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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Local Convention Directory. 



1687. Time and place of Meeting. 



Jan. 8.— Hardin County, at Eldora. Iowa. 



J. W. Bucbanan, Sec, Eldora, Iowa. 



Jan. 11-13.— N.Y.State.E.N.Y.. Ac, al Albany.N.Y. 

 Jno. Aspinwall, Sec, Barrytown, N. Y. 



Jan. 12.— Cortland Union, at Cortland, N. Y. 



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



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



H. N. Patieraon, Sec, Humboldt, Nebr. 



Jan. 13.— Vermont, at Burlington. Vt. 



K. H. Holmes, Sec,, Shoreham, Vt. 



Jan. !3.— Sheboygan County, at Ilinstham. Wis. 

 Mattie B. Tliomas, Sec, Sheboygan Falls, Wis. 



Jan. 18.— N. W. Ills. & 8. W. Wis., at Rocbford, Ills. 

 J. Stewart, Sec, Rock City, His. 



Jan. 19. 20.— N. E. Ohio. N. Pa., &c, at Andover. O. 

 M. E. Mason, Sec, Andover. O. 



^F~ In order to have this table complete, Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetings.— BD. 





Cold Wave in New York.— Ira Bar- 

 ber, De Kalb Junction, 5 N. Y., on 

 Dec. 6, 1886, writes : 



A cold wave is hovering over this 

 locality, and for the past four days the 

 mercury has been from 1° to 24*^ below 

 zero, and still holds its grip. In my 

 bee-cellar the temperature was at 46'^ 

 above zero yesterday, while outside it 

 was at 22^ below zero. I would much 



E refer to have the temperature 10-" 

 igher in a cellar as damp as mine is, 

 at this stage of winter. Our honey 

 crop was a perfect failure, and the 

 number of colonies of bees in north- 

 ern New York will be greatly reduced 

 for another season. 



Good Season for Bees.— F. A. Snell, 

 Milledgeville,x3 Ills., on Dec. 7, 1886, 

 says: 



The past season has been a good 

 one here. I commenced on June 1 

 with 8-5 colonies ; I now have 140 all 

 in winter quarters, and in good condi- 

 tion. My surplus honey crop was 

 .5,000 pounds of comb honey and 8,000 

 pounds of extracted. 



to hold it than this winter ; and if we 

 could hold it as soon as New Years, 

 could we not have the benefit of half 

 fare over nearly all the railroads going 

 into Chicago V I believe a convention 

 of this kind will benefit us more than 

 all other conventions we have held 

 for years. All American bee-keepers, 

 whether present or not, will be in full 

 sympathy with us. Health permit- 

 ting, I will promise to wave all other 

 business and attend; bearing my 

 share of the expenses, and doing my 

 part of the good work. 



Winter Convention in Chicago.— 

 James Ileddon, Dowagiac, 9 Mich., 

 writes : 



I have read Mr. Baldridge"s article 

 discussing the feasibility of holding 

 an American Bee-Keepers' Conven- 

 tion in Chicago, for the purpose of 

 organizing and taking measures for 

 protection against the ruinously and 

 needless steiidy decline in prices for 

 honey. It seems to me that an or- 

 ganization of the right kind may, as 

 Mr. Baldridge says, effect much in 

 the direction of our interests and 

 rights. :Mr. Baldridge has well said 

 many things that I have often 

 thought. Looking to our mutual 

 rights and interests as honey pro- 

 ducers, 1 am in favor of such a con- 

 vention, and know of no better time 



Good Report.-J. V. Caldwell, (125- 

 208), Cambridge,-o Ills., on Dec. 8, 

 1886, gives the following report for 

 1886: 



On May 1, 1886, 1 had 125 colonies 

 of bees in fair condition. They in- 

 creased by natural swarming to 208 

 colonies, and gave me 13,000 pounds 

 of comb honey, all in one and two 

 pound sections. 



Hardin, Co., Iowa, Convention.— J. 



W. Buchanan, Eldora,© Iowa, Secre- 

 tary of the Convention, writes : 



The bee-keepers of Hardin county, 

 Iowa, met in Eldora, on Monday, Dec. 

