760 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



To avoid this I punch the sheets full 

 of small holes, for spring and fall use, 

 and for winter I make an opening in 

 the center of the cloth, 3xG inches, cut- 

 ting on one side and both ends of the 

 opening and turning the flap back; 

 over the opening I place a piece of 

 wire cloth and then put on the chaft 

 cushion, having first placed Hill's de- 

 vice, or sometliing of^ the kind, over 

 the frames under the sheet. This I 

 think gives a thorough ventilation. 



I was pleased to And in tlie October 

 number of the Bee Journal, page 

 659, the plans of Mr. James Heddon 

 for wintering, as it was the plan I had 

 determined on. I think the addition 

 of lime to the sawdust would be of 

 great benefit. I shall also add lime to 

 my chaff cushions. I am of the opin- 

 ion that If chloride of lime, camphor, 

 and articles of a disinfectant and ab- 

 sorbent nature, were used in and 

 around our hives, during winter and 

 summer, that we would be troubled 

 but little, if any, with cholera or foul 

 brood. 



I am more favorable to wintering 

 out doors than in cellars, as I think it 

 approaches nearer to nature. It gives 

 the bees better ventilation as well as 

 the advantage of a cleansing flight 

 during favorable winter weather. 



Hagarstown, lud., Nov. 17, 1882. 



Local Convention Directory. 



1882. Time and Place o) MeeHna. 



Not. 29-30, Western MichiKnn, at Grand, Rnplds. 

 Wm. M. S. Dodce. Sec. 

 Dec. 6-7, MtcbiKan State, at Kalamazoo. 



T. V. Bingham. Sec, Abronia, Mich. 

 1883. 

 Jan. 9.— Cortlivnd Union, at Cortland, N. Y. 



M. C. Bean, Sec, McGrawville, N. Y. 

 9.— Ohio State, at Columbus, Ohio. 



O. Spear, Sec, CardinRton, Ohio. 

 11, Nebraslia State, at Wahoo, Neb. 



Geo. M. Hawlcy, Sec. 

 16.— Eastern N. Y., at Albany, N. Y. 



E. Qualcenbush, Sec. Barnerville, N. Y. 

 16-18, Northeastern, at Syraeuae, N. Y. 



G. W. House. Fayetteville, N. V. 

 19, 20.— Mahoning Valley, at Berlin Centre, O. 

 L. Caraon, Pres. 

 Feb. 3.— Northern Ohio, at Norwalk, O. 

 8.— Maine State, at De.vtcr. 



Wm. Hoyt, Sec. 

 April 5.— Utah, at Salt Lake City. 



i?. Stevenson, Sec. 

 May 11.— Iowa Central, at Winteraet. 



J. E. Pryor.Sec. 

 —,— Texas State Convention, at McKinney. 

 Dr. W. K. Howard, Sec. 

 Oct. 17, 18.— Northwestern, at Chicago. III. 



Thomas G. Newman, Sec. 



1W In order to have this table complete. Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetinKs.— Ed. 



^" The Ohio State Bee-Keepers' 

 Association will meet in Columbus, in 

 the rooms of the Ohio State Journal, on 

 Tuesday and Wednesday, Jan. 9 and 

 10, 1883. A full attendance of mem- 

 bers, and all interested in bee-culture, 

 is requested, as matters of interest 

 and importance will lie discussed. 



Dr. H. Besse, Delaware, O., Pres. 



Daniel Speaii. Cardington,0., Sec. 



Maine Bee-Keepers' Association. 



The regular quarterly meeting of 

 the Maine Bee-Keepers' Association 

 was held at Bangor, on Thursdav, 



Nov. 9, 1882. 



The President, Mr. F. O. Addition 

 of Dexter, called the meeting to order, 

 and Mr. Wm. Hoyt, the Secretary, 

 read the report of the last meeting. 



Several new members signed the 

 constitution, among them a number of 

 ladies ; and it was noticeable that both 

 during the forenoon and afternoon, 

 there was a good sprinkling of ladies 

 who were among the most interested 

 participants in tlie convention. The 

 Association now has a membership of 

 about fifty, embracing the leading bee- 

 keepers in all parts of the State. 



After some discussion it was voted 

 to hold the next annual meeting at 

 Dexter, on Thursday, February 8, 1883. 



It was a matter of much regret to 

 all bee-keepers present at the conven- 

 tion, that Mr. K. S. Torrey, who had 

 made all arrangements for the meet- 

 ing, was prevented, through severe 

 illness, from being in attendance. 



In the afternoon, after disposing of 

 some business, the' following papers 

 were read in the order named : "On 

 Wintering Bees." by K. S. Torrey, 

 Bangor ; " Bee-Keeping, Past, Pres- 

 ent and Prospective,'^ by Lucian 

 French, Dexter ; " Wintering and 

 Springing Bees,'' by O. L. Sawyer. 

