128 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 





muT£sM 



For tbe Americiin Bee Journal. 



Northeastern Michigan Convention. 



In inirsuance to a call, the bee- 

 keepers of Northeastern Alichigan 

 met at Flint, Tuesday, Feb. 13, and 

 organized what will henceforth be 

 known as " The jSfortheastern Michi- 

 gan Bee-Keepers' Association." A 

 constitution and by-laws was adopted, 

 and the following oflicers elected : 

 President, R. L. Taylor, Lapeer; 

 Vice-President, Dr. L. C. Whiting, 

 East Saginaw; Secretary, W. Z. 

 Hutchinson, Rogersville ; Treasurer, 

 Ijyron Walker, Capac. The next an- 

 nual meeting is to be held on the first 

 Wednesday in March, 1S84, in Lapeer. 



After the election of officers, the 

 appointing of acommittee on exhibits, 

 and the decision as to the place of 

 next meeting had been arrived at, 

 and the president and secretary liad 

 been instructed to call a special meet- 

 ing just before the meeting of the 

 State Association next December, 

 the convention adjourned until 1:30 

 p. m. 



At 1:30 the meeting was called to 

 order by President Taylor. The first 

 subject for discussion was that old, 

 but ever interesting one, of 



Winterinq Bees. 



Dr. L. C. Whiting : I would have a 

 good colony ; a good queen, good 

 brood, and an even temperature. 



Dr. Rulison : 1 would feed plenty 

 of granulated sugar, and winter in 

 the cellar. Would have the cellar well 

 ventilated and diy; the temperature 

 between 32^ and 35^, and keep no veg- 

 etables in it. 



Prof. Cook : Why would vou have 

 the cellar dry '? 



Dr. Rulison : Because the water at 

 one time leaked into my cellar. 

 Where the water came in, a colony 

 died, and the combs were very moldy ; 

 at the dry end of the cellar the bees 

 wintered best. 



Prof. Cook : I have wintered bees 

 five years successfully in a cellar, in 

 which the water stood one foot deep, 

 what do you think of that ? 



W. Z. Hutchinson : Within the last 

 few days I have had the pleasure of 

 visiting Mr. J. il. Robertson of Pewa- 

 mo. He has 350 colonies in an out- 

 of-doors cellar. There is a spring in 

 the cellar, but, when I was there, the 

 water had not yetcomraenced to flow, 

 and Mr. R. was shoveling snow into 

 the cellar by the bushels. The snow 

 gradually melted, and the atmosphere 

 was so damp that it could be almost 

 felt. The bees were in splendid con- 

 dition. 1 have no hesitation in say- 

 ing that they were the finest lot of 

 bees that I have seen this winter. 



Clark Simpson : Poor honey often 

 causes dysentery. Bee-ket^pers often 

 make a mistake in extracting their 

 early-stored, well-ripened lioney, and 

 letting the bees fill their combs with 

 fall honey, which is often of poor 



quality. I think the walls of chaff 

 hives are usually made too thick. 



Byron Walker : I would like the ex- 

 perience of Mr. Simpson that induced 

 him to think that chaff hives should 

 have thinner walls. 



Clark Simpson: When the walls 

 are thinner, tlie bees receive the benefit 

 of the sun's warmth. 



Dr. L. C. Whiting: One winter I 

 had hives facing in different direc- 

 tions. The only ones that survived 

 the winter were those with tlieir en- 

 trances facing towards the south. 

 Probably the sun kept the entrances 

 thawed open. 



Dr. Rulison : I have known bees to 

 winter well, buried deeply in snow. 



J. L. Wilcox : I have kept bees 25 

 years ; I fasten them in the hives dur- 

 ing the winter, and have never lost 

 many colonies. 



Byron Walker : I think the protec- 

 tion that bees liave, may have some- 

 thing to do with whether they can be 

 fastened in without harm. When 

 bees were heavily covered with chaff, 

 and they became uneasy, I have re- 

 moved the chaff, and the bees soon 

 quieted down. The kind of winter 

 stores that the bees have, has much 

 to do with how they winter. 



T. C. Pollock : I do not advise shut- 

 ting bees into their hives. I leave a 

 space above the bees in the cap. My 

 bees winter best in the dampest part 

 of my cellar. I would not advise bee- 

 keepers to take away the best honey 

 and compel the bees to winter on late 

 gathered honey, that may be of poor 

 quality. 



