132 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



but did not believe pollen alone was 

 the cause. 



Resolutions of thanlcs to the three 

 writers of essays, and the late presi- 

 dent and secretary, were passed. 



Shall the National Convention be 

 held outside of the United States, was 

 discussed. Many members held it 

 was a North American convention, 

 instead of National, and, therefore, 

 could properly be held in Canada. 



There was considerable interest 

 shown in the discussion of what im- 

 provement can we make in marketing 

 our products 



black bees, and 318 either Italian, 

 Cyprian or hybrids. Number of colo- 

 nies sold during the year, 119; number 

 bought, 106 ; number of queens sold, 

 17.5; number bought, 73 ; pounds of 

 honey taken, 5,437 ; pounds of wax, 

 335. Average amount of honey from 

 each colony owned May 1, 1882, \2}^ 

 pounds. The average for the year 

 before was 36 pounds. 



97 bee-keepers, not members of tlie 

 Association, had reported, giving the 

 following results : Number of colo- 

 nies owned Oct. 1,1881, 1,092; number 

 May 1, 1882, 863 ; number Oct. 1, 18S2 



Mr. Vroonian thinks we ought to! 1,215; 739 of these were black ; 476 



hold on longer, and not be in so big a 

 hurry to dispose of our crop ; that 

 October is about the right time to 

 ship honey ; he would not send it off 

 on commission, but sell it right out, 

 and get the money in his pocket. 



The members were of the general 

 opinion that the best way was to let 

 buyers come and offer, instead of run- 

 ning after them ; also that we were 

 apt to be in too much of a hurry to 

 sell our honey. 



Exhibiting honey and apiarian im- 

 plements at the State Fair, was 

 discussed, and the following reso- 

 lution was carried : That the presi- 

 dent and secretary confer with the 

 managers of the State Fair, for a 

 suitable place and room for the exhi- 

 bition of honey and implements for 

 the apiarists of the State, and also 

 offer premiums for the same. 



Secretary reported $12.50 fees re- 

 ceived, of old and new members. 



The question in regard to the publi- 

 cation of the proceedings came up 

 again. After considerable discussion 

 it was decided to leave it to the dis- 

 cretion of the secretary, what part to 

 publish and what not. 



At the last moment there was a 

 resolution adopted that we glass all 

 our boxes, both large and small, be- 

 fore sending to market. 



Convention adjourned to meet again 

 in one veur. Theo. Houck, Sec. 



were either Italians, Cyprians or hy 

 brids. Number of colonies sold dur- 

 ing the vtar. 164; number bought, 118. 

 Number of queens sold during the 

 year, 133; number of queens bought, 

 61. Pounds of honey taken, 16,003; 

 pounds of wax, 4.59. Total number of 

 colonies Oct. 1, 1881, 1814; number 

 May 1, 1882, 1,300; number Oct. 1, 

 1882, 1.024. Of these 1,120 were black 

 bees, and 694 either Italians, Cyprians 

 or hybrids. 283 colonies were sold 

 during the year, and 224 bought. 

 Queens sold, 308 ; bought, 134. 21,440 

 pounds of honey were produced, and 

 790 pounds of wax. 



Of hives used 31 were the Langs- 

 strotli frame, 17 the Colton and other 

 styles, 8 were the Gallup frame, and 

 8 the Quinby frame, 6 had the Torry 

 and Maine standard hive, and 5 the 

 shingle (Eureka) hive. Several other 

 kinds were used by a few. 



In wintering, 42 adopted placing the 

 hive in the cellar ; 40 winter on sum- 

 mer stands, and use packing in chaff, 

 straw, sawdust, boughs, etc. A few 

 winter bees in chambers, unoccupied 

 houses or bee-houses built for the 



Maine State Convention. 



The fourth annual meeting of the 

 Maine Kee-Keepers' Association was 

 held at Dexter, Feb. 8, 9, 1883. 



President Addition gave his annual 

 address at the commencement of the 

 afternoon session. He succinctly 

 stated the objects of the Association 

 and the progress it had made. He 

 briefly reviewed the progress bee- 

 keeping had made during the last few 

 years in other parts of the country, 

 and tlie spirit of enthusiasm having 

 been felt here in the Eastern States, 

 bee-keepers were waking up and tak- 

 ing hold of the business in earnest. 



The report of Secretary Hoyt was in 

 substance as follows : The Maine 

 Bee-Keepers' Association numbers -52 

 members— 42 male and 10 females, 

 showing a gain during the year of 31. 

 Meetings are held quarterly. 36 mem- 

 bers report as follows : Number of 

 colonies of bees Oct. 1, 1881,772; num- 

 ber May 1, 1882, 4.37; showing a loss 

 during the winter of 281 colonies. 

