THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



135 



lows: Messrs. Aspinwall, Benedict, 

 and Ira Scofield. 



The committee on exhibits reported 

 a list of articles displayed for the use 

 of bee-keepers. Report adopted. 



On motion, thanks were voted to 

 the proprietors of the National Hotel, 

 for reduced rates ; to the JMonroe 

 county officials for the free use of the 

 Court Room, and to the reporters of 

 the city papers for their attendance 

 and reports of the proceedings. 



Tlie Association then adjourned 

 sine die. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



ReTOlution in Bee-Keepg-Criticisms, 



WM. F. CLARKE. 



Mr. Alves comes with a jaunty air, 

 and with apparently hostile intent, 

 but lo ! it is on the same side ! He 

 has, however, some questions to pro- 

 pose. The first relates to the ma- 

 chinery used in the new reversible 

 hive. First, is there not too much V 

 This may be answered by another : 

 How could there be less ¥ Simplicity 

 of action is the great thing in any 

 machinei Most certainly we have 

 simplicity here. There is not a com- 

 plex feature about the hive. 



2. The demand for mechanical nicety 

 and accuracy is an excellence rather 

 than a defect. For the minimum of 

 friction, there must of necessity be 

 precision. 



•3. Can a $4 hive be afforded ? Yes, 

 a SIO one if necessary. The interest 

 on $4 is hardly 25 cents a year. 



4. No, the interchange of two shal- 

 low hanging-frame hives will not 

 answer all the practical purposes of 

 inversion. It will not shake the bees 

 and queen from the hive, nor expose 

 queen-cells, nor secure their easy 

 removal without disturbing a frame. 

 These are important practical pur- 

 poses, and they are secured in a 

 twinkling. 



It must be highly gratifying to Mr. 

 Heddon that his hive and book have 

 met with so prompt an endorsement 

 by practical bee-keepers. Opposition 

 to them comes only from a Kentuck- 

 ian who has never had to face the 

 more serious difficulties of bee-keep- 

 ing, and whose personal antagonism 

 to Mr. Heddon largely discounts in 

 advance his criticisms on the new 

 departure. He tells us that there is 

 not a single new feature about the 

 system that is of intrinsic value. Of 

 course, then, he will not adopt that 

 which is worthless. To do so would 

 be to contradict the position he has 

 taken. But is it not a valuable fea- 

 ture that we can now manipulate 

 hives instead of frames, and so per- 

 form the work with half the time and 

 labor formerly required ? Is it not 

 an idea of intrinsic value to have 

 controllable brood-nests V The me- 

 chanical means by which this is done 

 is of the very greatest intrinsic value. 



Mr. Demaree is making history. 

 What is the history of every new in- 

 vention ? Is it not the linking of old 

 ideas to valuable uses ? Franklin 

 caught the lightning on his kite- 



string, but a Morse was needed to 

 yoke it to the electric cable, and give 

 it intrinsic value. The uses of steam 

 liave long been known. It has lifted 

 the historic tea-kettle lid from time 

 immemorial, but only became of in- 

 trinsic value when it was made to fill 

 the boiler and drive the piston-rod. 

 Steam as an agent lias been known for 

 ages, but the man who harnessed it 

 to the locomotive made it of intrinsic 

 value. Sectional hives are not new, 

 but their use in practical bee-keeping 

 has only now come to the front and 

 assumed intrinsic value. Mr. Demaree 

 threatens to burst the whole thing. 

 He can only do it by infringing the 

 patent. There is a moral barrier in 

 the way of his doing this, and if there 

 were not, the penalty for infringe- 

 ment blocks the way effectually. 



We have all used the tiering-up 

 method for taking surplus honey, but 

 tiering down is a new and original 

 idea for which we are indebted to Mr. 

 Heddon. Mr. Demaree says there are 

 few independent writers on apicul- 

 ture. Of course he is one of the few. 

 He will " hew to the line "regardless 

 where the chips may fall. They are 

 few and scattering as yet, but perhaps 

 will fly thicker as the axe gains in 

 power. That a new revolution is 

 upon us, becomes daily more evident. 

 No power can check it, and the sooner 

 we fall into line, the less we shall 

 have to unlearn. 



