600 



THE AMERICA]^ BEE JOURNAL. 



I wish to give a description of a 

 knife tliat I use ; Take a piece of 

 cross-cut saw plate of ordinary thick- 

 ness, draw the temper just enough so 

 a cold-chisel will cut it, or if the 

 chisel will mark it, do not draw the 

 temper. Cut out a piece 1% inches 

 long, leave one end from 215 to 2,14 

 inches wide, run it down tapering 4 

 inches in length to \% inches, also I's 

 inches at the end. Dress ott' the 

 edges smooth,drill three holes through 

 the handle part, get a good piece of 

 wood lor a handle a foot or more in 

 length, and dre.ss one end of it in the 

 shape you wish it for a handle. It 

 should be quite large. With a rip- 

 saw split it in the centre far enough 

 for the handle, slip in the knife, 

 fasten with screws and saw off the 

 handle the length you wish. (Apple 

 wood makes the best handle.) Do not 

 grind the blade too thin nor too 

 sharp. It should also be hard and 

 stiff. 



It is one of the neatest things about 

 an apiary to clean sections and hives 

 or pry frames loose. Three hours' 

 work was all the time it took to make 

 mine, and I would give $-5 for one for 

 one season if I had 20 colonies of bees 

 to take care of, rather than do without 

 one. If one cannot get the plate 

 steel of the right thickness, it would 

 be best to send to some cutlery manu- 

 factory and get it made, for a com- 

 mon blacksaiith would not be ant to 

 make a good one. 



Loekwood, 9 N. Y.,Sept. 6, 1886. ^ 



For tde American Bee JonmaL 



CoiiTcntion at IiifliaflaDolis, 



WM. F. CLARKE. 



Mr. Editor :— Your editorial re- 

 marks on the above subject, on page 

 5(i.S, are timely and impressive. They 

 are well calculated to make us all, 



"Walk thnuchtful on the sad and solemn verge 

 01 that vast ocean we must sail bo boud." 



It affects me much to think how 

 few are left of the " original charter 

 members'' of the North American 

 Bee Keepers' Society. I think you 

 are in error when alluding to Prof. 

 Cook as having been present at the 

 meeting of Dec. 21, 1870. He was 

 one of the most active in getting up 

 the meeiing, but,if my memory serves 

 me correctly, he was not there. You 

 speak of myself and Aaron Benedict 

 as '• the only ones found among the 

 workers of to-day," who were on the 

 committee that framed the constitu- 

 tion. IsnotElisha Gallup still " to 

 tlie fore" as an " active worker "in 

 California V I shall make a great 

 eliort to be at the Indianapolis meet- 

 ing, and it looks very' much as if I 

 should have to say, if present, " I only 

 am left!" 



With ihe utmost good nature, per- 

 mit me to rap your editorial knuckles 

 for speaking of the forthcomitig meet- 

 ing as the "National Convention." 

 From the outset, it has been " Inter- 

 national " and " Continental." We 

 Canadians are very sensitive on this 

 point, and want to have it duly recog- 

 nized at all times. I must admit that 



the programme looks very " Na- 

 tional," as there is not a Canadian on 

 it; but we are told there are "many 

 good things yet to be added," which 

 are not "sufficiently developed." I 

 shall therefore hope that this de- 

 ficiency will be supplied in a revised 

 programme. 



It is unfortunate that the conven- 

 tion comes at a time when several of 

 our most prominent Canadian bee- 

 keepers will be absent in England. D. 

 A. Jones, President Pettit, R. Mc- 

 Knight, and S. Cornell are at the 

 great Colonial Exhibition at Kensing- 

 ton, England, at which Canadian bee- 

 keepers are making a grand display of 

 honey with a view to creating a more 

 extensive British market for that 

 product. Owing to their absence, I 

 fear there will be a kind of baulk in 

 connection with the annual meeting 

 of the Ontario Bee- Keepers' Associa- 

 tion, which should be held next week, 

 but which it is proposed to convert 

 into an informal "bee-talk." 



I have not yet heard of any other 

 Canadian beside myself who proposes 

 being present at the Indianapolis 

 Convention, but when I meet "the 

 brethren," as I expect to do next 

 week at Toronto, I shall do my best 

 to persuade some of them to go. It 

 will be too bad if I have to "play a 

 lone hand " as I did Dec. 21, IbTO ; 

 nevertheless, even in that case, I shall 

 try hard at least to score one point ! 



