THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



53 



For the Anierioun Bee Juurntil. 



Nebraska State Convention. 



Tlie Nebraska St.ate Bee-Keepers' 

 Association met at Lincoln, Neb., 

 Jan. 9, 1.S.S4, and was called to order 

 by President Von Dorn at 2:,S0 p. m. ; 

 upon roll call more old members were 

 found present than ever before during 

 the history of the association. 



The minutes of the last annual 

 meeting were read and approved. 

 The Treasurer's report was read and 

 referred to a committee on finance, 

 consisting of Messrs. Hawley, Rose, 

 and Muir ; the committee reported 

 favorably, and it was approved. The 

 President's address was then made 

 special order of business for 10 a. m., 

 Jan. 10. 



The election of officers was made a 

 special order of business for 2:80 p. 

 m., Jan. 10, in order that all might be 

 present. 



It was stated that foul brood had 

 made its appearance in our State, and 

 a resolution was luianimously adopted 

 to appoint a committee to thoroughly 

 investigate the statement and report 

 to the association with such resolu- 

 tions and recommendations as to them 

 may seem proper. Messrs. Hawley, 

 Muir and Culbertson were appointed 

 as such committee. 



No other business being especially 

 in order, the association discussed the 

 following : " What size of hive is the 

 best to extract from V" 



Prof. H. Culbertson, of the State 

 Agricultural College, Lincoln, took 

 the ground that an 8-frame Lang- 

 stroth was too small, even if two- 

 story, but preferred a large one-story 

 hive, and was of the opinion that 

 where more than one-story was used, 

 that, during the honey flow, entrances 

 m the upper story was beneficial, 

 from the fact that bees always used 

 any crack or opening that existed in 

 the upper story. 



G. M. Hawley, of Lincoln, was of 

 the opinion that by using a perforated 

 honey board 8-frame Langsfroth hives 

 could be tiered up and extracted from, 

 with the best results. The board pre- 

 venting the combs, in different stories, 

 from being bridged together. 



R. V. Muir, of Brownville, uses 10- 

 frame Langstroths and thinks them as 

 good as any ; tiers up by raising the 

 full top and putting an empty one in 

 between. Out of 30 colonies, only one 

 queen went up to the second story ; 

 he thinks it an easy matter to put in 

 empty combs and keep her down. 



The Secretary : At present I run for 

 extracted honey, and use an 8-frame 

 Langstroth, but believe that a large 

 one-story hive is the best for ex- 

 tracted honey, from the fact that I 

 believe that the bees will store their 

 load in the empty cell that is the most 

 convenient, and such room can be 

 furnished convenient to the entrance 

 m a large hive. I would not recom- 

 mend any one to make such a large 



hive, from the fact that the market is 

 liable to change, and in that case we 

 might want to change from extracted 

 to comb honey, and 1 do not think a 

 large one-story hive as suitable for 

 comb honey as a small two-story one. 

 I believe in having a hive that is the 

 most suitable for either kind of honey, 

 and I am of the opinion that the 8- 

 frame Langstroth comes nearest to 

 filling the bill. I use a perforated 

 honey board to keep from the bridg- 

 ing, Mr. Hawley speaks of, but do not 

 think a queen-excluder can be made 

 to work satisfactorily in all cases. 

 During the past two years, if I had 

 used an excluder to keep the queen 

 from the second-story, she would have 

 been kept from laying almost entirely, 

 for want of space, because the lower 

 story was kept so full that the queen 

 had scarcely anv place to lay. unless 

 she went above. Of course 1 thought 

 the bees moved the honey above, in 

 the night, but then the lower story 

 was filled again before noon, and the 

 consequence was that I found nearly 

 as many queens above as below. The 

 greatest objection to two-story ex- 

 tracting hives is lifting a heavy second 

 story off and on. to get to ripe honey 

 in the lower story. vVlien extracting, 

 I always leave some of the oldest 

 honey for winter. 



E. A. Butterfteld, of York, made 

 seven fly holes in the second story, 

 and only four of them were used. 



The President and F. E. Colwell 

 liked fly holes. Mr. Colwell's bees, in 

 a honey flow, flew directly in the hole. 



W. r. Tucker's bees did the same. 



Mr. Hunt's bees used the fly hole 

 when they wanted to get out and sting 

 him. 



