April : 



1899. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



261 



Report of the Vermont Bee-Keepers' Convention. 



BY M. F. CRAM. 



The 24th annual convention of the Vermont Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association was held at Middlebury, Feb. 23 and 24, 

 1899. The meeting- was called to order at 1:30 p.m. by Pres. 

 R. H. Holmes, praj-er was offered by O. J. Lowrey, and the 

 minutes of last meeting- were read and approved. The fol- 

 lowing committees were appointed by the chairman : 



Nominations — A. E. Manum, W. G. Larrabee, and J. I. 

 Clark. 



RESOLUTIONS — W. H. Bristol, H. L. Leonard, and G. 

 W. Fassett. 



Next in order was the following paper by W. G. Larra- 

 bee, on 



The Production of Extracted Honey. 



Bees run for extracted honey should be watcht more 

 closely in the springs to see that they do not get short of 

 honey, for I find that I am more liable to be deceived on the 

 amount of honey in the hive, as they will fill all of the 

 combs for perhaps two inches below the super, and the rest 

 of the comb will have no honey in it at all. This is not an 

 invariable rule, but it is more liable to be the case when run 

 for extracted honey than for comb. 



I use 10 Langstroth frames in the brood-chamber, and 

 a division-board ; and 10 Langstroth frames in the upper 

 story without a division-board, spacing the frames a little 

 farther apart. This allows the bees to leng-then the cells a 

 little, and they can be uncapt more readily, and more honey 

 can be put into a frame. 



I put the upper stories on before the bees begin to get 

 honey to amount to an^'thing, and before white clover 

 opens, sometimes in fruit-bloom. I do this in order to give 

 them plenty of room before they begin to get the swarming- 

 fever, and do not let them g-et their hives too full before ex- 

 tracting. 



I extract as soon as the combs are about one-third capt, 

 and in most years honey will not sour if as ripe as this, but 

 at the close of the season I like to let them cap the combs 

 nearly all over, as I think it gives the honey a better body, 

 and is less liable to sour. I use queen-excluders on all 

 hives, and could not get along without them. 



When the honey is ready to extract, I go to the yard 

 toward night and put the bee-escapes on the hives that need 

 extracting, and the next morning- they are usually free 

 from bees. (I say usually, for sometimes an escape will not 

 work, or something- of the kind.) lam then ready to ex- 

 tract. 



I have an uncapping-tank that allows the honey from 

 the cappings to drain off at the bottom, and quite a lot of 

 honey is saved by so doing. I have a 30-galIon can with a 

 honey-gate; I tie a cheese-cloth strainer over this, and let 

 it sag down enough to hold two large pailfuls of honey. As 

 fast as it is extracted I pour it into this, and allow it to 

 drain thru at its leisure, and it will usually run thru as fast 

 as I can extract it. From this large can it is drawn off" into 

 60-pound cans, of which I am careful to have enough at the 

 vard where I am extracting, and it is then ready for market. 



The empty frames are returned to the hives after I am 

 thru extracting — usually towards night — and after the 

 honey-flow is over. They should never be returned at any 

 other time except toward night, for if it is done in the 

 morning, or middle of the day, it will excite robbers to such 

 an extent that you will not care for a second dose. 



I always put the empty combs back on the hives at the 

 close of the season, and leave them there until cold weather 

 comes, as the bees can take better care of empty combs than 

 lean. But if this is done, queen-excluders should always 

 be used, or one will be likely to find the bees all in the upper 

 story, and the honey for winter all in the lower story. 



As I have said before, great care should be taken not to 

 be deceived on the amount of honey in the brood-nest in the 

 fall. I have opened many a hive that apparently had 

 plenty of honey, but upon closer examination there would 

 not be more than 20 pounds, and this is not enough. 



There is nothing to be said about winter packing, for 

 they are packt the same as those run for comb honey. 



