G16 



THE AMERICAISr BEE JOURNAL. 



Mr. Reynolds, of Cliuton, said that 

 he reduces the number of frames to 

 six or seven, puts chafE-cushiou divi- 

 sion-boards on each side of the frames 

 in the ends of the hive. He winters 

 his bees in the cellar and on the summer 

 stands, and has strong preference for 

 the blacli bee. He vrould also prefer 

 the cellar as the safer place in vrhich 

 to winter bees. 



Isaac Ames, of Skowhegan, winters 

 his bees out-doors and in the shed ; 

 covers the entrance with perforated 

 tin. to prevent the bees' coming out 

 during a warm spell, and keeps the 

 hives exposed to the rays of the sun 

 in winter. He uses the old box-hives, 

 and was advised to transfer the bees 

 at once. 



Gilbert Dunbar, of Embden, win- 

 ters his bees, both out-doors and in 

 the cellar ; puts the frames in the 

 middle of the hive, and uses division- 

 boards in each end with chaff packed 

 in. When he takes tliem out of tlie 

 cellar in spring, he puts straw around 

 each hive to ward off the cold and 

 wind. 



Jotham Whipple, Jr., of Solon, finds 

 that the black bees are hardier than 

 Italians, and prefers the former every 

 time, as far as his experience goes. 



Z. D. Iiigalls, of Xew Vineyard, had 

 three colonies last spring ; now he has 

 eleven. His bees have not stored 

 much honey, but have bred well. He 

 is very much interested in bee-keep- 

 ing, and by earnest effort and study 

 he hopes to succeed. 



Mr. Paine, of Cornville, had two 

 colonies in the spring and now has 

 eight; has the Holy Lands and blacks, 

 four colonies of each , but does not see 

 much difference in the two races as 

 regards honey. 



Horace Hall, of Canaan, experienced 

 some trouble in hiving swarms. He 

 was advised to shake the cluster down 

 in front of the hive and drive them 

 in with a smoker. He keeps the Holy 

 Lands 



W. H. Xorton, of Xorth Madison, 

 said that he usually has bees enough 

 in each hive, when winter sets in, to 

 fully cover eight Gallup frames so as 

 to form one solid cluster. If some 

 hives have less, he takes from those 

 which have more, and thus equalizes 

 all his colonies. If any have not stores 

 enough to winter on, he feeds them 

 with sugar syrup during the fall. He 

 said that he would rather have a col- 

 ony with no honey, on September 1, 

 than to have it with a full supply of 

 summer and fall honey ; for then he 

 would be sure that they would winter 

 better. He would spread or put the 

 frames apart in the autumn, so that 

 the bees can cluster in larger masses, 

 thereby keeping up more warmth. 

 He winters them in the cellar, gives 

 no direct upward ventilation, and 

 puts two inches of chaff in a burlap 

 sack on the top of the frames, with a 

 chaff division-board in tlie ends of the 

 hives, at tlie side of the frames. His 

 hives are all about eighteen inches 

 Ions with Gallup frames. 



Several others made more or less 

 remarks until the hour for parting 

 arrived. It was decided to hold the 

 next meeting at Harmony, on Satur- 

 day, May 9, 188-5.— JJb?)i6 Fann. 



For the American Bee JournaL 



" Honey-Dew-What is It ?" 



CHAS. SAMSEL. 



Mr. Kemp, on page .536, writes on 

 this subject, and tries to prove that 

 honey-dew is not the product of an 

 insect, but is produced by atmospheric 

 influences. He argues that, because 

 both insects and honey-dew are found 

 on the same leaf, and at the same 

 time, it is not evidence, that one pro- 

 duced the other, or that one cannot 

 exist without the other. If this is 

 not positive evidence, it is at least 

 strong circumstantial evidence. Men 

 have been hanged on evidence less 

 convincing. 



He further states that this dew is 

 formed only upon a hard, smooth, 

 glazed leaf, while it is never formed 

 upon rough, soft, porous leaves. This 

 proves nothing ; for while we are 

 witling to admit that the latter ab- 

 sorb the dew, it is just as possible to 

 absorb it when thrown upon them by 

 the insect, as from the atmosphere. 



Xow, if Mr. K.'s theory, namely, 

 that it is produced by atmospheric 

 influences (which I take that it means 

 saccharine condensation) is correct, 

 how does he account for its presence 

 in green-houses and conservatories, 

 in a building say 1-5x40 feet, in the 

 dead of winter with an artificial tem- 

 perature ranging from oO'^ to 80° 

 Fahr. V It is simply impossible, and 

 yet it abounds. 



