282 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



" Cane sugar for winter stores," was 

 the title of an essay read by the Sec- 

 retary, lie had experimented several 

 years in substituting a syrup made 

 from granulated sugar for natural 

 stores. Some years the bees wintered 

 all alike ; in others there was a de- 

 cided superiority in favor of the 

 sugar. 



K. L. Taylor: Mr. D. A. Jones 

 feeds the syrup as early as he can in 

 order that it may be sealed before 

 cold weather. To. retain the heat in- 

 side the hive as much as possible, he 

 keeps the entrances nearly closed dur- 

 ing the day, a'ul entirely closed dur- 

 ing the night. 



Mr. Keoppen : What is the use of 

 extracting the honey in the fall and 

 feeding sugar, when it is so difficult to 

 sell the honey ? The sugar costs as 

 much, if not more than the honey, 

 and is no better. 



President : It is of no use to those 

 who never lose any bees in wintering 

 them ; but for those who do, and who 

 can save them by so doing, it is a 

 profitable operation. 



Mr. Rulison : I have extracted 100 

 pounds of fall honey, and sold it at 

 12;^ cents per pound ; bought granu- 

 lated sugar at 9 cents per pound and 

 made 3 pounds of syrup from every 2 

 pounds of sugar, making a profit of 

 $6..50. 



Mr. Wray : If it is improper food 

 that kills the bees, why is it that bees 

 in the same apiary with the same 

 stores, and the same treatment, stand 

 the winter so differently V 



Secretary : How can we know that 

 all the colonies of one apiary have 

 the same kind of stores ? 



Mr. Wray : If the bees gather from 

 the same localities, why is not the 

 honey the same V 



Secretary : It is seldom that all 

 the colonies of an apiary are of the 

 same age. Some of the older colonies 

 may have stores 2 or 3 years old, and, 

 consequently, of a different charac- 

 ter. Each colony of an apiary does 

 not always gather from exactly the 

 same source as the others. Italians 

 will gather from red clover, while, 

 perhaps, the blacks are working on 

 buckwheat. In some such manner as 

 this a slight diversity of stores may 

 be accounted for. 



Mr. Wray : Wliv is it that bees in 

 old box hives full of cracks, and left 

 with no protection, so often come 

 through all right ; while those in well- 

 made hives do not ? 



Mr. Walker : These old box-hives 

 usually contain an abundance of old 

 stores. In movable comb hives the 

 best of the honey is often removed 

 each year. 



Ira Green : As the spokes in a 

 wheel all point to one common centre, 

 so do the facts in wintering bees all 

 point to ventilation as the one thing 

 needful. 



Mr. Rulison : I think the facts 

 point to the food. With movable 

 comb hives we take away the best 

 honey, and let the bees fill the combs 

 with fall honey for winter stores. 



Mr. Taylor: Bees in box hives fill 

 up their hives with good honey, and 

 we cannot get it away from them. 



M. S. West : In the statistical table 

 published in l&Sl, in the Bee Jour- 

 nal, the bees in box-hives came out 

 far behind the movable comb hives. 



Mr. Wray : I think that moisture 

 is often the cause of bee-diarrhcea, 

 iind lack of ventilation is the cause of 

 moisture. 



Mr. York : It is my belief that 

 with our movable system of manage- 

 ment, we " wear the bees out " more 

 than with box -hives. 



]M. D. York read an essay on 

 "What varieties of bees shall we 

 keep y" which will be published next 

 week. 



Mr. Rulison : I prefer the pure Ital- 

 ians for all purposes. They are the 

 best honey gatherers ; they are peac- 

 able, and " death on moths." lean, 

 by using the extractor, prevent their 

 swarming; but I have never found 

 anything that would keep the Syrians 

 from swarming. I have entirely dis- 

 carded the Cyprians ; they are too 

 cross for me. 



Secretary : I agree with Mr. York, 

 inasmuch that were I obliged to 

 choose any pure race for the produc- 

 tion of comb honey, I should choose 

 the blacks : but I cannot afford to dis- 

 card the industry and extra length of 

 tongue of the Italians. We had a 

 dozen or more colonies of hybrids last 

 season, and when the Italians were 

 swarming, they (the hybrids) were 

 working away steadily, with a sort of 

 quiet determination, and storing 

 honey in combs built in the sections, 

 without separators; but nearly as 

 true as so many bricks. My brother 

 or myself could quickly distinguish a 

 case of sections that had been filled 

 by the hybrids. 



