326 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Oct. 12. 



and that this same malady, if we can call 

 it a malady, lias also made sad havoc in 

 in the population of some of our colonies, 

 while some others have passed through 

 the winter safely. 1 have even noticed 

 that in such a diversity of fate, a few col- 

 onies were so free of diarrhea that I was 

 unable to see a drop of foul matter around 

 their hives. 



.\<»\v let us see what had produced such 

 a difference in the condition of these colo- 

 nies. The indispensable food for bees is 

 sugar, and chemistry shows that the most 

 easily and most thoroughly digested form 

 of sugar is cane sugar. Honey contains 

 sugar in two different forms — cane and 

 grape sugar. Some plants give honey with 

 more cane, others with more grape sugar, 

 consequently a honey containing the most 

 of cane sugar, such as clover honey, will 

 prove more nourishing than fall honey, 

 which contains more grape sugar, and 

 leave, besides, in the intestines of the 

 bees a smaller quantity of undigested res- 

 idues. Our bees in winter are confined for 

 weeks, even for months, and it is easy to 

 understand how the colonies with good 

 honey, having less residues in their intes- 

 tines, were able to remain in good health; 

 while the colonies which had a poor qual- 

 ity of honey to eat, perished more or less 

 rapidly, according to the quality of this 

 honey— the bees with juice of fruits or 

 honey-dew being ahead. 



When the honey is stored in cells partly 

 filled with pollen, the bees eat someof this 

 pollen and their intestines are readily tilled 

 up. The same result follows when the 

 honey is not sealed, for, not only is it wa- 

 tery, but the quantity of water that it con- 

 tains is increased by the property that it 

 possesses to absorb moisture. This water 

 accumulates in the intestines of the bees, 

 and if they are prevented by cold from 

 voiding it, they become uneasy and perish. 



Now that we understand this, one of the 

 causes of sickness iu bees during winter, 

 let us remember : 



1. Not to remove in summer all the 

 spring honey that the bees have stored, 

 leaving in the hives a sufficient reserve for 

 the coldest part of winter. 



.'. To remove all the combs containing 

 honey stored in cells partly tilled with pol- 

 len. These combs are easily found on ac- 

 count of their opacity. They are splendid 

 for bees in the spring, for this mixture will 

 incite breeding. 



3. To remove all the unsealed honey that 

 the bees will be unable to consume before 

 winter. 



4. To remove also the honey-dew, when 

 there is any. 



•"). To prevent bees going to the cider 

 presses, or to remove the cider stored in 

 the hive. This liquid always remains un- 

 sealed. 



6. To replace with good sealed honey, or 

 with good thick syrup all the honey taken 

 out. so as to give to the bees sufficient pro- 

 visions. The best syrup is made with one 

 pound and one half-ounce of water for two 

 pounds of granulated sugar. 



(If coarse, such precautions are not in- 

 dispensable every winter; for a bad food 

 can keep bees alive if they have frequent 

 flights. Besides, as it is very difficult to 

 follow ray advice to the letter, 1 have been 

 accustomed to awake my colonies in win- 

 ter every day when I foresee that the ther- 

 mometer will reach 4-"> in the shade. This 

 precaution is especially necessary with 

 chaff hives, tor the sun cannot easily warm 

 them inside. The bees, thus awakened, 

 enjoy a good flight, and return with empty 

 bowels, ready for another confinement. 



Hamilton. 111. 



().(). Poppleton thinks asa rule, his 

 bees do as well in winter on buck- 

 wheat or other full honey, as on white 

 clover. The main point is to have 

 well ripened honey.' 



I). A. Jones prefers the basswood 

 hone; for wintering. 



Dr. X. P. Allen prefers whiteclover, 

 or well ripened fall honey. 



The Secretary read a paper from Dr. 

 W. K. Howard, id' MeKinney, Texas, 

 on " Wintering Bees in Texas.'' [This 

 may lie found on page 299. — Ed.] 



G. W. Demaree, Kentucky, thinks 

 the practice of crowding bees in the 



hive as del i iinenta] to successful win- 

 tering; if it crowds his bees to put 

 them on six frames, he will give them 

 eight -putting the unoccupied combs 

 at the shies. 



('. P. Mnth has wintered colonies as 

 well on twenty frames as on ten. Last 

 winter two colonies were left on 

 I wenty flames, and they came through 

 all right. He thinks the great loss 

 during winter is caused by insufficient 

 ventilation. 



