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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Dec. 14, 



onies that can at all times defend 

 themselves against robbers or millers, 

 and will go into winter quarters 

 strong, and give you good returns in 

 surplus honey. 



There is no disease that is one liun- 

 dreth part as destructive to our little 

 pets, as is our negligence in not pro- 

 viding winter protection for them, and 

 if we need any legislation in regard to 

 them, it seems here is where it should 

 begin. Make it a criminal offense for 

 any one to keep bees unless he is com- 

 petent, and not shiftless enough to 

 neglect them. 



The Secretary read from a letter 

 from T. E. Bingham, of which the fol- 

 lowing is an extract : "lam raising 

 the combs \% inches from the bottom 

 to allow the accumulations of dead 

 bees, should long cold occur as last 

 winter." 



J. J. Robinson thought this a very 

 good plan. He would make a frame 

 2 inches high to lit under the hive on 

 bottom board. He did not think bees 

 froze to death. A colony in his neigh- 

 borhood wintered well unprotected in 

 an old box hive with a wide crack in 

 the side, while other bees were almost 

 a total loss. Several instances of this 

 kind were given. 



A. A. Dodge. Two men living 

 about 12 miles apart, have kept 30 or 

 less colonies each in the box hives, 

 wintering on summer stands. One 

 who has been very successful in win- 

 tering, makes a fly-hole in his hives 

 about 6 inches above the lower en- 

 trance. The other man does not; had 

 lost nearly all his bees this last win- 

 ter. He had known a man who for 

 years successfully wintered bees by 

 putting a piece of brick under each 

 corner of his hives. 



Wm. H. Walker had found a bee 

 frozen in ice and throwed it out, and 

 in half an hour it flew away. 



Henry Holt said he had come to 

 learn how to winter bees. When he 

 lived in New England, bees wintered 

 without care, but times had changed. 

 He thought ventilation important. 

 He had fried wintering in a cellar, 

 but thought it a good deal of trouble 

 to carry them in and out. 



Walter Hastings thoughtsuccessful 

 wintering depended on a few simple 

 conditions: Keep them dry; give 

 them ventilation enough, but not too 

 much. He thought it was not easy 

 to freeze bees, as they would maintain 

 the warmth of the cluster in the cold- 

 est days. He described his method of 

 packing with chaff; by removing a 

 piece in the front of the hive, he could 

 clean dead bees from the bottom 

 board, should they accumulate. 



A._ A. Dodge spoke of cutting pas- 

 sage' ways through the combs. 



E. Miner said that last winter he 

 used a room above the cellar, in which 

 his bees were kept; many bees died; 

 stopping the entrance caused uneasi 

 ness. He wished to know if noise 

 disturbed bees. It was thought bees 

 were disturbed more by jarring than 

 by noise. 



Walter Hastings thought confine- 

 ment in a cellar unnatural ; if cold 

 will not kill bees, why put them in 

 cellar ? 



Wm. II. Walker said that wild bees 

 did not die from cold, yet cold was the 

 real cause of loss, as with frosty 

 combs, they would starve when honey 

 was close by. He thought the great 

 object of wintering in cellar was to 

 save honey, by an even temperature. 



The members were about equally 

 divided in favor between chaff pack- 

 ing and a good cellar. 



E. S. Covey said that last year lie 

 had 2 colonies which had been queen- 

 less for a time, allowing bee-bread to 

 accumulate in the combs; in early 

 winter they were severely attacked 

 with dysentery. They were good col- 

 onies, had good queens, plenty of 

 honey and young bees, the honey be- 

 ing mixed with bee-bread. 



J. Precious gave similar experience. 



Question : Which is best, artificial 

 or natural swarming ? 



A. A. Dodge said both, according to 

 circumstances. 



Wm. H. Walker thought it depended 

 on the man. 



