THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



747 



the blooming and honey-How greatly, 

 while drouth does not affect it nearly 

 so much as it does most other honey- 

 producing plants. The honey is nearly 

 white, and of a fine flavor. It takes a 

 good sulky plow and three horses to 

 put the stalks under ground. 



Alfalfa clover also yields a very 

 heavy crop of fodder, and bears cut- 

 ting several times, and may grow for 

 many years without re-sowing; but it 

 should not be cropped the first season, 

 at least that is the experience here 

 with us. One of my neighbors ob- 

 tained about four tons of excellent 

 fodder per acre— about the same as 

 melilot — and it is relished by both 

 cattle and horses. 



My best colony (Italians) gave me 

 210 pounds of extracted honey, and 

 has 43 pounds left to winter on ; and 

 my best Cyprian colony gave me 135 

 pounds of surplus, and has 34 pounds 

 of winter stores left. I had only one 

 colony (Cyprians) prepared for pro- 

 ducing comb honey, which stored 108 

 pounds in one-pound sections. I in- 

 crease by the nucleus plan, taking 

 only frames with hatching brood, or 

 both brood and bees, as the case may 

 be, when the condition of the colony 

 demands it, so as to prevent swarm- 

 ing. Thus I was compelled to allow 

 an increase of 13 colonies, some of 

 which have given me from 15 to 20 

 pounds of surplus, retaining on an 

 average of 27 pounds for winter stores. 



By careful selection of my breed- 

 ing stock, and never allowing drones 

 of the same strain to fertihze my 

 young queens, I think that I now 

 have a most excellent strain of bees 

 for business. I always aim to rear 

 my queens and have them fertilized 

 before the time when needed. So far 

 I have invariably crossed my Cyprian 

 queens with Italian drones, while my 

 Italians are purely bred Italians yet. 

 I find all of my Cyprians better na- 

 tured than eveii my Italians. 



I have never lost a colony in winter- 

 ing, and the first loss I met with was 

 last spring, when 5 small colonies 

 with young queens dwindled down to 

 nearly nothing. I winter my bees on 

 the summer stands, in an open bee- 

 shed or house. Besides careful win- 

 ter packing inside the hive as well as 

 outside, I believe that sugar syrup 

 for winter stores is the cause of my 

 success in this respect. The coming 

 winter will be somewhat of a trial for 

 me, since all of my bees winter (for 

 the first time) exclu.sively on natural 

 stores— mostly melilot clover honey — 

 as I could find no time to extract the 

 brood-frames, and replace the honey 

 with sugar syrup. 



PREVENTION OF KOBBING. 



The following is my way of pre- 

 venting robbing, or when robbing is 

 going on, how I stop it instanter : ■ 



I have a number of frames on hand, 

 made of 1-inch lumber, which, on one 

 side, are covered with wire-cloth. 

 These frames fit or cover the front of 

 the brood-chamber of my hive ex- 

 actly. When a colony is attacked, 

 and may be the hive is full of robber 

 bees, I close the entrance, by placing 

 the screens in position. In a minute 

 the screen is filled with loaded and 



homeward-bound robber bees, when 

 they are allowed to go, by quickly re- 

 leasing them, and replacing the 

 screen. Three or four repetitions will 

 get the last robber bee out of the 

 assailed hive. In a bad case I leave 

 the screen securely fastened in place 

 for a day or two, after all robbers 

 have been expelled. Early in the 

 morning, when only robber bees are 

 up and doing, I go to the now pro- 

 tected hive and kill a dozen or two of 

 the leaders, and that always ends the 

 trouble. Of course, after removing 

 the protecting screen the entrance 

 should be properly contracted. 

 Grand Island,© Nebr. 



Local Convention Directory. 



1886. Time and place of MeeUmg. 



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



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



Dec. 7, 8.— Cedar Valley, ut Vinton. Iowa. 



11. B, Hubbard, Sec, Laporte City, Iowa. 



Dec. 14.— Keystone, at Scranton, Pa. 



Arthur A. Davis, Sec, Ciarli's Green, Pa. 

 1887. 

 Jan. 12.— Nebraska State, at Lincoln, Nebr. 



H. N. Patterson, Sec, Humboldt, Nebr. 



Jan. 18.-N. W. Ills. & B. W. Wis., at Roclif ord. Ills. 

 J. Stewart, Sec, Rock City, Ills. 



1*^ In order to have this table complete. Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetiaflrs.—ED. 





The Texas State Fair.— B. F. Car- 

 roll, Dresden, (^ Tex., on Xov. 10, 1886, 

 says : 



The Texas State Fair at Dallas, 

 Tex., closed on Nov. 6, 1886. The 

 honey exhibit was very good, and J. 

