150 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



March 10, 



may find that we have the desired results. However, there is 

 nothing certain about it as yet. We are wintering these two 

 colonies on the summer stands packt in chaff. The remainder 

 are in the cellar. 



We have had many inquiries about foul brood, from 

 farmer bee-keepers, asking how it looks, how to get rid of it, 

 etc., and whit laws there a-e fi r ilicir prntpction. There is 

 only one law iu Mlchiifaij for the pruit-iuiuu uf bee-keepers, 

 and this one is in the Public Acts of IScSl, page 125. It pro- 

 vides for a foul brood inspector. It does seem a pity that a 

 disease as well known as foul brood should be constantly 

 gaining ground, as it certainly is in some parts of Michigan. 



It has always been one of my desires to breed a strain of 

 bees with a tongue long enough to reach red clover, and we 

 began this systematically the past season. The average 

 length of bees' tongues in our vicinity are: Black, 4.2 m. m.; 

 hybrid, 4.9 m. m.; and the Italians, 5.3 m.m. The ordinary 

 bumble-bee has a tongue 8.3 m. m. 



We made one direct cross, or an in-cross of one colony, 

 and the bees from this cross have a tongue 5.5 m. m., an in- 

 crease in length of 1 m. m. over the parent colony. I have 

 not told you about the unsuccessful attempts — there were 

 very many, more than our successes. If we could control the 

 mating of queens we would, I think, be certain of success. 



We have tried clipping the ends of the queens' wings, and 

 in every case the queens were not fertilized. The ordinary 

 red clover corolla-tube is from 9 to 10 m. m. long, so we still 

 have a tongue 4 m. m. too short. When the tube fills with 

 nectar up to 4 or 5 m. m. from the bottom, as it sometimes 

 does, our bees work on It quite freely. 



We have had no encouragement In this line. Some of the 

 men with whom I have talkt shake their heads and say, "Im- 

 possible." But we are going to stick to it, as I think it is 

 worth trying. 



Follow up the history of any live stock — swine breeding, 

 we will say — the old Chinese and Siamese hog of 1750 does 

 not resemble very closely the neat, well-flesht Chinas or Berk- 

 shires of today, and yet they are descended from them. To 

 be sure, their tongues have grown shorter, but they have been 

 bred that way. 



I would say In conclusion that the outlook for the Michi- 

 gan experiment apiary is good. What we need most of all is 

 the hearty cooperation of bee-keepers to educate the State 

 Board to know that ours 'is an important industry, and that it 

 needs and deserves a good, well-equlpt apiary for experimental 

 purposes. John M. Rankin. 



Following the reading of the foregoing paper was an in- 

 formal talk which showed that there was a feeling that there 

 is a need for a change in the Michigan foul brood law. Mr. 

 Hutchinson suggested that possibly the treatment of foul 

 brood might come under the Jurisdiction of the Livestock 

 Commission, but, of course, a change of law is needed. Too 

 many preliminary steps are now necessary. There is also 

 another point, altho a minor one, viz : If one makes complaint 

 of there being foul brood in a certain apiary, and it turns out 

 otherwise, the expense of the examination falls on the com- 

 plainant, and some will hesitate on this account about making 

 a complaint. A resolution was finally past empowering the 

 Secretary to see what steps were necessary to secure a revi- 

 sion of the law, or to have the matter of foul brood lookt after 

 by the Live Stock Commission. 



Mr. Oldt here gave his plan of wintering bees. He first 

 had hives with straw around them. The bees were dry and 

 warm, and bred up well in the spring. Then he changed and 

 used chaff on the outside and packt the hives, two in a box. 

 He noticed that the bees crowded up on the side of the hive 

 that was next to the other hive in the box. They did this in 

 both hives. Then he thought that if two are benefited in this 

 way, more would be better yet, so he put 10 hives iu one box. 

 Now he puts all of his hives in one long row on the north side 

 of his apiary, surrounding them with boards and chaff. He 

 sets the hives two deep ; that is, there is one row above 

 another. He packs heavily at the sides and back, but not 

 more than four or five inches in front. There is one objection 

 to this style of wintering, and that is, if the bees Hy in winter 

 there is likely to be some mixing up of the bees from one col- 

 ony to another. He says that with this method of wintering, 

 the bees consume as little honey as with cellar-wintering. He 

 puts a two-inch rim under each hive. 



Mr. Mead — I winter the bees the same, only I pile straw 

 In front of the entrances. 



Reed City was chosen as the place for holding the next 

 convention; and Hon. Geo. E. Hilton was chosen President; 

 L. A. Aspinwall Vice-President ; W. Z. Hutchinson Secretary, 

 and John M. Rankin, Treasurer. 



