THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



281 



The latter is restless during the] 

 swarming impulse, and continues so 

 for some' time after they are hived; 

 and their restless disposition causes 

 them to scout for a new home some- 

 times, even after they are liived and 

 placed on their stands. I have wit- 

 nessed some facts which warrant ttiis 

 conclusion. 



4. HoxEY (iATiiKRiNG.— The brown 

 bee is greatly superior to the Italian 

 as a honey gatherer during the spring 

 and earlv summer; but after .July 1, 

 or about 'tliat time, thev become com- 

 paratively indnlent; while the Italian 

 continues her vocation with unabated 

 energy, and stores perhaps more honey 

 in September than during any other 

 month in the year, in this latitude. It 

 is during September, with us, that the 

 Italians, on account of bountiful 

 stores, are apt to exhaust their hives 

 bv over swarming ; and the vigilance 

 of the bee-keeper is never more in de- 

 mand to prevent it. On the contrary, 

 the brown bee rarely, if ever, swarms 

 after the first month of summer lias 

 passed ; no late robbing, or taking 

 away of surplus sections, will induce 

 them to equal their spring work. 



5. Cosri! Building. — The combs 

 built by tlie brown bees in the spring 

 of the year, is much more abundant 

 and more regular than those built by 

 Italians ; and when filled with honey, 

 is decidedly white and more beauti- 

 ful ; but in the fall months the tables 

 are turned, except as to regularity and 

 beauty. 



0. Working in Supers.— Every 

 producer of comb lioney knows liow 

 difficult it sometimes is," to get Italian 

 bees to build in surplus sections. lie 

 also knows that the brown bee will 

 begin work in them just as soon as the 

 nursery department can detail a force 

 sufficient to carry on the work. This 

 quality alone, with the producer of 

 comb honey, makes the brown bee 

 pre-eminent, and unequalled by the 

 Italian or any other known race of 

 bees. 



The foregoing characteristic features 

 of the two races of bees are clearly 

 marked in this latitude, if in no other 

 region ; and I doubt not that every 

 bee-keeper of ordinary powers of ob- 

 servation, has witnessed these traits 

 over and over again. 



I have many grades of mixed blood 

 in my apiary, and I think the mis- 

 named hybrid, having about 34 Italian 

 and % brown-bee-blood, makes the 

 best honey-producers that the new in- 

 dustry has yet developed. 



Some eminent apiculturist advo- 

 cates the culture of the most energetic 

 and prolific queens and their progeny. 

 That is a declaration that some queens 

 are indolent and worthless. Some 

 emblazon their favorites with "bloat- 

 ed promises," but too soon these are 

 followed by "lank performance." Our 

 leading idea should be to investigate, 

 and adopt the truth in whatever habi- 

 liments we find it, and to improve 

 and foster everything that promises 

 to advance the prosperity of apicul- 

 ture. 



Peters, Ark. 



[Many confound the brown and black 

 bees, calling them " natives."— Ed.] 



Kor the American Bee JouruaL 



Northeastein Michigan Convention. 



The Northeastern Michigan ]?ee- 

 Keepers" Association held its second 

 aiuiual meeting March 5, at Lapeer. 

 The meeting was an interesting one, 

 and for a local gathering, well at- 

 tended. Thirty-six members paid 

 their annual dues. The display of 

 apiarian implements and products, 

 although not quite so large as that 

 shown at the first meeting of the so- 

 ciety, was very creditable. 



The convention was called to order 

 at 10;30 a. m. by President Taylor. 

 The Sec. and Treasurer's reports were 

 read and accepted. The President 

 then called upon members to give 

 their experience in wintering bees. 



August Keoppen: Have a good 

 warni hive, and the bees will winter 

 all right. 



Byron AValker : I am using some 

 hives, this winter, that have a re- 

 movable, protective, outer shell of a 

 peculiar kind of building paper; but 

 I think that the character of their 

 winter stores has more to do with the 

 successful wintering of bees than any 

 thing else. 



"\V. F. Card : Bees in box-hives 

 full of cracks and openings, often 

 winter better than those in well-made 

 and painted, movable comb hives. 



Sec. ITutchinson : For two winters 

 I have successfully wintered bees by 

 burying them below the frost line. I 

 simply dig a trench on a sandy hill- 

 side, fill it with dry straw, lay fence 

 posts across the trench, then boards 

 upon the posts, and place the hives in 

 rows upon the boards. Straw is then 

 placed around the hives ; fence posts 

 placed with their upper ends together, 

 like the rafter in a building ; over the 

 hives, straw a foot deep is put over 

 the posts, and then eartti is shoveled 

 on to the depth of two feet. No open- 

 ing is left for ventilation. 



