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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Oct. 19. 



taining to bee-culture, for the first time, 

 began to assume a respectable place. The 

 able work of Langstroth, and numerous ar- 

 ticles from his pen, as well as from Samuel 

 Wagner, Quinby, and many others, soon 

 developed a desire for reading upon this 

 subject, which resulted in establishing 

 the American Bee Journal,, and a 

 special department devoted to bee-culture 

 in nearly all the leading agricultural 

 papers in the United States. The number 

 of bee papers has been increased in this 

 country in the last few years, until at 

 present we have 7, one of which is weekly. 

 Also, such able works as the " Manual of 

 the Apiary," by Prof. A. J. Cook. 

 "Quinby's New Bee-Keeping," by L. C. 

 Root, " A. B. C. of Bee-Culture," by A. I. 

 Root, and a host of smaller works by able 

 authors. 



Many other movable comb hives, besides 

 that of Langstroth's, have been invented, 

 each claiming some excellence over others, 

 but the original invention still holds its 

 own, and is adopted by a majority of the 

 leading apiarists of America, and remains 

 substantially as it left the hands of the 

 great inventor 30 years ago. Most other 

 hives are complicated, and have many use- 

 less appendages, defeating the very object 

 for which they were invented. They look 

 very attractive, and.work nicely at a fair, 

 or on a show table, but with a swarm of 

 bees in them, all their movable and adjus- 

 table parts are waxed firmly together, and 

 to loosen them jars them and makes the 

 bees hard to control. 



Improvements in receptacles for nice 

 comb honey have been nearly as great as 

 those of the hive. In place of the old box 

 cap, we now have the neat and convenient 

 prize section box with snow-white combs 

 of honey, which may be kept in virgin 

 beauty, and free from waste almost indef- 

 initely. The honey extractor is a long 

 stride in progress, which can scarcely be 

 realized. Its numerous benefits, only 

 those who have used one can estimate. 

 By it, the amount of honey obtained can be 

 more than doubled, and many difficulties 

 in successful bee-keeping obviated, while 

 the delicious sweet, free from wax and all 

 foreign substances, presents to the eye and 

 palate a treat not to he despised. 



Comb foundation, among the improve- 

 ments of the present day, occupies no 

 small place. All the difficulties of crooked 

 combs and excessive drone brood can be 

 obviated, and the thin varieties as starters 

 in section boxes will both increase the 

 amount, and improve the appearance of 

 our surplus. 



We now come to the progress in the 

 races of bees. The Italian bee was first 

 imported and disseminated in the United 

 States by Langstroth and others, about 

 the year 1801. During the last 20 years 

 their superiority over the black or German 

 variety has been so generally acknowl- 

 edged, that but little need be said. Their 

 beauty, docility and superior working 

 qualities are conceded by all who have 

 tried them, and could we but keep this race 

 pure, certainly nothing more could be de- 

 sired. Recently, by the labors of D. A. 

 Jones and Frank Benton, the Cyprian and 

 Syrian bees have been brought to our 

 shores. So far, but one point in progress 

 has been made by their introduction, viz : 

 Prolificness. Their docility and easy man- 

 agement over good Italians we have not 

 seen, and their honey gathering qualities 

 the past season have not been better than 

 our other importations. It may be that 

 Cyprian queens, crossed witu pure Italian 

 drones, will develop some improvement. 



For the last i or 5 years no great pro- 

 gress has been made in improvements. 

 Why is this? Have we reached perfec- 

 tion ? Or have we made all the discove- 

 ries we can ? We think not. 



1. The great drawback to progressive 

 bee-keeping with us is unsuccessful win- 

 tering. A few years ago we thought the 

 problem was solved ; but the severe losses 

 of the past winter have convinced us we 

 are as far from mastering the situation as 

 ever. In the fall of 1880, there were in the 

 United Slates about 3,127,000 colonies of 

 bees. Of these (through the American 

 Bee Journal), 521,230 colonies have been 

 heard from ; of these there was lost during 

 the past winter, 330,012, or about 63 per 

 cent. Taking this as an estimate of 1-6 of 

 all, would make the entire loss about 

 1,980,072, which, at the low price of $5 per 

 colony, amounts to a loss to the bee-keep- 

 ers of the United States of ¥9,000,362. Of 

 the different hives in use, box hives lost 

 88 per cent., while of Tranie hives the loss 

 was 40 per cent., and of the Langstroth 42 

 per cent., and some deep frame hives like 

 the Quinby, a little less. From this, we 

 conclude if we had a frame like the 

 Langstroth, yet so arranged that we could 

 set the frame on end for wintering pur- 

 poses, some advantages might be gained, 

 yet this process was tried a few years ago 

 by Mr. Alley, of Wenham, Mass., but for 

 some reason we have never learned he 

 abandoned it. 