J. J. Robinson said it was claimed 

 by some fruit growers that bees in- 

 jured fruit, and that in such cases the 

 bee-keeper must dispose of his bees, 

 or keep them in until the fruit was 

 out of the way. He was threatened 

 with prosecution by one of his neigh- 

 bors (a grape grower), and would have 

 to give up keeping bees, or stand a 

 law suit. 



Question : Shall we advise our 

 friends to go into bee-keeping, or is 

 the business over-crowded ? The gen- 

 eral opinion was that the market bad 

 improved as fast as the supply had in- 

 creased. 



The meeting adjourned, to meet in 

 the city of Grand Rapids, on the last 

 Wednesday and Thursday of April, 

 1882. Wm. H. Walker, Pres. 



Wm. M. S. Dodge, Sec. 



s£hl c J4P*i§£MM 



White Pine Honey Package. — If|we 

 take white pine and make a box or 

 barrel to hold honey, and then scald 

 out this box or barrel before we put 

 the honey in, will the honey taste of 

 the pine ? I had 13 colonies last fall, 

 lost 3 by backward spring, and now 

 have 17. Most of them came through 

 weak last spring. It was so dry here 

 this summer that I did not get much 

 honey — about 150 lbs. of extracted and 

 70 of comb. I like the Bee Journal 

 very much and always look for its ap- 

 pearance. C. E. Sturtevant. 



Port Jefferson, N. Y., Nov. 28, 1881. 



[If well scalded the honey will not 

 taste of the pine. — Ed.] 



Shipping Bees. — 1. How many colo- 

 nies of bees can be shipped in one car': 1 

 2. Can bees be shipped as safely in 

 the fall as in the spring? 3. What is 

 the cost of freight on a colony of bees 

 per 100 miles? 4. Have any of the 

 readers of the Bee Journal used W. 

 T. Phelps' foundation machine with 

 success ? A. R. Paterson. 



Sheridan, Mich. 



[1. One car will hold 150 to 225 colo- 

 nies, according to size and style of 

 hive; 200 one-story Langstroths is a 

 very good car-load, 



2. We prefer early spring for ship- 

 ping ; but it is perfectly safe in the 

 fall, if not delayed till too cool to give 

 the bees a good flight immediately 

 afterward. 



3. Where shipped in lots, as freight, 

 for any considerable distance, some- 

 where between 15 and 25 cents. 



4. We do not know.— Ed.] 



Bee Stings for Rheumatism.— I had 



about 38 colonies in the spring ; 5 had 

 old queens, which were superseded by 

 young ones in the summer, and they 

 only gathered about enough honey to 

 carry them through this winter. The 

 33 with young queens done well and 

 swarmed well. I sold 4 colonies for 

 $7.50 each, and have put 61 in the cel- 

 lar, all in good condition, with plenty 

 of honey to last them through a hard 

 winter, and not one queen over 2 years 

 old next fall. I bought 1 Italian and 

 2 Cyprian queens. I lost one of the 

 latter last winter; the other tried to 

 make good the loss, and gave me 7 

 natural swarms. I thought it would 

 swarm itself to death ; I opened the 

 hive and took out 8 or 10 queen cells, 

 telling them not to swarm anymore. 

 This fall, to my surprise, I found the 

 hive crammed full of honey. I had 

 another colony that would swarm 

 whenever another swarm came out 

 near by, and go right in, and some- 

 times would go back to their own hive; 

 they would come out 2 or :'. times a 

 day, and were always ready to swarm. 

 They done very well considering the 

 season, the first part of which was 

 very good here ; then it became dry 



and hot and the bees could gather but 

 little, after which the season was wet 

 and poor. Regarding the bee-cure for 

 rheumatism, the following case came 

 under my notice : Mr. John Rohl, of 

 this place, came to me and wanted me 

 to let some of my bees sting him in 

 the arm. I told him all right ; I would 

 not charge him anything; if it cured 

 him I would have it put in the papers. 

