88 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



brood-chamber, and be replaced by 

 enamel cloth, in order to retain the 

 moisture whicli tlie bees need so much 

 at this time of year. If they cannot 

 obtain it in the hive they will leave 

 many times when the weather is too 

 cold for them to return. This bring.s 

 me to spring management, which 1 

 will reserve for a future occasion. 



N. N. Betsinger, Marcellus, ad- 

 dressed the Convention on " Winter- 

 ing bees, and the cause and preven- 

 tion of dysentery." His remarks 

 were applauded. 



Mr. Barber, of St. Lawrence county, 

 next spoke, corroborating Mr. Bet- 

 singer's ideas in regard to neat. Bees 

 should not be removed from the cel- 

 lar before willow bloom in tlie .spring. 

 He allovifed no cold air in tlie cellar. 

 . Mr. Root related the experience of 

 Mr. Hoffman in wintering, wliich 

 substantiated the arguments of Mr. 

 Betsinger and Mr. Barber. He tliought 

 that bees which wintered best con- 

 sumed tlui least honey, and advocated 

 a high temperature. 



Mr. Barber said : I have 193 colonies 

 in a cellar, 16x19 feet. 



Mr. Betsinger said the temperature 

 and the atmosphere should be changed 

 every two liours if necessary. To do 

 this the house should be under per- 

 fect control. If the bees are easy, 

 they will make no noise. Bees should 

 never make a noise. When bees lly 

 in the spring and spot tlie snow, it is 

 a sign of dysentery. 



Mr. Bacon said lie found his bees ail 

 right and he believed them healthy 

 when they made a low mnrinnr, like 

 distant roar of wind in distant woods. 



Mr. Barber said bees should not be 

 set out vi'hen there was snow on the 

 ground. He had found that the colder 

 the day the greater the deposit of 

 excrement. 



A. J. King said he thought heat was 

 good for bees. 



Mr. Barber said last year he had 

 wintered 200 colonies with a loss of S, 

 4 by mice and 4 by starvation. He 

 had wintered as many as 160 colonies 

 without losing any. Tlie farmers in 

 liis section all wintered bees according 

 to his plan, and did so successfully. 

 To ventilate he used a8-incli tin pipe, 

 24 feet long, going from the cellar to 

 the outside. He did not ventilate the 

 hives at all, but left them open at the 

 top. He thought more bees were 

 killed by ventilation than by any other 

 method. There was no way in which 

 fresh air could get in, except through 

 cracks and crevices, as no cellar was 

 perfectly air-tight. L. M. Barber and 

 1). Barber each wintered over 100 col- 

 onies last winter, and lost none, either 

 by wintering or springing. In his 

 own cellar lie found some dead bees 

 in the spring. There were about 3 

 bushels to a hundred colonies. 



Mr. Bacon said lie covered the top 

 of his hives with straw to prevent a 

 current of air going through. 



In reply to a question, Mr. Barber 

 said he would not think of wintering 

 15 or 20 colonies in the same manner 

 as he did 100. Tliere would not be 

 lieat enough in the ordinary cellar. 

 He found excrement only inthesha|)e 

 of dust. The bees did not besmear 

 Uie Idves. 



Mr. Betsinger said the latter state- 

 ment showed that liis statement that 

 feeding honey causes dysentery, to be 

 correct. He had not tinislied his ex- 

 periments, but should continue. He 

 had been at school, and should con- 

 tinue to go to school. The late mor- 

 tality among his bees had proved very 

 valuable by giving him experience. 



Mr. Bacon asked wliat kind of foun- 

 dation comb was best for surplus 

 honey V Tlie question was not 

 answered. 



Mr. Vrooman gave the Schoharie 

 county method of wintering, which 

 he said was the best of all. Box liives 

 were placed on strips in the cellar, and 

 a temperature of 48'^. These bees win- 

 tered dry and without consuming any 

 honey. "In tlie si)ring, out of 85 colo- 

 nies, about a peck of bees were swejit 

 up. The tops of the hive were entirely 

 tight. 



Mr. Bosworth moved that a vote of 

 tlianks be tendered to Mr. Betsinger 

 for his able essay. Carried. 



L. C. Root, of Mohawk, gave an ad- 

 dress on '-The Most Succes.sful Method 

 for the Prevention of Swarming." 



Under tlie liead of miscellaneous, 

 the subject of " Wintering " was taken 

 up again. In reply to a question, Mr. 

 Barber said from 15 to 20 jier cent, of 

 his bees were found breeding in the 

 sjiriiig. 



