THE AMERICAJ^ BEE JOURNAL. 



643 



Local Convention Directory. 



1882. Time and Place o! Meeting. 



13— N. W. of IjaCropae, Ht LiiCroBse. Wis. 



G. J. I*umruel, Sec, l>aCro88e, Wia. 

 18, 19— Northwestern, atCliiciiKo. HI. 



('. C. Coflinberry, ?iec., Chtcago, IH, 

 18, 19— Soutliern California, at Lob Anjtelea. 

 J. E. Pleasants, l*res., Anaheim, Cal. 

 21— Northern tihio. at Norwalk. o. 



S. F. Newman, Sec, N'orwalk, O. 

 Nov. 1— New Jersey & Eastern, at New Brunswick, 

 J. Uasbrouck, Sec. Bound Brook, N, .1. 

 3.— Iowa Central, atWinterset. Iowa, 



Henry Wallace, Sec. 



^" In order to have this table complete. Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetlnRS.— Ed. 



Ontario, Canada, Convention. 



The Ontario Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion was lielil at Toronto on Sept. 13, 

 1882. Hon. Louis Wallbridge in tlie 

 cliair. 



The Secretary's report was read and 

 adopted. It sliowed llti members^ 

 and balance in hand of Treasurer ot 

 $27.2.5. 



The President said that the com- 

 mittee, consisting of liimself, tlie 

 Secretary and Mr. D. A. Jones, had 

 applied to the Government for incor- 

 poration and a money grant. Tlie 

 Governuieiit seemed favorable to an 

 Act of incorfioration, but hesitatetl 

 on the point of a grant. 



The President's address was then 

 made, in which he said that lie took a 

 real pleasure in bee-keeping apart 

 from the profit. The study of the 

 habits and development of bees was 

 most instructive and elevating. They 

 were excellent instructors in mathe- 

 matics, and set an excellent example 

 in social economy. The honey dis- 

 play at tlie Exhibition this year was 

 not quite up to tlie usual maik. owing 

 to the very unfavorable season. 



His metliod of wintering bees, he 

 said, had been tested by him and 

 found good. He used the Laiigstroth 

 hive with nine frames. He never 

 interfered witli the brood nest in the 

 spring, wlieii he remnved certain 

 combs to insure breeding. He conliii- 

 ed liis honey raising operations to the 

 filling of boxes; he did not remove 

 frames. For wintering he removed 

 all the lioxes ami honey lioards. and 

 stripiiedeverytliing down to the comb- 

 frames. With a coarse faliric he 

 formed quilts and cusliions, with 

 which lie carefully protected the hives. 

 These he piled one aliove the other in 

 Ills cellar, keeping tliem apart witli 

 small liattens, and covering each sep- 

 arately with a piece of cloth so as to 

 afford" each colony space to walk up 

 the sides of their own habitation. 

 This separation secured proper venti- 

 lation and dryness, and was absolute- 

 ly necessary in cellar wintering for the 

 safe and healthy preservation of bees. 



In reply to a" question, he stated 

 that he gave no top ventilation ex- 

 cept tlirough the quilt. The mois- 

 ture passed through the quilt and 



evaporated on the top. The great 

 nrinciple was to keep in the heat and 

 let out the moisture. 



D. A. Jones was of the opinion that 

 the whole secret of wintering was to 

 have plenty of young bees, jileiity of 

 stores, together with with plenty of 

 lieat and ventilation. The great dan- 

 ger was the generation of carbonic 

 acid gas. In one instance he had found 

 a stratum of this gas in liis cellar to 

 the depth of six inches. As carbonic 

 acid gas was heavier than the atmo- 

 sphere, and ciinsequently sunk, it 

 was most important to elevate tlie 

 hives a little and have proper bottom 

 ventilation. 



The Pkesident said that in his 

 cellar the gas generated was carried 

 away by a small stream of water. 

 His "hives were also raised slightly 

 from the ground. 



Mr. \V. C. Wells explained how he 

 had applied a stove to secure proper 

 heat and ventilation. He let off the 

 noxious gas through a tile, like water. 



Dr. Shaver, of .Stratford, thought 

 the cushions or quilt should be tilled 

 with sawdust six inches deep. Proper 

 ventilation would remove the carbonic 

 acid gas. The opening of the doors 

 and windows was sufficient. The col- 

 onies should be ventilated from either 

 aljove or below. He agreed with the 

 President about stacking the hives 

 one above the other separated by 

 small stakes. He never took out his 

 bees untill the first of May. Early 

 moving in the spring caused the queen 

 to begin laying liefore the weather 

 was warm "enoiigh. and bad conse- 

 quences were sure to follow. 