I do not have very much trouble with swarming— about 

 all that I do have is from some very strong colonies that get 

 their upper story too full before I "get around to extract. I 

 usually g'-ive such colonies several empty combs a few days 

 before" I extract, or divide them. About all the increase I 

 have at this yard I get by dividing. 



I have been surprised to see the difference there is in 

 different seasons in regard to the average amourrt of honey 

 produced bv bees run for comb and for extracted honey. 

 Some years thev will produce but very little more run for 

 extracted honey than for comb honey, but last year they 

 produced more than twice as much extracted as comb. 

 This is why I have made such varied statements in past 

 years in regard to the relative expense and profit of bees 

 run for comb or extracted honev, and I am not yet able to 

 say which pays the better. " W. G. Lark.a.bee. 



Prof. George H. Perkins, entomologist at the Vermont 

 Experiment Station, then gave a lecture without notes on 

 the relation of other insects to bees. He exhibited a Ger- 

 man collection of bees, and different kinds of combs, show- 

 ing some of the diseases of bees as they would appear on 

 the comb, all under glass. Also a collection of the forest 

 worm that has wrought destruction to some of the finest 

 maple orchards in the State. It strips the apple-tree of 

 both leaves and fruit, also the basswood, so that it yields no 

 honey. Certain insects were very closely related to the 

 bee, especially the bee-moth. Every insect which injures 

 tlje flowers injures the bees. Things do not happen by 

 chance— there is a reason for everything. He would make 

 no promises, but thought we had .seen the worst of the for- 

 est worm, as the Ichneumon fly was destroying large 

 quantities of them. Out of 200 cocoons that he examined 

 at one time, onlv 30 developt, or IS percent. The eggs on 

 the trees were laid in cylindrical form, both edges of the 

 cluster being very nearly true around the twig, while the 

 common tent or apple-tree worm laid its eggs more irregu- 

 larly, tapering off more or less each way. They could be 

 cut 'off from small trees by taking a long, slim pole with a 

 knife in the end of it. People were learning that cross- 

 fertilization was necessary. Bees would still be a blessing 

 if thev never gather honey. 



The Professor was askt a large number of questions, 

 which were answered in a very pleasant and satisfactory 

 manner, after which he was tendered a rising vote of 

 thanks. 



SPRAYING FRUIT-TREES. 



Mr. Boardman had sprayed 75 trees with 60 gallons of 

 water and I'l pounds of paris green. He secured 150 barrels 

 of apples. He sprayed the first time just as the buds began 

 to open ; the last time just after the blossoms had fallen. 



Mr. Isham sprayed six times, and got no fruit. 



Mr. Manum spr'aved just as the buds opened, sprayed 

 again just as the leaves came out, after that every week or 

 ten days, but didn't get much fruit. One of his neighbors 

 did not spray at all, and got a very heavy crop of fruit, so 

 much that he had to prop up the trees. 



Prof. Seely, of Middlebury, then gave a short talk very 

 complimentary to apiarists, as well as instructive. He said 

 he had learned that bee-keepers were very observing, and 

 he had learned very much listening to them at their meet- 

 ings. He first became interested in entomology in study- 

 ing the apple-tree caterpillar. They were destroyed by the 

 Ichneurnon fly. 



Mr. Crane said a heavy late fall of snow in the spring 

 would destroy the forest worms and tent caterpillar ; and 

 said there was a difference in the time it took for the eggs 

 to hatch of the forest worm and tent caterpillar. 



It was decided that the president and secretary be ap- 

 pointed a committee to confer with the same officers of the 

 Horticultural Society, to see if they would hold their next 

 annual meeting together. 



A report of the members present was then taken : Num- 

 ber of colonies in the spring of 1898, 1,779 ; number in the 

 fall, 1,994 ;■ produced 80,000 pounds of comb honey and 6,000 

 of extracted. 



Question— Is it profitable to feed just before the honey- 

 flowl Ans. — No one thought it was. 

 evening session. 



The reports of the secretary and treasurer were read 

 and adopted. 



After the expenses were all paid, quite a sum was left 

 in the treasury. 



