THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



361 



more thought ; may we not add to the 

 general interest of the meeting if each 

 one write a short account of this 

 summer's experiments, both successes 

 and failures, thereby being a mutual 

 benefit to us all ; lastly, may we not, 

 as bee-keepers, greatly increase our 

 facilities for honey producing, by 

 planting small basswood trees by the 

 road side and along line fences, and 

 by sowing those seeds, and furnishing 

 them gratis to our neighbors, which 

 yield honey. Buckwheat, which is 

 useful as a grain, and many other 

 plants which amply repay us with the 

 sweet nectar they furnish. 



Mr. Robertson pteferred founda- 

 tion to natural comb. Used the Dun- 

 ham—thick for brood combs and thin 

 for sections. He preferred to till the 

 sections with it. 



Mr. Kilburn preferred the Vander- 

 vort foundation on account of natural 

 shape of base. 



The President used foundation in 

 sections only for starters. Had found 

 the bees would sometimes prefer 

 foundation, and sometimes natural 

 comb, when placed alternately. 



Mr. Cobb found comb honey sold 

 best in 1 lb. sections, and the extracted 

 best in glass jars ; but thought buyers 

 would learn to take well to candied 

 honey in tin pails. 



Mr. Kilburn recommended the tin 

 cans for honey ; the smaller sizes mak- 

 ing a cheap and salable retail pack- 

 age, and the large cans more conveni- 

 ent and safe to ship in than barrels, 

 as honey was hard to hold in barrels. 



Mr. Robertson agreed with Mr. 

 Kilburn, that honey was har I to hold. 

 He used pine kegs uncoated, and con- 

 sidered them much better than oak. 

 Spruce kegs were advertised ; he liked 

 the idea, but had not used them. 



Mr. Covey thought bees were made 

 more irritable by using too much 

 smoke; he would give them a little, 

 and proceed at once with his work. 



The President said they should be 

 given a little time to till themselves 

 with honey. 



Mr. Covey. Time is money in the 

 honey season. He thought they were 

 more easUy handled while engaged in 

 filling themselves. 



Mr. Robinson. Some bees-could be 

 handled well without smoke ; others 

 would be cross in spite of smoke. 



Mr. Slabbekoorn thought the quality 

 of the honey they were gathering 

 made a difference. His bees were 

 very cross while at work on seed 

 onions. 



The President thought that bees 

 were aroused by the actions mostly. 

 A colt of his could crop the grass close 

 to the hives without getting a sting. 



W. McCordan complained that the 

 bees were much disturbed by loosen- 

 ing the frames in opening his hives. 



Mr. Kilburn said the use of tin 

 corners, with metal rabbets would 

 prevent all sticking, but he preferred 

 to use the common frame, with the 

 metal rabbets. 



The President carefully pried the 

 frames loose with some instrument 

 before handling, and had no trouble. 



The secretary used a marline spike 

 for that purpose. 



Providing Water for Bees. 



Mr. Robinson thought this was 

 important. They would accept water 

 many times very thankfully. 



Mr. Covey. Many bees were chilled 

 and lost in the spring while gather- 

 ing water in cool weather; believed 

 they should at such times be provided 

 with water at home. 



The President. Bees are supposed 

 to prefer brackish or salt water. 



Mr. Cobb gave them water made a 

 little sweet, in feeders, to keep them 

 at home. It was easier, but not as 

 eff .'Ctive to feed water in the yard. 



The President had fed bees water 

 while in the cellar, with good results. 



Mr. Covey had a swarm become 

 very uneasy in tlie cellar and finally 

 die. On examination he found they 

 had considerable brood, and thought 

 the want of water had made them 

 uneasy. 



Clipping Queens. 



Mr. Cobb said, in his early experi- 

 ence he had a good deal of trouble 

 with absconding swarms ; he now 

 clipped all his queens. 



The meeting adjourned to meet in 

 the same place at such time in October 

 or November next as the officers 

 should elect. 



Wm. M. S. Dodge, Sec. 



stU^U^IM 



Maine State ConTcntion. 



