616 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



done. In these observations I have 

 of course sought to take into account 

 the influence of temperature, of the 

 atmospheric pressure, of the direction 

 of the wind, of the weather, and my 

 table embraces all these records— the 

 laws are known which rule over the 

 secretion of nectar by the plants ; but 

 we do not know every thing, and there 

 are anomolies, and cases which cannot 

 be explained. A certain temperature 

 is necesary, a certain heat also, a 

 moderate atmospheric pressure, and a 

 certain moisture in the air, these are 

 the general laws. The dry winds 

 from the north and northeast are very 

 contrary, while tlie moist winds from 

 the south and west are very favorable. 

 Tlie rays of the sun are not indispens- 

 able ; for, in cloudy w eather and even 

 during the few li'ours preceeding a 

 storm, I have seen the bees gathering 

 enormous quantities of honey. Dur- 

 ing fine weatlier, the gathering may 

 be abundant, very much so, but if the 

 days continue hot and dry, the honey 

 decreases. After a good rain, it is 

 abundant but watery, owing doubtless 

 to the nocturnal evaporation ; a cool- 

 ing of the temperature arrests the 

 secretion of the nectar, and yet this 

 secretion will take place when the 

 temperature is relatively low, in tlie' 

 spring for instance. Cold nights have 

 generally an unfavorable influence up- 

 on the days which follow, and even 

 here we sometimes get good crops 

 after cold nights not however, below 

 55 to 46^ Fahr. 



I know that the variations in the 

 weight of a liive do not reveal all its 

 inside working; the laying of larvfe 

 increases or diminishes in importance; 

 the bees also bring in water and pol- 

 'len ; they build their combs ; w'orking 

 bees are lost. It is dittlcult to appor- 

 tion its part to everyone of these 

 factors; and yet, take it all in all, 

 these observations on the scales are as 

 amusing as useful for the conduct of 

 the apiary— often the liees appear to 

 be gathering and yet bring in nothing; 

 and then an importance is given to 

 bloom, which it does not everywhere 

 deserve in the same degree. Thus, at 

 Nyon, I rely no longer upon fruit 

 trees, the acacia robinier, the linden, 

 etc. I depend on my meadows, tlie 

 trefoil, the sago, and "they do not dis- 

 appoint me ; I know that, with them. 

 my colonies will be ready by the mid- 

 dle of May. 



I can only speak for my locality ; 

 but I believe that the condition of 

 many more in viilleys is the same as 

 mine. I know also, that, after hay 

 harvest, I have nothing more to expect 

 at Nyon ; from the white clover, lin- 

 den and buckwheat tlie bees do well. 

 But when I shall have succeeded in 

 getting up a field of melilot, yellow 

 (noney lotus) as well as white, on 

 some very poor land, I will then con- 

 sider myself as a bee-keeper, almost 

 always sure to succeed. 



Commenting upon this paper, Mr. 

 J. Jeker added that the Germans give 

 up all idea of getting honey from 

 their fall heath after a storm, so great 

 is the influence exerted by electricity 

 upon the nectar. lie had also hives 

 fixed upon scales, and, weighing a 

 colony which had lost its queen three 



days after it had been hived, he found 

 that, from that time its weight had 

 continually decreased, while otlier 

 colonies with (jueens were increasing 

 in weight, tlie queenless one was get- 

 ting lighter every day. 



Another paper was read by Mr. B. 

 de Vevey, advising beginners on tlieir 

 treatment of drones, not to kill them 

 by wliolesale, but to be sure to keep a 

 few hundred for every colony, in order 

 that the purity of the mother be well 

 provided for, otlierwise she would be 

 very apt to get off from tlie hive and 

 never return, leaving it queenless, an 

 unproductive expense, even if a few 

 poinids of lioney are saved by an in- 

 judicious suppression of the drones 

 whicli are also needed for the erection 

 of tlie large cells without which bees 

 cannot get along. 



Mr. J. Jeker stated his method of 

 dividing colonies in frame hives and 

 recommended to beginners to make 

 up a colony not from one hive, but 

 from two, taking the queen and young 

 bees from tlie liist and tlie cells witli 

 larvje from the second; experienced 

 keepers however, he said, make up 

 small nuclei which they furnish with 

 cells built up in a good colony. 



Mr. B. de Vevey, stated his method 

 of dividing a colony, by choosing his 

 strongest colony, taking out of it the 

 cells and larvie, without tlie bees, 

 placing them in an empty hive which 

 he carried olf to fill the place of a 

 colony that is also carried off some- 

 where else, and the working bees of 

 the latter, coming back to their 

 wonted place, find the larva; which 

 they care for at once to get a queen. 



