sugar or honey ; it may 

 cost you a trifle more, but you will find it 

 the cheapest in the end. My reasons 

 for not using grape sugar are, I have 

 found that it hardened in the cells so 

 that the bees would not remove it, and 

 it hindered the queen in depositing her 

 eggs in them, thus making the combs 

 almost useless. I have known it to 

 cause dysentery. 



You will rind it necessary to examine 

 your colonies about twice a week and 

 as fast as the queen fills the combs with 

 brood and the bees can cover them, 

 supply them with another frame of 

 empty comb or foundation, putting it 

 in the centre of the brood-nest, thereby 

 increasing the size of the brood-nest 

 and giving the queen more business in 

 rearing. Bees I have often given two 

 frames of empty combs in a week, and 

 had them filled with brood. It is very 

 necessary to use caution in doing this, 

 for if you spread the brood-nest faster 

 than the bees can fill it, you are only 

 hindering instead of advancing them. 



I find it pays to stimulate the bees in 

 some manner in the spring, to make 

 them breed fast. The amount of bees 

 are what we are after at this season of 

 the year, and the best way to bring 

 about this result is my aim. I find it is 

 a good plan every time going through 

 your colonies to take a knife and break 

 the cappings just enough to make the 

 honey run, and the bees will gather it 

 up and store it around the brood-nest, 

 and set them to rearing. 



A great many bee-keepers are trou- 

 bled with robbing, but I find it of not 

 much importance if you keep your col- 

 onies strong as they should be. If yon 

 Jiave weak colonies, I should advise 

 keeping the entrance closed so that but 

 one bee can pass out or in at a time, 

 then there is no danger. Practical 

 apiarists never have much difficulty in 

 this matter; they generally know the 

 condition of their colonies and what to 

 do with them ; but sometimes hints 

 that have been tried as experiments 

 and proven successful will help the 

 most enlightened. The bee-keeper 

 works under many disadvantages. 

 What proves and works correct one 

 year will not another, therefore he 

 has to apply his knowledge as well as 

 that of others to the peculiar circum- 

 stances that govern the season, and we 

 must govern our work accordingly. 

 How are we to do this V We must un- 

 derstand just what our bees require un- 

 der all conditions of the weather, and 

 apply our knowledge to their require- 

 ments. If there is too little heed given 

 to our bees in the spring how can we 



expect to receive a bountiful harvest ? 

 But if wegive all ourenergies and mind 

 to the best mode to make our pets com- 

 fortable, we will obtain the best results 

 as a recompense. 



As I have not the space or time that 

 I wisli to give to this theme, I hope all 

 will bear in mind the secret of bee- 

 keeping is in keeping your colonies 

 warm and populous, and breeding as 

 fast as possible, then you will have at- 

 tained the best mode of spring man- 

 agement. Theo. Hauck. 



A vote of thanks for this essay was 

 passed unanimously. 



Question : " What style of hives and 

 section boxes are best tor securing sur- 

 plus honey ? " 



S. Vroman uses the new Quinby hive; 

 he likes the broad frame for side sec- 

 tions and top-boxes used at the same 

 time. He controls swarming so as to 

 have little or no increase ; formerly he 

 was satisfied when using the old box 

 hive with about25 lbs. of surplus honey, 

 but is now hardly satisfied with 100 lbs. 

 per colony. 



W. Tennant favors side and top box- 

 ing combined ; says the Italians work 

 in side boxes best ; they are more re- 

 luctant about going up ; the side boxes 

 must be used to secure the best results. 

 For the native bees he thinks side-box- 

 ing less practicable ; he favors the 2 lb. 

 prize box, says the 1 lb. is too small. 



A. Stanton used top boxes only. 



A. B. Simpkins uses top and side 

 boxes combined, and thinks that the 

 best way. 



F. Boomhower has had no experience 

 with side boxing and wants none. 



Geo. Van Wie favors and practices 

 top and side boxing combined. 



W. Tennant objects to the Langstroth 

 frame, says it is not deep enough for 

 successful wintering ; would not use it 

 under any circumstances ; there is not 

 depth enough for the bees to breed up 

 naturally ; he thinks the queen should 

 have room to form a solid ball of brood, 

 at least 10 inches in diameter. 



It was resolved that the President ap- 

 point a Vice-President for each county 

 not represented. 



A resolution of thanks was passed to 

 the County Sheriff and Jailer for cour- 

 tesies, and a bill of $2 for use of Court 

 room was ordered paid. Adjourned. 

 N. D. West, Sec. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



The Straw Hive of the Future. 



WM. F. CLARKE. 



Those who are familiar with the old 

 edition of Quinby's " Mysteries of Bee- 

 Keeping " (I have not the new one edi- 

 ted by Mr. Root), will remember a pre- 

 diction of his that the straw hive would 

 yet, in time, regain its former position 

 in the public favor. Not the conical 

 hive, but a straw hive of convenient 

 shape for using movable frames. I was 

 reminded of this prediction last fall, on 

 being shown, at one of our fairs, a straw 

 hive coated within and without with 

 plaster of Paris. The walls, including 

 both straw and plaster, were about 3 

 inches in thickness, 2 of them being of 

 straw, and each coat of plaster about half 

 an inch. I was greatly interested in 

 the hive, especially when the exhibitor 

 told me that he "was going to winter 

 several colonies oii this principle. He 

 promised, at my request, to report the 

 result. I have now his letter before me, 

 in which he says : 



"I used 8 of the plastered liives and win- 

 tered that number of colonies in them 

 and 33 in wooden hives. The plastered 

 hives had 10 frames in them, the others 

 (Jones' hive) had all removed but 8 (12 

 is the full complement of frames to the 

 Jones hive). All the 41 colonies had 

 30 lbs. of honey by weight, not guess. 

 I put them all in the bee house on the 

 22d of October, and took them out on 

 the 14th of April. Well, all the 8 in 

 the plastered hives came out alive. One 

 that had no queen was alive but very 



