680 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



pared by covering the fresh leaves 

 with alcohol, allowing it to stand un- 

 til the alcoliol turns dark, then pour 

 it off and bottle it. I seldom use it 

 myself unless stung near the eye, but 

 it entirely prevents swelling and pain 

 when applied immediately after being 

 stung. If severely stung, a few drops 

 can be taken internally. 



STATISTICS. 



Mr. T. G. Xewman, who had prepar- 

 ed a table showing the increase of bees 

 for the year, and also the production 

 of comb and extracted honey and bees- 

 wax, by request, read the totals, and 

 the statistical table was made a part 

 of this Report. 



CELLAR vs. OPEN-AIR WINTERING. 



Twentv-Bve members voted in favor 

 of cellar-wintering, 15 for the open- 

 air, and 12 voted both ways. When 

 the latter were asked for an explana- 

 tion, they said that sometimes bees 

 wintered better in the open air ; at 

 other times better in the cellar. 



After some more discussion in re- 

 gard to upward ventilation, downward 

 ventilation, quilts, cushions, sticks, 

 size of cellar, etc.. the following 

 question was put : " Is the cause of 

 bee-diarrha?a in the food ?" Twenty- 

 six members voted yes ; five voted no. 



James Ileddon : Now, how many of 

 the 26 who think that the cause is in 

 the food, think that the cause is 

 pollen ? 



Eleven held up their hands. 



James Heddon : Xow, of the 26 who 

 think that the trouble arises from im- 

 proper food, but do not think it pol- 

 len, how many can tell vphat it is V 



J. O. Shearman : Perhaps sour 

 honey may cause it. 



II. W. Lee : If pollen causes bee- 

 diarrhcea, why do not the bees suffer 

 from it every winter? They have 

 pollen in tlieir combs every winter. 



James Heddon : Bee-diarrhcea is 

 caused by an overloading of the in- 

 testines. Fall honey does not pro- 

 duce it, for I have had my bees winter 

 tip-top on fall honey, and had them 

 die, rotten with diarrhoea, when they 

 had fine, thick basswood honey. Cider 

 does not cause bee-diarrhcea. I have 

 wintered my bees with stores from 

 cider. Cider may ferment, but you 

 cannot overload a bee's intestines 

 with " flzz." Bees do not have diar- 

 rhoea every year, because they do not 

 eat the pollen every year. Sometimes 

 the pollen appears to be dried down 

 hard, glazed over, as you might say, 

 and when the cells are tilled with 

 honey, on top of the pollen, the pollen 

 mixes but slightly with the honey, the 

 bees eat out ihe honey and leave the 

 pollen iatact ; at other times the pol- 

 len appears more soft, something like 

 mush, and partially mixes witli the 

 honey, so much so that were the 

 honey extracted, considerable of the 

 pollen would come with it. When 

 the pollen is thus mixed with the 

 honey, does it not appear reasonable 

 that tlie bees should consume more 

 pollen than when the pollen is hard 

 and uimiixed with the honey V Again, 

 should the cold weather confine the 

 bees for a long time in one particular 

 place upon the combs, until they had 



consumed the honey. Would they not 

 be more than liable to consume some 

 of the pollen V Cold and confine- 

 ment, although aggravating causes, 

 are not the primary causes of bee- 

 diarrhoea; else, why were bees in In- 

 diana and Southern Michigan swept 

 away, and we had to go to Northern 

 Michigan to buy bees with which to 

 replenish our apiaries ':* Pollen is a 

 nitrogenous food, needed for build- 

 ing and repairing tissue, but it is not 

 a heat-producing food ; hence, it is 

 not needed in winter when a carbon- 

 aceous food is needed. Pure cane- 

 sugar is the best food known to us for 

 winter stores for bees. To give them 

 this we put empty combs free from 

 pollen into a hive, shake tlie bees into 

 it, put on a feeder iind feed them 

 sugar syrup ; taking the combs of 

 honey to" the honey-house and extract- 

 ing the honey. We hope, however, 

 by using a small brood-nest, to secure 

 brood-combs so free from both brood 

 and pollen, at the end of the season, 

 as to render extracting unnecessary. 

 Adjourned till 1 p. m. 



AFTERNOON SESSION. 



President Miller called the meeting 

 to order. The first topic was : 



MOVING BEES. 



T. L. Von Dorn : I move bees upon 

 a hay-rack. I nail fast the ends of 

 the frames, but put no hay under the 

 hives. 



J. O. Shearman : In hot weather 

 bees need water as well as air ; it 

 should be sprinkled upon them. 