The Maine Bee-Keepers'Association 

 met at Foxcroft, Thursday, May 11. 

 As Mr. Torrey was not present with 

 his essay upon wintering bees, we 

 passed to the reports. Mr. French re- 

 ported a loss of six colonies out of 

 forty-one, during the winter, wintered 

 partly in the cellar, and partly out of 

 doors, packed in chaff. Mr. Silver 

 lost four out of thirteen on their sum- 

 mer stands, without any protection. 



Mr. Crockett wintered seven with- 

 out any loss, he builds a house that 

 will hold three or four hives, and 

 uses chaff for packing. Mrs. Vaughan 

 lost four out of twenty-six, always 

 wintered in the cellar without any 

 loss, until the present winter. 



President Additon said his bees had 

 wintered well, but some of the queens 

 were found missing this spring. Mr. 

 Brockway and others had wintered 

 without any loss. 



In the afternoon a paper on " Bee- 

 Keeping in Maine," prepared by I. F. 

 Plummer, was read, followed by dis- 

 cussion, and numerous questions 

 were asked and answered. Voted to 

 hold the next meeting at Harmony, 

 Somerset Co., August 10, 1882. 



Wsi. IIoTT, Sec. 



^° The Northwestern Wisconsin 

 Bee-Keepers' Society will meet in La- 

 crosse, Wis., June 9, 1882, in the City 

 Hall. A good attendance is desired, 

 as arrangements have been made for 

 articles from practical apiarists. 



G. J. Pasimel, Sec. 



?£7i 



I®" Those who may wish to change 

 from other editions to the Weekly ,can 

 do so by paying the difference. 



Hunting Wild Bees.— Please state 

 the plan of hunting bees. There are 

 several bee-trees in my neighborhood^ 

 if they could be found early enough 

 to transfer. I have 1 colony of bees- 

 packed in chaff on summer stand. 

 They are doing nicely. K. J. Lee. 



Carpenter, Iowa. 



[It will take more space than we 

 can spare to explain the whole modus 

 operandi. We can supply you with a 

 copy of A B C, which gives a very in- 

 structive article on the subject.— Ed.] 



All Swarmed in May.— Last fall I 

 packed '> colonies on the summer 

 stand ; all were strong and in a healthy- 

 condition this spring. One swarmed 

 on the 3d of May, and the others have- 

 since, the last coming out on the 2Sth. 

 I anticipate they will furnish 100 lbs. 

 of section honey in June. I think 

 they are doing well considering the 

 weather. L. J. McKinney. 



Burlington, Iowa. 



Barberry.— This morning finds the 

 ground wliite with snow, and bees are 

 housed ; but they are in fine condi- 

 tion, considering the weather. We 

 have hope yet, but it looks to-day like 

 it would be all hope. Inclosed I send 

 you a specimen of a shrub' that the 

 bees appear to like very much. It 

 grows about 10 feet high ; commences 

 to bloom about the first of May, and 

 blooms through June. Can you telL 

 me its name 'i F. J. Sawin. 



Kirk wood, 111., May 23, 1882. 



[The shrub is the common barberry,, 

 often cultivated for its pleasant, acid 

 fruit, but moae often for ornament. 

 It is a native of Europe, whence it was 

 introduced at an early day, and is now 

 found throughout our country. It. 

 however, rarely escapes from cultiva- 

 tion to become distributed in a nat- 

 ural manner. Insects of many kinda 

 visit its flowers for the honey, which 

 is secreted in considerable quantity. 

 Mr. Sawin is probably mistaken as to 

 the length of time the bush continues 

 in bloom, but a quantity of it would 

 materially aid the bees during its sea- 

 son. No one should fail to observe 

 the movement of the stamens of the 

 flower when these are touched near 

 the base, as by an insect's foot or the 

 point of a pin. It was formerly taught 

 that this wonderful property was for 

 the purpose of putting the pollen on 

 the pistil of the same flower. Now 

 we know that its purpose is to secure 

 the distribution of the pollen from 

 flower to flower through the aid of the 

 insects - which the nectar attracts- 

 Watch them.— T. J. Bukrill.] 