 Gardiner; " Bee-Keeping for Ladies,'' 

 by I. F. Plummer, Augusta. In the 

 absence of Mr. Torrey his essay was 

 read by Mrs. Torrey, herself a most 

 thorough and accomplished person in 

 the science of bee-keeping. 



WINTERING BEES. 



Mr. French said that the first requi- 

 site to successful wintering was a 

 strong colony, not less than three 

 quarts, to give an adequate idea of 

 quantity. Then some protection must 

 be given, the amount depending upon 

 the degree of cold the bees have to 

 withstand. Next is a young and pro- 

 lific queen. Then it is sure the colony 

 must have plenty of stores. He be- 

 lieved that from twelve to fifteen 

 pounds of honey were sufficient on 

 which to winter a colony. Mr. French 

 detailed at some length, but in an in- 

 teresting manner, his various ways of 

 wintering bees, and gave an account 

 of some experiments in wintering 

 which he intends to try the coming 

 winter. He has had success in winter- 

 ing hives on their summer stands by 

 providing them with an outer box of 

 rough boards, which left from six 

 inches to a foot of room between that 

 and the hive that was filled with chaff. 

 One foot of chalf packing was also put 

 on top of the hive. A report on some 

 eight or ten different ways of winter- 

 ing which he intends to try in his api- 

 ary of obout forty colonies, he hopes 

 to present to the Association at its 

 next summer meeting. He is sure 

 that more depends upon the vitality 

 of the colony than any other one thing; 

 and that the thing most to be dreaded 

 is spring dwindling. Human wisdom 

 has not yet devised the best way of 

 wintering bees, but Mr. French lives 



in hopes that it will soon be accom- 

 plished. 



Mr. Plummer made some interesting' 

 remarks on wintering, and on provid- 

 ing artificial pasturage for bees. As 

 to the former subject, he said that in 

 different years, aiid in different places, 

 bees had sometimes wintered well in 

 all kinds of situations. He thought 

 one of the most ditiicult features of 

 wintering was to carry tlie bees through 

 from the middle of March to the mid- 

 dle of May, successfully. In regard 

 to the latter he advocated with much 

 earnestness the providing of artificial 

 feeding ground, as without it, in the 

 older portions of the State he thought 

 we could not get so mch honey from 

 bees as was desirable. In some years, 

 probably, owing to atmospheric influ- 

 ences, -white clover will yield little or 

 no honey. He thought highly of sweet 

 clover and borage, with the latter be- 

 ing especially well pleased. The ques- 

 tion with him was, as to whether we 

 should grow crops for honey alone, or 

 grow such crops as would yield grain 

 after the honey had been gathered. He 

 was going to sow half an acre of sweet 

 clover another spring. As to borage, 

 he had had a small piece the past sea- 

 son, which was in bloom perpetually 

 from July 1st to very late in the fall, 

 and the plants had been fairly black 

 with bees from morning till night. 

 From considerable experience he had 

 but a slight opinion of buckwheat as a 

 honey plant. 



Secretary Hoyt said he had wintered 

 one colony very successfully last win- 

 ter by covering it " head and ears " 

 with buckwheat straw, on its summer 

 stand— the straw being piled on pretty 

 thick. On April 5th last, he opened 

 one side, and after getting into the 

 straw a few inches found it perfectly 

 dry. There was no loss to this colony, 

 and it did not eat but little honey, as 

 the top of the frames had sealed honey 

 on them. The colony was strong, one 

 of his best. He was intending to try 

 half a dozen hives this winter in the 

 same way— it was at least a cheap 

 means of wintering. He thought if 

 bees could be kept perfectly dormant 

 in winter, in whatever location they 

 were, and could be in a normal condi- 

 tion in the fall (?'. e., young bees) they 

 would winter well ; and should not 

 raise brood or pollen till in the best 

 possible condition to breed for sum- 

 mer say the last of May or the first of 

 June. He knew of a friend had win- 

 tered bees in square boxes on the 

 south side of a bank where the snow 

 had drifted completely over them, and 

 where they did not thaw out for the 

 winter. They came out in as good 

 condition as others kept in a different 

 way. If bees are strong, they can fly 

 toward spring, or even in winter, if 

 the sun is warm, alight on the snow 

 and rise again before becoming cold. 



BEE pasturage. 



In regard to pasturage for bees. Mr. 

 Hoyt thought it a subject of much im- 

 portance, out said he believed we 

 coultl not afford to grow a crop for 

 honey alone, as a general thing. He 

 believed we should grow white, and 

 the small Western red clover for this 

 purpose. He had sowed borage to 



