262 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



April 



1899. 



PLAIN SECTION AND FENCE SEPARATORS. 



Mr. Crane then g-ave a talk on the plain section and 

 fence, showing the different kinds of fence. He thoug-ht it 

 was an improvement in getting the honey filled out to the 

 edge of the section ; thought the bees would store more 

 honey because of freer communication. At the close of the 

 season they were more apt to be sealed. Separators made 

 with blocks were better than cleats. Another advantage 

 was getting the outside sections filled with the rest. He 

 had tried some of the 4x5 inch .sections : was going to do so 

 more extensively the coming season. 



Mr. Leonard used the 4x5 section. 



The present committee was ordered to report at the 

 morning session what to do in regard to experimental 

 work. 



TK.WEL-STAINS. 



Mr. Leonard then gave a talk on travel-stains. It was 

 not all the dark honey that was made the first of the season. 

 He had honey spoiled by the bees bringing in something to 

 stop cracks with just as the season was closing. He did not 

 know where it came from, but thought it was the same as 

 the last run of sap — the honey that was gathered last. It 

 was sometimes colored bj' the bees using old comb and cap- 

 ping, and sometimes by the bees taking honey out of the 

 brood-nest and" carrying it upstairs. It was not caused by 

 the bees walking on it, as he had left the honey on until 

 time to pack for winter, and it was nice and white. 



SECOND DAY— Morning Session. 



The Committee on Nominations made the following re- 

 port, which was adopted : 



President — R. H. Holmes ; Vice-Presidents — Addison 

 County, J. E. Crane ; Lamoille Count}', Geo. H. Terrill ; 

 Chittenden Count}-, O. J. Lowrej' ; Orange County, P. W. 

 Smith : and Rutland County. V. M. Forbes. 



Secretary, M. F. Cram ; and Treasurer, H. L. Leonard. 



The Committee on Resolutions made the following re- 

 port, which was adopted : 



Rt'so/vi'd, That we as bee-keepers assembled thank our 

 Heavenly Father for the prosperity of this Association, and 

 trust that we may have manj' j'ears of prosperity. 



Resolved, That we express our thanks to John Higgins, 

 the proprietor of the Addison House, for favors shown us at 

 this meeting ; also to the Rutland, Central Vermont, and 

 Boston & Maine railroads for reduction in rates. 



Resolved, That we express our thanks to Prof. Geo. H. 

 Perkins, for his able address on the relation of other insects 

 to bees ; also to Prof. H. M. Seely, for interesting remarks. 



W. H. Bkistol, 1 

 H. L. Leonard, I Com. 

 G. W. Fassett. ) 



THE house-apiary. 



Mr. Holmes then gave a description of his house-apiary. 

 It is 51 '2 feet long-, 12 feet wide, 7 feet and 1 inch high. In 

 the north end is a place to drive in a team, and a large door 

 from there into where the bees were. In the opposite end 

 is a large door and window. On the sides are 30 windows 

 9x13, all hung on hinges. Each colony has an entrance 

 IJixS inches. It is painted red, white and blue, each color 

 taking in three colonies in each strip." The rafters project 

 over two feet, so as to keep oft" the storm and sun. There 

 is an alighting-board in front of each hive. The first stand 

 for the bees is 15 inches from the floor, the upper one 4 feet. 

 The frames running crosswise of the entrance make it 

 easier to manipulate. There are several tables and benches 

 thru the center of the building, the longest one 18 feet. 



He moved the bees from out-of-doors into this house 

 just after the honey-flow began, at night, in three different 

 lots. The first time 31 colonies were carried in ; they were 

 the best ones. Some of the bees went back, and that 

 strengthened those that were left. He carried in 19 the 

 next time, leaving 11 of the poorest out-doors, which it 

 strengthened immensely, making them about equal to the 

 others. All were in good working order, and no fighting. 



The whole cost of the building, aside from the work, 

 was $278. 



Some of the advantages were, to be able to work when 

 it rained; bees did not sting as badly as out-of-doors ; he is 

 not troubled by robbers, and could stay all night if it 

 rained, and had done so several times. He had been awak- 

 ened quite suddenly sometimes by a bee falling on him, 

 striking sharp end first. He could take off honey much 

 faster — had taken off 1,200 pounds after 5 o'clock p.m., and 

 got the bees out before dark. Bees mix more or less, and 

 some of the disadvantages were that he could not see quite 



as well, especially when looking to see if the young queen 

 had begun to lay. Out of 29 colonies 16 were queenless 

 when looking to see if the)- had begun to lay. Some had 

 superseded their queens, and then lost them. He would be 

 obliged to have nuclei to supph- the lost queens. 



