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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Mr. J. J. Nagel had 90 colonies last 

 spring, and has 165 now ; and the 

 yield of honey has reached 10,000 

 pounds ; lialf of which is sold and half 

 is on hand, but there is demand for all. 



The question was here raised upon 

 the keeping qualities of honey, Mr. 

 Gast and Mr. McCagg both stating 

 honey did not spoil on their hands, 

 but was good from one to three years, 

 which covered their experience, after 

 taking from the hives, or when first 

 gathered. 



Mr. E. 11. Wright had 70 colonies in 

 spring and 183 in the fall, with a crop 

 of 6,430 pounds of comb honey, in two- 

 pound sections. He favored natural 

 swarming, and winters his bees alto- 

 gether on summer stands. 



Mr. C. M. Emeis stated that he had 

 41 colonies in the spring, which yielded 

 1,605 pounds of comb honey. He fa- 

 vored the black bees over the Italian 

 bees. 



The secretary was requested to cor- 

 respond with Mr. Newman, the editor 

 of the Bee Journal, Chicago, for a 

 lecture to be delivered at the next 

 meeting of the association. 



The meeting adjourned to Wednes- 

 day, February 21st, for a two days' ses- 

 sion, the objectjbeing an exchange of 

 views and getting hold of the best 

 methods of bee culture. 



Connecticut Farmer. 



Popular Interest in Bee-Keeping. 



H. L. JEFFREY. 



The interest in bee-keeping is in a 

 growing condition. The meeting of 

 the Connecticut State Board of Agri- 

 culture has given by its helping hand 

 an influence to the elTorts of the bee- 

 keeping fraternity that is not only an 

 encouragement to try to spread prac- 

 tical information on apiculture.butthe 

 movement has inspired hesitating 

 bee-keepers with confidence tliat the 

 present method adopted by the prac- 

 tical apiarist is not to be classed 

 among the patent humbugs of the 

 many patent hives and impracticable 

 appliances of most of the past thirty 

 years. 



The inquiries of the many waking 

 up bee-keepers present plainly showed 

 that the earnest taking up of apicnl- 

 tnral pursuits would soon supply the 

 local market with one of the richest 

 and most healthful delicacies of vege- 

 table production. Not only as a deli- 

 cacy is honey considered in many 

 places but it is used nearly as freely 

 as butter. This one fact shows that 

 before long it may be considered in 

 our own .Slate as much an object of 

 industry and equally as profitable as 

 either tlie growing of small fruits or 

 any other article of food not consid- 

 ered to be a staple article like flour, 

 meat or potatoes. 



Many will doubtless say, I do not be- 

 lieve it. But look at this fact. In 

 1881 two and one-half tons of honey 

 (not guess work, but actual weight) 

 were produced in a part of Litcliheld 

 and Fairfield counties, where in 18S0 

 there was not 2.50 poumls— that is a 

 marketable article. The yield was 

 more the past season than 1881, and 



to-day not a pound is left on hand and 

 the demand is yet unsupplied in those 

 localities and in every place I know 

 of the demand is greater than the sup- 

 ply, and as the supply increases the 

 demand also increases in a perceptibly 

 greater degree than the increase. 



If those keeping bees do not want 

 to have apiculturists from abroad 

 run in their product and thereby shut 

 out the local producer, if the watch- 

 word is to be Nutmegs first, then we 

 Nutmegs must grate out a greater 

 supply than has been grated in the 

 last fifty years. Just let's hear you go 

 to grating immediately and get all 

 ready for an early spring beginning. 



Woodbury, Conn. 



Western Michigan Convention. 



The Western Michigan Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association met at Supervisors' 

 Hall, Grand Rapids, Nov. 29, 1882, at 

 1:30 p. m. President W. H. Walker 

 in the chair. 



The secretary being absent, L. S. 

 Benham read the minutes of the last 

 meeting, which were approved. 



The election of officers for the en- 

 suing year resulted as follows : 



President, W. II. Walker, Berlin ; 

 Vice Presidents, J. J. Dodge, of Ot- 

 tawa ; T. M. Cobb, of Kent ; Silas 

 Remington, of Ionia ; George C. 

 Younge, of Muskegon ; Treasurer, 

 Mrs. F. S. Covey, of Coopersville ; 

 Secretary, F. S. Covey, Coopersville. 



