360 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



moved the queen, leaving the colony 

 to rear a new one. What happened 

 to this queen lias just been related. 

 The new queen having been accepted 

 I trust all its troubles will now be at 

 an end. 

 Kleinheilbach, Germany. 



Local Convention Directory. 



1882. Time and Place of Meeting. 



AuE. 10 — Maine State, at Harmony, Maine. 



Wm. Hoyt, Sec. 



Sept. 5-N. W. 111. and S. W. Wis., at Rockton, III. 

 Jonathan Stewart, Sec. 

 Oct. 5— Kentucky Union, at Shelbyville, Ky. 



G. W. Demaree, Sec, Christiansburg, Ky, 

 Tuscarawas Valley, at Newcomerstown, O. 

 J. A. Bucklew, Sec, Clarks, O. 



tW In order to have this table complete. Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetings.— Ed. 



Western Michigan. 



[We give this week the remainder 

 of the proceedings of the Western 

 Michigan Convention, which had not 

 arrived at the hour of going to press 

 with our last issue :— Ed.] 



Italianizing an Apiary. 



Mr. Bobertson. I would start a 

 nucleus for each colony, and save the 

 time of the old queens until the young 

 queens were ready to use. The cells 

 should be grown in strong colonies, 

 and only the best stock used. I use a 

 lamp nursery, in whicli the cells are 

 placed to hatch, and drop the virgin 

 queens into the nuclei within a few 

 hours after hatching. In introducing 

 fertile queens, I generally use the 

 caging process, though I have suc- 

 ceeded well with oilier methods. 



Mr. Cobb. I use an introducing 

 cage of my own, which I fasten to the 

 side of the comb. After 48 hours I 

 make a hole through the comb into 

 the cage, and return it, leaving tlie 

 laees to liberate the queen. Nuclei 

 should be started tl-l hours before put- 

 ting queen cells in them. 



Mr. Kilburn. It would endanger 

 the life of the queen to disturb the 

 bees within a week after introducing. 

 I favor the mode of introducing used 

 by Mr. Cobb. 



"Mr. Robertson thought one method 

 infallible ; that was to place the queen 

 on combs of hatching brood. Remove 

 the colony, i)lacing the hive, contain- 

 ing tlie queen to be introduced on the 

 old stand. The bees returning from 

 the field would join the new queen, 

 afterward the rest of the swarm could 

 be given tliem, taking care, of course, 

 to destroy tlie old queen. 



Mr. Kilburn thought this would 

 succeed only when honey was being 

 gathered. 



Artificial Swarming. 



Mr. Robertson, in answer to a ques- 

 tion, said he practiced artificial swarm- 



ing entirely. He seldom divided, but 

 preferred to make up a good swarm, 

 from several, and give them a fertile 

 queen. 



This subject was further discussed 

 on Thursday afternoon. All. or nearly 

 all, favored the method, of making up 

 swarms practiced by Mr, Robertson. 



F. S. Covey dispensed with hand- 

 ling the queen cells, and obtained fine 

 queens in this way ; he made up strong 

 swarms of young bees and brood, 

 dividing into nuclei when queen cells 

 were old enough, leaving one good 

 cell in each hive. He then exchanged 

 places with strong swarms. The 

 majority were found to favor natural 

 swarming in practice. 



Cyprian Bees. 



Mr. Cobb said he had tried the 

 Cyprian bees one season. He con- 

 sidered his opinion ratlier premature 

 as yet ; had found them a little more 

 inclined to sting than Italian bees, 

 particularly so wlien no lioney was be- 

 ing gathered. Felt like discarding 

 them at first, but found some good 

 points. He had found them more 

 prolific and better honey gatherers 

 than the Italians. His Cyprian colo- 

 nies already had drone brood. He had 

 an imported queen. 



Mr. Robertson preferred the Italian 

 to the Cyprian bees on account of 

 tlieir temper. 



John Slabbekoorn. I have found 

 them much crosser than Italian bees. 



Mr. Kilburn. While tliey will breed 

 a little faster, tliey have no other ad- 

 vantage over the Italian bees. As 

 lioney gatherers he has found them 

 no better. They cannot be managed 

 with smoke. They are more inclined 

 to rob, and will defend their hives 

 with more spirit than will Italian 

 bees. 