W. Z. Hutchinson, Sec. 



Report of the Northwestern Bee-Keepers' Cou. 



veutlon. Held In Chicago, Nov. 10 and 



11, 1897. 



REPORTED BY A SPECIAL BEE JOURNAL REPORTER. 



(Continued from page 134.) 

 SECOND DAY— Forenoon Session. 



SOME SWEET CLOVER QUESTIONS. 



"What is the average yield of sweet cloverseed per acre?" 



Mr. Baldrldge — I never knew so definitely till this year. 

 I gathered several hundred pounds of seed' myself this year, 

 to have it perfectly free from weeds. On 3 ^5 of an acre we 

 got 202 pounds of seed in the hull. This seed was cut in the 

 city of St. Charles, Kane Co., III., on some vacant lots, and 

 the ground was thoroughly covered, and it was a good, fair 

 crop. 



Pres. Miller — The next question is, " Ought it be hulled ?" 

 The imported seed is all hulled; the domestic is all unhulled. 



Mr. Baldridge — For home use I think it ought not be 

 hulled. If It were used for coloring purposes, as it is in Ger- 

 many, I understand, or for oil, then of course it should be 

 hulled. 



Pres. Miller — For seed, unhulled. 



Mr. Whitcomb — I bought some that was not hulled, and I 

 don't think that one seed in a hundred grew ; and since then 

 we have been sowing the hulled seed, with very great success. 



" What does a bushel of unhulled seed weigh ?" 



Mr. Baldridge — 35 pounds is what is allowed for a bushel 

 of unhulled seed, but it won't weigh over that unless it is very 

 plump and very clean. 



Pres. Miller — Will you tell us the best time to harvest the 

 crop for seed ? 



Mr. Baldridge — The best time I have found to harvest it 

 is before it will scatter any, and that would of course be In the 

 dough state. It should be cut green. If It gets to be dead 

 ripe, the seed will not be as plump, and not weigh near a» 

 much, and will not be as good. If you cut it green put It in 

 little piles, and let it remain at least a week, until it is thor- 

 oughly cured, and put it in the piles so that If it rains you 

 will not have to turn the piles over — about as large as a sheaf 

 of wheat — and then thresh it where you cut it, and don't un- 

 dertake to haul it. Put it on a sheetor a large blanket — I use 

 sheeting. Put it on and strike it a few blows with a stick. 

 You don't need a flail. I had one made on purpose, and I 

 don't need it. A broom-stick is .just as good to thresh it as 

 the best flail ever made. A few strokes will drop out all the 

 seed. That Is the simplest and best way I know of to gather 

 it. Cut it with a corn-knife, so as to pile it straight as you cut 

 it. If you cut it green you will lose no seed. If you cut it in 

 the dough state it won't shell any. I generally use a sickle. 

 It is slow work to gather it. It is worth more than some ask^ 

 for it, to gather it properly. 



bee-keepers' UNION AND SWEET CLOVER. 



" Should the Bee-Keepers' Union assist any of its members 

 In a litigation in regard to sweet clover, in a case of trespass 

 and damages simply? If so, why?" 



Sec. York — What Bee-Keepers' Union does the questioner 

 mean, the National or the United States, or any bee-keepers' 

 association ? It seems to me if the Bee-Keepers' Union is 

 organized to defend or protect its members that it should help 

 a bee-keeper who Is prosecuted, or persecuted, in that way. I 

 should say that it ought to help the member. 



Mr. Baxter — I believe the National Bee-Keepers' Union 

 was organized to protect the bee-keepers in their rights, and 

 it doesn't seem to me, whether it is removing bees outside of 

 the city limits, or whether it is cutting down the flowers on 

 which they feed, it makes no difference — it is always of na- 

 tional Interest — of interest to everybody. I believe it is just 

 as vital a question as removing bees outside of the city limits, 

 or anything similar. 



Mr. Baldridge — In a case of trespass a man might come 

 upon my premises and harvest my potatoes or my corn, or 

 anything else, and I am a bee-keeper, I am a member of the 

 Union. Is it the duty of the Bee-Keepers' Union to assist me 

 in protecting my corn crop against the doings of some offi- 

 cials 1 I think not. If the question was to decide whether a 

 man had a right to grow sweet clover upon his premises, that 

 is another question. This is simply a case of trespass. 



Mr. Baxter— The State of Ohio past a law prohibiting the 

 growing of noxious weeds on premises, and appointed the 

 highway commissioners to see that all such weeds were de- 

 stroyed, and I understand that sweet clover was included as 

 one of the noxious weeds, and, such being the fact, the high- 



