THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



37 



The size 3?i I sent you a sample of is 

 as smAll as will look well, but the J-s off 

 will not make much difference in looks. 

 I first made two sizes, S}4x3}4xi% 

 and the one sent to you. I found the 

 former a little too small and the latter 

 a little too large, but thought it better 

 to be as large as possible on account 

 of llie looks even though it would 

 weigh a plump half-pound. 



I have just read Mr. Heddon's arti- 

 cle and find that he takes quite the 

 same view that I do about the half- 

 pound sections being 2 inches thick. 

 If reduced to a size to hold just one- 

 half pound the honey would not look 

 well in any shape that it could be 

 made, eitlier in the section or cut out 

 on the table. 



New Philadelphia, O., Jan. 5, 1883. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Northern Michigan Convention. 



Robertson's Hall, Pewamo, Michi- 

 gan, Oct. 10, 1882. — One o'clock p. m. 

 The fifth annual Northern Michigan 

 Bee-Keepers' Convention was called 

 to order, and, in the absence of Presi- 

 dent Roop, Vice President George W. 

 Stanton, was called to the chair. Roll 

 of members called and a fair number 

 answered to tlie call. 



The annual reports of the secretary 

 and treasurer were read and adopted 

 as read. 



Verbal reports were made by vice- 

 presidents, Geo. W. Stanton, W. S. 

 Pierson and J. H. Robertson, no oth- 

 ers being present. President Roop, 

 not being present, and no report being 

 on hand, his report was passed for the 

 time. 



The minutes of the last meeting 

 were read by the secretary and enroll- 

 ment of new members was taken, enu- 

 merating thirteen at the opening. A 

 recess was taken, after wliicli it was 

 resolved that the election of officers 

 be postponed until, and made a spec- 

 ial order of business to-morrow, at 10 

 a. m. J. 11. Robertson drew up a list 

 of subjects for discussion which was 

 submitted and adopted. 



Tlie first subject was opened by J. 

 H. Robertson, upon the " J5est Race 

 of Bees," who approved of home-bred 

 Italians, and that hybrids were not 

 objectionable as workers. He had 

 reared from 800 to 400 queens this sea- 

 son, from home-bred queens of im- 

 ported mothers ; he has some Holy- 

 land bees, but sees no advantage in 

 their introduction ; has seen the Cy- 

 prian bees at Prof. A. J. Cook's, at 

 Lansing, and, from what he saw of 

 them, he thinks that they are bad to 

 sting and are irritable. He thinks he 

 has secured a good strsin of bees from 

 home-bred queens, especially strong 

 to endure our winters. 



O. R. Gnodno spoke of his results 

 with blacks, hybrids and Italians ; he 

 has always had the best results from 

 hybrids; he avoids breeding black 

 queens, but an Italian queen that i)ro- 

 duces hybrids is not objectionable. 

 Has had the Cyprian and Hungarian 

 bees, but too late in the season to test 

 them and they died that winter. 



Mrs. A. M. Sanders' experience was 

 favorable toward hybrids. She bought 



two colonies of Italians and two of 

 blacks, and her hybrids did the best. 

 From one colony of hybrids she had 

 secured four crates of honey, 40 lbs. 

 each, and one swarm, and from the 

 swarm she had one crate of honey. 

 She has no pure Italians now. 



Mr. Robertson, in regard to the dis- 

 position of bees, says he has had just 

 as cross pure Italians as he ever did 

 hybrids. 



VV. S. Pierson had no experience 

 with the new races of bees, but is of 

 the impression that Cyprians are more 

 cross than the blacks. He finds advan- 

 tage in the Italians clustering on 

 combs much better than the blacks, 

 and concludes that Italians are good 

 enougli for him. 



O. R. Goodno said he could subdue 

 any colony with a good smoker, so that 

 it will remember it and be submissive 

 to handle afterwards. That was his 

 experience two years ago with his best 

 hybrid colony, and again this year, 

 and he sees no injurious results from 

 subduing them. 



Mr. Robertson prefers the American 

 bred queens. He does not keep queens 

 over two years, unless they are of ex- 

 tra quality. 



Mrs. Sanders had a queen over 4 

 years old, and considered her good yet. 



Mr. Robertson thinks that in many 

 cases where there is a queen 4 years 

 or more old, there is another queen in 

 the same hive, as he has found several 

 instances where two queens occupied 

 the same -hive. 



Mr. Robertson moved tliat it be the 

 sense of this meeting that we rest 

 content with Italian bees without the 

 introduction of other races. Carried. 



