THE AMER1CA2J BEE JOURJ^AL. 



823 



from a i;ige containing an nnexcited 

 <ineen. anil allow lier to walk at her 

 leisure ont on the comb amongst the 

 liees ; the main point being free her 

 without her knowing it. 



If a (lueen shouUl get excited when 

 released (a thing which they seldom 

 do when handled rightly),"! imme- 

 diately re-cage her .liul try another. 

 Having released one that performs 

 satisfactorily, and having placed the 

 comb in the little hive, I put it as far 

 from any other hive as is possible and 

 convenient. The vacancy in the 

 nursery-hive may be tilled with 

 frames of brood taken from colonies 

 which are able to spare them. If the 

 •whole of the next day following the 

 one on which the queens wei"e fntro- 

 duced should be pleasant, and there 

 are plenty of drones flying, by even- 

 ing about one-half of the "queens 

 should bear evidence of fertilization, 

 ■when they may be taken out and 

 another unfertilized queen may gen- 

 erally be easily introduced. 



If I have no immediate use for lay- 

 ing-queens, I put them into cages 

 which may be laid on the brood- 

 frames of any colony in the apiary, 

 for future use, and where I have kept 

 them Go days very successfully. The 

 bees, after being' used in the nuclei, 

 may be disposed of at the entrance of 

 the hive from which they were taken, 

 and the brood maybe used in building 

 up weak colonies. 



Through an accidental discovery in 

 the spring: of 188:^, I have been led to 

 practice, for the last two seasons, the 

 method as here described ; but since 

 the appearance of the article by S. 

 Simmins, on page 450), it has been with 

 greatly increased success as well as 

 pleasure. By this method I have 

 several times introduced unfertile 

 queens in the forenoon, and found 

 them depositing eggs by the evening 

 of the next day. I have also had two 

 queens fertilized from one nucleus in 

 48 hours. 



My experience with this method 

 during the past season covers the in- 

 troduction (without loss) of 67 unfer- 

 tile queens, 2 of which proved to be 

 imperfectly developed, 1 was lost in 

 mating, and 2 nuclei alisconded after 

 the queens had been laying several 

 ■days. The others are now in colonies. 



Bradford, c^ Iowa, Dec. 12, 1881. 



For tbe American Bee Joumai, 



Western Maine Convention. 



L. F. AliBOTT. 



The third quarterly session of the 

 Western Maine Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion was held on Xov. 25 and 26, 1884, 

 at Mechanic Falls, Me. The attend- 

 ance was good, and a lively interest 

 was manifested in all the discussions. 

 The Association now has a member- 

 ship of about fifty. 



The main topics discussed were 

 methods of wintering bees, including 

 wintering bees in chaff-hives, on sum- 

 mer stands, and in single-walled hives 

 in the cellar. The comparative merits 

 ■of Italian and black bees were briefly 

 discussed. 



The first session convened at 1 p. 

 m., on Xov. 25, 1884. The topic of 



wintering bees in chaff-hives was in- 

 troduced bv the reading of an essay 

 by Mr. E. 1'. Churchill, of North Au- 

 burn. Some points in the essay called 

 out an animateil discussion which 

 continued till evening. The experi- 

 ence of the members present extended 

 over a period of time ranging from 

 two to forty years. 



The evening session was devoted to 

 the discussion of wintering bees in 

 the cellar. When proper conditions 

 had been observed, cellar-wintering 

 had been quite uniformly successful. 



Mr. Pike, of Livermore Falls, had 

 for 1.") years followed the practice of 

 placing his hives in the cellar. He 

 had never lost a colony by that method 

 when the hives contained sufficient 

 stores. 



Mr. J. B. ^lason, of Mechanic Falls, 

 had, for 7 years, wintered bees in 

 chaff-hives, and had not lost a colony. 

 Chaff-hives are now generally adopted 

 by the bee-keepers ot Maine. 



Mr. Hatch, of Minot, had kept bees 

 for 40 years, and had used the Kidder 

 hive which was constructed somewhat 

 on the double-walled plan. He thought 

 that the chalf-hive was an improve- 

 ment on the Kidder hive in that re- 

 spect. 