2. Another point for progress in the fu- 

 ture, is fertilizing in confinement. Many 



plans have been tried, and in some of them 

 success was partially attained, but so far, 

 nothing positive has been accomplished. 

 We would urge those interested to keep on 

 trying. All engaged in bee-culture may 

 make progress by diminishing the number 

 of poor drones, and displacing queens of 

 doubtful purity, while queen venders 

 should send out no queens until thor- 

 oughly tested. 



3. Much progress can also be made by 

 planting and propagating honey-producing 

 trees and plants, so that our honey harvest 

 may both be prolonged and increased. 

 Our extensive forests are fast disappear- 

 ing, and our little pets must have their for- 

 age thus destroyed supplied by some- 

 thing else. All our bee books contain lists 

 of these, and a little time and expense de- 

 voted to this work, would return to us in a 

 fair increase of delightful sweets. It cer- 

 tainly is very unwise to attempt to supply 

 any deficiency by feedingglucose or grape 

 sugar. This miserable mixture is the 

 fruitful source of a thousand evils among 

 us. None will suffer more from its adul- 

 terating uses than honey producers, and 

 we do hope that all bee-keepers will unite 

 in the future, to drive such a curse from 

 the land. 



4. Much progress can also be made by a 

 general knowledge of bee-culture among 

 the people at large, both male and female. 

 To this end, lectures should be given by 

 those capable of public speaking, and an 

 interest would thereby be awakened, re- 

 sulting in great good. Special instruction 

 should also be given in bee-culture in all 

 our agricultural colleges. A business 

 which results in a clear gain of millions of 

 dollars, and furnishes delicious food and 

 useful medicine to thousands, should not 

 be neglected in these institutions. So far 

 as we know, but one college in the United 

 States does this, viz : the State Agricul- 

 tural College, at Lansing, Mich. We need 

 Prof. Cooks in all of them, and soon a host 

 of young men would go forth, prepared by 

 science and practice, the potency of whose 

 influence would soon be manifest every- 

 where. 



Finally, let us not be satisfied with pres- 

 ent attainments, but realizing that "all 

 that lives, grows," press onward. The 

 vast field before the bee-keeper, as yet, is 

 scarcely discovered. New truths can yet 

 be unfolded, and loftier altitudes reached. 

 America has given to the world the most 

 useful inventions, the finest stock and best 

 model government, so may we hope to pro- 

 duce the most delicious honey, the best 

 race of bees, and stand forth as the reign- 

 ing queen of the great universal hive. 



The reverend gentleman produced 

 quite an extensive collection of late 

 blooming honey plants growing spon- 

 taneously in Kentucky, giving the 

 name of each, and. its value for honey- 

 producing. 



The Secretary read the following 

 from C. J. Robinson, Richford, N. Y.: 



Wintering Bees in Clamps. 



The inevitable reign of Boreas is a stern 

 ordeal that tries the nerve or patience of 

 all bee-keepers in cold climates. Success- 

 ful wintering has hitherto been a mooted 

 problem, and perhaps ever will be, not- 

 withstanding inventive genius has ar- 

 dently sought for a solution. Success, 

 however, is the reward of diligence and 

 care in every undertaking. In northern 

 latitudes bee-keeping is hazardous even 

 with scientists who put forth their best 

 endeavors to avert disaster. And why so? 

 Because we have failed to acquire the 

 knowledge requisite to afford bees suita- 

 ble conditions during sieges of protracted 

 cold. Can this state of affairs be changed 

 for the better is the theme of this paper, 

 and divers others of like import. 



Much has been written on the subject of 

 " wintering." yet the secret of success is 

 with the unknown. From a perusal of the 

 bee papers we might conclude that some 

 bee-keepers have discovered how to win- 

 ter safely after an experience of a few 

 years, but no two of those wise philoso- 

 phers agree in the mode of salvation. 

 While those overweening didactic writers 

 whisk the pen and bellow, " like steers in 

 the corn," "Eureka! Eureka!" I have 

 been unable during half a century's expe- 

 rience in handling bees, and studying 

 their habits, and reading what others pro- 

 mulgate concerning bee-culture, to offer 

 only a few hints in the line of progress. 