On motion of Willson Millard, the 

 meeting discussed the subject of win- 

 tering Dees, with the view of deter- 

 mining the best methods, out-of-doors 

 or cellars. 



Then followed a discussion on the 

 different honey plants ; perforated 

 zinc as a division-board, and tlie width 

 of sections; nearly all agreeing that 

 15£ inches would be wide enough 

 where separators are not used. 



The discussions on the different 

 subjects were interesting and instruc- 

 tive, but as many could not attend the 

 following day, on account of Thanks- 



fiving, on motion of the secretary, 

 '. M. Cobb was elected delegate to 

 the State convention, and tlie Associ- 

 ation adjourned to meet at the same 

 place in the last week in April, 1883. 

 F. S. Covet, Sec. 

 Coopersville, Mich. 



For the American Bee Joumal- 



Comb or Extracted Honey. 



J. L. STRONG. 



This is a question that has inter- 

 ested me for a number of years past, 

 and, although my experience ditfers 

 somewhat from that of most of my 

 fellow bee-keepers, as to the relative 

 amount of comb and extracted honey 

 produced, never having been able to 

 obtain twice as much extracted as 

 comb honey in a season. 



In the season of 1S78 I obtained 175 

 lbs. of extracted honey from one col- 

 ony, and 98 lbs. of comb from another. 

 The comb honey was sold at 20 cents 

 per lb. and the extracted at 10 cents, 

 making a difference of §6.65 in favor 



of the extracted honey. The bees had 

 to build their combs in both instances, 

 that being before I used comb founda- 

 tion, simply using starters of natural 

 comb.- 



But, with the free use of foundation 

 during tlie past season, the result has 

 been different. This season I have 

 taken, from one of my best colonies, 

 199 lbs. of comb honey, and from 

 another colony, worked for extracted 

 honey, I have taken 152 lbs. of ex- 

 tracted and 25 lbs. of comb honey. 

 This, at the present retail price, 20 

 cents for comb and 15 cents for ex- 

 tracted honey, would make a differ- 

 ence of $12 in favor of the production 

 of comb honey. 



Now, admitting the cost of each to 

 be the same, which I think to be about 

 right, when we offset the extra labor 

 of extracting with the cost of sections 

 to hold the comb honey, this is hardly 

 a fair example of the relative amount, 

 for the colony thatproduced the comb 

 honey was located on the river bot- 

 tom, with groves of natural trees all 

 around them, covered with honey 

 dew, while the one that produced the 

 extracted honey were located in the 

 town and had to work on white clover 

 or fly over half a mile to reach the 

 timber. 



There is one thing that I have no- 

 ticed, to my great delight, and that is 

 the greatly increasing demand for 

 extracted honey in my home market. 

 I think that the day is not far distant 

 when extracted honey, in its purity, 

 will be a staple article and command 

 as good a price in our home markets 

 as comb honey. To this end all apiar- 

 ists should labor, and use their utmost 

 influence ; for it is so much more 

 desirable to handle, in every way, and 

 is much better for the consnmer. 



Clarinda, Iowa, Jan. 4, 1883. 



For the American Bee Journal 



Introducing ftueens, Honey Crop, etc. 



J. M. A. MILLER. 



On the 1st of May last, I had 22 

 good colonies of Italian bees. In May 

 and June they hardly held their oven ; 

 on the 1st or July they commenced 

 swarming, and, on the 20th of August 

 I liad sold two swarms, retained 8, 

 several had gone to parts unknown, 

 and I had, then, on hand, -56 good 

 colonies. 



On July 6, a swarm came out about 

 9 o'clock a. m. and settled on an apple 

 tree while I was busy getting ready 

 for harvest; at 10, they left; wasgone 

 till 12:15 ni., when they returned and 

 went into the parent hive. A few 

 days later a swarm came out about 

 noon and settled on an apple tree. 

 While I was preparing a hive (as my 

 supply was now exhausted), they went 

 off. Next day, about the same time, 

 they returned and went into the parent 

 hive. I do not know whether this is 

 an uncommon occurrence or not. 



I bought of L. J. Diehl, of Butler, 

 Ind., six dollar queens, which came in 

 good condition. All did well and pro- 

 duced a nice lot of well-marked bees. 

 One queen came about the 10th of 

 July, and was introduced the same 