 So he rolled up his sleeve, and I gave 

 him 8 or 9 stings on the elbow and 

 arm-pit, which would make him jump 

 as I took the bees by their wings and 

 let them stick their lancets in his 

 fleshy parts. About 4 weeks after I 

 saw him and asked him about the cure ; 

 he said he was all right now, and 

 swung his arm to show how limber it 

 was ; the swelling had all gone down. 

 He said in Germany they always cured 

 the rheumatism in that way, and he 

 appeared well satisfied with the job. 

 Thomas Lashbrook. 

 Waverly, Iowa, Dec. 3, 1881. 



Higli Temperature in Cellars.— Bee- 

 bread seems to be all the talk with 

 some of the Bee Journal writers on 

 the wintering problem; but I do not 

 think it the cause of the trouble. 

 The high temperature of many of 

 the cellars is probably the cause. The 

 temperature in the hive will be from 

 15° to 26° above the cellar, so that the 

 bees are able to breed. The honey 

 crop was good in this section. We are 

 very much pleased with the Weekly 

 Bee Journal ; you may consider me 

 a life subscriber. W. H. Mallory. 



Worcester. N. Y., Nov. 29, 1881. 



Honey Show Burned. — At the Kan- 

 sas City Exposition, the honey show 

 was all burned up in the main build- 

 ing. My loss was about $20 in honey 

 and fixtures. The honey crop was 

 about one-third with us. I had 47 col- 

 onies in the spring, out of 49 the fall 

 previous ; increased to 55 ; took 400 

 lbs. of comb honey and 300 lbs. of ex- 

 tracted, which I sold at 22J.<c. for the 

 comb and 15c. for the extracted, at 

 wholesale. Bees have been flying 

 some for the last four days. 



Jas. A. Nelson. 



Wyandott, Kans, Nov. 30, 1881. 



Changing Location of Cluster in Win- 

 ter. — During a continuous cold spell 

 of weather I have adopted the follow- 

 ing plan, with success, for warming 

 the interior of the hive and giving the 

 bees an opportunity to change their 

 location from empty to full combs : 

 I take two or three bricks that are not 

 hard burned, put them on the lire and 

 heat them till there is no steam aris- 

 ing from them ; now take them from 

 the tire, and let them cool till you can 

 pick them up with your hand, lay them 

 right on top of the quilt on the tops of 

 the frames ; now put your chaff cush- 

 ion down, and close all around snug. 

 By this plan the hive will keep warm 

 6 or 7 hours ; the heat passes off so 

 slowly that the bees will all cluster 

 nicely. After the bricks cool, they 

 will absorb the moisture the bees gen- 

 erate. The bees will not attempt to 

 fly out, but will carry the dead bees 

 out on the alighting-board, if there 

 are any. The plan works like a charm. 

 J. S. Hoffman. 



Madisonville, O., Dec. 3, 1881. 



Selling Comb Honey for Cash. — I 



have been a constant reader of the 

 Bee Journal for the last 5 years, and 

 have during this time been in the bee 

 business. My section is one of abun- 

 dant yields, and the greatest question 

 with me has been selling honey in 

 large quantities for cash. I wrote my 

 brother, Rufus Morgan, at Columbus, 

 Wis., some time ago, that I was much 

 interested in the Bee Journal of 

 late, as it was working up the question 

 of the sale of honey for cash, and do- 

 ing much to make it a staple article. 

 I give you below his ideas of the cash 

 value of comb honey. I will further 

 state that he produced the past season 

 over 15,000 lbs. of comb honey, all 

 white ; I think he made no report to 

 any paper in regard to bees or crop 

 taken. He is well posted and could 



give valuable experience, if he would. 

 He has disposed of his whole crop for 

 cash, and I am aware that he got 20c. 

 per lb. right through, and a little at 

 22c. I quote a part of his letter with- 

 out his knowledge : '"Now, in regard 

 to the bee business, I would say that 

 the marketing of honey for cash, in 

 large quantities, has no terrors for me, 

 as we have shipped over $1,500 worth 

 this fall with entire satisfaction, and 

 it is much easier to ship than eggs or 

 live stock, and just as ready sale as 

 wheat. I would write you all about 

 how to ship it, but I know you have 

 not enough to pay to go on and make 

 shipping crates this fall ; but I would 

 say that the great question in this 

 business is, How can the most white 

 honey, in marketable shape, be pro- 

 duced with the least labor ? That is 

 the only question that bothers me in 

 the least. We have overcome all other 

 difficulties in this business, I think, 

 and that one, also, to a certain extent." 

