104 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



lieJiJ at the Maine Cnnvention. 



Bee-Keepiug in Maine, 



secretary's report. 



It again becomes my duty .as Secre- 

 tary of the "Maine State Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association." to present the 

 annual report. We number, at the 

 present time. 111 members — 02 gentle- 

 men and 19 ladies— showing a gain of 

 IG members during the year. At the 

 last regular meeting, the manner of 

 gathering statistics, relating to the 

 bee and honey industry of the State, 

 was left with the President and Sec- 

 retary, who, after due consideration 

 of the matter, thought it better to 

 gather the statistics by towns, rather 

 than from individual bee-keepers, as 

 Imd been the custom heretofore. 

 Acciirdingly cards of inquiry were 

 sent to nearly every city, town and 

 plantation in the State. While the 

 returns have not been so full and 

 satisfactory as we would have liked, 

 still enough have been returned to 

 give us a better idea of the extent of 

 the bee-keeping industry in the State 

 than we have had heretofore. 



From the reports received, I have 

 made up the following estimates : 

 Number of persons engaged in bee- 

 keeping in the State, 2,360 ; number 

 ■ of colonies of bees in the spring of 

 188-5, 13,3(«; number in the fall of 

 188.5, 22,.5i)7 ; number of pounds of 

 honey taken during the season of 

 188-5, 384,-5U3, or m>U tons ; number of 

 pounds of wax taken, 3,304 ; value of 

 bees in the State at the present time, 

 including hives and fixtures, $22.5,970 ; 

 value of the honey crop of IsSo, at 1-5 

 cents per pound, $-57,(i7-5.4-5 ; value of 

 wax at .30 cents per pound, $991.20; 

 making the total value of the product 

 of the busy bee in the State, during 

 the past year, S58,G6(i.(i5. 



I also gather the following items of 

 interest, from the reports received : 

 There are about 200 towns in the 

 State in which no bees are kept ; 

 there are 25 persons engaged in bee- 

 keeping in the town of Dexter, 17 in 

 Oxford, and 13 in Bluehill. There are 

 .500 colonies of bees in the town of 

 Caribou, 200 in I'oland, 162 in Clinton, 

 and 100 in Columbia. There were 

 10,000 pounds of honey gathered in 

 the town of Caribou ; .5,2-50 in Clinton, 

 and 3,000 pounds in Poland, the past 

 season. 



The early part of the season of 188-5 

 was very unfavorable for bees. Many 

 colonies that had succeeded in getting 

 through the winter, died, or were 

 greatly reduced in numbers in the 

 months of April and May. The month 

 of .June was more favorable, consider- 

 able surplus lioiiev having been taken 

 from the fruit and raspberry blos- 

 soms. In many sections of the State 

 clover was winter-killed badly, and 

 the weather being unusually wet d)ir- 

 ing Its period of bloom, therefore the 

 cropof clover honey was light. A very 

 large crop of honey was gathered 

 from basswood. and in the wet part 

 of the State, a large crop was gath- 

 ered from fall (lowers. The season 

 upon the whole, was favorable for the 



production of honey and increase of 

 bees. 



The State Agricultural Society 

 offered quite liberal premiums for a 

 display of bees-, honey and apiarian 

 implements, at their annual Fair at 

 Lewiston. Although the numbers of 

 exhibitors were not so large as could 

 have been wished, tliere was a very 

 creditable display, being the largest, 

 by far, ever shown in the State. 



The interest in bee-keeping is in- 

 creasing with each succeeding year ; 

 also the facilities for gaining a prac- 

 tical knowledge of the business. 

 There are six flourishing bee-keepers' 

 associations in the State, one having 

 been formed at Brunswick during the 

 the past year, known as the '■ Maine 

 Apicultural Society." 



Wm. IIoyt, Sec. 



For tBe American Bee Journal. 



Tlie Season of 1885, 



F. E. MANNING. 



My bees came through the past 

 honey season in good condition, giv- 

 ing me an average of 67 pounds of 

 honey per colony, spring count, in one 

 and two pound sections, after leaving 

 plenty of honey in the brood-cham- 

 bers for them to winter on. On Dec. 

