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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



reported that nothing had been done. 

 Among the reasons given were the lim- 

 ited amount of space at the disposal of 

 exhibitors, and also the expense. The 

 committee reported that the Ohio State 

 Bee-Keepers' Association was going to 

 make an extensive exhibit, and any 

 members of this Association could join 

 with them, or if they saw fit, could make 

 individual exhibits. The programme 

 was then taken up. 



How to Advance the Pursuit. 



The first topic was, " How to Advance 

 the Best Interest of Our Pursuit." 



L. D. Freeman urged the importance 

 of more interest and enthusiasm in the 

 business. He said that for 40 years he 

 had been a bee-keeper, and in all that 

 time he found no year so poor as was 

 1891. The past season he had a fair 

 yield of honey. He urged the impor- 

 tance of farmers becoming bee-keepers, 

 for the reason that without bees and 

 other insects to distribute the pollen of 

 fruit-blossoms from flower to flower, 

 little fruit would be produced, no matter 

 how well trees were cared for. If 

 farmers were to give proper attention to 

 the business, much sweet that is now 

 wasted could be utilized and made to 

 yield pleasure as well as profit. 



Swarming' and Self-Swarmers. 



The question of swarming was dis- 

 cussed in all its details, but no new facts 

 were elicited. What are known as 

 "self-swarmers" and "self-swarming 

 hives " were touched on, but no one 

 present had experience enough to war- 

 rant recommending them. 



Uniting Colonies of Bees. 



On the question of " uniting and doub- 

 ling up," nothing new was brought out. 

 It was generally agreed that uniting 

 weak colonies in the spring did not pay. 

 Rather let the weak ones build up, and 

 take brood from such to strengthen 

 those that are not quite strong enough 

 to get into the sections with a vim at 

 the commencement of white clover 

 bloom. It was thought bad policy to 

 take brood from the strong colonies to 

 build up weak ones, as one strong colony 

 is worth more than two medium ones. 



Introducing Queens. 



This subject occupied some time, but 

 no new facts were developed. In case a 

 valuable queen is to be introduced, it 

 was recommended that a nucleus be 

 formed by taking several frames of 

 sealed brood, much of it just ready to 



emerge from the cells, and young bees, 

 just from the cell, and introduce the 

 queen by placing her on top or between 

 the combs. The result will be a safe 

 introduction. With care, it was thought 

 that any of the methods given in stan- 

 dard works on bee-keeping will prove 

 successful. 



Owing to the political meeting and 

 torchlight procession in town, bee-keep- 

 ers "swarmed out," and no session was 

 held Wednesday evening. 



How to Secure Comb Honey. 



On Thursday morning the first topic 

 discussed was, "The Best Method of 

 Securing Comb Honey." 



C. H. Coon discussed it at length, and 

 answered questions that covered a large 

 part of the different operations in the 

 management of the apiary. The person 

 who is a successful comb honey producer 

 must commence the previous fall. Have 

 strong colonies with plenty of stores. 

 Also be sure to have a young, prolific 

 queen. In reply to " How is a person to 

 know he has a good queen ?" he said, 

 judge her by what she has done. In the 

 spring build up your colonies as quickly 

 as possible, which will be helped greatly 

 by what is called stimulating— feeding a 

 little each day. Have only clean, nice 

 sections. He does not recommend the 

 use of sections used the previous year 

 unless very clean and bright, with very 

 white comb. Put sections on just as 

 soon as bees begin to whiten the top of 

 the frames with new comb. Take off 

 the honey as soon as it is nicely finished, 

 and put it in a dry, airy place. 



Exception was taken to Mr. Coon's 

 method of spring management. It was 

 thought best to know the condition of 

 colonies before May or June, for best 

 results. Should a colony be queenless, 

 a queen should be given to it; also, they 

 might need feeding, which, if attended 

 to, might save valuable colonies. 



Next Place of Meeting and Officers. 



Union City, Pa., was chosen for the 

 next place of meeting, in October or 

 November, 1893, the exact date to be 

 fixed by the officers. 



The following officers were elected for 

 the ensuing year : President, E. S. 

 Crooker, Union City, Pa. ; Vice-Presi- 

 dent, C. S. Pizer, Franklin, Pa. ; Treas- 

 urer, L. D. Freeman, Blystone, Pa. ; 

 Secretary, Geo. Spitler, Mosiertown, Pa. 

 Geo. Spitler, Sec. ' 



Don't Fail to read all of page 685. 



