1898. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



293 



WATER-TIGHT HIVE COVERS— SUPER COVER. 



Mr. Varian — What is the simplest way to vaaMe bive- 

 covers water-tight. I have used paint, with a painted cotton- 

 cloth over the painted cover. 



Mr. Adams — It is not reliable. I am ;ising elaterite — a 

 white cloth filled with a new Utah mineral. 



QuES. — What do you use for a blanljet in covering supers 

 during the flow? 



Mr. Foster — I use nothing but a board. 



Mr. Lyon — I lilje an oil-cloth as well as anything. 



Pres. Aiitin — How do you keep it down ? 



Mr. Lyon — That is a bad feature. 



Mrs. Rhodes — On extracting-frames we use burlap. When 

 it is raised we run a warm smoothiug-iron over it. 



Mr. Adams — [ use briclf to hold the oil-cloth down. 



Mr. Lyon — I use several thicknesses of burlap over the 

 oil-cloth. It helps to some extent. 



Pres. Aikin — I used much muslin, but the bees stuck in a 

 great deal of propolis. When I came to Colorado I made 20 

 Inner board covers for use with Simplicity covers. Ou com- 

 paring the sections over which they had been used, with the 

 remainder which had been under muslin, my employer had me 

 make inner board covers for all the hives the next season. 



Mr. Lyon — I have 100 of those inner covers which are all 

 warpt out of shape. Probably they were not properly cleated. 

 I used them in winter. Perhaps that warpt them. 



Mr. Elliott — Don't the bees discolor the tops of the sec- 

 tions when there is a bee space above ? 



Pres. Alkin — A little discoloration does not hurt for ordi- 

 nary grades of honey. One is almost obliged to have a double 

 cover when the hives stand In the sun. 



Mr. Elliott — [ used one thiskness of -nuslin. The trouble 

 was the propolis on top of the sections. 



Mr. Thompson — Last season I used a good deal of par- 

 affine paper. It was applied strictly according to instruction-i, 

 with several layers of old newspapers, and thin boards over 

 that. The paper was so well cushioned that no propolis was 

 deposited on tlic tops of the sections. But thick lines of pro- 

 polls were deposited on the paper adjoining the junction of 

 the paper and the wood, thus rendering the paper useless after 

 being used twice, once on each side ; for I do not know of any 

 practical way of cleaning It off. Then the application and re- 

 newal of the paper lu a large apiary is extremely wasteful of 

 time. I notice that Mr. Danzenbaker says in Gleanings that 

 nothing but pure wax was deposited on the paper by his bees, 

 which wax was easily removed by scraping with a piece of 

 section. Perhaps the reason is, that his localities are In the 

 South. Another correspondent of Gleanings, who was suc- 

 cessful with the paralSne paper, lives in North Carolina. Here 

 in Colorado our nights In the last half of the seison are cold. 

 But whatever the reason Is, it is certain that propolis, not 

 wax, is deposited here, even when the paper is well cushioned 

 and warm. Because of the expense and the fussiness I do not 

 want to use it again ; but the tops of the sections were cer- 

 tainly kept bright and fresh by Its use, free from the dlnglness 

 that Mr. Elliott refers to. 



Pres. Aikin — For a strictly fancy grade it may pay to 

 cover the tops of the sections. But In ordinary grades the 

 customer doesn't care. 



F. Rauchfuss — For ordinary dovetailed hives there is no 

 provision made for an inner cover, and it involves some ex- 

 pense to have a proper cover made. With a single cover, even 

 painted white, I have known sections to be melted down. I 

 have not known it to happen when an oil-cloth was under the 

 cover. A single cover alone Is sealed tight; a cover with an 

 oil-cloth gets ventilation between. 



Pres. Aikin — When a shade-board is used sections under 

 single covers alone do not melt, down. 



Mr. Lyon — Isn't there quite a difference between a board 

 and a blanket In retaining heat, just at the beginning ? 



Pres. Aikin — Yes, until the board is sealed all around by 

 the bees. But if there are enough bees to block the entrance 

 they will regulate the heat by stopping the draft. 



Mr. Lyon- Do you like a small entrance in the breeding- 

 season ? 



Pres. Alkin— Yes, when the colonies are weak. 



Mr. Lyon — Do you like an oil-cloth in winter ? 



Pres. Aikin — No. Moisture accumulates. When the 

 temperature Is high it doesn't make any difference. 



Mr. Lyon — I know a man whose hive-covers were sealed 

 tight. The bottom-boards and the combs were damp and 

 moldy. In just.such weather as we are having now (moderate). 

 If the colonies had not been examined they would have been 

 ruined entirely. 