 Number of colonies owned Oct. 1. 

 1882, 709 ; of this luimber 391 were 



purpose. 



The subject of feeding bees was in- 

 troduced by a paper from Mr. Lucien 

 French. His main points were, that 

 feeding was essential both fall and 

 spring, the latter time with all colo- 

 nies, the former to weak colonies, so 

 as to give them sufficient store for 

 winter. The best feed was the purest 

 sugar we could get. Never feed glu- 

 cose. He had tried it, and it cost him 

 dearly. Believed he was out $100 in 

 conse'quence of the experiment. The 

 best place to feed was inside the hive. 

 To feed outside incited to robbing. 

 To feed for brood-rearing, give a small 

 quantity each day. It feeding for 

 stores give it to them as fast as they 

 would carry it away. A candy made 

 of half a pint of water to four pounds 

 of sugar melted and turned into shal- 

 low tins and laid upon the bars, was a 

 good way to feed in winter. 



Considerable discussion upon the 

 feeding question followed the reading 

 of Mr. French's paper. The points 

 were that very much of the granulated 

 sugar in market was adulterated with 

 grape sugar. That in some cases bees 

 would not always be incited to fight- 

 ing by out-door feeding. The coffee 

 A sugar was preferable as a feed for 

 bees, especially in spring. Glucose or 

 grape sugar was injurious to bees, 

 and under no circumstances should it 

 be fed to them. 



To make bee-keeping profitable, 

 was the basis of an essay by Mr. 



Hutchins. He thought our bees 

 might possibly be superseded by some 

 newer sort, but did not think that 

 kind had been found yet. In winter- 

 ing bees experience seems to prove 

 that the hives packed in chaff were 

 preferable to wintering in the cellar. 

 The spring dwindling, that universal 

 complaint, was due in great measure 

 to wintering in warm cellars. Use 

 frame hives, and examine the bees in 

 the spring to know their condition. 

 Cannot do it with the old box-hive. 

 In dividing, do it so as to have each 

 colony as strong as possible in as 

 short time as may be. To keep bees 

 profitably one must love the business, 

 and make pets of his bees. Take and 

 read some good journal devoted to 

 bees. Keep up with the times, there 

 is much to be learned yet. Keep a 

 record of all the colonies and queens, 

 and their qualifications and attain- 

 ments. Have everything in readiness 

 at the proper time, and never put off 

 doing things which ought to be at- 

 tended to immediately. 



The question of wintering bees was 

 discussed with a pretty strong leaning 

 to out-door packing in some way. 

 Those that had tried chaff packing 

 had found it satisfactory. Some ad- 

 hered to cellar packing. 



.SECOND DAY. 



The election of officers resulted as 

 follows : Mr. F. O. Addition, of Dex- 

 ter, President; Wm. Hoyt, Ripley, 

 Secretary ; J. \V. Hodgkins, Dexter, 

 Treasurer. 



Vice-presidents from the several 

 counties were elected as follows : 

 Aroostook, H. B. Chapman ; Andros- 

 coggin, L. F. Abbott, Lewiston ; Han- 

 cock, L. S. Brewster, Dennysville; 

 Kennebec, 11. B. Coney, Augusta; 

 Penobscot, J. \V. Hodgkins, Dexter; 

 Piscataquis, VV. A. Cotton ; Waldo, J. 

 W. Linekin ; Somerset, S. W.Crockett. 



A. B. Coney, Isaac Hutchins and 

 Wm. Hoyt were appointed a commit- 

 tee to confer with the State Agricul- 

 tural Society's officials, regarding 

 future exhibits of honey and bee im- 

 plements at the State Fair. 



Mr. Isaac F. Plummer, of Augusta, 

 gave bis views and experience in pro- 

 viding pasturage for bees by sowing 

 some special crop for that purpose. 

 His experience had not been great, 

 but he had tried it enough to know 

 that to a certain extent it would pay 

 to plant or sow for bees. Fruit-cul- 

 ture and bee-keeping, he thought, 

 should go hand in hand, for fruit trees 

 in bloom were a source of honey. In 

 extending our orchards we extended 

 the facilities for our bees to gather 

 honey. Every farm has more or less 

 waste land which might be appro- 

 priated to raising some plants for the 

 bees. Where sweet clover will grow 

 it is one of the best honey-producing 

 plants we have. Another honey pro- 

 ducing plant which blooms from July 

 to October is borage. It is an attrac- 

 tive flower for Held or garden. It 

 needs a dry, rich soil in order to 

 thrive. He sowed some last year, 

 and it did finely. The bees worked 

 upon it constantly. He liked the 

 plant so well that he will sow more 

 another season. Other plants with 

 1 whicli he had had some experience as 