Mr. Leonard had a house-apiary, and lost half of the 

 colonies each season, mostly in the fall. He thought they 

 were too warm in February and March, causing the bees to 

 breed too early. 



miscellaneous discussion. 



Then came general discussion on the different kinds of 

 foundation. I think the Weed process came out ahead. Mr. 

 Cook said Southern beeswax was harder than Northern. 



How to get the most benefit from experimental work. 

 The following committee were elected to confer with the 

 board of control : O. J. Lowrey, M. F. Cram and J. E. 

 Crane. 



Would it be practical for Vermont bee-keepers to estab- 

 lish headquarters for the purchase of supplies ? Mr. Fassett 

 said with headquarters we might get supplies much cheaper, 

 but he thought bee-keepers were not organized sufficiently 

 to do .so at the present time. Mr. Lowrey said he was in 

 favor of drawing as close together as possible, in purchas- 

 ing supplies, and thought we could save quite a percent by 

 buying in carload lots. 



It was voted that we recognize and fuUj- appreciate the 

 effort of the Vermont State Board of Agriculture in behalf 

 of the bee-keeping industry of our State. 



M. F. Cram, Sec. 



CONDUCTED BY 



DR. C. C miLLER, ATareng-o, HI. 



[The Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal office, or to Dr. Miller 



direct, when he will answer them here. Please do not ask the 



Doctor to send answers bj- mail.— Editor.] 



Answering and Asking Questions. 



In sending in a batch of questions, a correspondent has sent 

 one that I bave coneluded to take out of its regular setting and an- 

 swer separately. He says: 



"Dk. Millek: — Do \ou not iret tired of answering- questions about 

 bees and bee-keeping-? If any of the above questions are unimportant 

 and not worthy of an answer, omit them; or, if you have answered them 

 • in the last five years refer me back, as I have the American Bee Journal 

 covering- that time. — Si'BSCRIBer." 



Seeing you've askt the question, I don't mind telling you that 

 sometimes I do get tired. When a friend asks for some informa- 

 tion that I happen to have, it's a real pleasure to give the infor- 

 mation, but if one after another they keep asking questions all day 

 long, it gets to be another thing. There's a difference, too, be- 

 tween answering some one sitting before me, of whom I can ask 

 any explanations I like, and answering a question so worded that 

 I can hardly tell what is really meant, but must answer somewhat 

 in the dark. Sometimes questions are written in such penmanship 

 that I may be obliged to puzzle a long time over some of the words. 

 In some eases there's anxiety for fear the answers may be mislead- 

 ing. Then there are so many things that one doesn't know. If 

 you want to get a realizing sense of your own ignorance as to 

 matters apistieal, just try for a time answering questions for a 

 bee-journal. 



But there's a bright side to the case. I have very distinct re- 

 membrance of the time when so many questions were coming up 

 constantly, and I wonld have given a good deal for a chance to re- 

 ceive replies as to things that might seem very simple to one of 

 more experience. So it's no small pleasure to know that I'm help- 

 ing to throw some light on the path I have already trod and which 

 others are now treading. Of course I couldn't make so much of a 

 business of answering questions without being paid for it, but it 

 there were connected with it no thought of helping others it would 

 be a somewhat irksome task. Sometimes, too. there comes a very 

 pleasant word of recognition of help received from my answers, 

 and a word of that kind is fully appreciated. 



Once in a great while I receive a word of a different kind. 

 Not long ago I had a letter from a man who was not entirely satis- 

 fled with an answer I gave, and in the course of his letter he said: 



"Of course no one ever did ask the question. I was speaking about 

 this 'question' matter with a bee-keeper the other day. He said: 'Do 

 you reallv suppose any one ever asks such foolish questions as are found 

 in the bee-papers '/' You can guess what my reply was." 



I smiled when I read that. It would probably trouble any one 

 person to get up such a variety of questions. Neither is it neces- 

 sary. The only trouble is to find room for all that come. The 

 worst spell of questions in the history of this Journal occurred 



