696 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



in the morning, in order to give them 

 something to do during the day, so 

 as to keep them away from the cider 

 mill, as they will carry home great 

 quantities ot cider if left without any 

 thing else to work on. 



Mr. Singer read an essay on "Feed- 

 ing Bees." 



It was decided that the Secretary 

 should make out a programme for the 

 next meeting, and have it published 

 in all the county papers at least four 

 weeks before the time of meeting, in 

 order to gain a large attendance. The 

 next meeting will be held on the sec- 

 ond Saturday in Apri), 1885. 



Henry Ckipe, Sec. 



Aaron Singek, Fres. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



My Report for 1884. 



EUGENE SECOIl.5 



" How dolh the little busy bee 

 DeliKht to buzz and bite; 

 To gather honey all the day, 

 And eat it up at night!" 



I do not know who is the author of 

 these lines, but whether it is Cowper 

 or William Nye, they express the dis- 

 appointment, if not the disgust, of 

 some of the bee-keepers of this year. 



It is, perhaps, just as well that bee- 

 keeping is not all sunshine and flowers, 

 else the business would soon be over- 

 done. If every novice embarking in 

 the business could, without any ex- 

 perimental preparation, achieve just 

 as good results as the older members 

 of the fraternity, and if there were no 

 drawbacks, such as bad seasons, win- 

 tering troubles, swarming frenzy, etc., 

 honey would soon be so cheap tliat 

 the poetry of bee-keeping would soon 

 degenerate into the dullest prose, with 

 about nine-tenths of the persons now 

 engaged in it. 



To preface my honey report this 

 year, I shall say that the weather 

 was against me. But to lay all the 

 blame at the door of the clerk of 

 atmospheric conditions, is a little 

 more than even my elastic conscience 

 will approve of ; for, to tell the whole 

 truth, my bees were not always at- 

 tended to precisely at the time when 

 I knew they needed attention. Other, 

 and as I thought more proHtable busi- 

 ness, claimed my time, and only the 

 spare hours were given to the " little 

 helpers." 



Spring opened auspiciously. From 

 early in April, when snow disappeared, 

 there was hardly a frosty night. The 

 genial sunshine and bursting buds 

 made glad the heart of every lover of 

 Nature ; the flowers sprang up to kiss 

 and welcome the fair maiden, and the 

 " busy bee " sang its delight by a con- 

 stant hum of busy contentuient. The 

 prairie anemones shot out of tlie re- 

 cently snow-covered ground ; tlie wil- 

 lows came on apace ; the fruit blos- 

 soms filled the air with their fra- 

 grance ; dandelions in profusion in- 

 vited to the feast, and the tields of 

 wliite clover seemed to consummate 

 the climax of hope in the enthusiastic 

 apiarist. Thus matters ran along in 

 the poetical groove for a month or 

 two, when it was discovered tliat the 

 season was not yielding its promised 



fruition. While we ^ot some white 

 clover honey, we received none from 

 sumac, wliich is one of our best honey 

 plants, and basswood yielded but 

 little. Then came a drouth for a 

 month or so during ,Iuly and August, 

 from which the fall flowers never 

 fully recovered ; and our fall crop, 

 which is usually our most certain one, 

 was hardly up to tlie average. 



I began the season with 23 colonies, 

 nearly half of tliem being very weak. 

 I set apart 11 of them to run" for ex- 

 tracted honey exclusively, and the 

 others were run for comb honey. Of 

 extracted honey I obtained 770 pounds, 

 being an average of 70 pounds per 

 colony. The largest yield from one 

 colony was 144 pounds. No increase 

 was obtained from them. I secured 

 •501 pounds of comb honey in %, \^ 

 and IJ^-pound sections — an average 

 of only 42 pounds per colony, and in- 

 creased them l)y 9 natural swarms. 

 Tlie largest yield of comb honey from 

 one colony and its increase was 70 

 pounds, spring count. 



While our season's work has not 

 been as satisfactory as we desired, yet 

 we have something with which to 

 sweeten our pancakes the coming 

 I winter. Honey retails, in our local 

 markets, at 20' cents per pound for 

 nice comb, and 10 to 12 cents for ex- 

 tracted. I should have no difficulty 

 in selling twice what I produce, right 

 here in our local market. No one 

 that I have inquired of has done as 

 well as I this season. There is not 

 enough honey in tliis part of Iowa to 

 supply the home demand. 