Mrs. L. Harrison, of Illinois, in- 

 quired if it was necessary to place an 

 empty comb in the center of the brood 

 chamber for wintering V 



The question was answered by sev- 

 eral in the negative. 



The Secretary read a communica- 

 tion from Dr. C. C. Miller. Marengo, 

 111., President of the Northwestern 

 Bee-keepers' Society, on 



Swarms vs. Comb Honey. 



The principal value of a paper at a con- 

 vention is the discussion which follows 

 it, so I choose a subject on which I earn- 

 estly desire light, rather than one upon 

 which I fancy I can give information. My 

 sole business is in raising honey to sell, 

 and the market obliges me to work mainly 

 for comb honey. As every swarm that 

 comes out means just so much less honey 

 in boxes, any hint that will help me to 

 prevent swarming will be of value. Of 

 course I will be told, "give the bees plenty 

 of room;" but sometimes they will swarm 

 in spite of abundant room, and may there 

 not be some little trick that some of you 

 have discovered in the manner or time of 

 giving the room, that may make some dif- 

 ference? I think I have gained something 

 by getting the bees started early on as 

 many sections as I think they will likely 

 finish, for it has rather seemed to me that 

 bees were not so likely to swarm, if by any 

 means their whole energy could be direc- 

 ted toward the storing of honey. The ad- 

 vocates of side-storing, will claim that 

 bees will commence quicker on sections, 

 if the sections be at the side of combs on 

 which they are already at work, and for 

 some years 1 have tried to secure the ad- 

 vantages of side-storing without its objec- 

 tions, by simply placing in the super, be- 

 tween the sections, a frame taken from 

 the brood chambers, of either brood or 

 honey, and I don't know which is best. 

 This frame is moved from one part of the 

 super to another every 3 or 4 days, and 

 whenever it is placed there, the bees are 

 sure to commence work on the sections. 



How much room should there be in the 

 brood chamber? Mr. Doolittle thinks 7 

 Langstroth frames; Adam Grimm used 8. 

 This season I have used from 7 to Id. and 

 I confess I have come to no very definite 

 conclusion, but I doubt if 1 shall ever use 

 as high as 10 again. 1 rather incline to the 

 opinion that, as a rule, I shall have 8 

 frames in a hive, putting one of them in 

 the super; will leave 7 in the brood cham- 

 ber during the storing season, and at the 

 close, or near the close of the storing sea- 

 son, the 8th frame will be returned to the 

 brood chamber filled with clover honey. 

 But will not the bees be made more likely 

 to swarm if they have only 7 brood frames? 

 Who can tell us the most profitable num- 

 ber of Langstroth frames to be left entirely 

 to the use of the queen? And if she has 

 less room than her utmost ability to oc- 

 cupy, will it invariably promote swarm- 

 ing? 



But when swarms do come, what shall 

 be done that the storing in boxes may be 

 the least interfered with? The plan given 

 by J. J.Taylor, in September "Gleanings" 

 appears good, but I like to place my 

 hives in regular numerical order, and dis- 

 like very much to change their location. 

 The main features of his plan, is to hive 

 the colony in a box or empty hive, keep 

 them cool and dark till after sunset, then 

 shake down the bees from the old hive, 

 and place the new colony in front of a 

 hive in a new location, and let them run 

 in, giving them the frames from the old 

 hive after cutting out all queen cells. Now 

 if this plan will let bees work with the 

 vigor of new colonies, I suppose the in- 

 convenience of changing location should 

 not be considered. 



Mr. Doolittle's plan is to cage the queen 

 at swarming and put her in the hive, 5 

 days after swarming, cut out queen cells, 

 and 5 days later cut out queen cells again 

 and liberate the queen. I have lost a good 

 many queens trying to improve upon this 

 plan, but have failed to better it, unless it 

 be that I generally give the queen for 10 

 days to some nucleus or queenless colony, 

 instead of keeping her caged. 



Will the bees work with more or less 

 vigor on account of the presence of the 

 caged queen? 



I hope we may have the benefit of the 

 experience of others in combating swarms 

 for often it happens that iu a dis- 

 cussion, a single sentence may throw more 

 light on a subject than many pages of a 

 long-winded essay. 



Marengo, 111. 



The above paper was followed with 

 considerable desultory debate, which 

 had but little reference to the subject 

 treated upon. 



Dr. L. E. Brown, of Kentucky, here 

 announced that a committee of recep- 

 tion had gone to the depot to meet Mr. 