 W. Eckman took first premiums on 

 honey and Italian bees. I did not 

 take any bees for fear of foul brood, 

 as this disease has been about Dallas 

 for several years. Mr. Eckman se- 

 cured about $50 worth of premiums. 

 We held an impromptu bee-meeting 

 on the grounds, and a friendly greet- 

 ing all around. One old bee-man, for 

 the amusement of the spectators, was 

 walking around the grounds with a 

 swarm of bees on his hat, shoulders, 

 face and neck. He would take a 

 mouthful of bees and let them crawl 

 out over his face. My bees are boom- 

 ing on the fall cotton bloom, and will 

 go into winter quarters in fine condi- 

 tion. A splendid crop of mint is now 

 up, and I expect next year that we 

 will have a good report. I have 50 

 colonies now, and took 1,000 pounds 

 of extracted honey. 



Managing the Sale of Honey.— 

 Grant Parish, Gaithersbiirg,© Md., 



writes : 



I re-voice the many sentiments ex- 

 pressed as to the united congress of 

 bee-men of each State to scale the 

 product of the apiary, and affix a 



price which will lessen the profit of 

 the middle man, and give what would 

 fall to him to the producer, thus mak- 

 ing a profitable realization from the 

 bees. It can be done ; it must be 

 done if profit can be expected from 

 this vocation. I have just heard that 

 an extensive bee-man in West Vir- 

 ginia has refused to market 2,000 

 pounds of honey on account of the 

 low prices now reported by these com- 

 mission men. This showed good judg- 

 ment, but no more than could be ex- 

 pected from one successful in the 

 business ; it is simply protection of 

 one's interest, and it is a deep mys- 

 tery to me why some of the alleged 

 apiarists will rush to the markets, 

 although dazed at the half-starved 

 price for honey quoted, and will sell, 

 thus for a few dollars sacrificing the 

 market for others. There must be 

 action taken to " hold the market," 

 else the past and present condition 

 of affairs will continue, and bee-keep- 

 ing be made questionable as to profit. 

 I would be pleased to have bee-men 

 in Virginia and Maryland correspond 

 with me with a view of forming pro- 

 tection. 



Results of the Season.— Robert B. 

 Woodward, M. D., Somerset,© O., on 

 Nov. 10, 1886, writes : 



The past season has been a good 

 one for this locality. I had 10 colo- 

 nies to begin with last spring, in- 

 creased to 19 colonies, and took 600 

 pounds of excellent honey, about 

 three-fourths of which was comb 

 honey. My best colony (a Syrio- 

 Italian) gave me 120 pounds of choice 

 honey. I sold all but what we re- 

 tained for family use, at " five pounds 

 for a dollar," or 25 cents for a single 

 pound, and we could have sold five 

 times as much at home. I sold none 

 but choice honey, and have a good 

 reputation, and that will win every 

 time in the honey trade. My 10 colo- 

 nies (including increase and honey) 

 will net me about $120. We have no 

 basswood, and have to depend on 

 apple, locust, white clover, mustard, 

 etc. I winter my bees on the sum- 

 mer stands, and have never met with 

 any winter losses, and have Italian, 

 Cyprian, Syrian and Albino bees. I 

 keep the best, and mostly for pleasure. 



Convention Notices. 



ty The Cedar Valley Bee-Keepers' Association 

 will hold its ne.xt semi-annual meeting in the City 

 Hall at Vinton. Iowa, on Dec. 7 and .^. \SSG. An 

 excellent programme will be presnted. including 

 essays by the very best of Iowa apiarists. Special 

 rates have been secured at the Hotels, and alt are 

 Invited to come and help make this meeting both 

 pleasant and profitable. H. E. Hdbbahd, Sec. 



j^~ The snth annual meeting of the Michigan 

 state Bee-Keepers' Association will be held in 

 Grange Hall at Vpsilanti, Mich., on Dec 1 and 2. 

 lH8f.i. beginning at li» a.m. Reduced rates have 

 been secured at the Hawkins House. From the 

 excellent essays already promised, we expect a 

 very interesting programme. Only 2 essays will be 

 read at each session, the balance of the time to be 

 devoted to discussions. The committee desire to 

 make this meeting practical and interesting. No- 

 ted bee-keepers from other States and Canada 

 have promised to be present. If you have any- 

 thing of interest to exhibit ple.i^e bring or send it. 

 Come prepared to ask and answer questions, as 

 the question-box will be an important feature. A 

 cordial Invitation is extended to all. Come and 

 bring your bee-keeping friends with you. 



H. D. CUTTING, Sec. 