Not until about 1S40 did bee-keepers put 

 their bees in cellars during winter, nor did 

 any one practice wintering in special re- 

 positories. Since the advent of the mova- 

 ble-coinb frame hive I have wintered weak 

 colonies in clamps, so-called, and I have 

 tried other repositories— the cellar, under 

 snow, in out-house, and in warmed rooms 

 —but no situation affords equally as good 

 advantages as a properly constructed 

 clamp. In a discussion, while in a conven- 

 tion, Prof. A. J. Cook said that "wintering 

 in clamps is about the same as in cellars." 

 He who attempts to reason from mere 



imaginary ideas, as a " rule," is totally 

 fallible, especially he who does not pro- 

 ceed logically, in any wise, to arrive at a 

 conclusion. Indeed, every old woman is 

 aware that the condition within a cellar 

 is totally different from that of a " hole" 

 in tlie earth. Within the clamp the degree 

 of temperature is just right and uniform, 

 not varying one degree during winter; 

 besides, the atmosphere is excluded from 

 the bees, so that they repose therein in a 

 semi-torpid state while out of the sea of 

 oxygen — the factor that agitates life to its 

 highest energies, when called upon by 

 contingencies, such as piercing cold. At 

 each change of temperature bees rouse up 

 excitedly while confined by stress of 

 weather, which renders their condition 

 more and more unfavorable, until, if the 

 confinement continues, the crisis and end- 

 ing. The frequent excitements cause bees 

 to gorge themselves with honey, and, what 

 is worse, they glut with pollen, and then 

 continued confinement proves fatal. Bees 

 do not necessarily consume air to any ex- 

 tent, providing their conditions are such 

 that they may lie dormant. 



The secret of success, then, so far as yet 

 known, is keeping bees during winter in 

 a semi-existence — no consumption of oxy- 

 gen, nor of food ; no wear and tear of 

 life's energies ; but, similar to burrowing 

 quadrupeds, remain quite donnantth rough 

 the dire cold season. As a winter reposi- 

 tory, I call a cellar the half-way bouse be- 

 tween summer stands and clamps. 



All attempts at burrowing above ground, 

 such as packing with straw, chaff, hay- 

 doodles, and the like, is downright fraud. 

 Prof. A.J. Cook attempted to "protect" 

 bees in winter in the way he would pro- 

 tect ice in summer ; but he would be pro- 

 gressive, and has abandoned his whim for 

 cheating the elements. It is well known 

 that no degree of cold freezes a large clus- 

 ter of bees ; but freezing cold confines 

 bees to one spot, not allowing the cluster 

 to move obliquely in either direction, and 

 if the severe cold term continues until all 

 the food within reach of the fixed cluster 

 is consumed, the bees starve, even though 

 there is a large amount of stores in the 

 hive and near at hand. It is well known, 

 too, that very low degrees of cold penetrate 

 through the thickest packing that can sur- 

 round a hive, and the longer it will be re- 

 tained after the atmosphere has changed 

 from cold to warmer. Better for bees to 

 remain on summer stands in their double- 

 walled hives, in a situation where they are 

 exposed to the sun's rays, even though the 

 hive be all "ventilation," with an ample 

 quantity of honey. Such conditions afford 

 an occasional let-up for the bees to move 

 on the combs and get a supply of honey, 

 which could not be done where the imme- 

 diate changes of atmosphere are not felt 

 by the bees. Those bee-packers seem to 

 possess the single idea : fence out the cold 

 or the bees are liable to freeze. They are 

 not aware that bees never freeze while 

 they can feed ; indeed, bees cannot be fro- 

 zen while in a cluster until they have 

 starved. Some bee-keepers provide winter 

 quarters for their colonies in buildings, 

 but all such repositories are alike objec- 

 tionable on the same principles which con- 

 demn packing. 



Concerning the winter stores for bees, 1 

 have learned that pollen is only a substi- 

 tute for honey with the bees at all times 

 and under all circumstances. Pollen does 

 not possess a single element necessary for 

 the use of bees or brood that is not con- 

 tained in honey and pure saccharine in any 

 form, other authorities to the contrary 

 notwithstanding. Old bees, and those of 

 all ages, can subsist on pollen as part of 

 their diet when they can often discharge 

 from the intestines; but pollen is death 

 to bees in protracted confinement. So long 

 as bees consume only good honey, or sugar 

 syrup, they can remain in the hive indefi- 

 nitely, almost, not needing a " fly." now 

 is it that queen bees never leave the hive 

 to evacuate the contents of the intestinal 

 canal? Simply because she eats nothing 

 but pure saccharine. This fact teaches 

 that bees ought not to feed on pollen in 

 winter, and bee-keepers should provide 

 their colonies with plenty of good syrup 

 or honey, and carefully remove as much 

 pollen as practicable. 