 6, 1886, and organized the " Hardin 

 County Bee-Keepers' Association," 

 with Mr. John Ely, President. The 

 next meeting will be held on Jan. 8, 

 1887, at Eldora. All interested in 

 bee-keeping are cordially invited to 

 attend. 



Managing the Sale of Honey.— 

 Henry W. Haag, Pettit,*o Ind., on 

 Dec. 6, 1886, writes : 



The season this year has gone and 

 the winter has come, and it was a 

 good honey season in this locality. I 

 have 24 colonies in winter quarters, 

 which are in fine condition. I winter 

 my bees in a cellar, and I was very 

 successful last winter, and I hope to 

 be the same the coming winter. I 

 have been thinking of the same 

 points as mentioned by Mr. L. N. 

 Tongue, on page 762. There ought 

 to be something done to protect bee- 

 men that make bee-keeping a spe- 

 cialty, as there are those in this part 

 of the State that sell their honey for 

 little or nothing, and when we bring 

 our honey to market, the grocer says 

 that he can buy all the honey he wants 

 for from 9 to 10 cents per pound ; but 

 I say that the times will become 

 harder before I will sell for such 

 prices. I think it would be a good 

 plan for the honey-producer to make 

 the price instead of the grocer doing 

 it. Now let us stick together and see 

 how it will work. 



honey, and without any increase." I 

 suppose we could be sure of that 

 much honey by using that hive, 

 whether the flowers yield honey or 

 not. This would be better, perhaps, 

 than what Mrs. Cotton guarantees ! 

 What a pity it is that I did not have 

 such a hive in 1880, when I did not 

 get enough surplus honey from nearly 

 200 colonies to give me and my family 

 one good square meal ! The foregoing 

 statement seeims to be in harmony 

 with another, in the same article, 

 which reads thus : " The brood- 

 chamber should never be disturbed 

 after the season for honey-gathering 

 has commenced, if bees are expected 

 to gather a large surplus." Now, my 

 experience taught me many years ago, 

 and still teaches me that, if you wish 

 to secure a large yield of surplus 

 honey, a proper and frequent disturb- 

 ance of tlie brood-chamber will secure 

 just that result— provided, of course, 

 there is plenty of honey in the flowers, 

 etc. 



Non-Swarming Hives— Disturbing 

 Bees.— M. M. Baldridge, St. Charles, 

 5 Ills., writes : 



Some one on page 776 has found a 

 " non swarming hive." that, if man- 

 aged for surplus, as all good bee-keep- 

 ers should manage, will produce, each 

 season, from " 200 to 300 pounds of 



Opposed to Legislation for Bee- 

 Men.— R. Gammon, Rockton,5 Ills., 

 writes : 



In reply to Dr. Miller's request 

 about legislation for bee-keepers, I 

 will say that I think we have seen too 

 much class legislation in the last 25 

 years, in favor of banks and railroads, 

 and I for one would not want to see it 

 for bee-keepers ; as it seems to me it 

 interferes with our free government. 



The Market Reports.— O. B. Bar- 

 rows, Marshalltown,© Iowa, says : 



The editor asks " all the rest of his 

 readers " to tell what they think about 

 Mr. Baldridge's proposition to exclude 

 the market reports from the bee- 

 papers. If two editions were pub- 

 lished to accommodate both factions, 

 I think I had rather have the one 

 containing the market reports. 



Moisture in Hives.— -John Eey, 

 East Saginaw,© Mich., on Dec. 10, 



1886, says : 



My bees are having a fine flight to- 

 day ; the weather is fine, just right 

 tor bees. There is no diarrhea among 

 them yet. They are in a healthy con- 

 dition, and I notice that the bees of 

 those hives that have some water or 

 moisture running from them, carry it 

 out and spit it out in a fine spray, and 

 it is nothing but clear water. I think 

 that is the way bees get rid of the 

 water or moisture in the hives when 

 they get a chance to fly. 



Results of the Season.— Mexico 

 Sperry, La Harpe,-*© Ills., on Dec. 2, 

 1886, says : 



I have been taking the American 

 Bee Journal for three years, to 

 which I attribute most of my success. 

 Last winter, out of 23 colonies, I did 

 not lose one. I took 6 more on shares, 

 and I have had 22 swaims and sold 15 

 colonies, and I now have 51 colonies 

 left for winter. I prepare my bees 

 for winter as do Messrs. Dadant & 