W. Wray : I buried 2 cxjlonies one 

 year ago ; gave them a little ventila- 

 tion, and they wintered well. Last 

 fall I - buried 54 colonies ; but, of 

 course, I cannot tell now how they 

 are wintering. 



C. E. Rulison : I once buried 6 col- 

 onies, and only 3 lived. There was 

 but little ventilation, and the combs 

 were very moldy. I have tried ex- 

 tracting all the honey in the fall, 

 from a few colonies, and feeding them 

 a syrup made from granulated sugar. 

 Three colonies were left unprotected. 

 The bees scarcely flew during the 

 winter, but came through in the best 

 condition. 



M. D. York : I am satisfied that 

 bees in chaff hives can be shut up too 

 close. Bees that were too warm, and 

 so uneasy that they hung out at the 

 entrance', I have quieted by simply 

 raising the chaff cushions over them. 

 I have one colony in the cellar that is 

 in good condition. 



Ira Green: To one man, who once 

 successfully wintered his whole 

 apiary, while others met with heavy 

 losses, I paid S.'iOO to learn the secret 

 of his success. It was this : plenty 

 of upward ventilation. 



Secretary : If ventilation is so es- 

 sential to success, how did Prof. Cook 



succeed so admirably when he hermet- 

 ically sealed up 2 colonies by pouring 

 water over the hives and allowing it 

 to freeze V 



Adjourned until 1:.!0 p. in. 



The President called to order at 

 1:80 p.m. The Secretary read an es- 

 say by Dr. L. C. Whiting. Subject: 

 " The Production of Comb Honey," 

 which will appear in the next Bee 

 Journal. 



lilr. Walker : I shall, this season, 

 use a case having glass on one side 

 only, to determine if bees object to 

 working next to glass. 



L. D. Gray : By sawing empty sec- 

 tions into several pieces, and putting 

 :i pieces between the bulged sections, 

 I can crate them without trouble. 



C. E. Rulison : For several years I 

 considered separators a necessity, but 

 the experiments of the last year or 

 two, have compelled me to admit that 

 they can be dispensed with. 



Mr. York : I have found, by ex- 

 periment, that bees do not commence 

 work so readily when separators are 

 used. I used separators one year on 

 part of my hives. Those without sep- 

 arators commenced work in the sec- 

 tions, and the combs were partly com- 

 pleted before those with separators 

 had commenced work. I then gave 

 some of the partly-finished sections 

 to those having separators, yvhich 

 started the bees to work ; but those 

 without separators finished new sec- 

 tions given them at the time of the 

 removal, sooner than the removed 

 and partly filled sections were finished 

 between separators. I shall also dis- 

 card the wide frames. The sections 

 are difficult of removal. An upper 

 story filled with wide frames is too 

 much room to give at one time. The 

 lower tier of sections is filled, and be- 

 comes travel stained before the upper 

 tier is completed. Of course if wide 

 frames only one tier of sections high 

 are used, this trouble is obviated ; but 

 such a course brings in too much com- 

 plication, and too much manipulation. 



The President had laid aside wide 

 frames for the same reason. He had 

 tried different styles of cases, but 

 preferred the Ileddon case. 



Mr. Walker preferred a combined 

 case and shipping crate of his own 

 make that could be used either in the 

 middle of the brood-nest, at one side, 

 or over it. 



The Secretary preferred the Ileddon 

 hive, case, and system of manage- 

 ment. He objected to jNIr. Walker's 

 case upon the grounds that sections 

 of different widths could not be used ; 

 that an outer case must be used over 

 it ; and that a cheaper shipping crate 

 could be furnished. He also thought 

 that, in order to secure the highest 

 price, propolis should be scraped from 

 the sections, and honey should be 

 graded ; and unless removed from the 

 crate, some of the honey would be of 

 a mixed character. He saw no neces- 

 sity of ever placing sections inside of 

 the brood-nest ; if the brood-nest was 

 of such a size that the queen could 

 keep it filled with brood ; and if it 

 was full of bees and brood when the 

 honey harvest opened, and boxes were 

 placed upon the hive, the honey would 

 of necessity be stored in the boxes. 