N. Pursen, of Florence : The in- 

 stinct of bees we believe naturally in- 

 clines them to use but one entrance, 

 and I think that is suflicient. I think 

 that young liees receive the honey 

 from the field bees and store it in the 

 cell. In the latter part of the day, I 

 have seen brood covered with honey, 

 and in the morning uncovered ; I think 

 a bee two days old will carry honey, 

 and do not change much in appear- 

 ance until they go to the field. 



The President had seen bees come 

 from the field and go directly and 

 stick their head in a cell apparently 

 unloading. It was a very easy mat- 

 ter to watch a bee by dusting it with 

 flour. 



C. B. Darrow, of Geneva, inquired 

 if it would not be advisable to use the 

 lower story entirely for extracting, 

 and keep the queen above, as the in- 

 dications are that the bees store the 

 most readily below. 



Mr. Pursen said that the instinct of 

 the bee is against Mr. Darrow's ques- 

 tion. He thought they stored over 

 the brood-nest to encourage heat for 

 curing the honey. In 1882 his honey 

 was not good for table use for four or 

 five days after extracting, but in 1883 

 it was good at once as soon as ex- 

 tracted. Bees enlarge the brood nest 

 equally in all directions, and put the i 

 pollen in the lower story. 



W. F. Tucker inquired if we could 

 not cure honey as well after extract- 

 ing as l)efore. 



L. B. Boggs, of Tilly, had hived a 

 strong swarm on foundation, and in 

 ten days it was filled ; he took out two 

 uncapped combs of very green honey, 

 and in ten days it was ripe and good. 

 The Secretary being called for, be- 

 lieved that in the hive was the proper 

 place to cure honey, from the fact 

 that it was in bodies of very small 

 quantities, also the heat of the bees 

 was present, and the dampness in the 

 honey had to rise but a short distance 

 to come to the surface and be carried 

 off and evaporated. Honey was au 

 absorbent of dampness, if exposed to 

 damp air. lie had noticed honey, ex- 

 posed to damp air in wet weather be- 

 come thin and watery on top, while 

 deeper down in the honey it was 

 thick. Honey put in damp cellars 

 should always be put in air-tight ves- 

 sels as it will gather dampness and 

 sour ; and then, of course, the bee- 

 keeper was to blame, and really I do 

 not know but whatheis. for not ed- 

 ucating his customers better, with 

 labels, etc. I use oak barrels, which 

 I cannot keep from leaking even with 

 paraffine, and when I returned from 

 Chicago, last fall, it was uncommonly 

 wet and rainy, and the floor of my 

 honey room being partly covered with 

 honey, which leaked from the barrels, 

 it had absorbed the dampness until it 

 was almost as thin as water, and made 

 an excellent skating rink. My honey 

 is all from heart's-ease. 



Mr. Hunt uses basswood barrels, 

 and a few years ago extracted bass- 

 wood honey one day and shipped the 

 next, and the barrels were not un- 

 corked for three months, when the 

 honey was found to be all right. 



President Von Dorn then announced 

 that out of 30 reports gathered during 

 fall, showing 918 in the spring ana 

 1,432 in the fall, 49,996 pounds of honey 

 was taken. 

 Adjourned until 7 p. m. 

 The meeting was called to order, 

 and an address of welcome delivered 

 by H. AV. Hardy, of Lincoln, and re- 

 plied to by T. L. Whitbeck, of Wahoo. 

 These were excellent, but time and 

 space compel us to leave them out. 

 Next in order was the reading of an 

 essay written by T. L. Von Doni, on 

 the old, old subject of wintering, dys- 

 entery, etc., and the entire evening 

 was taken up in discussing it — each 

 one having his own styje and theory, 

 about as is usual when discussmg any 

 subject. 



Jan. 10.— Met at 10 a. m., and the 

 President addressed the Convention 

 as follows : 



At the close of the 5th year of our 

 Association, I congratulate you on the 

 advancement we have made, both in 

 point of numbers and ability. From 

 the small beginning made at Omaha, 

 our numbers have steadily increased 

 until our membership is scattered 

 over quite an extent of the State, and 

 embraces some of the very best of 

 practical and successful apiarists. 

 The proceedings of our sessions have 

 been of great interest to those bee- 

 keepers who have been unable to at- 

 tend them, as well as to those who 

 were present, and I would recommend 

 that a more full and careful report be 

 furnished for publication. 



