326 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



heavily. A. Zackmeyer, on their sum- 

 mer stands and in tlie cellar, with can- 

 vas on the top, and straw in the cap 

 of the hive ; 2 colonies he left without 

 any protection, and both were lost. 



" Handling and Transferring " was 

 next discussed. Henry Smith ga\e a 

 practical explanation of his method. 

 Messrs. Bell, Bischoff, Smith and 

 others discussed "Spring Management 

 of Bees." 



The following resolutions were 

 adopted : 



Eesolved. That we meet on Sept. 17, 

 ISS-Jr, at 10 a. m., on the Des Moines 

 Co. Fair Grounds, for the exhibition 

 <jf honey and apiarian implements 

 and supplies. 



Eesolved, That we hold our next an- 

 nual meeting at Burlington, Iowa, on 

 the 4th Tuesday in April, 1885, at 10 a. 

 m. sharp. 



Uniform prices for honey was con- 

 sidered verv desirable. 



The Italian bees were most favored, 

 but hybrids were considered the best 

 workers. Queen-rearing was briefly 

 discussed bv manv of the members. 

 The next subject that received special 

 attention was "^STatural Swarming" 

 vs. Dividing. The latter metliod was 

 not approved except for rapid increase; 

 but nearlv all expressed themselves as 

 believing'that natural swarming is the 

 most preferable. 



Adjourned to meet Sept. 17, 18S4. 

 .John Nau, 8ec. 



Geo. Bischoff, Pres. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



Southern Wisconsin Convention. 



The Convention met at Janesville, 

 Wis., May 6, and was called to order 

 by Pres.'C. O. Shannon, who briefly 

 stated tlie object of the Association. 



After the reading of the minutes of 

 the previous session, and the constitu- 

 tion and by- laws, new names were 

 added to the roll. 



The exhibit of apiarian implements 

 was not as large as expected. The 

 discussion was of a miscellaneous 

 kind. Questions which seemed most 

 imperative were discussed. 



Wintering was briefly considered, 

 some preferring the cellar, if dry, with 

 the honey-board moved forward 14 

 inch ; others choosing to winter on the 

 summer stands, packed in cliaff. The 

 great advantage of this is in allowing 

 them to remain in winter quarters 

 until cold nights are past. The losses 

 in wintering will proljably not exceed 

 6 per cent. 



Supers were discussed at some 

 length. Those most in favor were 1 

 and 2-Ib. sections in frames. 



How to use comb foundation to the 

 best advantage, wiring in frames, etc., 

 was well agitated. 



A discussion among a few, during 

 recess, on the relative size of the dif- 

 ferent kinds of bees, resulted in the 

 conclusion that, since the cells are tlie 

 same size, there can be no material 

 difference in the size of bees, except 

 as the cells become smaller with age. 



The next meeting of the Association 

 will be held in Janesville, Wis., Sept. 

 23, 1884. .J. T. POMEROY. Sec. 



For ttie American Bee JournaL 



Wide Frames vs. Cases. 



W. H. SHIRLEY. 



On page 198 Mr. Burrell gives his 

 experience with cases and separators. 

 I endorse all of his article except where 

 he says, "I will not use wide frames. 

 They are an abomination." 



I can hardly agree with him there. 

 I have never used any case- method in 

 my own apiary yet. I have produced 

 comb honey 2 years without separa- 

 tors. In the spring of 1883 I deter- 

 mined to run about 3^ of my apiary 

 for comb honey, put up in those 

 naughty }i lb. sections, and the otiier 

 }i for comb honey, put up on the old 

 plan, in 2 lb. sections. 



I used the clamp-method that Mr. 

 Ileddon has described in the Bee 

 Journal, for the 2-lb. sections. For 

 the 3^-pound sections I procured 1-50 

 supers, each holding 6 one-story wide- 

 frames with wooden separators, and 

 I kept looking, all through the season, 

 for the wide frames to prove " an 

 abomination"; but they did not. I 

 much prefer the one-story wide- 

 frame system to any case - method 

 I have ever yet seen. My reasons are 

 these : 



1 . Wide frames keep the sections nice 

 and clean all through the season, and 

 when you crate them, it isnot one half 

 tlie work to clean them for market, 

 and wlien cleaned, they are not stained 

 as sections are where they come in 

 contact with the bees, as they do with 

 tlie case-method. 