I waive here all discussion concerning 

 the features of hives in which bees winter 

 best, except to say that for wintering on 

 summer stands the walls should he double, 

 with a dead-air space between them. A 

 column of dead-air surrounding the inner 

 hive is a grand protection against the se- 

 verest cold, while it is not objectionable 

 for the reason that it retains cold like solid 

 bodies, such as chaff, sawdust, etc. 



D. A. Jones, Ontario, thinks that 

 some of the points taken by the es- 

 sayist in the above paper are unten- 

 able. Mr. Jones thinks every pound 

 of pollen contained in the combs 

 worth SI .00 in the spring, and he never 

 discriminates against it in preparing 

 for winter. He also thinks a good 



bee-house the best and safest recepta- 

 cle for winter, and the cellar as next 

 best. 



O. O. Poppleton, Iowa, thinks the 

 excellence of no one condition alone 

 will insure safety in wintering bees ; 

 but that many favorable conditions 

 are necessary to secure success. He 

 thinks it a preventive of spring 

 dwindling to leave hives packed till 

 the first of May, or later if the 

 weather is unfavorable. 



Mr. Jones thinks a great error is 

 committed, by deferring preparations 

 for winter till too late in the season. 



C. H. Deane, Mortonsville, Ky., 

 packed his bees carefully, andhad no 

 difficulty in wintering, but a neighbor 

 left bees standing with the second 

 story on the hive as the season for 

 honey closed, and they came through 

 as safely and in as good condition as 

 his own. 



The committee on resolutions, by 

 their chairman, C. C. Coffinberry, re- 

 ported as follows : 



1. Resolvetl, That this Convention feels deeply 

 grateful to Mess™. Wru. and .1. M. Williamson, and 

 their ladies, for their great sacrifice of time, com- 

 fort and money to contribute to our pleasure and 

 success. 



2. That we cordially thank our co-laborers in 

 Kentucky, and their ladies, for their liberal at- 

 tendance and assistance in our deliberations. 



:i. That Mons. E. Bertrand, of Nyon. Switzer- 

 land, is tendered our thanks for recognition in his 

 valuable paper. Bulletin V Apiculture. 



4. That our co-laborer, HerrH. Herbert M.'k- 

 lenburg, Germany, has our congratulaiionson bis 

 very practical Memorandum Book for the Apiary. 



T>. That the various exhibits in the honey, bee, 

 queen and implement department of this Conven- 

 tion have been meritorious, and have added to its 

 interest. 



6. That the hotels of Lexington, and the rail- 

 roads of Kentucky, have our thanks for reduced 

 rates. 



7. That, recognizing the power of the press, the 

 papers of Kentucky and Cincinnati, and our cher- 

 ished bee periodicals, are gratefully recognized for 

 tbeir many courtesies. 



8. That the harmony of our present session will 

 form pleasant recollections in the long future. 



9. That the officers of tliis Society for the past 

 year, are entitled to our fullest thanks for their 

 successful labors in contributing to our effective- 

 ness as an organization, and which have culmina- 

 ted in this enjoyable session. 



Which resolutions were adopted, 

 and the committee discharged. 



By paying $10 each, D. A. Jones and 

 T. 0. Newman became life members. 



On motion,the Convention adjourned 

 sine die. A. J. Cook, President. 



EnuiCK Parmly, Secretary. 



igg-The Northwestern Bee-Keepers' 

 Association will meet in Chicago, on 

 Tuesday and 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, and in order to do this, all bee- 

 keepers should make an effort to be 

 present. C. C. Miller,M. D., Pres. 



C. C. Coffinberry, Sec. 



Hgg" The 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, 1881. 



<j^* 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. 



l®" The Michigan State Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association, will convene at Bat- 

 tle Creek, on Thursday, Dec. 8, 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. Eacli per- 

 son should come with their best ex- 

 perience in their hands, ready to hand 

 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. 



^A meeting will be held at Win- 

 terset, Iowa, on Thursday, Nov. 3, 

 1881, to organize a District Convention, 



All the apiarists of the vicinity, as 

 well as from other States, are cordially 

 iinvited. A. J. Adkison, 



