THE AMERICAN B*:E JOURNAL. 



21 



ing Back, Taking out One and Feed- 

 ing Back Anotlier Kind oi Honey to 

 Winter On, etc., to tlie letter box de- 

 partment. 



It is not my province to contradict 

 the large reports galliered together 

 througli several years and from all 

 portions of the United States, and 

 placed under the head of Notes, for 

 none are more willing to admit the 



treat possibilities of bees tlian am I, 

 ut attention should be called to the 

 fact that these reports are uncommon, 

 that they are nearly always from few 

 colonies, excluding the possibility of 

 coupling them with a future million- 

 aired condition for John Allen or any 

 of us, and that the Grimms and liar- 

 bisons are not only so scarce that we 

 quote them 15 years apiece, but the 

 possibilities of Southern California, 

 coupled with tlie experience of an old 

 specialist, are not the probabilities of 

 John Allen's three months of theory, 

 and a bee book, in the pineries of 

 Northern Michigan. 



We know that there are occasion- 

 ally men wlio can get large and larger 

 yields of honey from hundreds of col- 

 onies, thus putting their thousands of 

 dollars' worth of lioney into the mar- 

 ket nearly every year, but these pro- 

 ducers use methods never dreamed of 

 in the philosopliy of John Allen. 



But the old adage, that there is " no 

 roses without thorns," is not only 

 true, but the reverse is also a fact, 

 that tliere are roses among thorns, as 

 this little book gives us evidence. 



At the close of the work, on page 

 155, blossoms a rose whose name is 

 truth. Though not beautiful to the 

 sight of some begitniers, some wlio 

 have gone in on the plan of " bees 

 work for nothing and board them- 

 selves," its sweet fragrance meets the 

 nerves of every old practitioner, laden 

 with memories of the happy past. 

 I quote: * "So every person, who 

 expects to get rich quickly by keeping 

 a few bees, will fail. Money can be 

 made only by thorough acquaintance 

 with the business, and by careful, per- 

 sistent work from year to year. But, 

 in spite of what I say, some will get 

 bitten by beginning bee-keeping with- 

 out due preparation, and with false 

 expectations. When you do get bitten 

 please remember that ' I told you so.' " 



Let us hope tliat the primary prin- 

 ciples laid down in this book, when 

 learned by the reader, will, in part, 

 compensate for the errors in the gene- 

 ral maiuigement, which he will soon 

 have to unlearn, if he does not quit 

 the business, broken in heart and 

 broken in pocket. 



Dowagiac, Mich., Jan. 1, 1883. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Md., Va. and "W. Va. Convention. 



The lirst annual meeting of the 

 Union Bee-Keepers' Association of 

 Maryland, Virginia and West Vir- 

 ginia, was held at Ilagerstown, Md., 

 Oct. IS and 19, 18K2. The meeting 

 was called to order with President D. 

 A. Pike in the chair, and J. Lutlier 

 Bowers, Secretary. Thomas Foster 

 was asked to assist the secretary. As 

 the Association was not yet perma- 



nently organized the secretary had 

 nothing to report. 



The standing committee on consti- 

 tution and by-laws reported, through 

 the secretary, the constitution and by- 

 laws fui'iiished by the American Bee 

 Journal, which were approved by 

 the committee and adopted by the As- 

 sociation. 



The president's address was read by 

 the secretary. In eloquent words our 

 worthy president welcomed the bee- 

 keepers of the three States to our As- 

 sociati(ui, asking them to join with us 

 in our discussions. 



The members being slow to proceed 

 to business, Wm. M. Bowers, of Illi- 

 nois, said he was in the county and so 

 came to the meeting; he was sorry to 

 see the friends so backward and hoped 

 they would take an interest. His re- 

 nuirks had the desired effect. 



The election of officers resulted as 

 follows : Wni. Anderson, of Harper's 

 Ferry, W. Va., moved that the same 

 officers hold over. Carried. Presi- 

 dent, D. A. Pike, Smithsburg, Md.; 

 Secretary, J. Jjuther Bowers, Berry- 

 ville, Va.; Treastu-er, S. Valentine, 

 Hagerstown, Md.; Vice Presidents, 

 Thomas Foster, Cumberland, Md., 

 Wm. Anderson, Harper's Ferry, W. 

 Va., E. C. Jordan, Stephenson Depot, 

 Va. 



C. M. Hicks, of Fairview, Md., read 

 an essay on transferring bees. On 

 motion, he was given a vote of thanks 

 for his address. After discussing the 

 subject, the meeting adjourned until 

 7 o'clock, p.m. 



Met at 7 p. m.; Vice President Wm. 

 Anderson in the chair. Ten new mem- 

 bers were added to the Association. 