Mr. Cobb. I have found them man- 

 ageable with smoke. I agree witli 

 Mr. Kilburn that they are more in- 

 clined to rob and will defend them- 

 selves better than Italian bees. 



The President advocated the im- 

 provement of the Italian race, by care- 

 ful selection and breeding from the 

 most prolific. 



The question was asked, " Is this 

 extra prolificness desirable V" 



Mr. Cobb thought that where white 

 clover was the main dependance, 

 extra prolificness was desirable. 



Mr. Kilburn and others had found a 

 cross between the Italian and Cyprian 

 races produced very good bees. 



The following paper was read by 

 Mrs. Jennie Walcott. 



"Thonghts on Bee Keeping." 

 That bee-keeping is a business or 

 profession as much as agriculture, 

 horticulture, architecture, or any of 

 the various pursuits followed by man- 

 kind, none that have kept bees a few 

 years will deny, and our success in 

 this branch of industry depends en- 

 tirely upon our natural and acquired 

 ability. By acquired ability, I mean 

 tlie amount of reading and careful 

 study we have given this pursuit in 

 its various bearings. It is unlike 

 most trades where one serves an ap- 

 prenticeship of several years before 

 being considered capable of manag- 



ing for himself. The bee-keeper must 

 combine theory and practice in order 

 to make the business pay. I have for 

 4 or .J years been somewhat acquainted 

 with the little busy workers, but for 

 the last 2 years I have tried to study 

 their natures and habits, and feel as 

 yet I know but little about them. 



In regard to wintering, I am satis- 

 fied upward ventilation is essential. 

 Our bees were packed in cliafE on the 

 summer stands last November, all in 

 good fair condition. In the cover of 

 one hive a }4 inch hole was bored and 

 a sniall tube inserted which came up 

 through the chaff. Upon examining 

 this hive in March, we found the 

 colony strong, bees having that glossy 

 look characteristic of health. The 

 bottom board was nearly clear of dead 

 bees and the hive presented the best 

 appearance of any in the yard. My 

 opinion of wintering is, first a strong 

 colony; plenty of stores ; a cool, dry 

 atmosphere. 



The problem witli us is how shall 

 we obtain the most honey V which I 

 presume is the principal object with 

 most bee-keepers (while each has his 

 own particular way of managing his 

 bees). Inventors and mechanics are 

 constantly at work on improvements, 

 thereby greatly facilitating the labor 

 of the bees. I liave to confess that 

 our surplus account does not come 

 within a long way of L. C. Root and 

 some otliers. One man claims 600 lbs. 

 per colony. 



My opinion is the queen has much 

 to do with the activity of the colony. 

 Two colonies have stood side by side 

 in our apiary ; one colony produced 

 more than as much again lioney as the 

 other. I think in obtaining queens 

 this should be one of the ruling traits. 

 We have tried various ways to make 

 these lazy bees go to worjj, but with- 

 out much success. I think the fault 

 was with the mother. 



Another thought concerning the 

 sale of honey ; ought we not, as bee- 

 keepers, to obtain a uniform price ? 

 Competition is the life of business, is 

 the tradesmans theory ; yet may we 

 not in justice to ourselves, and kind- 

 ness to our brother bee-keepers, be 

 conformed to a general price for our 

 produce. In union there is strength. 

 A really nice article will always sell 

 more readily in the market than an 

 inferior one, but if one dealer sells his • 

 honey 2 or 3 cents cheaper than the 

 average price, it soon produces con- 

 fusion in the market. Our home 

 market is much better than the mar- 

 ket East, West, or South, according 

 to bee papers, and I hope it may still 

 continue so. I think it will if we are 

 careful to offer only a good article, 

 and expect a good price for it. In re- 

 gard to comb foundation, or natural 

 comb, we say give us the natural 

 comb. Not ignoring this noble in- 

 vention of foundation (many times 

 have we mentally thanked our brother 

 across the ocean for this wonderful 

 help in comb building), but we think 

 its place is in the brood chamber. We 

 save every small piece of natural 

 comb, and fit them nicely together, 

 and place them in the hive, the bees 

 soon fix them solid and we have an- 

 other comb for the extractor. One 