 Thomas G. Newman, editor of the 

 American Bee JOURNAL, who was 

 expected on the train then due. Dr. 

 Brown alluded to the eminent services 

 of Mr. Newman to further the cause 



of apiculture in North America, that 

 to his labors more than those of any 

 other, could the North American Bee- 

 Keepers' Society attribute its success, 

 and that he had done more than any 

 man living to create a market for 

 honey, and to make it a marketable 

 commodity. He moved that when the 

 committee returned they and their 

 guest be received by the Convention 

 standing. 



Dr. Allen, of Kentucky, moved to 

 amend by adding that a recess of ten 

 minutes be also taken to allow mem- 

 bers an opportunity to greet Mr. 

 Newman. 



Which motions were carried unani- 

 mously, admidst much enthusiasm. 



The reception committee here made 

 their entrance, escorting Mr. New- 

 man who was received by the Conven- 

 tion standing, when a recess of ten 

 minutes was taken. 



On being called to order, Dr. E. 

 Drane, of Eminence, Ky., addressed 

 the Convention on 



How to Make Bee-Keeping Pay. 



Some 5 or 6 years since I determined to 

 make bee-keeping pay if possible. I had 

 a fondness for bees and especially for 

 honey. I had never read any work on 

 apiculture, but concluded that there must 

 be some standard works treating of bee- 

 keeping ; began to inquire for such, and 

 learned that there was a paper published 

 at Chicago, called the American Bee 

 Journal. 1 Immediately wrote a postal 

 card to the editor and received a specimen 

 copy in which the standard works on api- 

 culture were advertised ; also several 

 other papers devoted to bees and the pro- 

 duction of honey and the sale of bee- 

 keeper's supplies. 



I Knew I had struck a bonanza for when 

 a man is determined to obtain knowledge 

 upon any subject, just give him access to 

 the standard writings on that subject and 

 he can soon know all that is known or un- 

 known about the business. 1 subscribed 

 for the Bee Journal, "Gleanings in Bee 

 Culture" — procured Langstroth's work 

 and Cook's Manual of the Apiary and sev- 

 eral other works on bees and honey, read 

 myself full of bee theory — went to see all 

 of my friends or acquaintances who kept 

 bees and who were supposed to under- 

 stand scientific bee-culture. The idea 

 seemed to prevail with them that every- 

 thing depended upon having the right kind 

 of a hive— they tried every kind — some 

 had moth-traps and hives with frames 

 were numerous, but never a frame could 

 they move, the combs were crooked and 

 crossed. No one offered to lift out a frame 

 and show me the queen, but I was often 

 invited to take a peep through glass as 

 though it were a great treat to see bees 

 under glass, hence I concluded that if my 

 friends had ever understood scientific bee- 

 culture, they had stood still until the wave 

 of progress had gone by and left them 20 

 years behind. Talk to them about con- 

 trolling swarming, extracting honey or 

 rearing queens ! Oh! that is all a humbug, 

 they would say. 



I therefore had to rely on my books and 

 papers— making careful selection of the 

 method that seemed most approved of and 

 practiced by the great bee Kings, who an- 

 nuallymade reports of large yields of honey 

 who had honey to sell by the ton— I stud- 

 ied their ways and endeavored to take 

 lessons of them, I bought an extractor, 

 adopted the Langstroth hive, had comb 

 honey stored in prize sections, packed 12 

 in a crate and glassed the crate, kept ex- 

 tracted honey in 1 and 2 lb. jars in the 

 stores around, and comb honey in crates, 

 and never offered to undersell the market. 

 I ask and get top prices and have learned 

 to keep honey in prime condition (I never 

 ship any in bad order) and I cultivate a 

 home market by trying to keep honey for 

 sale all the year round. Perhaps I might 

 as well say that I have about twice as 

 much extracted honey as comb, and find 

 an increasing demand for it. I recom- 

 mend all to buy extracted honey. 



1st. Because it is cheaper and is sweet 

 as comb honey. 



2d. Because 1 can obtain larger yields of 

 it than of comb honey and can make more 

 money producing it, and 1 use it myself all 

 the tiine. 



For several years 1 have made careful 

 memoranda of the time of blooming ot 

 all the plants, trees and flowers on which 

 bees forage and the length of time they 

 last and amount of honey and pollen the 

 bees obtain from each, which enables me 

 to know with reasonable certainly what 

 the bees are doing or can do, according to 

 the state of the weather, and the prevail- 

 ing forage, cither present or prospective. 