L. E. Welch : 1 consider it of the 

 greatest importance that the bees 

 should be kept in an even temperature. 



Prof. Cook : I agree with Mr. Welch, 

 but there are many other things be- 

 sides temperature that must receive 

 attention. I once poured water over 

 every opening in the hive. This was 

 during freezing weather, and the bees 

 were completely frozen in, or sealed 

 up with the ice. Snow was then 

 shoveled over the hives. The bees 

 came through all right, but I would 

 not advise such methods. 



L. E. Welch : Although I consider 

 an even temperature of great impor- 

 tance, yet I will admit that good food 

 is also important. 



Prof. Cook : I have visited the bee 

 cellars of D. A. Jones, of Beeton, Can- 

 ada. The walls are 3 or 4 feet thick, 

 being filled with sawdust. Each cellar 

 is supplied with air through 8-inch 

 tile that are laid beneath the frost 

 line, and reach the open air at a dis- 

 tance of 200 feet from the cellar. The 

 cellars are ventilated at the top. 

 There is also an ice-box over each 

 cellar ; by putting ice into these the 

 temperature can be controlled during 

 the warm spring days. I would not 

 carry bees out during the winter, un- 

 less they become uneasy, and were 

 soiling their hives. 



R. L. Taylor : Bees sometimes be- 

 come uneasy, and then quiet down 

 again without being carried out of the 

 cellar. 



L. E. Welch : Perhaps they move 

 about, cluster in a new place, and be- 

 gin to feed upon a better quality of 

 honey, and hence they quiet down. 



Byron Walker : I have tried sub- 

 earth ventilation, but it failed unless 

 the bees were furnished with proper 

 food. I do not think the late gathered 

 honey is always of the best quality. 



Prof. Cook : Late gathered honey 

 may not always be natural honey : it 

 may be the product of plant lice. 



W.Z.Hutchinson: I have 11 colo- 

 nies out of doors. Some of them are 

 now dead from dysentery, and I think 

 tliey will all die except one, which is 

 in good condition. This fortunate 

 colony had all of its honey extracted 

 last fall , and was fed granu lated sugar. 



Clark Simpson : I would not put 

 more tlian 50 colonies in one cellar. I 

 would have the cellar frost proof, and 

 well ventilated. Would be sure that 

 the bees had good food, and that the 

 hives were so arranged that they 

 would not be jarred. 



Dr. L. C. Whiting: H my bees 

 needed feeding, I would feed them 

 honey that I have put away for that 

 purpose. 



Prof. Cook : Yes, doctor, but if we 

 had no honey laid away, then what 

 should we feed V 



Cxeo. W. Hand : I would feed the 

 best white sugar. I have taken bees 

 that my neighbor was going to brim- 

 stone, fed them upon white sugar, 

 and carried them through all right. 



Dr. Whiting : 1 can shake the bees 

 off the combs in the fall, extract and 

 sell the honey, go visiting during the 

 winter, buy bees in the spring, and 

 make more money than you can by 

 wintering your bees. 



W. Z. Hutchinson : And I can 

 scrape up the bees that you shake off, 

 feed them sugar, sell them back to 

 you in the spring, and have more 

 money left than you will. 



Clark Simpson : I knew of a man 

 who wintered a colony of bees without 

 combs, by feeding them sugar, and 

 occasionally rye flour. The bees filled 

 their hives with combs during the 

 winter. 



Can the production of honey be overdone f 



Dr. Rulison : I sell my honey in my 

 home market— have educated the 

 people to eat it. If the people are 

 only educated to eat honey, they will 

 eat all that we can produce. 



M. D. York : I will sell my honey 

 in my home market. Many people 

 eat honey now who never thought of 

 eating it until it was produced in 

 their neighborhood, and their atten- 

 tion was called to the matter. 



J^r. Rulison : As long as there are so 

 many losses during the winter, there 

 will be but little danger of the busi- 

 ness being overdone. 



Dr. Whiting : Now that the mar- 

 kets of the Old W'orld are opened up 

 to us, we can sell all of the honey that 

 we can produce, and that, too, at good 

 prices, if we send the Europeans 

 nothing but good, pure honey. 



Prof. Cook : C. F. Muth, of Cincin- 

 nati, who has had a very large experi- 

 ence in handling honey, says that we 

 need have no fears of over production 

 if we will only stop adulteration, so 

 that the people will have confidence 

 enough to buy the honey. 



M. D. York : We have not labored 

 entirely in Viiin ; the people are be- 