"Guelph, Ont. 



[Upon further investigation, we 

 rather think that Prof. Cook was not 

 present at the meeting on Dec. 21, 

 1870. Mr. Gallup has for more than 

 ten years been lost sight of in bee- 

 keeping circles ; only once in awhile 

 even writing a few lines for publica- 

 tion ; he certainly is not " one of tlie 

 workers of to-day." As to our use of 

 the words "National Convention," 

 Mr. Clarke is correct. It should be 

 called " International " or " Conti- 

 nental." It is so generally called the 

 "National Society," that we for once 

 fell in with the crowd. We hope that 

 there will be a large attendance at 

 the International Convention of Bee- 

 Keepers at Indianapolis.— Ed.] 



For tne American Bee Journal. 



Wintering Bees. etc. 



O. N. BALDWIN. 



Mr. G. F. Eobbins, on page .567, 

 asks for witnesses on the " pollen 

 theory." He gives the evidence in 

 brief that has been written out at 

 length in the Bke Journal, to show 

 why bees die with diarrhea. If bees 

 die from wintering on natural stores, 

 our great King of the universe made 

 a great mistake when He created the 

 bees with an instinct to gather the 

 nectar and pollen from flowers, and 

 store it for their use in winter. 



When we look around us and ex- 

 amine into the workings of God's law 



and see how carefully and wisely each 

 cog fits its fellow pinion, we shake 

 our head and say, thy foolishness is 

 our wisdom. 



It is hardly reasonable to think that 

 those who advocate that bees will not 

 winter on natural stores as well as 

 sugar, really believe it is a fact. There 

 is nothing iu it, absolutely nothing. If 

 you put your bees away in a tempera- 

 ture of 40=, with plenty of good nat- 

 ural stores, in a dry, dark place, with 

 ventilation top and bottom, so that 

 their breath will not mould and sour 

 their food, you will not lose a colony 

 from their eating pollen. 



I obtained 4 colonies from a neigh- 

 bor last fall, about Nov. 1. They 

 had scarcely any honey, but were 

 strong in bees. 1 moved them into 

 my honey-house and transferred them 

 on foundation in confinement. I then 

 rendered the pollen, honey, wax, and 

 strained all I could through a sieve, 

 and added sugar and water to make 

 10 gallons of thick syrup. I took the 

 wax off the top wlien all was cold and 

 fed the rest to the bees. These bees 

 were not allowed to have a flight till 

 Dec. 31, when they were taken out of 

 the cellar (where they were removed 

 to from the honey-house after feed- 

 ing), and were left out to fly tour days 

 during the warm weather of the tirst 

 of last January. On Feb. 16 they 

 were again put out. ai«i two of the 

 strongest colonies were dead, but 

 upon examination they had not died 

 until they had eaten all of the pollea 

 and honey (died for want of pollen). 

 The two still alive were put back and 

 fed after having a flight, and taken 

 out again on April 1 to stay. 



I keep my bees in a dry cellar, 

 light, tight, at a temperature of about 

 40'-^, with ventilation top and bottom 

 suflicient to keep the combs fiotn 

 molding, and I never lose any only 

 from the want of pollen and honey. 

 Try it, and yon will never have to 

 save your bees by giving them taffy. 



I notice that Mr. F. A. Ticknor says 

 on page -568. that the apiarist who 

 does not get an average of 1.50 pounds 

 of honey and one swarm from each 

 colony, spring count, is not up to the 

 standard in bee-culture. I would like 

 to put Mr. Ticknor and his bees on 

 our pasture for one season, when I 

 think I would convince him that this 

 world is not all a garden of Eden for 

 bees to work in. Yet I consider that 

 I have done well to get 50 pounds per 

 colony, when my neighbor, not 40 rods 

 away, has not obtained 50 pounds 

 from 30 colonies the whole season, 

 and another only 125 pounds from 40 

 colonies. 



In answer to Query, No. 302, to pre- 

 vent after-swarms, the method given 

 by G. AV. Demaree is par excellence. 

 I have tried it, and I am satisfied that 

 it is the most practical plan. But I 

 do not just understand how to keep 

 bees from issuing the first time, pro- 

 vided one has all the bees he wants, 

 and does not desire increase. 



I have been experimenting the last 

 two years in fertilization of queens by 

 artirtcial means, and have this year 

 made a complete success of it. Out 

 of over 200, only one proved faulty. 