One delegate said he had had very 

 good success, but he was com|)elled to 

 jiut an absorbent in top of the hive to 

 prevent comb mold from moisture. 



Mr. Betsinger said he kept such a 

 high temperature as to drive moisture 

 out of the hives through the pores of 

 the wood. 



Several delegates said tliis could not 

 be done, because the inside of the 

 hive was covered with jiropolis, and 

 the outside waspainted with two coats 

 of paint. 



Mr. King said moisture would ac- 

 cumulate during the breeding. This 

 contained a certain amount of car- 

 bonic acid gas, which was deadly poi- 

 son. He opposed upward ventilation,, 

 except as afforded through chaff or 

 other loose material. 



Mr. Dickinson said a colony would 

 consume <ibout 25 lbs. of honey during 

 the winter. About 75 per cent, of this 

 was moisture, or about 3 quarts of 

 water. He would like to know how 

 this amount of water would pass off i* 



Mr. Betsinger said the amount of 

 water would pass olf through a hole as 

 large as a knitting-needle in 35 min- 

 utes, and no one would know it. 



Mr. Barber said the cellar he win- 

 tered in was moist, and sometimes 

 very moist. He thought the moisture 

 was benelicial. Ilis bees were cer- 

 tainly not injured by it. He thought 

 it not half as dangerous as wintering 

 out- doors. 



Mr. Barber said he even had 6 inches 

 of water in his cellar many winters. 

 He set every hive on the bottom- 

 board except the lower tier of hives. 



On motion of Mi'. Dickinson, a vote 

 of thanks was tendered to Mr. Barber 

 for liis ready and clear replies. 

 Adjourned. 



The evening session was devoted to 

 the exhibition of hives and imple- 

 ments used by bee-keepers. Mr. Stod- 



dard, an inventor, who was present, 

 exhibited a model of a lift bridge, 

 which is quite ingenious. 



THIRD DxVY. 



The morning session was called to 

 order at 9:15 a.m. by Vice President 

 L. E. St. Jolin. After listeningto the 

 reading of tlie minutes by the Secre- 

 tary, A. J. King, of New York, read 

 his essay on " Failures," which was 

 adapted especially for beginners in the 

 art of bee-keeping. 



The National Convention. 



Secretary House read a letter from 

 Professor A. J. Cook, President of 

 the North American Bee-Keeiiers' So- 

 ciety, asking that the present Conven- 

 tion" consider the three following 

 points : First, the desirability of ap- 

 pointing committees from different 

 sections to secure local associations, 

 either county or district ; second, the 

 importance of a se|)arate building and 

 a grand display of honey, beeswax 

 and implements at the State Fair, and 

 tliirdly, the question of adulteration. 

 This should be properly denounced. 



The following criticism, by Geo. W. 

 House, on the National Convention, 

 published in the Bee-Keepers' Instruc- 

 tor, by request of several members was 

 then read by Mr. Locke : 



In regard to the National Conven- 

 tion. We wish to speak of the man- 

 ner of electing officers. We think it 

 in bad taste, and that it has too much 

 the oditim of I'ingism about it to be 

 even palatable. Every member should 

 have the privilege of a free ballot. 

 No gag law. 



When that society was organized, 

 the constitution and by-laws were in 

 accordance with American custom 

 and principles. It was organized with 

 the intention of holding its sessions 

 North, South, East and West. But 

 during the past few years there is 

 seemingly little or no regard paid to 

 custom aiid privileges. 



Much was said by certain persons 

 about the resolutions passed at the 

 Northeastern Convention less than 2 

 years ago. Yet where is the earnest 

 and honest thinking bee-keeper, that 

 has the best interests of the fraternity 

 at heart, that will not admit that those 

 resolutions have been the means of 

 doing ni07-e real good than any similar 

 action in the American apicnltural 

 history. 



But where is the honest apiarist that 

 can truthfully say the same in regard 

 to the action taken by the last Na- 

 tional Convention. I refer directly to 

 the address of Mr. T. F. Bingham, 

 entitled " A Partial Review," and the 

 action taken by the Cenvention con- 

 cerning it. 



While I wish it distinctly under- 

 stood that I fully appreciate the noble 

 and earnest work luit forth by the 

 illustrious Rev. L. L. Langstroth in 

 his inventions, improvements and 

 writings, and while I am to-day in 

 full syminithy with his conditions, 

 etc., yet I claim that that body has 

 caused to be placed upon its record a 

 stain, never to be blotted out. Yes; 

 not only a stain, but they have per- 

 petrated the greatest outrage ever 

 recorded in the history of American 