 In proof of which, I attended to two 

 apiaries away from home this year and had 

 not a single swarm, and only visited them 



once a week, and occasionally at longer 

 intervals. Had I never studied the sub- 

 ject of bee forage I should have been in 

 continual doubt and uncertainty. 



Let no one flatter himself that he can 

 learn bee-keeping in a day. Each season 

 imparts new lessons, and it seems as if I 

 were just begining to know the cause of 

 many things about bees and honey, and I 

 do not hesitate to say that 1 lirnily'believe 

 that 1 can make more money out of bees 

 and honey with a capital of one thousand 

 dollars, than average fanners do on five 

 times that amount, taking the seasons as 

 they come. But I wish to persuade no 

 one to embark in the business for 1 know 

 of no calling that is accessible to so many, 

 and at which so few make money. 



T. F. Bingham, Michigan, thought 

 the address worthy of the highest en- 

 comiums, and thai Mr. Drane should 

 have the thanks of the Convention for 

 crowding so much practical advice and 

 correct conclusions in such a small 

 and comprehensive space. 



President Cook stated that pollen 

 was in many cases injurious to bees in 

 winter, as it had a tendency to unsea- 

 sonable breeding, and hence was the 

 cause of much spring dwindling. 



Dr. J. P. II. Brown. Georgia, has 

 found pollen very beneficial in the lati- 

 tude of Georgia, but it might not an- 

 swer so well iii a Northern climate. 



C. F. Muth, Ohio, thinks pollen is a 

 great benefit to bees in his latitude, 

 and he always gives them pollen 

 combs if he has them, in March. 



D. A. Jones. Ontario, thought Prof. 

 Cook's ill-success with pollen was at- 

 tributable to other causes. Mr. Jones 

 said he never discriminated against 

 pollen-combs in preparing the bees for 

 winter. 



C. F. Moth said he wanted brood in 

 his hives by March 1, at the latest. 

 Adjourned till 7:30 p. m. 



[Concluded next week.] 



i®" The Northwestern Bee-Keepers' 

 Association will meet in Chicago, on 

 Tuesday aud Wednesday. October 25 

 and 26. All bee-keepers are cordially 

 invited to attend. It is desired to 

 make this one of the most interesting 

 conventions ever held in the United 

 States. C. C. Miller, M. D., Pres. 



C. C. COFFINBERRY, ScC. 



I^° Owing to the fact that the time 

 of the regular meeting of the Union 

 Bee Association, at Shelbvville, Ky., 

 conflicts with the time fixed bythee'x- 

 ecutive committee, to hold the Na- 

 tional at Lexington, the meeting of 

 the Union, at Shelbyville, has been 

 postponed till the 20tn of October. 

 G. W. Demaree. Sec. 



Christiansburg, Ky., Sept. 3, 1881. 



®"The Rock River Valley Bee- 

 Keepers' Convention, will be held at 

 Monroe Center, on the third Tuesday 

 in October. We hope a good atten- 

 dance will be the outcome, and the bee 

 interest revived. 



D. A. Cirr-ERLY, Sec. 



©•Tlie Western Michigan Bee- 

 Keepers' Association will meet in 

 Berlin, Ottawa, Co., Mich., Thursday, 

 Oct. 27, 1881, in Huntley's Hall, at 

 10:30 a. m. All interested, are cordi- 

 ally invited. 



Wm. M. S. Dodge, Sec. 



Coopersville. Mich.. Aug. 29. 1S.NI. 



llg* The Southwestern Wisconsin 

 Bee-Keepers' Association will hold its 

 next meeting in Platteville, Grant Co., 

 Wis.. Nov. 30, 1881. 



N. E. France. Sec, Platteville, Wis. 



^" The Michigan stale Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association, will convene at Bat- 

 tle Creek, on Thursday, Dee. s, 1881. 

 We have reason to expect one of the 

 largest and most interesting meetings 

 we have ever held. Let all arrange 

 to be present. All District Associa- 

 tions should send delegates. Each per- 

 son should come wilh their best ex- 

 perience in their hands, ready to band 

 it over to the others of the fraternity. 

 It is hoped that all will bring the full- 

 est report possible from their region. 

 Commutation rates are expected on 

 railroads. A. J. Cook, Pres, 



T. F. Bingham, Sec 



