Oct. 12, 1899. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



645 



was best to combine all — practice, staying with practical 

 apiarist, and reading- books and papers. 



BEE-KEEPING COMPARED WITH OTHER PURSUITS. 



"Is bee-keeping more profitable in comparison with 

 other pursuits ?" 



Mr. Salver said there was more money in bees for the 

 capital invested, altho he could make money at other pur- 

 suits. 



O. P. Hyde gave some of his experience. He made 

 more money out of bees. He bought a lot of bees for SITS, 

 and received s!700 worth of honey from that lot the first 

 year, besides 50 colonies of increase. 



Judge Terral said it was not advisable for beginners to 

 invest much in bees at once, but best for them to start with 

 very few colonies, and start cheaply by beginning with 

 swarms or bee-trees. 



Mr. Davenport and others prefer to have other pursuits 

 combined with bee-keeping. 



Pres. Jones says that it will pay an experienced person 

 to buy up several hundred colonies at once, but with the in- 

 experienced it will not do. 



BEST WAY TO REAR QUEENS. 



•' What is the most profitable way to rear queens ?" 



Mr. Davidson has reared queens by many methods, and 

 has made failures. He uses a modification of Alley's 

 method, which is different from Doolittle's, with which he 

 did not succeed. Place an empty comb in the breeder's 

 hive, and in 3':^ days eggs will be hatcht into larva;'. Then 

 deprive one or two colonies of their queens and brood. 

 Don't leave any brood, and make nuclei with the queens. 

 Leave these colonies queenless over night, and early the 

 next morning- get the comb with larv;e, cut it into strips of 

 one row of cells, destroy every other larva, then dip tlie 

 other side into melted beeswax, and attach it to the bottom 

 edge of the comb which has been cut out to give it a round- 

 ing bottoiTi. After leaving the cells in these hives for 24 

 hours, remove them to the top story of strong colonies, with 

 a comb of unsealed brood on each side, which brings up 

 nurse-bees to complete the cells. Make nuclei a day before 

 the cells hatch, and move the cells into strong nuclei when 

 ready. Close the entrance or the bees will go back. He be- 

 lieves dipping cells is all nonsense, and will cause two fail- 

 ures to his one. 



H. H. Hyde askt, Why not give two batches of cells ? 



Mr. Davidson — The royal jelly will be exhausted. 



Mr. Davenport waits for colonies to start cells, then re- 

 moves the larva;, and puts in larva; from his breeder. 



Mr. Atchley says their plans of rearing cells is all right. 

 He spoke on the Doolittle and Alley plans, also other meth- 

 ods, and cautioned queen-breeders not to go too far, and not 

 to tear their colonies all to pieces making nuclei out of 

 them, as that is dangerous. Have only one nucleus to each 

 colony. Always have plenty of strong colonies to back 

 you, or you will soon be ruined, so don't make this inistake. 



Judge Terral and Pres. Jones endorst strongly what 

 Mr. Atchley said. A queen-breeder has just so far to go, 

 and if he leans over just a little when the demand exceeds 

 his supply, he will g-enerally proceed too far, and is sure to 

 go down. Mr. Atchley is right about having large colonies 

 to back you ; have only one nucleus to each, and if you get 

 a dollar out of it, it is just as good as found, as the strong 

 colony is still there tending to its business. This venturing 

 too far has ruined many a queen-breeder, as by tearing his 

 whole apiary to pieces he was left without any bees and no 

 strong colonies to back him. 



Mr. Davidson also spoke on this, and before venturing 

 too far he returned the money if unable to fill the orders. 



Mr. Atchley objects to both going too far or returning 

 the money. Have plenty of colonies to back you. 



SECOND DAY— Afternoon Session. 



BEST WAY TO RE.AR BEST QUEENS. 



Mr. Atchley gets good queens out of cells from natural- 

 swarm cells as any other method. Select all the good cells, 

 and destroy all bad ones. Large colonies are not really 

 necessary to rear good queens. He reared some of his best 

 queens in a little after-swarm. Always attend closely to 

 business. 



Pres. Jones prefers a strong colony in a cool spring, 

 also later in the season, as it can use a larger lot of cells. 