Mr. Demaree is ahead of me in hav- 

 ing read the patent. He will have to 

 read it again when re-issued, and 

 made to cover the ground more fully. 

 But, after studying the hive, and 

 learning its many uses. I still consider 

 it new and orignal, and predict for it 

 wide and general adoption. This will 

 not necessitate hasty change. Those 

 who are using other hives, can readily 

 adapt them to the new order of things, 

 and avail themselves of such features 

 as are of intrinsic value. That the 

 new hive will gradually supersede all 

 others, and become the " standard of 

 excellence '" is one of the inevitables 

 to which Mr. Demaree will have to 

 bow, with the best grace he can com- 

 mand. Opposition will but hasten 

 the ultimate issue. 



Mr. Demaree says that he is simply 

 amazed at my article. He will be 

 still more amazed when he finds him- 

 self adopting the hive, and joining 

 me in commendation of it. I shall 

 use no other in my future dabblings 

 in bee-keeping. This is what I want, 

 and all I want. It is " long-looked- 

 for, come at last." I have dreamed 

 of a hive like this, and the reality 

 surpasses the dream. It will hence- 

 forth be a luxury to keep bees. The 

 hard, slavish work is all taken out of 

 the business, and what remains is 

 mostly pastime. The danger now is 

 that bees and bee-keeping will become 

 too common. Everybody will want 

 to rush into a business so inviting. 

 But little honey will " waste its sweet- 

 ness on the desert air " in the " good 

 time coming." With the winter 

 problem solved, and this simple prin- 

 ciple of handling hives instead of 

 frames -brought into use, there is no 

 good reason why honey should not 

 become as cheap as sugar. Then it 



will rank amon^ the necessaries of 

 life, and be in universal demand. The 

 market for it will be practically un- 

 limited, and it will come into use in a 

 ttiousand forms unknown before. It 

 only now needs that the improvement 

 of the bee itself shall keep pace with 

 the improvement of the hive, and all 

 the possibilities of bee-keeping will 

 be realized. 

 Guelph, Ont. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Tlie NortlieasteriiMiclii£aii Convention. 



The Northeastern Michigan Bee- 

 Keepers' Association held its fourth 

 annual meeting on Feb. 3, 1886, at 

 East Saginaw, Mich. The following 

 subjects were discussed : 



USING COMB FOUNDATION. 



Dr. Whiting — The two or three 

 years that I used comb foundation 

 without wires I spent much time 

 cutting out the stretched portions of 

 the comb and fitting worker comb in 

 its place. 



James Ure — I use foundation 6 feet 

 to the pound, and have little trouble 

 with its sagging. If it does sag it is 

 always at tlie top where it will be filled 

 with honey. 



W. Z. Hutchinson— This stretched 

 part would be at the bottom if the 

 frames were reversed. 



James Ure — I would no sooner in- 

 vert a bee-hive than I would turn a 

 house upside down. The most of my 

 comb foundation is drawn in the 

 spring. I do not hive swarms upon 

 foundation. 



WINTERING BEES. 



Dr. Whiting— Previous to this win- 

 ter my hives have been packed upon 

 only three sides ; I now think that a 

 hive packed on only three sides is ifot 

 much better than one that is not 

 packed at all. 



W. E. Harris— I have always packed 

 my hives on all sides, still I have lost 

 many bees in the spring. In the 

 Saginaw valley we cannot have cel- 

 lars, and I should like to know some- 

 thing about houses above ground. 



l3r. Whiting— I have known of bee- 

 keepers who were very successful for 

 several years in wintering their bees 

 in houses above ground, but sooner 

 or later there always came a winter 

 when they lost their bees. 



Dr. C. E. Rulison— I believe that 

 the only sure way of wintering bees is 

 to give them good stores and put them 

 into a warm cellar. 



J. E. Wellington— I have noticed 

 that when bees are uneasy in llie fall 

 they seldom winter well. They should 

 be prepared for winter early. I think 

 they will winter upon clover houey. 



Dr. Rulison— The clover Imney is 

 all right, but we want that to sell ; 

 sugar is cheaper and just as good for 

 winter stores. 



J. E. Wellington- 1 admit it. I was 

 not advocating using clover honey 

 for winter stores, in preference to 

 sugar; I only wished to say that I 

 thought clover honey as safe food for 

 winter. 