S. Valentine said that he aimed to 

 have his queen-rearing colonies as 

 strong as possible before commencing 

 business, not giving any special 

 method. 



C. II. Lake, of Baltimore, asked if a 

 queen that had been balled was of any 

 account afterwards ? 



S. Valentine had seen queens that 

 had been balled that did well after- 

 wards. The general opinion was tliat 

 a queen balled in a friendly way was 

 sekhim hurt, wliile if balled in an un- 

 friendly, she seldom, if ever, amounted 

 to much. 



J. Luther Bowers asked if the Albino 

 bee was not a freak of nature, or, in 

 other words, would she reproduce 

 bees of the same marking, one genera- 

 tion after another. 



S. Valentine made a specialty of Al- 

 bino queen rearing and said that they 

 were a distinct race. 



C. II. Lake said he thought they 

 were a freak of nature, and said he 

 liad an imported queen on exhibition 

 at the Fair, that produced a greater 

 part of her workers of the so-called 

 Albinos ; thus proving that they were 

 not of American origin. 



Those taking an active part in these 

 discussions were : Thomas Foster, 

 Cumberland, Md.; Jacob Ebersole, 

 Martinsburg, "W. Va.; W. R. Young, 

 Myersville.Md.; Wm. Aiuler.son, II;ir- 

 per's Ferry, W. Va.; S. Valentine, Ha- 

 gerstown. Md., late of Double Pipe 

 Creek; C. II. Lake, lialtiuuue, Md.; 

 Wm. M. Struder, Millwood, Va. 



Chas. IT. Lake invited the Associa- 



tion to meet at his tent on the fair 

 grounds. 



Adjourned to meet at Mr. Lake's 

 tent, at 10 o'clock a. in. to-morrow. 



Thursday, Oct. 19, 10 o'clock a. m. 

 After examining the many exhibits of 

 bee-Hxings and bees, the Association 

 was called to order. Tliere being no 

 further business before the Associa- 

 tion, Ilagerstown. Md., was selected 

 for the next meeting. 



It was moved to adjourn to meet at 

 Hagerstown some time next summer ; 

 the secretary to notify members, and 

 also to publisli these minutes in sev- 

 eral of tlie bee papers. CaiTied. 



J. Luther BiiWKRS, Sec. 



For the Amertcan Bee JourQal. 



A Standard Frame. 



JAMES B. MASON. 



Tlie cry comes, from Maine to Cali- 

 fornia, for a standard frame. Bee- 

 keepers are beginning to awake to the 

 fact that it is one of the most essential 

 points, for the advancement of bee- 

 culture, that we have a standard frame, 

 and a standard section-box. The 

 latter we have secured in the 4^x434 

 section, but as to a frame we are, as 

 yet, " terribly mixed," and I believe, 

 until we settle on a standard frame, 

 we shall not make any very decided 

 advance in bee-culture. Ever since 

 Mr. Langstroth gave us the movable 

 frame, the country has been flooded 

 with patent hives, containing frames 

 ofdifferentsi7.es ; the inventors claim- 

 ing great advantiiges thereby ; but, on 

 the whole, has any great advantage 

 resulted from the use of the different 

 sizes, over the regular Liingstroth 

 frame y It seems, that in the past 

 twenty years, if there had been, we 

 should have seen them, and if tliere 

 lias not been any, why will bee-keepers 

 persist in using odd- sized frames V 



G. M. Doolittle, one of the most suc- 

 cessful bee-keepers, uses the Gallup 

 frame ; D. A. Jones uses the Ameri- 

 can frame ; James Ileddon uses the 

 Langstroth frame ; L. C. Hoot uses 

 the tjuinby, the largest of all. These 

 men all appear to be equally success- 

 ful, and I believe would be the same 

 if they all used the Langstroth frame. 

 It is my firm conviction that every 

 invention tliat has been broughtbefore 

 the public, that has changed the size 

 of frame, since the introduction of the 

 Langstroth hive has been been a det- 

 riment to the progress of beeeulture. 



Mr. Ileddon did not claim but that 

 there were other frames, in and of 

 themselves, as good as the Langstroth, 

 but he thinks the Langstroth is as 

 good as any, and believes it to be " the 

 coming frame " and changed our 50 

 hives so as to fall into the beaten track, 

 and use a standard frame, and he 

 thinks he made money by it. When 

 bee-keeper are willing to follow his 

 example and give up their pet notions, 

 then bee-culture will advance rapidly. 



How is the adoption of a standard 

 frame for America to bo brought 

 about y I do not know just how it can 

 be done, but will advance a few 

 thoughts, and leave the subject for 

 nuue able bauds. The able corres- 