 Strong colonies are always essential, and none too good at 

 any time. Select good cells. He tried almost all methods 

 to rear queens, and prefers Doolittle's cups, also Pridgen's 



method of rearing good queens. Have colonies in good 

 condition with bees of the right age, and plenty of nurse- 

 bees. Budded cell-cups in the upper story of a strong col- 

 ony with moderate or good honey-flow gave good results. 

 He has had queens mated and laying in upper stories with- 

 out running down liis old colonies. It is a hard matter to 

 have cells built in upper stories when conditions are not 

 right, and no honey coming in. He can tell bad and defec- 

 tive cells on the third day, and selects his cells for good 

 queens. 



BUYING GOOD QUEENS. 



••Can the honey-producer afford to buy good queens 

 rather than use the ordinary or poor ones he may have ?" 



It was agreed upon by nearly all to buy good queens if 

 the bee-keeper has no means to rear good ones. He will be 

 greatly the looser if keeping poor queens, and can't afford 

 to tolerate them. 



The following resolution was read and adopted : 



Resolved. That we, the Central Texas Bee-Keepers' 

 Association, in session assembled, do hereby extend Mr. 

 and Mrs. E. R. Jones, and the good people of the city, our 

 sincere and heartfelt thanks for the hospitable way they have 

 entertained us during our stay in their city ; and that this 

 resolution be incorporated in our minutes. 



COLOR OF HONEY AND COLOR OF COMB. 



'• Does the color of the honey gathered have anything 

 to do with the color of the comb ?" 



All said yes. 



Pres. Jones related a case of last spring when bees 

 gathered the darkest kind of honey, almost black, and yet 

 the comb was very white. It was honey-dew. 



Mr. Aten said it was not honey, then. It was '•bug- 

 juice," and the bees did not make the-^vhite comb from it. 



" Is it a fact that queens reared from older larvae will 

 hatch later than queens from one-day-old larva;?" They 

 hatch first before the time of hatching good queens. 



PREVENTION OF SW.^RMING. 



•• What is the best method to prevent swarming ?" 



Provide plenty of room ; give third and fourth super if 

 necessary. Can't prevent swarming after the bees get the 

 swarming-fever. 



Mr. Brown said : Room, shade, and ventilation. 



Pres. Jones runs more closely for comb honey, which 

 taught him that plenty of room for the queen and also in 

 supers is best. Use a'young queen ; no other when produc- 

 ing comb honey. 



BEES FOLLOWING THE APIARIST AROUND. 



'• How can you find colonies of bees whose workers fol- 

 low one around in the apiary ?" 



H. H. Hyde watcht the kind of workers and found their 

 colony, dequeened it. and the trouble stopt. 



Mr. Aten and others kill them, as they are only a few 

 bees from certain colonies. 



BROOD-NEST BEFORE THE HONEY-FLOW. 



" How would you prepare the brood-nest just previous 

 to honey-flow for extracted honey in Jamaica ?" 



Mr. Aten has prolific queens : lets them lay in all stories 

 to have lots of hatching bees just previous to the flow, and 

 the bees fill all cells with honey in upper stories, out of 

 which the young bees hatch. 



O. P. Hyde— Strong colonies and good, prolific queens. 

 Study your "locality and know just when the flow starts. 

 Have plenty of hatching bees just before the flow, and let 

 the queen use all the stories. No queen-excluders. Bees 

 fill every cell in the upper stories as soon as the bees hatch 

 out, and crowd the queen down. 



Mr. Atchley endorses the above plans. Plenty of empty 

 combs on hand'is as good as money in the bank. 



SWEET CLOVER— ITS VALUE, ETC. 



A question was askt in regard to sweet clover, its 

 value, etc. 



Mr. Davenport gave quite a lengthy talk on this sub- 

 ject. Sow in the fall, in September, on unbroken ground. 

 It grows and sprouts out well. Next September sow another 

 seeding on same ground, to give a good stand. It has a tall 

 growth, and stock like it. It requires about IS pounds at 

 each seeding ; on good land about 10 pounds. It blooms 

 very profusely, and a good honey-flow from it lasts from 

 Mav 10 until frost. It is easily killed out by plowing. 

 After being cut it runs out suckers and blooms again until 