As he invited criticism upon tiis way 

 Mr. Ed. Bertrand remarked that it 

 was contrary to admitted tlieory for 

 old working bees tlius to rear a qiieen. 



The Rev. Father Philippe, Superior 

 of the Cordaliers, explained his 

 method of keeping his Italian bees 

 pure : He waits for the psychologic 

 moment when the bees begin driving 

 the drones before them, a sure indica- 

 tion that tlie days of these are num- 

 bered, and lie divides his colonies 

 making a choice of sucli as lie wants 

 to breed from ; the colonies which have 

 queens gradually exterminate their 

 males, while tliose which are queen- 

 less keep tlieiis, and these males of 

 choice colonies will fertilize tlie new 

 queens; although it happens some- 

 times that the queen is badly mated 

 and thus brings out a mongrel set of 

 working bees, still the male progeny 

 is pure ; at the time he thus operates, 

 the hive swarms with bees; and as he 

 divides only after harvest, his yield of 

 honey does not suffer. He also des- 

 cribed tlie compartment box wliich lie 

 uses to raise and keep a certain num- 

 ber of queens for use when wanted. 

 The compartments are all small hives 

 which he can put together when not 

 thus occupied by queens. 



President Horner said that he had 

 devised such a queens' box — a wired 

 frame divided into 15 apartments, 

 each holding 15 cells; but tie doubts 

 the possibility of these queens being 

 kept after hatching. 



Mr. Ed. Bertrand replied that he 

 had no experience with such ; but 

 that in America such boxes are used. 



although the queens are there set free 

 as soon as hatched— not being ac- 

 cepted however, by a colony, or even by 

 by a small nucleus, unless brought in 

 within the half hour following their 

 birth ; that after a very few days the 

 young queens become possessed of an 

 imperious desire to get out; and 

 Anally that it is not probable that the 

 voung queens are fed by the bees, nor 

 know how to feed themselves. 



Mr. Fusay, in trying to obtain 

 fecundity in queens while captive, had 

 once Hlted up in the upper part of a 

 frame cages containing royal cells; 

 the queens, he said, could go out into 

 a space arranged above the cage, and 

 into this space males were introduced ; 

 but the results were null ; the cajitive 

 queens after 7 or 8 days, were thinned, 

 faded, and not received if presented 

 to nuclei. 



Mr. Ed. Bertrand presented the 

 solar wax extractor of Leandri, im- 

 proved by Dr. A. Dubiiii, costing 10 

 francs ; it had been sent to be ex- 

 amined and tried, and the wax ex- 

 tracted with itwas declared to be very 

 pure, not burned in the least ; it could 

 only be used for small quantities, but 

 saved much labor. Mr. Bertrand pre- 

 sented also the Feet queen cage, an 

 American device for carrying and in- 

 troducing queens : now being manu- 

 factured liy Mr. P. Von Siebenthal. 



Mr. Marmier presented an American 

 smoker improved by himself ; between 

 the guard and the lire place he has 

 fitted up an old carpet to shield off the 

 heat; within the tire-box, a spring 

 fastened to a grate presses upon the 

 fuel and keeps it kindled; lastly two 

 handles fltted upon the bellows facili- 

 tates it being held more easily with 

 one hand. 



The meeting adjourned at 5:45 p.m. 

 Ed. BEltTliAND, Heiy. 



This day of June 27th was well Hlled 

 up ; at 7:.30 in the morning a number 

 of bee-keepers were already in attend- 

 ance at Carpenters" hotel, Fribourg, 

 Vaud, Geneva, Neuchatel, the Ber- 

 nese Jura were represented; the 

 venerable Abbe Alois Ulrjcli, of Sion, 

 always present at our meetings, repre- 

 sented the Valais; true to his promise, 

 Mr. J. Jeker, of Lubingen, vice presi- 

 dent of the Society of our confederate 

 of tlie German tongue, was also 

 present; the committee of the Fri- 

 bourg Society was almost complete. 

 After tlie introductions, hand sluik- 

 ings, and the exchange of news about 

 the yield of honey, the entire com- 

 pany of pastors and curates, teachers 

 and farmers, manufacturers and 

 others, went in a liody to the line gar- 

 den of the Cordeliers, situated upon a 

 high terrace overlooking the Savine. 

 The Bev. Father Pliilippe, Superior of 

 the Convent, did the honors in a very 

 pleasant manner. His colonies, 

 mostly pure Italian, are located in • 

 three or four pavilions. Unfortu- 

 nately the season has this year been 

 very unfavorable in the Canton of 

 Fribourg, and the hives contained but 

 very little honey. A number of 

 groups formed around the pavilions 

 and a fewcompetent members, among 

 them the Father Philippe and Mr. 

 Jeker, with a right good will, made 



