538 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



hum, and tlie bee-keepers were assem- 

 bled on tlie steep cliffs overlooking 

 the apiary. Here the fore-thought of 

 Mr. Todd had provided a long table 

 and benches under a grove of trees, 

 also a camp-fire of great logs. 



To the left of tlie grove, Mr. Todd 

 had four acres pUuited with sun- 

 flowers, just opening into bloom, from 

 which the bees were already seen to 

 gather honey. Mr. Todd stated that 

 he used the leaves as forage for his 

 cattle, and intended to utilize the 

 seed for feeding his poultry, besides 

 giving the bees a chance at the honey 

 secretions. To the right were five 

 acres recently sown with buckwheat, 

 which had not yet made its appear- 

 ance above ground. 



Dr. Henry Townsend, President of 

 the association, then addressed the 

 meeting, making appropriate remarks 

 upon the success of the picnic, and 

 winding up with a good bee-talk, 

 which was listened to with earnest 

 attention. Miss Dora Davidson, a 

 young lady of about 12 summers, re- 

 cited from memory the following 

 original poem, commemorative of the 

 last meeting of tlie association at the 

 apiary of the secretary, F. Hahman, 

 Jr., which was held ahout two weeks 

 before : 



A MESSACtE to the ISEEfi. 



One eventide. 

 At closinsi of a clorious summer day, 

 A band uf desperadoes hent their way. 

 In zi^zas path ainnt: the dusty road, 

 To harmony's lor Ilahman, his) abode. 



What seeit they there? 

 Their torms are maslsed. with meeit and cringing 



air 

 They shun the house, none will an entrance dare; 

 And while the timid wliisper. ■' I'm afraid," 

 The hardened ones reply, " Be not dismayed." 



With soft accent. 

 Then up and spoUe our noble President. 

 "Comrades assembled here with one intent. 

 Fordeeds of plunder we are here to-night." 

 fNovices now shivered with affright.) 



" Though small. I wean 

 Well armed the foe with poisoned weapon keen 

 With which they bravely dght for home and queen: 

 And history tells how they have brf>ught disaster 

 To many a grave and dignified bee-master." 



" Kre I have done, 

 I cautiously would say. let every one 

 Who would before the setting of yon sun. 

 Enrich himself at our weak foe's e-xpense. 

 Enshrouded wait in ambush by the fence." 



" Sire! we obey." 

 The thieving band now softly went their way 

 To where the peaceful slumbering village lay; 

 They hear the busy hum of honest work, 

 And some draw back, as though the task they'd 

 shirk. 



Asmodeus-like 

 They tear the loof from palace and from hall— 

 But what is this they hear-a dismal squall! 

 "I'm wounded!" "Help!" Oh. not for any money 

 Will I again steal anybody's honey. 



Xext, the baskets were unpacked, 

 and soon the long table was covered 

 with the good cheer which they con- 

 tained : and the pleasure-seekers sud- 

 denly seemed to realize that they 

 were truly hungry, for the eatables 

 soon disappeared amid rallies of wit 

 and good humor. 



As night was now approaching, the 

 homeward journey was begun ; not, 

 however, before tlie members liad 

 tendered a vote of thanks to their 

 kind Vice-President for his untiring 

 attentiveness to insure every comfort 

 for Ills guests, and the trouble he in- 

 curred to make their visit a pleasure. 

 Long will the memory of this picnic 

 be cherished in the liearts of its par- 

 ticipants. F. Hah.-man, .Jk., Sec. 



Dr. H. Townsend, Pres. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Marshall Co., Iowa, Convention. 



The Marshall County Bee Keepers" 

 Association met at the Court House 

 in Marshalltown, Iowa, on .July 5, 

 1884, with the President, :Mr. J. Swift. 

 in the chair. The minutes of the 

 previous meeting were read and ap- 

 proved. The Secretary then read the 

 Premium List of the "Apiary Depart- 

 ment of the coming Fair, to be held 

 at Marshalltown, on Aug. 26 to 30 in- 

 clusive. 



The Secretary stated that the pre- 

 miums offered were not high, for the 

 Agricultural Society could only donate 

 S2-5 to the Apiary Department this 

 season. Our great object should not 

 be for the money we may obtain in 

 premiums, but that we should make 

 this one of the most interesting de- 

 partments of the Fair, whereby we 

 may learn from each other of the 

 many wonderful things of this im- 

 portant industry ; and also excite an 

 interest in the general public, which 

 will add to the ready sale of our pro- 

 ducts. Several present thought that 

 it could be made one of the most in- 

 teresting departments of the Fair. A 

 part of the premiums are to be raised 

 by the bee-keepers' association ; and 

 several dollars are already subscribed 

 for that purpose. 