 E. A. Morgan. 

 Arcadia, Wis., Dec. 1, 1881. 



[The trouble is not so much in sell- 

 ing, as in getting a nice article to mar- 

 ket in presentable shape. As all are 

 more or less interested in this subject, 

 we hope Mr. Rufus Morgan will give 

 our readers the benefit of his experi- 

 ence.— Ed.] 



Wintered on Summer Stands. — I 



have 58 colonies of bees on summer 

 stands ; 26 of them are in empty boxes 

 without packing ; the rest of them 

 have the upper story on, with frames 

 and combs. I use the simplicity hive. 

 J. Chapman. 

 Home, Mich.. Nov. 28, 1881. 



Local Convention Directory. 



Time and Place of Meeting. 



1881. 



Dec. 15— S. E. Michigan, at Ann Arbor, Mich. 



N. B. Prudden, Sec. 

 1882. 

 Jan. 10— Cortland Union, at Cortland. N, Y. 



C. M. Bean. Sec. McGrawville. N. Y. 

 10— Eastern N. Y.. at Central Bridge, N. Y. 



N. D. West, Sec, Middleburgh. N. Y. 

 11, 12— Nebraska State, at Ashland. Neb. 



Geo. M. Hsiwley, Sec, Lincoln, Neb. 

 17, 18— N. W. III. & 8. W. Wis., at Freeport, 111. 



Jonathan Stewart, Sec, Rock City, 111. 

 17, 18— N. E. Wisconsin, at Berlin. Wis. 



T. K. Turner, Sec. pro tem. 

 24. 25— Indiana State, at Indianapolis, Ind. 

 25— Northeaste i, at Utica, N. Y. 



Geo. W. House. Sec, Fayettevllle, N, Y. 

 April 11— Eastern Michigan, at Detroit, Mich. 

 A B. Weed, Sec. Detroit, Mich. 

 25— Texas State, at McKinney, Texas. 



Wm. It. Howard. Seo. 

 2fi. 27— Western Michigan, at Grand Rantds. 

 Wm. M. S. Dodge, Sec, Coopersville. Mich. 



May Champlain Valley, at Bristol, Vt. 



T. Bronkins, Sec 

 2,5— Iowa Central, at Winterset. Iowa. 



Henry Wallace, Sec 



VW In order to have this table complete. Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetings.— Ed. 



(^The Nebraska State Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association will hold its annual 

 meeting in Ashland, Neb., on the 12th 

 and 13th of January, 1882. A cordial 

 invitation is extended to all who are 

 interested in bee-culture. 



T. L. VonDorn, Pres., Omaha. 



G. H. Hawley, Sec, Lincoln. 



$3? The South Eastern Michigan 

 Bee-Keepers' Association, will hold 

 its annual meeting at the Court House 

 in Ann Arbor, on Thursday (and per- 

 haps Eriday), commencing Dec. 15, 

 1881, at 10 a. m., for the election of of- 

 ficers for the ensuing year, and such 

 other business as may be brought be- 

 fore the Association. A good attend- 

 ance and interesting meeting is ex- 

 pected. Several subjects of interest 

 will be discussed by able men. 



N. A. Prudden, Prcs. 



G. J. Pease, Sec. pro tem. 



lgi° The eastern New York Bee- 

 Keepers' Union Association, will hold 

 their ninth Convention, Tuesday. Jan. 

 10, 1882, at 10 o'clock, at Central 

 Bridge, Schoharie Co., N. Y. 



W. D. Wright, Pres. 



N. D. West, Sec. 