The orange and the lemon tree, the 

 climbing stephanotis, and the roses, 

 as well as many other exotics, if not 

 closely watched, soon fall a prey to 

 the scale and the mealy-bug (those 

 scourges of the green-house), and be- 

 come covered with this dark-colored, 

 sooty, sticky stuff to such an extent 

 that if not washed leaf by leaf with 

 sponge and water, all the summer 

 rains will fail to remove it entirely. 



When the florist finds this dew 

 upon his plants, it is often the first 

 indication of the presence of these 

 insects ; and when Mr. K. says that 

 he has found the honey-dew upon 

 leaves, which, under a powerful 

 microscope, showed no insects, I 

 think that his search was not thorough 

 enough ; for, be it remembered, these 

 insects seldom infest the leaf itself, 

 but harbor upon the soft, young 

 wood, and are generally so flat, and 

 of a color of the wood, that they may 

 readily be overlooked, besides they 

 may be found upon adjacent plants or 

 trees. 



But we have positive proof that the 

 insects, aphidfe, do produce honey-dew, 

 and refer the reader to Langstroth on 

 the Honey-T3ee, page 286, where he 

 cites as follows : "Mr. Knight once 

 observed a shower of honey-dew de- 

 scending in innumerable small glob- 

 ules near one of his oak-trees. He cut 

 off one of the branches, took it into 

 the house, and, holding it in a stream 

 of light, admitted through a small 

 opening, distinctly saw the aphidse 

 ejecting the fluid from their bodies 

 with considerable force, and this ac- 

 counts for its being frequently found 

 in situations where it could not have 



arrived by the mere influence of gravi- 

 tation, etc." 



Xow, while we deny that honey-dew 

 is formed by saccharine condensation, 

 we do not contend that it is produced 

 by insects exclusively, but believe it 

 possilDle that it may exude from the 

 leaves pf some plants and trees under 

 favorable circumstances. 



Easton, Pa. 



For tbe American Bee JournaL 



W. N. Y. and N. Pa. Convention. 



The semi-annual meeting of the 

 Western New i'ork and rTorthern 

 Pa.Bee-Keepers' Association was held 

 in Armory Hall, at Jamestown, X. 

 Y., on Sept. 1 and 2. 1884. The meeting 

 was called to order by President 

 Elkins at 1 p. m., on Sept. 1. Mr. 

 Shewman, the Secretary, being ab- 

 sent, Mr. Page called the roll, read 

 the minutes of the last meeting, and 

 also the constitution and ijy-laws, and 

 stated that it would be impossible 

 for the Secretary to be present at this 

 meeting. Mr. Page was then elected 

 Secretary pro tern: but also being 

 Treasurer, he resigned, and Chas. E. 

 Gates was appointed in his place. 

 The Treasurer then read his report 

 for the last six months, which was 

 accepted. 



Nothing else being before the con- 

 vention, discussion of questions was 

 next in order. The first question was, 

 " In liow sliort a time can a queen be 

 reared ?" 



Mr. Caswell : I have reared a queen 

 and placed her in a queenless colony 

 in 13 days. 



Mr. Grout : I have used what are 

 called artificial queens (i. e., those 

 reared from a worker larva), but they 

 are short-lived. 



Mr. Sleeper : I think that the 

 amount of royal jelly makes a good 

 deal of difference. I have always 

 found that queens hatching out a'ld 

 leaving the cells dry, proved to be 

 poorly-developed, and were generally 

 superseded by the bees ; while those 

 hatching out and leaving royal jelly 

 in the cell, proved to be excellent 

 queens and long-lived. 



Mr. Moon related his experience of 

 over 40 years in bee-keeping, which 

 was comical indeed : and he inquired 

 how to make money in bee-keeping. 



Mr. H. D. Gates : I believe any one 

 ought to make money in keeping 

 bees. I have kept bees only 2 years, 

 and in frame-hives, but taking bee- 

 keeping in general, year in and year 

 out, it IS profitable. 



Mr. Hubbard: I have about 100 

 colonies, but I have not done as well 

 as I ought this season, because of my 

 health. If one expects to make 

 money, he must take care of his bees, 

 and work. 



Mr. Page : While talking with 

 another bee-keeper about the pollen 

 theory, he described to me a novel 

 way of cleaning old combs containing 

 pollen which had been in them for 

 years ; and as it may be useful to most 

 ot you, I will descrit)e it : Take a 

 was'h-boiler, or any vessel large 

 enough to contain your combs, and 

 fill it with cold water; put in the 