 28, I carried them into the cellar, and 

 prepared them for winter as follows : 

 I laid J^^-inch square strips crosswise 

 of the brood-frames, then spread a 

 burlap cloth over that, and covered 

 the cloth with about 2 inches of oat- 

 chaff. I placed the hives one on top 

 of the other, with a 4-inch block be- 

 tween them, to give an air-space. I 

 have them piled -5 hives high. That 

 is the way I wintered my bees last 

 winter, and they all came out in good 

 condition. I am wintering 33 colonies, 

 29. of which are in good condition, and 

 strong with bees, and 4 are weak in 

 bees, but have plenty of honey. 



Four years ago I started in the bee- 

 business with what I considered good 

 Italian bees, but now they are crossed 

 so much with the German and black 

 bees, that tliere are very tew Italians 

 among them. As all my neighbors 

 have bees, the past season I allowed 

 mine to increase by natural swarming. 

 I have about decided to dispose of 

 my present stock of bees and half- 

 filled sections, and start in anew in 

 the spring with a pure strain of bees, 

 as I will then move my apiary where 

 there will be no other bees within 3 

 miles of mine. 



I disposed of my honey crop in my 

 home market, getting 15 and 20 cents 

 per pound for it, and I could have 

 sold 1,000 pounds more if I had had it. 

 I do not say that my honey is better 

 than anybody else's, but those who 

 bought honey of me said that they 

 could never eat honey until they had 

 tried mine. 



The mercury was 24"^ below zero the 

 past 2 mornings, and I fear that the 

 bees that are on the summer stands 

 will suffer if they are not thoroughly 

 packed. 



Reynolds. X) Ills.. .Jan. 2.5 



ror tne American Bee Journal. 



Net)rasl(a State Conyention. 



The Nebraska State Bee-Keepers' 

 Association met at Lincoln, Nebr., on 

 Jan. 13, 1886, with all the officers 

 present and a goodly working number 

 of old members in attendance. The 

 convention was called to order by 

 President Von Dorn. 



Owing to the late snow-storm, the 

 regular order of business was deferred 

 until the next day, so as to give mem- 

 bers, tliat might be delayed, an oppor- 

 tunity to have a voice in the special 

 proceedings. 



The remainder of the day was spent 

 in discussing a hive that was pre- 

 sented by James Jardine, of Ashland, 

 after which the subject of wax-ren- 

 dering and other minor points of the 

 industry were discussed. 



The meeting then adjourned until 

 Thursday morning. 



On Jan. 14, at 9 a.m., the President 

 called the convention to order, which 

 proceeded to act upon the deferred 

 business. The minutes of the last 

 meeting were read and approved. 



The committee appointed at the 

 last annual meeting to secure the 

 passage of a law to prevent the 

 spreading of foul brood, and it possi- 

 ble extinguish it from the State, re- 

 ported. By request the law as passed, 

 was read, and thought not to be 

 adequate. Immediately followed a 

 lively discussion on foul brood, after 

 which the convention adjourned until 

 the afternoon. 



At 1 p.m. the convention was called 

 to order, and the subject of bees 

 puncturing grapes was discussed. 



Other subjects of less interest were 

 also discussed during the afternoon, 

 when the convention adjourned until 

 7:30 p.m. 



At the appointed time the evening 

 session was called to order, and 

 Messrs. R. E. Leach, of York, James 

 Jardine, of Ashland, and E. W. Whit- 

 comb, of Friend, were appointed as a 

 committee on arranging a suitable 

 premium list on bees and honey to be 

 presented to the State Agricultural 

 Society. 



Mr. E. AV. Whitcomb was recom- 

 mended to the Agricultural Society 

 of the State of Nebraska, as a suitable 

 person to superintend the Apiarian 

 Department at the next annual State 

 exhibit. 



The election of officers for the next 

 term resulted as follows : President, 

 W. F. Wright, of Johnson county ; 

 Vice-President, T. G. Hodges, of 

 .Saline county ; Secretary, H. N. Pat- 

 terson, of Richardson county : and 

 Treasurer, R. E. Leach, of York 

 county. 



Imrnediately after the election of 

 officers, the thanks of the Association 

 were voted to the retiring officers for 

 past services. The remainder of the 

 evening was spent in discussing the 

 subject of wintering bees, after which 

 the convention adjourned to meet at 

 9 a.m. the next day. 



On Jan. 15, at 9 a.m., the convention 

 was called to order by President 

 Wright. T. G. Hodges, E. \V. Whit- 

 comb and R. E. Leach were appointed 



