THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



793 



Prof. Cook could not consent to 

 abandon the clipping of the queens' 

 wings. 



\V. Z. Ilutcliiuson said by using the 

 extractor freely he could generally 

 prevent swarming. 



Mr. Southvvick had no success in pre- 

 venting swarming by cutting out 

 queen-cells. 



President Heddon hives the swarm 

 on frames of wired foundation, let 

 them work and after 5 days united 

 them with tlie parent colony. 



Mr. Swarthout liives the bees in a 

 new hive, all but a few which he re- 

 turns to the parent colony and puts in 

 a young laying queen, and linds that 

 tliis usually prevents swarming. 



Mr. Townseiid said that bees did not 

 like to liiiild comb when they were 

 queenless. 



Prof. Cook remarked that many ex- 

 tensive bee-keepers thought it profit- 

 able to clip the wings of tlieir queens, 

 and for hiniseU' lie did not see how 

 any one could afford not to do so. 



Dr. Miller did not think he could 

 keep bees successfully without clip- 

 ping the queens' wings. 



Adjourned. 



SECOND DAY. 



The convention met at 9 a. m., and 

 Mr. Cutting, chairman of the com- 

 •mittee on obtaining a suitable place 

 for exhibits at the State Fair and ob- 

 taining a good list of premiums, re- 

 ported by request. The report was 

 unanimously received and $20 were 

 allowed for expenses and an order on 

 the treasury for the amount was 

 drawn. 



Mr. Cutting said that the State Fair 

 officers were so well pleased with the 

 honey exhibit tliat they would do any 

 thing reasonable to encourage the 

 bee-keeping interest for the coming 

 year. 



Prof. Cook said that we could not do 

 anything tliat would go farther to 

 popularize honey consumption than to 

 make a large display at the State Fair, 

 and have if sold on the ground, and 

 Mr. Cutting luid done his work so well 

 that he would move a vote of thanks 

 to him for the way in which he had 

 managed the exhibit and secyred the 

 approbation of the officers of the State 

 Fair. 



The election of officers for the ensu- 

 ing year was then had, with the fol- 

 lowing result : 



Presidetit—Frot. A. J. Cook. 



Vice Presidents— Dr. A. S, Haskins 

 and VV. Z. Hutchinson. 



Secretary — ii. D. Cutting. 



Treasurer — T. M. Cobb. 



Tlie secretary's expense account was 

 presented, amounting to $18.47 and 

 ordered paid. 



Flint was selected as the place for 

 holding the next annual session, on 

 the lirst Wednesday after the first 

 Tuesday in December, 1S83. 



Secretary Bingliam was requested to 

 continue his duties during the present 

 session. 



President Cook was then conducted 

 to the chair by Mr. T. G. Newman and 

 Dr. Haskins and welcomed by Presi- 

 dent Heddon. 



Discussion was then resumed, and 



the next subject on the programme 

 taken up, viz.: 



Winlenng Bees. 



W. Z. Hutchinson wintered his bees 

 in a cellar, ventilated by a pipe run- 

 ning underground. With this venti- 

 lating pipe the air was kept pure and 

 odorless, and the bees wintered well. 



Mr. St. Jolin said that spring dwin- 

 dling was caused by the bees taking 

 cold and they died of pneumonia. 



II. L. Taylor used chaff cushions on 

 each side of the hives, for winter, and 

 was successful. 



Mr. Kezartee kept his bees dry with 

 absorbents and they wintered well. 



Dr. Ranney ))aoked with 4 inches of 

 chaff and all()ws no escape of air from 

 the inner liive. He packed the clialf 

 over the cover and around the hive, 

 and they wintered well. 



Dr. Southwick uses chaff cushions; 

 the top cushions never get damp if 

 there is an air-space between them 

 and the outside boards. He took off 

 the packing when the apple trees 

 bloomed, and kept the bees from 

 breeding as late as possible. 



Dr. Southard found that if any cover 

 of the inside hive, as described' by Dr. 

 Ranney, got displaced, the bees in 

 that hive had the dysentery if the 

 winter was very cold. 



James Heddon said he could demon- 

 strate that dysentery was not produced 

 by lack of upward ventilation. Cold 

 is not the cause but the aggravation 

 of the disease. He had the best results 

 in packing bees on the summer stands. 



Mr. Robertson wintered his bees in 

 a cellar, piled S high ; water run 

 through the cellar and carried off the 

 gasses, and winters successfully. 



Prof. Cook remarked that water in 

 a cellar was a valuable thing. He had 

 a brother who has a cistern in his cel- 

 lar where his bees are put, and they 

 winter well. 



Adjourned. 



AFTERNOON SESSION. 



President Cook called the conven- 

 tion to order at 1:30 p.m., and the 

 subject of wintering was further dis- 

 cussed. 



Dr. Southard weighs all his hives 

 before p\itting into winter quarters; 

 takes out all poor honey and gives 

 them 25 pounds each to winter on. 



James Heddon wanted boxes on for 

 winter, and said, dark honey, if thick, 

 was best for winter. 



Comb Foundation. 



Dr. Miller liked the Given founda- 

 tion best. 



Dr. Southwick also liked it best. 



A. I. Root said rubber plates make 

 the softest foundation, and bees work 

 on it very promptly ; next to tliat was 

 the (iiven. He used wire woven in 

 the frames and embedded in the 

 foundation. 



James Heddon : It pays a good 

 profit to make foundation, and when a 

 man lias 50 colonies it will pay him to 

 own a ma(!liine or press. 



Mr. Taylor likes the Given best; he 

 could iMit combs in with the press 

 easier than he could fasten other kinds 

 in the frames. Damp days were best 

 for making foundation. 



The Committee on Statistics made 

 the following report : 



The reports given, show an increase 

 of 863 colonies, or about two-thirds 

 of the spring number. 



The wax was included in the report 

 of but three persons, while one or two 

 reported a good business in the rear- 

 ing and sale of queens. 



Respectfully submitted, 



H. D. Cutting, 

 O. B. Ranney. 



The report was accepted and the 

 committee discharged. 



T. F. Bingham gave the result of 

 his experiments with the cappings. 

 When converted into wax, it took 60 

 lbs. of cappings to make 30 lbs. of wax, 

 or about 10 lbs. of wax from the un- 

 capping of 3,000 lbs. of sealed honey. 



Pasturage for Bees. 



Dr. Miller has sowed sweet clover 

 in buckwheat, and should sow it again 

 next year so as to have a continuous 

 crop. 



Julius Tonilinson had sweet clover 

 near his foundry and it had re-seeded 

 itself for 10 years and grew thicker ; 

 liad sowed some about trees, but very 

 little came up. 



Dr. Miller said he would sow a few 

 acres of sweet clover if he was sure it 

 would pay as a honey plant or other- 

 wise. 