The next subjectwas "How To IJreed 

 Them," and was opened by Mr. Rob- 

 ertson upon his method of rearing 

 queens. He gave the following plan : 

 First, select the best colonies to breed 

 from, remove one or more frames from 

 the center of the hive and insert new 

 combs or cards of foundation for the 

 queens to lay in, and when full of eggs, 

 he selected other strong colonies from 

 which he took all unsealed larva and 

 the queens, and, after eggs had been 

 laid in ttie new combs, from which he 

 wished to rear queens, in 4 days he 

 cut off about one inch from the entire 

 bottom of the new comb and passed 

 iiis knife blade down through the sides 

 of the comb and inserted T,he card in 

 the middle of the hive, which he had 

 prepared to rear the cells in, and from 

 60 to 70 cells would be started, and 

 after 4 days he sorted out the best cells, 

 not leaving more than from 8 to 12, at 

 the most, of the cells, and the bees 

 would carry the royal jelly from those 

 destroyed to those retained, and those 

 queens would hatch in Ifidays from 

 time the card was inserted ; sometimes 

 in 15 days. He would remove this 

 card containing the ripe queen cells 

 to his lamp nursery at lo or 10 days, 

 as the weather miglit be, and prepare 

 nuclei, at same time, to receive the 

 queens, and as fast as hatched he in- 

 troduced queens to them ; and where 

 queens were not wanted sufficient to 

 require a lamp nursery, he described 

 how he made a wire frame that would 

 go inside the hive to receive the card 

 containing the cells ; brushing off all 



the bees and inserting the same in the 

 wire frame. This being in the center 

 of the hive would receive the proper 

 temperature the queens should have to 

 hatch ; and with this frame in the 

 middle of the hive, the sides could be 

 covered with separate quilts and a 

 woolen blanket over the wireframe, it 

 could be visited without disturbing 

 the bees in the hive, and, as the queens 

 hatched, be removed to nuclei. 



After Mr. Robertson's interesting 

 description as to how to rear queens, 

 it was agreed to adopt and try it next 

 season. The convention then ad- 

 journed until 7 p. m. 



At 7 p. m. the convention was called 

 to order l)y Vice President Stanton. 

 The first subject in order was " The 

 Best Frame for all Purposes, Including 

 the Hive." 



Mr. Robertson spoke in favor of the 

 Langstroth frame and against the 

 Galup and advanced the theory that, 

 for wintering, bees on tlie Langstroth 

 frame worked their way from end to 

 end of the frames, and, in a long con- 

 tinued cold spell in winter, did not 

 have to move from frame to frame as 

 they did in shorter frames, but only 

 move along on the same ; and for 

 shipping, he liked them much the best. 



Mr. Goodno has both deep and shal- 

 low frames in use, and much prefers 

 the deep to the shallow ones, for con- 

 venience in handling, and for winter- 

 ing, with a stick under the quilt to 

 form a passage way, and prefers 3 

 pieces of bent hoop under the quilt to 

 a straight stick, which has always 

 served as passage ways for bees to 

 pass from one comb to the other. 

 All the Langstroth hives he had seen 

 have a closed bottom board, which he 

 dislikes, for many reasons. One is, 

 in spring, when set out, he likes to 

 clean out under the frames, and, with 

 a movable bottom board, he can re- 

 place it with a clean, dry one, which 

 is better than the old one ; and with a 

 movable bottom board any hive may 

 be used as a second story, while with- 

 out, you must have an extra set of 

 iipiier stories. In very hot weather, 

 ill smnnier, he has had bees cluster 

 outside, so as to cover one end and 

 side two inches deep with bees, and if 

 it had a movable bottom board he 

 could raise one side, the east side is 

 his choice where they face the south ; 

 by giving them veiitil ition they will 

 at once go to work in racks, upper 

 stories, or wherever he wishes them to. 



W. S. *l^ierson has experimented 

 with several different hives, has 

 bought American and improved Lang- 

 stroths ; has tried the latter 2 seasons 

 and cannot say he likes it and never 

 will make any more ; he likes a hive 

 best similar to Mr. Roop's. 



Mrs. B. Chapman inquires how to 

 prevent niothsf rom getting into hives? 

 That they got in her black colonies. 

 Answered by Mr. Robertson, that 

 moths would not trouble Italians and 

 if they were kept strong they would 

 drive them out. Mrs. Chapman keeps 

 but few bees and uses a deep frame 

 and likes it, only lost a few bees a year 

 ago last winter, and wintered on deep 

 frames. 



C. S. Wolcott likes a medium frame 

 similar to Mr. Dooliltle's. 



