S8 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



We have packed 10,000 poinids of 

 lioney in tlie comb, tliis season, and 

 much the hirRer part of it built vvith- 

 •out sepaiatois, and liave not been 

 •obliged to lay aside lialf a dozen combs 

 for the home market. .Some of them 

 were more than full, and some not 

 <juite straight; but by ])utting such 

 ones next a thinner one, all went in 

 without touching. And the inconve- 

 nience of packing is not worth naming 

 in comparison to the bother and loss 

 attending the use of separators. We 

 have worried with them several years, 

 because the authorities recommend 

 tliem ; but we shall do it no more. 

 We have shaken off the nuisance and 

 •cut up the tins for other purposes. 



January 11, 1883. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Separators of Wood. 



B. H. FINCH. 



In the Bee Journal of Dec. 27, 

 ipage 820, is an article on wood sepa- 

 irators. Now I claim to be the first 

 ■person in tliis country that adopted 

 the wood separator, which I did live 

 ^jears ago. The idea first suggested 

 itself to me, by being in a factory in 

 ■Geneva, Ohio, where I then lived, 

 where they manufactured wood ribbon 

 from a round log, rolling around, and 

 a knife set to take off any thickness 

 they saw fit for fancy splints, tooth 

 -picks, etc., being cut into narrow strips 

 afterward. The thought struck me 

 that it might be cut into strips of the 

 right width and length, and tacked on 

 the section frames, and answer a bet- 

 ter purpose than tin. I also bent some 

 1-lb. honey boxes out of it, lapped the 

 ends and fastened them with glue ; 

 that was when we were using dove- 

 tailed boxes. I ordered several hun- 

 dred yards of the material, cut to a 

 thickness according to the sample I 

 enclose to you. I also sent a sample 

 to I. B. Haines, of Bedford, Ohio, who 

 spoke very favorably of it in a letter 

 to me. 1 have used it for separators 

 •ever since, and prefer it to tin. I 

 never have been bothered with bees 

 '• bracing " any more thiin with tin, 

 and they never run over the comb 

 with it. The cost is not over one- 

 fourth of that of tin, and mine lias not 

 me over one-eighth as much. I can put 

 il on as fast as I can tin separators, 

 by cutting it with a penknife to the 

 size, and tackhig each end with 4 small 

 wire nails, 2 at each end. If you 

 <;hange it every season, it will not cost 

 one-half as much as tin. Not being 

 anxious to appear in print and liaving 

 very little time to write I have never 

 mentioned it before. 



I have .50 colonies of bees, but I have 

 had very little increase and very little 

 yhoney dm'ing 1882; no one in this sec- 

 tion of the State has one-half a yield, 

 and very little increase. I have sold 

 all my lioney at home. I took tlie first 

 premium at Summit county, O., agri- 

 ■cultural fair on bees, honey and hives; 

 what I call the improved Langstroth 

 with improved surplus, holding 28 

 -one-pound boxes. I find they work 

 l)etter than with 56 boxes, as most 

 jparties use them. 



I also have an improved entrance 

 for controlling robbers, which I con- 

 sider better than anything I liave ever 

 seen ; I can stop robbing in one hour 

 in nearly every instance. 



We live in hopes of a better season 

 during the coming honey harvest. No 

 one here has any more tlian paid ex- 

 penses, and many not that. 



Bees are having dysentery badly in 

 this section, from honey dew. We 

 think some have suffered quite badly; 

 there was a profusion of honey dew 

 late, and bees just swarmed the woods 

 after it. 



I like the old Bee Journal, but I 

 do not take much stock in those large 

 yields published. I will give these 

 parties $.500 in cash to instruct me 

 how to obtain one- half that quantity 

 and pay all expenses besides. I sus- 

 pect that it was not weighed on stand- 

 ard scales. 



Sharon Center, Ohio, Jan. 8, 1883. 



For the American B«je Journal. 



Western Bee-Keepers*Convention. 



