92 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



For tbe American Bee JoumaL 



The Use I Make of the Bee Papers. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



'The bee literature of to-day, has 

 more to do with the successful man- 

 agement of the apiary than any otlier 

 -one thing, hence it is of the utmost 

 importance that we have it so ar- 

 ranged that it can be of the most ser- 

 vice to us. Although I have learned 

 some things through conventions, and 

 ■by visiting those keeping bees, yet the 

 imajor part of the little 1 know about 

 'bees and honey-producing, has been 

 gotten by reading the different bee 

 publications, and putting in practice 

 ■what I read, thus learning how the 

 thing was done by the experimental 

 knowledge which 1 gained thereby. 

 'Of course, many things I had great 

 confidence in, failed, wTien I put them 

 in practice, and had to be given up ; 

 but the larger part proved of real ser- 

 vice to me. 



Some people seem to take a bee pa- 

 per simply for the name of so doing, 

 ior when asked if they noticed some 

 very instructive article, their reply is, 

 "No; I do notget time to read much." 

 Such help some by taking a publica- 

 tion, for they help the publislier to 

 give us better paper, type, etc.; but 

 they are just as good as dead, so far 

 as their helping the real life of a pub- 

 lication, or tlie publication helping 

 them. For such persons this article 

 ■was never intended, but those who 

 read for the purpose of using what 

 they learn, are the persons I wish to 

 talk to. 



When the Bee .Journal first comes 

 it is carefully placed in an Emerson 

 binder, and (ikdnings is treated in the 

 same way. The otlier bee papers are 

 carefully laid away in a place set apart 

 for them, so that at the end of the year 

 they are in perfect order to be bound, 

 df I wish to have them. If I do not 

 ■care to be to tliis expense, 1 bind tliem 

 •myself by a plan similar to the Emer- 

 son binder, or serve them as Mr. 

 Hasty does, driving wire nails through 

 and clinching them, so as to hold 

 them together ; or secure them in any 

 way to make them handyforreference, 

 for it is ttiis " referring " to them, I 

 •wish more particularly to speak of. 



The most important part is to pre- 

 serve the life of our bee literature, 

 and make good use of it, after we 

 bave it all preserved in good order. 

 With all my cares, I cannot find time 

 to re-read the volume a second time 

 to get at the many points in it wliich 

 are of real value, for much of the mat- 

 ter is hardly worth reading a second 

 or third time. If I was obliged to 

 read all a second time, to get the points 

 I considered valuable to me, I fear I 

 should never get them all. I read it 

 .all once, and then I want it so that I 

 ■can get at that which is really valua- 

 ible when wanted at another time. To 

 *'do this, whenever I sit down to read 



a fresh Jotjknal, I liave a pencil with 

 me, and when I find a new idea, or an 

 old one I wish to farther experiment 

 with, I mark it. In some instances the 

 marks will embrace a whole article, 

 while others call attention to only a 

 few lines. In future years, or at any 

 time I wish to find that which isreally 

 valuable in my volume, all I have to do 

 is to read the marked passages and 

 thus get tlie cream of the whole year 

 in a little time. But I often find that 

 some of the best ideas are suited only 

 to certain seasons of the year, and as 

 my memory is not sufficient for dates 

 and set time, I must have some ineHns 

 to remind me of the valuable points, 

 just when they are of use. 



If I read in January the best way to 

 get good queen-cells, or something 

 valuable regarding extracting honey ; 

 then in February the best way to take 

 off filled sections, and so on, till my 

 mind is insufficient to contain them 

 all. and have them ready to bring into 

 use at the right time, how can I man- 

 age so that I can use wliat I read, just 

 at the time it would be of the most 

 benefit to me ? After studying on the 

 matter for some time I decided on 

 whjit I call a " Reference Book," 

 which is simply a small blank book, 

 bound in leather. Any memorandum 

 or account book will answer the pur- 

 pose, providing it has at least24 leaves 

 in it. This book I arrange similar to 

 an assessor's book, which has the let- 

 ters of the alphabet from A to Z on the 

 outside margin of the leaves. Cut the 

 leaves just as you would to letter them, 

 but instead of lettering them, write 

 on the little square of the first, " Jan. 

 1st;" on the second, '• Jan. 15;" on 

 the third. "Feb. 1st;" and so on, 

 giving one le;if, or two pages, for each 

 half-niontli, to the end of the year. 