Mr. Jones found by weighing that 

 during winter his colonies consumed 

 about five or six pounds of honey. 

 Soft maple blossoms were of great 

 value to bees in spring, perhaps a- 

 bout the 1st. of April. 



Thos. Forfar considered tlie bot- 

 tom ventilation an absolute neces- 

 sity, as the carlionic acid gas, being 

 heavier than air, sunk to the bottom. 



C. R. Trench, of New Market, was 

 convinced that ventilation is required 

 both at top and bottom. He had 

 been very successful in wintering, 

 and he adopted measures to secure 

 this kind of ventilation. He consid- 

 ered dry sawdust packing of the 

 greatest value both in summer and 

 winter. In summer it kept out the 

 heat, and in winter the cold. He con- 

 sidered feeding in the winter a very 

 bad expedient. He did not think chaff 

 as good as sawdust, especially on top, 

 where it got all matted together. It 

 might do at the sides. The sawdust 

 packing prevented the deceitful 

 warming up of a wintry sun. which 

 sometimes lured bees outside to 

 meet death from cold. He used saw- 

 dust to the depth of four inches and 

 left his hives thus protected all win- 

 ter. He had not been successful eith- 

 er in cellar or bee-house wintering, 

 but had been quite successful when 

 he left the hives on the summer 

 stands. 



Mr. McKnight said that it appeared 

 that every one considered the way 

 which hefound successful, the right 

 way. He proceeded to describe ex- 

 periments he had made in bee-house. 



cellar, and outside wintering. He 

 had uniformly met with success by all 

 methods, and therefore he concluded 

 that there must be several right ways. 

 He used different kinds of hives, but 

 gave preference to the Thomas hive 

 for wintering, owing to the deptli of 

 the frame. He had found for packing 

 purposes ground cork better than saw- 

 dust, chaff, or any thing else. He 

 thought a good transmitter rather 

 than a good absorbent was what was 

 required on the top of hives. 



SECOND SESSION. 



In the absence of the President, Mr. 

 Corneil Lindsay was called to tlie 

 chair. 



Mr. Woodward asked what was the 

 best method of introducing a new 

 queen late in the season. 



Mr. Corneil formed a cage of wire- 

 cloth with an open side, which he 

 placed on the combs. The queen, thus 

 protected, took a deep draught of 

 honey, and then set about her proper 

 business. In a short time a young 

 brood surrounded her, and slie felt 

 quite at home. 



Mr. Jones took a piece of wire-cloth 

 and formed it into a box witliout a 

 lid. He cleared a piece of comb, 

 placed the queen on it, and then 

 covered her with the wire-cloth box. 

 In a short time the bees gnawed 

 through the comb and liberated the 

 captive. The operation was then 

 complete. He had also successfully 

 introduced a queen with the assist- 

 ance of chloroform. He believed the 

 best way was to cage the queen on a 

 comb. A gentleman of Cincinnati 

 had successfully introduced queens 

 by enclosing them first in aclose wire- 

 cloth cage and suspending it for a 

 time in the hive. Subsequently he 

 made an aperture at the bottom and 

 covered it with wax. The bees then 

 gnawed her out in a friendly wav. It 

 was a very unwise thing to disturb 

 the hive after introducing the queen. 



Mr. Chalmers wanted Mr. Jones to 

 explain how he used chloroform. He 

 thought it was another dangerous 

 operation. 



Mr. Jones said he confined his doc- 

 toring with chloroform entirely to his 

 bees. After the application of chloro- 

 form the bees lay as if dead on the 

 bottom of the hive, but when a little 

 fresh air passed over them they re- 

 vived. Care must be taken to give 

 the whole hive a uniform dose. A 

 sponge moistened with chloroform 

 must not be introduced into the hive. 

 Mr. McKnight stated that his third 

 gatliering of honey had been very 

 dark in color, resembling molasses. 

 He had not discovered from what 

 source the lioney came. The flavor 

 and consistency of it were satisfactory. 

 The combs were also black. 



Question. ^Vhat can be done for a 

 broken down colony of bees if dis- 

 covered before the bees are smotliered? 

 Mr. Jones explained that this 

 occurred sometimes in shipping. He 

 cooled the combs until they became 

 stiff and then replaced them. The 

 bees very soon repaired breaches. 



Mr. Chalmers asked what could be 

 done for bees smeared with honey. 

 Mr. Jones thought the best way was 