2. Often I have gone to a hive and 

 found the sections in the middle wide- 

 frame nearly full of honey and the 

 outside ones hardly touched. All I 

 had to do was to slip out my wedges, 

 put the outside wide-frame into the 

 middle of the case, and in a few days 

 there would be a nice case of finished 

 sections. The foregoing manipula- 

 tion is more than the case-method 

 will let you do. 



3. When one wishes to use the same 

 sections, 7 to the foot, or 1^ inches 

 without separators, all you have to do 

 is, to put them into the wide frame 

 with the separators out, clamp them 

 tightly together, and you have a case 

 that goes far ahead of Mr. Burrell's. 

 I have seen one of Mr. Burrell's cases, 

 so I am not speaking at random. 



By using my wide-frame case-meth- 

 od,! am able to use the 1-lb. sections or 

 the U-lb. without extra cost, as either 

 size will fit into the wide frames. 



It is a fact among bee-keepers, as in 

 all other brandies of trade, that he 

 who invents certain things or adopts 

 certain methods and becomes wedded 

 to them knows best how to manipulate 

 them. With me, Mr. Burrell's case 

 would be too much of a complication; 

 too many loose sticks and boards to 

 look after; and in the make up of it, 

 iron as well as wood has to be used, 

 which adds to the weight, cost, etc. It 

 also destroys the bee-space above the 

 frames, and between the cases when 

 tiered up, which I consider is of vital 

 importance. 



I procured my one-story wide-frame 

 supers of Mr. Heddon, who used them 

 in equal numbers with his cases; and 



while he and his students prefer the 

 case, I prefer the shallow wide-frames, 

 though I have never tested the case- 

 method the season through. 



I am sure I should prefer Mr. H.'s 

 case without separators, to Mr. Bur- 

 rell's with them. Mr. Heddon agrees 

 with me that of all the plans for the 

 use of separators, he prefers this neat 

 little one story wide-frame super; and 

 also, that he does not consider his case 

 any better than the super for all per- 

 sons in all locations. 



With 8 sections to the foot, or l}4 

 inch sections, I am inclined to think 

 9.J per cent, of them would be perfect, 

 where full sheets of foundation are 

 used without separators. Of course 

 the wide frame if used would have to 

 be made narrow to correspond with 

 the sections. 



But why dispense with separators 

 when by their use the honey is all built 

 nice and perfect? I am satisfied that 

 I can get as much honey stored in sec- 

 tions ^cith separators as without them; 

 for last year I tried quite a number of 

 wide frames filled with sections, which 

 when finished weighed only 4 ounces; 

 and tlie bees finished them just as 

 quickly as any other size. All things 

 being equal, I think it makes but lit- 

 tle difference with the amount of 

 honey stored, with separators or with- 

 out; but all things considered I can 

 say from my experience, "give me .sep- 

 arators." 



Glenwood, Mich., May 2, 1884. 



Fi>r the American Bee Journal. 



Western Bee-Keepers' Association. 



The fourth semi-annual meeting of 

 the Western Bee-Keepers' Association 

 was held in the Court House at Inde- 

 pendence, Mo., April 24. 



At 2 o'clock, owing to the unavoid- 

 able absence of the President, the 

 meeting was called to order by the 

 Vice-President, Dr. G. W. Young. 



The minutes of the previous meet- 

 ing were read and approved. The 

 committee on "Marketing Honey," 

 reported that they had visited Kansas 

 City and that with only one exception 

 all "the leadinghoney-dealers preferred 

 their honey unglassed. The commit- 

 tee recommended unglassed honey in 

 1-lb. sections, in crates of from 12 to 

 20 lbs. each. 



On motion a committee of three was 

 appointed to prepare a list of subjects 

 for discussion. 



Mr. P. Baldwin in an able manner 

 addressed the convention in regard to 

 preparing honey in the finest possible 

 condition for market. 



Tlie first question discussed was : 

 " What is the best spring management 

 to bring bees up to proper working 

 condition in season for the honey har- 

 vest ■"' 



B. Baldwin : My opinion is that all 

 that is required is to see that the bees 

 have plenty of stores ahead, so that 

 they ne\'er will be short, and let them 

 alone. I have tried tucking them with 

 blankets, closing down on two or three 

 frames, carrying them in and out of 

 the cellar every cold spell, and with no 

 better results tlian with present man- 

 agement. 



