266 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Local Convention Directory. 



1886. Time and place of Meetino- 



Apr. 29, 30.— Western, at Kansas City, Mo. 



P. Baldwin, Sec. Independence. Mo. 



Apr. 30.— Northern Ohio, at Wellington, O. 



H. B. Boardman. Sec, E. Townsend, O. 



May !.— Xilnwood, at Rock Elm, Wis. 



B. J. Thompson, Sec. 



May 4,— W. N. T. and N. Pa., at Randolph, N. Y. 

 A, D. Jacobs, Sec. Jamestown, N. Y. 



May 5, 6.— Texas State, at McKinney, Tex. 



B. F. Carroll, Sec, Dresden, Tex. 



May II.— Cortland Union, at Cortland. N. Y. 



D. F. Shattuck. Sec, Homer, N. Y. 



May 18.— Central Michigan, at N. Lansing, Mich. 

 E. W. Wood. Sec, N. Lansing, Mich. 



May 20.— Wis. Lake Shore Center, nt Kiel, Wis. 

 Ferd Zastrow. Sec, MiUhome, Wis. 



Aug. 31.— Stark County, at Canton, O. 



Mark Thomson, Sec, Canton, O. 



Oct. 19, 20.— Illinois Central, at Mt. Sterling. Ills. 

 J. M. Ilambaugh, Sec, Spring, Ills. 



Dec. 1, 2.— Michigan State, at Ypsilanti, Mich. 



H. D. Cutting. Sec. Clinton, Mich. 



|y" In order to have this table complete. Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetintrs.— Ed. 





""SW 



Clean and Healthy Bees.— Wm. G. 



Gosney, De Mossville,5Ky., on April 

 10, 1886, says : 



In November, 1884, I packed 75 

 colonies of bees in tine condition. In 

 tbe spring of 1885 I sold one colony, 

 burned one, and had 50 left. In 

 November, 1885, 1 packed 59 colonies, 

 and I now have 52 in moderate con- 

 dition. I took 40 pounds of comb 

 honey last year, and nov? I will have 

 to feed about 20 colonies. My bees 

 are clean and healthy, and I hope 

 never to meet another year like the 

 last. 



Good Results.— L. J. Diehl, Butler, 

 6 Ind., on April 15, 1886, writes : 



I have some of the strongest colo- 

 nies that I ever had come through the 

 winter, after being housed up in the 

 cellar tor over 4 months. I com- 

 menced the season of 1885 with 61 

 strong colonies, increased them by 

 natural swarming to 216, all strong, 

 and hives well tilled up with honey ; 

 besides, they gave me over 2,600 

 pounds of surplus all in one-pound 

 sections— the finest lot of honey I 

 have ever taken. I do think I can 

 realize more profit on bees than I can 

 on the same amount of capital in- 

 vested in any other pursuit that I 

 ever have tried. 



Encouraging Prospects.— Mr. E. 

 Henkle, Wasliington, C. H.,5 O., on 

 April 20, 1886, writes : 



I started in the winter with ?,5 colo- 

 nies, all packed on the summer stands 

 with chaff and leaf cushions. I now 

 have 31 colonies, having lost 4 weak 

 colonies that ought to have been 



doubled up last fall. I have never 

 had bees come through the winter so 

 strong and bright as they have the 

 past winter. There are no signs of 

 diarrhea. Last spring I lost 18 colo- 

 nies out of 52 with the diarrhea. I 

 feel very mucli encouraged for the 

 prosppct this season. The cherry and 

 plum trees are now in full bloom, and 

 apple bloom will be out in a few days. 

 The weather is fine, and the bees are 

 working from daylight till dark, and 

 young brood is hatching very fast. I 

 do not see that the snow-storm that 

 we had the first six days of April in- 

 jured the bees any. I feel now that 

 we are going to have early swarms 

 this year, and I look for a good crop 

 of honey, as white clover looks very 

 fine. I have 11 acres of Alsike clover 

 close to my apiary. If I only can do 

 as well as that man who reported In 

 the Bee Journal, 2 or 3 months ago, 

 about getting 15 barrels of honey, last 

 year, from 31 colonies, I would surely 

 feel myself able to take the Bee 

 Journal another year ! 1 have ex- 

 actly the number, so now look out for 

 the result I 



Stark Co., 0., Convention.— Mark 

 Thomson, Sec, Canton, cJ O., on April 

 15, 1886, writes : 



The bee-keepers of Stark and ad- 

 joining counties met in Grange Hall 

 at Canton, O., on April 13, 1886, and 

 organized the " Stark County Bee- 

 Keepers' Society." A very pleasant 

 and profltable meeting was held, and 

 there are prospects of great good 

 being done to our pursuit through the 

 instrumentality of this Society. The 

 next meeting occurs on the last Tues- 

 day in August, 1886. 