President Miller : I moved a colony 

 in cool, faU weather, with no ventila- 

 tion. 



J. A. Green : I have moved bees 

 successfully in the hottest weather 

 by covering both the top and bottom 

 of the hive with wire-cloth. 



Secretary Hutchinson : I took sev- 

 eral colonies to our State Fair, covei"- 

 ing the top only with wire-cloth, and 

 tlie bees died fearfully ; another ex- 

 hibitor, who had wire-cloth on the 

 bottom as well as top, lost but few. 

 Mr. T. F. Bingham, who was present, 

 said that there should be a 3-inch 

 space between the wire-cloth and the 

 frames, both above and below. 



STANDARD WIDTH OF SECTIONS. 



The majority preferred sections 

 seven to the foot when used with sep- 

 arators, and IJ2 inches w'ide when 

 used without separators. 



BROOD-NEST IN THE FALL. 



Mr. Bull : Simply put the brood be- 

 low and the honey above. 



James Heddon : If we are working 

 for extracted honey, and the queen is 

 allowed access to the supers, there is 

 less likelihood of bees swarming. If 

 managing bees in this manner. I 

 would, near the close of the season, 

 put the brood below. 



EXTRACTED VS. COMB HONEY. 



After considerable discussion, the 

 majority decided that about twice as 

 much extracted as comb honey could 

 be obtained from a given number of 

 colonies. 



TEJIPERATURE FOR BEE-CELLARS. 



The decision arrived at was, that 

 the proper degree was that at which 

 the bees remained the most quiet. 

 The majority thought that 42- was, 

 usually, about right. 



FOOD FOR BEES IN WINTER. 



James Heddon : I weigh the sugar, 

 and, to every ten pounds of it I put 6 

 pounds of water. I put the water on 

 the stove to heat, and when it boils, I 

 put in a piece of tartaric acid as large 

 as a small hickory nut, to each ten 

 pounds of sugar, then stir in the sugar 

 and bring to a boiling heat. If the 

 feeding is to be done late in the sea- 

 son, when it is probable that it will 

 not be sealed over. I put in only 3 

 pounds of water to 10 pounds of sugar. 

 The acid and the boiling are to pre- 

 vent the crystallization of the sugar. 



FEEDING BACK EXTRACTED HONEY. 



J. A. Green : I have tried feeding 

 back extracted honey to secure the 

 completion of unfinished sections. 

 At first the bees work well, but they 

 soon seem to tire of it and loaf around 

 and live out of the feeders. 



Secretary Hutchinson : Last year I 

 reported success in feeding back. 

 This year I have fallen so far short of 

 last year's success that I begin to con- 

 sider feeding back an unsolved prob- 

 lem. There is a difference in colonies, 

 some doing good work, others not. 



S. N. Black : I have tried it, and it 

 required the feeding of five pounds of 

 extracted to secure one pound of 

 comb. 



President Miller: We sometimes 

 have sections that are almost finished, 

 and perhaps it might be advisable to 

 feed back to secure their completion, 

 even if the feeding did give us only 

 one pound of comb for five of ex- 

 tracted. I have fed 400 pounds, the 

 present season, but the result was 

 unsatisfactory, and, in the future, I 

 think that I shall leave the experi- 

 menting to others. 



James Heddon : There need be no 

 loss on unfinished sections ; extract 

 the honey and put them away until 

 the " honey shower "comes from next 

 season's basswood, and you will have 

 a bonanza in those sections. I made 

 quite a good many experiments this 

 season— have weighed tlie feed, the 

 sections, the hives and brood-nests ; 

 have fed hot and cold feed, thin and 

 thick feed, but as yet. I look upon 

 feeding back as in an experimental 

 stage, and the prospects not bright at 

 that. I fear that those who advocate 

 feeding back have not counted the 

 cost of feeders, and the fuss, trouble, 

 bother, muss and waste of feeding 

 back. 



The election of officers resulted as 

 follows : President, Dr, C. C. Miller, 

 Marengo, Ills.; ^'ice-President, Mrs. 

 L. Harrison, Peoria, Ills. : Secretary, 

 W. Z. Hutchinson, Rogersville, Mich.; 

 Treasurer, T. c;. Xewman, Chicago, 

 Ills. 



The Convention adjourned to meet 

 on the Wednesday and Thursday of 

 the last week of tlie Chicago Exposi- 

 tion in 1885. 



W. Z. Hutchinson, Sec. 



Dk. C. C. Miller, Pres. 