Pres. Aikin — I think we lose a great deal by moisture. I 

 have claimed for years that upward ventilation Is needed to 

 carry It off. Bees can stand a great deal of cold without 



moisture. The majority of those who make a success of cel- 

 lar-wintering leave off tops or bottoms, or both, or maintain a 

 high degree of temperature. The great trouble of cellar-win- 

 tering Is diarrhea. Tell me how to prevent diarrhea and 1 

 will tell you how to winter bees. Since I came to Colorado I 

 have formed the opinion that moisture Is one of the principal 

 factors in causing diarrhea, both directly and also by water 

 condensing In the honey and souring it. Bees dry themselves 

 by licking each othir off. Where doas thit g) to, which they 

 thus take up ? 



F. Rauchfuss — We have had diarrhea In a cellar without 

 moisture. We had two lots of bees In our cellar both alike. 

 One was from the home yard, and the other brought from 

 Harman. Our cellar was very dry. The bees from Harman 

 were pretty nearly gone up in February, and we had to put 

 them out. Those from the home yard, which had been in the 

 lower part of the cellar, usually considered the most disadvan- 

 tageous place, were all right, and were left In until May. The 

 cause was probably In their food. The Harman bees had only 

 cleome honey ; the others only alfalfa honey. 



Pres. Alkin — Why, you have upset my argument. But I 

 hold that moisture Is a large element In causing diarrhea. 



F. Rauchfuss— The temperature of the cellar was uniform, 

 not varying more than o--. 



SECOND DAY. 



THE RIPENING OF EXTRACTED HONEY. 



Mr. Foster — I came from Iowa but two months ago. Most 

 of you have heard of Oliver Foster. He is a brother of mine. 

 I have workt near him for years. To get a good article we 

 let the honey get thoroughly ripened before extracting. From 

 the standpoint of Iowa work, this is when the combs are two- 

 thirds or three-fourths capt. 



Mr. Pease — Do you ever ripen honey after extracting? 



Mr. Foster — We never thought it necessary. 



F. Rauchfuss — We tried ripening extracted honey once 

 because we didn't have the extra combs, and had to extract 

 soon. Otherwise It Is not advisable to practice artificial ripen- 

 ing because the bees can ripen honey much cheaper than you 

 can. Last year we had a great many combs, too many in fact, 

 but they come in handy in good seasons. Practically all our 

 crop was stored before extracting commenced. 



Mr. Geo. W. MIschke, representing the authorities of the 

 Tran^-Mississippi and International Exhibition at Omaha, 

 then addrest the convention. The exhibition will be an as- 

 sured success, as all other Western Slates have made appro- 

 priations. The Colorado legislature did not make an appro- 

 priation, but the matter is left with the County Commissioners 

 of the several counties. A State Commission is responsible for 

 the return of all exhibits of an Imperishable nature not 

 donated. The Arkansas valley and Grand Junction districts 

 are taking active measures for exhibits, so that Colorado will 

 have a good exhibit. 



All present seemed to be heartily In favor of making an 

 exhibit, providing we get the " wherewith " to do It. 



Mr. H, Rauchfuss next read the following paper on 



Management of Swarming. 



I believe better results can be obtained by preventing 

 swarming than by allowing natural swarming. With the 

 latter management some one has to be with the bees most of 

 the time to hive the swarms. We might use entrance-guards 

 or queen-traps ; but they do not work as well as one might 

 think, especially in a large yard. To make bee-keeping on a 

 large scale profitable, one has to handle bees In more than 

 one yard with little or no help. Without some sure way to 

 prevent swarming it cannot be profitably done in this location 

 at the present low prices of honey. 



I have practiced different methods. One was to introduce 

 young laying queens before swarming-time. This was a suc- 

 cess in preventing swarming and securing a surplus. I treated 

 45 colonies In that way. None swarmed that season. But it 

 Is too expensive to produce good laying queens before swarm- 

 ing in this locality. 



Another plan was to give plenty of room and ventilation. 

 Before the bees started queen-cells I gave them a brood-cham- 

 ber with starters below their brood, then an extra super on 

 top with a queeen excluder between, then raised the hive one 

 inch from the bottom-board in front. This experiment was a 

 failure. Most of the colonies swarmed before filling the ex- 

 tracting super, and with very little comb built below the brood- 

 chamber. This proved to me that room had very little to do 

 with swarming. I have seen many colonies swarm when the 

 outside combs in the brood-chamber were almost empty. I 

 suppose the strain of the bees, the locality and the season 

 have much to do with this. 



Dividing or artificial swarming I have practiced for a 