Late and Cold Spring.— J. C. Wil- 

 son, Ridgeland, 9 S. C, on April 10, 



1886, says : 



My bees are a month behind. Last 

 year I had my first swarm on March 

 8 ; this year my first swarm is recorded 

 " April 9." Unprecedented cold 

 winter and a late spring has reduced 

 strong colonies almost to nothing. I 

 feel very much disappointed at my 

 prospect being blighted. Last year 

 1 produced 825 pounds of honey from 

 12 colonies, and as I was this year one 

 year older, and therefore the better 

 prepared both in knowledge and api- 

 arian appliances, I had hoped to do 

 much better. But nothing daunted 

 by the bad prospect, I shall push for- 

 ward with the hope of a reasonable 

 success. 



Bee-Keeping in Ontario— R. F. 



Holtermann, Brantford, Ont., writes : 



Having delightful weather for bees, 

 and noticing to-day that maple is in 

 bloom, it will not be considered alto- 

 gether premature or valueless to give 

 a brief report of the general condition 

 of our bees. I have the reports of at 

 least 10 bee-men possessing over 100 

 colonies, in different parts of Ontario, 

 and they all report bees in excellent 

 condition, and several without any 

 loss. Then I have reports from a 



great many possessing from a few 

 colonies up to 100, and the percentage 

 of loss is very small, and the general 

 condition excellent. The mercury 

 has fallen fully as low as last year, 

 although if I mistake not the duration 

 of severe weather was shorter. In 

 parts of Ontario bees wintered outside 

 have had one or two cleansing flights. 

 I should very much like to see a re- 

 port of the relative degree of humidity 

 for a number of years, and this report 

 connected with the general condition 

 of bees in the spring. I should be 

 very much surprised if Mr. W. H. 

 Tuttle's 2 colonies, mentioned on page 

 234, as having drones, were not queen- 

 less ; that is, if they were at home 

 when seen, which is probable. In 

 reply to Mr. A. C. Fassett's question 

 on page 235, 1 would say that every 

 one would be inclined to come to the 

 conclusion that they were starving. 

 I have seen colonies starved for foul 

 brood act in that dormant manner and 

 revived by such feeding. It is the 

 very last stage before death, and 

 although a higher temperature may 

 in a measuretemporarily revive them, 

 — food only can save them from death. 



Successful Wintering.— J. P. Hens- 

 ley, Grand Island,© Nebr., on April 

 15, 1886, writes : 



I began in 1885 with 1 colony, in- 

 creased it to 4 last season, and last fall 

 I contracted them to 6 frames each. 

 They were partly filled with natural 

 stores, and I gave them the balance 

 in sugar syrup, and all was nicely 

 capped by Dec. 26. I then packed 

 them on the simimer stands in dry 

 oats chaff, 6 inches deep all around, 

 bottom, sides and ends. I unpacked 

 them to-day, when, lo and behold, I 

 found them with over half the stores 

 that they began the winter with, and 

 I think as strong as most of the colo- 

 nies usually are. I think that I hit 

 upon the right way to winter bees. 

 Take care that they are properly 

 packed, and have plenty to live on, 

 notwithstanding the pollen theory, 

 and I see no reason why we should 

 have very heavy losses. It has been 

 very cold here, and raining almost 

 every night this month, but to-day it 

 seems as if spring had come to stay. 



Expecting Early Swarms.— &— J. 

 W. Buchanan & Bro., (2-5-16), Eldora, 

 O Iowa, on April 20, 1886, write : 



Bees in this locality have wintered 

 very well, where they were in good 

 cellars. Those wintered outside, or 

 in cold cellars, have not done so well. 

 Out of 20 colonies in the cellar we lost 

 7, and 2 out of 5 on the summer 

 stands, packed in chaff. Our cellar 

 was divided into two apartments— one 

 for the bees and the other for vegeta- 

 bles. Part of the bee-cellar was un- 

 der the sitting-room, and part under a 

 bed-room. The end of the cellar- 

 under the bed-room was too cold. The 

 bees ate more honey, and some of 

 them run out of stores and starved. 

 Six out of the 7 that died were in 

 the cold part of the cellar. The 

 seventh colony died with diarrhea, 