Mr. Mason now hassome 30 colonies 

 of bees wintering in the cellar. His 

 practice has been to winter a part of 

 his bees out-of-doors and a part in the 

 cellar. AVhen placed in the cellar the 

 hives were raised a half -inch from the 

 bottom-boards, when these were 

 loose ; or the entrances left open when 

 the bottom-boards were fast. The 

 bees were crowded upon 5 or 6 frames 

 and division-boards placed on each 

 side. On the top a quilt was placed, 

 tacked on half-inch strips of wood, to 

 allow the bees a passage over the 

 frames. His cellar now maintains a 

 temperature of 45^ above zero. This 

 he considered the right temperature, 

 and in that condition the bees re- 

 mained quiet. As the temperature of 

 the cellar went down, the bees became 

 uneasy. The remedy was to raise the 

 temperature by artificial heat if nec- 

 essary. 



L. F. Abbott, of Ijewiston,had win- 

 tered bees with uniform success, until 

 last winter. His bees had consumed, 

 having been ascertained by careful 

 test, from 8}^ to 22^ pounds of honey 

 per colony, and were wintered in the 

 cellar. Ventilation was given by 

 means of a tube conducting air from 

 the outside. 



The decision of those who had win- 

 tered bees under the snow seemed 

 mainly to condemn the practice of 

 allowing the snow to remain drifted 

 over the hives long at a time, es- 

 pecially during the months when the 

 snow was likely to become dampened 

 by its thawing. 



At the evening session an essay was 

 read, sent in by Mr. Addition, of Dex- 

 ter, President of the State Bee Keep- 

 kers' Association. The subject being 

 mainly relative to preparation of bees 

 for winter. One point was to extract 

 early enough in the fall so that the 

 bees could be fed successfully all the 

 field-gathered stores, and syrup of 

 granulated sugar. 



Another point was the merits of the 

 Italian bee over Ihi' common black 

 bee. The discussions of this latter 

 subject was left over until the follow- 

 ing forenoon. 



Mr. Hutchinson favored the Italian 

 bees because they were better to 

 handle. Black queens were hard to 

 find, and when black colonies were 

 smoked, the bees came out and filled 

 the air, and made an uproargenerally. 



Julius Fuller, of Oxford, said that 

 from his experience, the Italians 

 would go to the fields better and do 

 less loitering about the hive-entrances 

 than the blacks. 



Mr. Churchill had conflicting opin- 

 ions concerning the two races of bees, 

 but from his experience and observa- 

 tion, he thought the Italians prefer- 

 able. When we come to handling the 

 bees, the Italians flutter out on the 

 frames like a scared toad ; but when 

 you touch the blacks you have re- 

 versible bees at once. 



Remarks were made by Messrs. 

 Mason, Abbott, Welcome, and others. 

 A communication was read from the 

 editor of the American Ajjiculturist, 

 referring to the formation of an asso- 

 ciation of bee-keepers for the Xew 

 England States. 



A resolution was adopted at the 

 opening session of the convention 

 constituting Mr. .J. E. Pond, Jr,, of 

 Foxboro, Mass., an honorary member. 



Action was taken at the closing 

 session changing the meetings of the 

 Association from quarterly to semi- 

 annual, to be held on the iirst Tues- 

 day and Wednesday in May, and in 

 September. The next meeting will 

 be at Mechanic Falls in May, 1885. 



Lewiston, Maine. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



The International Congress. 



^" It is proposed to hold an Inter- 

 national Bee-Keepers' Congress on 

 the World's Exposition Grounds at 

 New Orleans, La., Feb. 24, 2-5 and 26, 

 1885. An interesting programme of 

 subjects of great importance to every 

 bee-keeper m America will be pre- 

 sented and discussetl. The disposi- 

 tion of our honey product, with a view 

 to secure better prices will be fully 

 considered. At the same time there 

 will be an Exhibit of Bees and Apia- 

 rian Supplies. Fuller particulars will 

 be given hereafter. At the time 

 selected, the Exposition will be at its 

 best, and excursion rates low. The 

 bee-keepers of our country should lay 

 aside business for a week or two, and 

 make every exertion to attend this 

 Convention. Come prepared with 

 facts and statistics, and ideas ar- 

 ranged, to take part in its delibera- 

 tions. 



Dr. N. P. Allen, Smith's Grove, Ky. 

 W. Wiliianisoii,. Lexington. Ky. 

 Dr. O. M. lilanton. Greenville. Miss. 

 P. L. Viallon, Bayon Gonla. La. 

 Judge W. H. Andrews, McKinney, Tex. 

 W. S. Hart, New Smyrna. Florida. 

 S. C. Boylston, Cliarli'ston, S. C. 

 Dr. J. P. H. Brown, Aiiyiista, Ga. 

 H. C. Austin, Austin's S|)rino-s, Teun. 

 R. C. Taylor, Wilminston, N. C. 

 .1. W. Porter, Charlottesville. Va. 

 S. Valentine, Hagerstowu, Md. 