Forest City, Iowa. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



Filling and Capping of Honey-Cells. 



DK. D. C. .SPENCEK.-O 



How does the bee deposit the honey 

 in the cell and manage it while so 

 doing, is a question that has doubtless 

 puzzled naturalists in all ages ; and 

 its answer has been hidden, hitherto, 

 among the secret mysteries of this 

 wonderful insect ; at least so far as 

 the knowledge of the writer extends. 



Having seen in the current volume 

 of the Bee Journal, an answer given 

 by one of the "oracles," that the 

 honey was held in position by force of 

 capillary attraction ; and having seen 

 no exception taken, nor objection pre- 

 sented to that answer, I concluded 

 that that was the limit of present 

 knowledge in this direction, and so I 

 put forth the " what and the how " of 

 that wonderful modus operandi, as I 

 have seen it; thus endeavoring to add 

 another laurel to the reputation of 

 these marvellous little architects. 



This very interesting discovery 

 came to the knowledge of the writer 

 in this wise : In the sumiher of 1880, 

 during a sudden flow of nectar, the 

 bees in his observatory hive built a 

 piece of comb as a " wing," or an " L" 

 extending from the side of an outer 

 comb to the glass. As the new comb 

 was extended to the glass, it was so 

 arranged by the builders as to have 

 the glass form one side of the last 

 cell, thus affording a rare opportunity 



for the observer to watch the interest- 

 ing process of constructing and filling 

 of the cells. 



When the construction of the walls 

 had so far progressed that the cell 

 was nearly ready to receive the honey, 

 it was prepared in this manner ; A 

 bee was seen to approach the further 

 end of the cell and eject from its 

 mouth a clear liquid which it spread 

 with its mandibles over its concave 

 surface. This process was repeated 

 several times, and forming, when dry, 

 a thin, transparent, varnish-like coat- 

 ing or lining to the end of the cell. 

 This done, the cell was ready for the 

 reception of its treasures. Soon a 

 loaded bee was observed to enter, and 

 proceeding to the lower edge of the 

 lining just finished, began to peal it 

 up until it was detached a little, then 

 it ejected its load beneath and behind 

 the lining, and then replaced the 

 lower edge of the portion that had 

 been pealed up, and patted it down 

 nicely, leaving a slightly convex ap- 

 pearance resembling a blister filled 

 with one solitary load of nectar. 



This process was repeated rapidly 

 until this lining was seen to be de- 

 tached entirely, except at its edges, 

 where it stiU adhered to the sides of 

 the cell, forming a complete dia- 

 phragm, securely confining the honey 

 and holding it in its perpendicular 

 position, and being forced along the 

 walls of the cell until it was filled, 

 usually leaving a space between it 

 and the capping. It seemed to acquire 

 additional strength with age, resist- 

 ing considerable force before it gives 

 way. 



When viewed edgewise, this dia- 

 phragm may be distinctly seen with 

 the naked eye, its thickness being 

 judged to be about one one-hundredth 

 part of an inch. Its color, when thus 

 seen, is of an amber hue. By means 

 of a hypoderaiic syringe this cell wall 

 may be pierced behind the diaphragm, 

 and the honey withdrawn, leaving it 

 intact. Thus fully demonstrating 

 its existence, and the " what and the 

 how " of one of the many interesting 

 processes of these wonderful God- 

 given servants—" our pets." 



Augusta, Wis. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



Western Bee-Keepers' Convention. 



The third annual meeting of the 

 Western Bee-Keepers' Association 

 was held at Independence, Mo., on 

 Sept. 24, 18S4. There was an excep- 

 tionally large exhibition of bees, 

 hives, and products of the apiary. 



The business session was short on 

 tlie first day. At 4 p. m. the Secre- 

 tary, C. M. Crandall, called the meet- 

 ing to order, and .las. D. Meador was 

 called to the chair. The following 

 committee was appointed to solicit 

 members : Jas. D. Meador, L. W. 

 Baldwin, and Jas. A. Jones. 



After lihe preliminary exercises, the 

 subject of " Introducing Queens " was 

 fully discussed. 



The Thursday morning session was 

 held from 10 a. m. to 4 p. m. Officers 

 were elected for the ensuing year, and 

 a number of new members were re- 