Upon previous notification, a goodly 

 number of persons interested in api- 

 culture, of Jackson and adjoining 

 counties, met at the court house in 

 Independence, Mo., Dec. 23, 1882, for 

 the purpose of organizing a bee-keep- 

 ers' society. A permanent organiza- 

 tion was effected by electing J. A. 

 Nelson, of Wyandotte, Kans., presi- 

 dent; L. W. Baldwin, of Independ- 

 ence, vice-president ; S. W. Salisbury, 

 of Kansas City, secretary ; and P. 

 Baldwin, of Independence, treasurer. 

 After some discussion, the following 

 articles were adopted : 



1. This organization shall be known 

 as the Western Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation. 



2. Its object shall be to promote the 

 interests of bee-culture. 



3. The officers of this association 

 shall consist of a president, vice-presi- 

 dent, secretary and treasurer, and be 

 elected by ballot for the term of one 

 year. 



4. The president, vice-president, 

 secretary and trea.^urer shall consti- 

 tute an executive committee. 



•5. Any person may become a mem- 

 ber of this association who shall sub- 

 scribe his name to these articles and 

 pay into the treasury the sum of one 

 dollar. Ladies free. 



6. Each meeting of this association 

 shall be at such time and place as may 

 be decided by a majority vote. 



7. These articles may be changed 

 or amended at any regular meeting 

 by a two-thirds vote of the members 

 present. 



Owing to the lateness of the sea- 

 son the exhibits were few, although 

 there was displayed a very line pack- 

 age of honeycomb by L. W. Baldwin ; 

 also extracted honey from the apiaries 

 of F. J. Farr and Jonanthan George. 



Mr. Salisbuary stated that the 

 tendency, especially in the east, was 

 for smaller packages of comb honey, 

 weighing not more than one half- 

 pound, as having a ready sale at a 

 higher price and more satisfactory for 

 general use. 



L. W. Baldwin thought tliat one 

 pound packages were small enough 

 for practicle Use, as the change of 

 apparatus, etc., of the apriary for 

 procuring honey comb in smaller sec- 

 tions would be accompanied with 

 great expense. He stated that he 

 had sold his crop of comb honey the 

 present year, put up in 1% pound sec- 

 tions, at 23 cents per pound in the 

 Kansas Ci'y market. 



There was represented at the asso- 

 ciation about 1,000 colonies of Italian 

 bees and 26,000 pounds of honey dis- 

 tributed among the different mem- 

 bers as follows : 



Total 



6.17 1,0.54 12,025 14,675 



F.J. Farr, J. H. Jones and L. W. 

 Baldwin winter their bees in cellars; 

 all the rest winter them on the sum- 

 mer stands. E. M. Ilayhurst is prin- 

 cipally engaged in queen-rearing. 



All bee-keepers within reasonable 

 distance are invited to join or attend 

 the meetings and help in bringing 

 the bee-keeping interest more gen- 

 erally before the public, advance the 

 production and extend the markets of 

 its product. An invitation is also 

 extended to all ladies interested in 

 any way in bee-culture to be present 

 and take part in the discussions of 

 the association. 



After a vote of thanks to the county 

 papers and officers for favors ex- 

 tended, the association adjourned to 

 meet at Independence on the last 

 Saturday in April, 1883, at 10 o'clock 

 a. m. P. Baldwin, Sec. pro. tern. 



Convention Notices. 



1^° The Northeastern Ohio and 

 Northwestern Pennsylvania Bee- 

 Keepers' Association will meet at 

 Andover, Ohio, to hold their annual 

 convention, on the second Wednes- 

 day and Tfiursdav of February, 1883. 

 C. T. Leonard, Sec. 



1^ The Western Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation meets at Independence, Mo., 

 April 28, 1883. 



S. W. Salisbury, Sec. 



1^ The Texas State Bee-Keepers' 

 Association will liold its Fifth Annual 

 Convention at McKinney, Collin Co., 

 on Tuesday and \Vedriesday, April 

 17th and ISth, 1883; at the residence of 

 Hon. W. H. Andrews. 



Wm. R. Howard, Sec. 



Kingston, Texas. 



^° Articles for publication must be 

 written on a separate piece of paper 

 from items of business. 