 When I sit down to read, I have this 

 book and a pencil near me, and when 

 I come to any passage, part of an arti- 

 cle, or an entire article that I think 

 will be of service to me, either as some- 

 thing new that promises to be valua- 

 ble, or some new plan of using some- 

 thing already familiar to me, I mark 

 it with my pencil, and then jot it down 

 in my book under the date to which 

 it is applicable. Thus I get all the 

 matter which I consider valuable con- 

 tained in whatever I read regarding 

 apiculture, arranged in reference to 

 the time it is to be used, in this book. 



When January 1st arrives, I look 

 over all there is on this page, and, for 

 instance, commence to make a few 

 half-pound sections as described by J. 

 C. Newman & Son, page 23, A. B. J., 

 by way of experiment, if I chance to 

 find a note regarding them in this 

 little book. 



To explain more fully : On page 25, 

 I read liovv to make a paste for honey 

 labels. As I had always used dextrine, 

 which was inconvenient to procure, I 

 thought this recipe might be better, 

 and the ingredients are also more 

 easily obtained. So the recipe was 

 marked. As the last half of October 

 would be the time I would most likely 

 want to use it, I turn to Oct. 15th (by 

 putting my thumb on that date when 

 opening my reference book), and 

 write, "a. B. J., 1883, page 25,— Paste 

 for honey labels." When this date 



(Oct. 15th) arrives, I look over all that 

 IS written there, and, as I come to this. 

 I turn to page 25, and there is just 

 what I want, at the right time, for in 

 a day or two I must get my pails of 

 extracted honey ready for market. So 

 I try a part with the new paste, and 

 some with what dextrine I have left. 

 If this paste proves valuable I mark 

 those words on my reference book with 

 a star, or if wortliless I draw my pen- 

 cil across the whole line, thus crossing 

 it off. 



If I have made it plain, and I think 

 I have, it will be seen that I have all 

 the real worth of many volumes in 

 this little book, while the matter 

 wliich was worth only once reading is 

 left out. Different persons would 

 make a different line of selections 

 from what I should, but the plan is a 

 good one, in my opinion, and one that 

 will be of great service to any one who 

 follows it. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



[The plan is an excellent one. We 

 adopted a shnilar one for our library 

 over 25 years ago, and it proved very 

 valuable, saving much time and labor. 

 — Ed.1 



For the American Bee JournaL 



Ohio State Convention. 



The convention of the Ohio State 

 Bee- Keepers' Association was held in 

 Columbus, Ohio, Jan. 9, 10, 1883, in 

 the parlors of the Ohio State Journal. 

 The Convention was called to order 

 by the president. Dr. II. Besse ; the 

 minutes of the last meeting were read 

 and approved. 



The requisites of a perfect bee-hive f 



Mr. Riegle, of Adelphi, said, it was 

 formerly thought by our forefathers 

 that a bee-gum w'as the all requisite ; 

 he gave a history of some of the im- 

 provements in hives. Among the 

 essential requisites, are proper venti- 

 lation and the best manner for pro- 

 duction of surplus lioney, he noted 

 them as follows : 1. Proper size, 1,800 

 to 2,000 cubic inches, inside measure- 

 ment. 2. Movable combs in the 

 brood chamber. 3. Proper arrange- 

 ments for ventilation. 4. Ease of ad- 

 justment for handling bees, and se- 

 curing surplus honey in best shape for 

 marketing. 5. A proper degree of 

 warmth and dryness. 



Mr. Kingsbury, of Mt. Vernon, 

 asked relative to chaff hives. Mr. 

 Riegle said, the chaff hive was not al- 

 ways proof of successful wintering. 



The president said, he had wintered 

 successfully in a bee-house ; he de- 

 scribed his bee-house he built, one 

 with double walls, 6 inches of space 

 filled with sawdust, valves above and 

 pipe tube, made of boards, leading 

 outside, with trap door for ventila- 

 tion ; it cost him $100, size 10x20 feet. 

 His bees, in the bee-house, did not 

 consume more than 10 pounds of 

 honey to the colony, while those win- 

 tered on the summer stands consumed 

 20 to 30 pounds. He preferred saw- 

 dust to chaff, for packing bees, be- 

 cause it was handier to get. 