The discussion on comb foundation 

 was prefaced by the making of foun- 

 dation by Pres. Taylor, upon a Given 

 press. Mr. Taylor preferred the press 

 because of the' thinness of the base, 

 and the softness of the walls of the 

 foundation made upon it ; also be- 

 cause the foundation could be made 

 directly on wired frames. 



The President's address was excel- 

 lent and appropriate, being chiefly 

 devoted to the subject of "How to 

 Begin Bee-Keeping." Only those who 

 are energetic, prompt, industrious 

 and persevering, and have a love for 

 the business, should engage in bee- 

 keeping. A location not already 

 stocked witli bees should be chosen, 

 and it should be one having an abund- 

 ance of those blossoms which fur- 

 nish the main honey crops of the 

 country. He advised the Langstroth 

 hive and frame, and for the produc- 

 tion of comb honey, the Heddou case. 

 Beginners, to have Italians, should 

 begin with 2 or 3 colonies, and, by 

 practice, aided by a bee-book and 

 paper, learn the principles of bee- 

 culture. 



Secretary : With wired frames there 

 is certainly no necessity of having the 

 combs fastened to the bottom bars 

 any more than the bees do fasten 

 them without inverting. Would it 

 not be better to make ttie brood-nest 

 of such a capacity that the queen 

 would keep it full of brood V And 

 then the honey will of necessitv be 

 placed in the sections. It is notro"uble 



to keep the combs so full of brood 

 that, were it not for the projecting 

 ends, no ona could tell the top from 

 the bottom-bars. 



The committee on exhibits made 

 their report, then came the report of 

 the committee on statistics ; the re- 

 port was as follows : Number of col- 

 onies spring of 1883, .577 ; fall count. 

 987. ^Tumber of pounds of extracted 

 honey, 9,58.5 ; number of pounds of 

 comb honey, 9,778 ; number of pounds 

 of wax, 260. 



Adjourned until 7 p. m. 



The meeting was called to order at 

 7 p.m., by the President. Consider- 

 able time was spent in discussing foul 

 brood, but nothing new was brought 

 out. 



Upon request, the Secretary de- 

 scribed the method employed by Mr. 

 D. A. Jones in securing the building 

 of large numbers of queen-cells under 

 tlie swarming impulse. 



Pres. Taylor : Are not the so-called 

 artificial queens just as good as those 

 reared under the swarming impidse, 

 provided the conditions are such that 

 queen-cells are plentifully supplied 

 with royal jelly V 



Mr. Rulison : They are just as good, 



"How to Prevent Swarming," was 

 the next topic of discussion : Mr. 

 Rulison V I prevent it by spreading 

 the combs and using the extractor. 



Secretary : Before discussing the 

 question of how to prevent swarming, 

 there is another question I shoidd like 

 to have settled, and tliat is: "Is it 

 Desirable to Prevent Swarming V" I 

 get more honey from a colony (and its 

 increase) that swarms, than from one 

 that does not. If I could have my choice 

 I would have one swarm from each 

 colony, and by practicing the plan 

 given by Mr. Heddon, on page 126 of 

 the Bee Jouknal for 188:i, I suc- 

 ceeded so well that I had only one 

 after-swarm out of 2.5 swarms. 



Question : " Can the Crystallization 

 of Honey be Prevented by Heating to 

 a High Degree V" Secretary : I saw 

 the above inquiry in the last number 

 of the Country Gentleman, and would 

 like the opinion of the convention. 



Mr. Rulison : By heating honey 

 very hot, it can be prevented from 

 again crystallizing ; but the degree of 

 heat required, is so high that if the 

 honey is not burned, the essential oils 

 are dispelled, and the flavor impaired. 

 If the temperature is not raised above 

 that of the boiling degree, tlie honey 

 will not be injured. By applying a 

 gentle heat for a long time, honey 

 may be evaporated to about the con- 

 sistency of dried pitch ; it will remain 

 in this state a long time, but will 

 eventually crystallize. 



The election of officers resulted as 

 follows : President, R. L. Taylor, 

 Lapeer ; Vice-President. M. D. York, 

 Miilington; Secretary, W. Z.Hutch- 

 inson, Rogersville ; Treasurer, Byron 

 Walker, Capac. 



Adjourned to meet at Vassar, the 

 first Wednesday in February, 188.5. 

 W. X. Hutchinson, Sec. 



R. L. Taylor, Pres. 



1^ The Lucas Co. Ass'n. will meet 

 on Saturday, May 3,at the Court house. 

 atChariton,Ia.,atlp. m. A. Reusch. 