The essays were then called for. and 

 the Secretary stated that he had re- 

 ceived an essay from Mr. Putnam, of 

 Holland, Iowa, to be read at this 

 meeting, as he could not be present. 

 The Secretary then read Mr. Putnam's 

 essay on 



KEQUraESIENTS IN MODERN BEE- 

 KEEPING. 



A good bee-keeper always needs 

 skill, but in the changed conditions 

 of modern bee-keeping, a different 

 kind of skill is needed from that re- 

 quired by our fathers and grand- 

 fathers. " This is more largely the 

 case in the West than in the "East, 

 but true in both places. Formerly it 

 was mostly manual skill in the use of 

 simple implements, such as tlie straw- 

 skep, the log-gum, and the common 

 box-hive ; but now the apiarist needs 

 to know how to adjust his hives and 

 care for his bees in order to produce 

 the greatest profits. 



Bees properly handled call for little 

 manual expertness to manage them ; 

 but to manipulate the preseiit imple- 

 ments, requires a degree of mechani- 

 cal skill that a large proportion of our 

 bee-keepers do not possess. To com- 

 prehend the full extent of this, com- 

 pare the modern Langstroth hive 

 with the old-fashioned box-hive, or 

 the old-fashioned Langstroth to the 

 one of the present. 



Every careful observer must recog- 

 nize the fact that the lack of skill in 

 managing and caring for his bees, is 

 one of the most potent sources of loss 

 to the apiarist. We have known one 

 man to care for 100 colonies as 

 cheaply as another one would 30 colo- 

 nies — the former buying and using 

 only what was really needed, while 

 thelatter bought more tlian he could 

 use, thinking that the supplies pro- 

 duced the desired results. " Economy 



is wealth,"' is an old adage, but it does 

 not apply to apiculture with more 

 force than to any thing else ; and to 

 be too economical does not pay any 

 better than being too extravagant. 

 Using only what is needed, and no 

 more, will produce the best results. 



According to appointment. Mr. -J. 

 W. Sanders then read the following 

 essay, entitled 



THE NECESSITIES OF MODERN BEE- 

 KEEPING, 



To become successful bee-keepers 

 we must post ourselves well on the 

 many things relating to the " busy 

 bee." In order to do this, we need to 

 procure some good books on this sub- 

 ject, written by practical bee-keepers 

 who have made this great and wonder- 

 ful study of the honey-bee a life work; 

 and who are able to give us many 

 invaluable and instructive lessons, 

 showing how to become successful in 

 apiculture. 



Another necessity is some good bee- 

 paper published in the interests of 

 bee-culture, by which we may keep 

 ourselves posted of the many inter- 

 esting things which are connected 

 with this great industry. 



We think that the first thing in 

 order to become successful, is to use 

 a hive that is plain, cheap, simple of 

 construction, and easy to manipulate 

 for all purposes. We want a hive 

 which contains movable frames in the 

 brood-chamber, and one that is simi- 

 lar to the other hives in the same 

 apiary. Then we can exchange the 

 comb's or frames from one to another 

 whenever necessary, which we find is 

 often the case where we have a num- 

 ber of colonies to look after. A mov - 

 able-frame hive also allows us the 

 privilege of examining a colony when- 

 ever it is necessary. 



Where we allow natural swarming, 

 it is best that we examine the colony 

 in about two weeks after he first 

 swarm has been cast, and see that it 

 contains a laying queen; and if it 

 does not, we can give them a comb 

 from another hive containing eggs 

 and brood, or else give them a laying 

 queen if we have one at hand, which 

 will save much valuable time. By 

 this means we often save a valuable 

 colony of bees, which, without this 

 assistance, would in a short time 

 dwindle down, and perhaps finally be 

 destroyed by the moth. We say that 

 the worms "have destroyed some of 

 our colonies of bees, when the truth 

 is, it became queen less and then bee- 

 less, and then the moths took pos- 

 session. 



I think it necessary to examine col- 

 onies late in the honey season, and 

 see that they have plenty of brood and 

 young bees' for the coming winter; 

 audit they do not, empty combs or 

 frames may be inserted in the centre 

 of the hive, and thereby obtain plenty 

 of young brood, thus preventing 

 " spring dwindling."" 



At this stage of the season we will find 

 the extractor a good thing, for we can 

 empty some of the combs which are 

 full of honey, and place them in the 

 centre of the hive, and by this means 

 obtain some good honey, as well as 



