152 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



says about thick and thin combs, I 

 tliink nearly correct. There is a point 

 in the thickness of combs, or in tlie 

 distance given to the bees in wiiich to 

 build combs, at whicli we will get 

 most easily the straightest and best 

 combs, and that point reached we will 

 also find tliat with said thickness we 

 shall get our combs built, tilled and 

 si^aled quickest as well as straightest. 

 Upon this point J have experimented 

 considerably, and 1 believe, and shall 

 adopt ]i^' inches without and l^^'scant, 

 with separators. Taken all in all, I 

 feel thankful to Mr. Benedict for his 

 vigorous article. 

 Dowagiac, Mich., March 3, 1882. 



For the American Beo Journal. 



N. E. Ohio & N. W. Pa. Convention. 



The fourth annual convention of 

 the Northeastern Ohio & Northwest- 

 ern Pennsylvania Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation was held in Andover, Ohio, 

 AVednesday and Thursday, Feb. 14, 

 15, 1883. The convention was called 

 to order at 1 oclock p. m. by President 

 M. E. Mason. 



After roll call and reports, the fol- 

 lowing officers were elected for the 

 ensuing year: President, E. F. 

 Mason, Jefferson, O.; Secretary, C. 

 H. Coon, New Lyme, O.; Treasurer, 

 N. T. Phelps, Kingsville, O.; Vice- 

 Presidents, Ashtabula Co., O., D. H. 

 Troop, L. D. Ormsby, C. L. Payne, P. 

 F. Twitchel ; Mercer Co., Pa., W. H. 

 Fonner, J. P. Sterrett, A. Martin, S. 

 Hogram ; Erie Co., Pa., D. Videto, 

 W. S. Stinson, D. VV. Nichols; Craw- 

 ford Co., Pa., D. Carkhulf, A. J. See, 

 A. \V. Anderson, Charles Olliver; 

 Trumbull Co., O., J. S. Barb. 



The tirst question presented for dis- 

 cussion, was : " The Best Method of 

 Transferring Bees from Box Hives." 

 Mr. Ileddon's plan of drumming the 

 bees out, was thought to be the best 

 way, provided it is done when the 

 weather is warm enough to prevent 

 the brood from being chilled. 



A member asked if it was neces- 

 sary to keep the combs right side up 

 when transferriugthem to the frames. 

 Mr. Sterrett said he had put them in 

 the frames bottom upwards, and 

 found no difference. 



" Best Method of Rearing Queens." 

 Mr. Videto advised all to never try to 

 rear them from dollar queens. He 

 had tried it several times, and never 

 got a decent one. He thought the 

 best way was to get the best, to rear 

 queens from. He always obtained 

 better queens in a good honey season 

 than in a poor one. 



Mr. E. Mason said he would feed his 

 queen-rearing colonies, in a poor sea- 

 son, and thus rear just as good queens 

 as in a good season. He thinks tlie 

 position of the cells, in the hive, quite 

 important. He would place narrow 

 strips of comb between the frames, 

 near the top, and let the bees builci 

 the cells downward from them. 



"Best Method of Introducing 

 Queens." This brought out an ani- 

 mated discussion. Several gentlemen 

 had their pet way of introducing, 

 but it was thought the only safe way 

 was to place the queen on a comb 



of hatching brood. Mr. Ormsby said, 

 he once tried, for several days, to get 

 a colony to accept a <iueen without 

 success. He linally removed all the 

 frames from the "hive, leaving the 

 bees on the bottom board for a few 

 hours. He then placed the caged 

 queen in their midst, and left her till 

 morning, when he liberated her, and 

 in a few hours replaced the frames, 

 and she was received all right. Ad- 

 journed to 7 p. m. 



Evening Session. — Convention called 

 to order at 7:20 p. m. 



" What is the Best Way to Separate 

 Two or More Swarms that Alight in 

 One Cluster V" Mr. Videto has had 

 as many as six swarms alight in one 

 cluster, lie lias a long hive with 

 division-boards, making as many 

 parts as there are swarms in the 

 cluster, and places a comb of brood in 

 the centre of each part, with a frame 

 of foundation, or comb, on each side 

 of the brood ; then empties the bees 

 all together in front of this hive, and 

 he usually Hnds a queen in each part 

 next morning. 



" The liest Method for Securing 

 Comb Honey." Mr. Videto examines 

 his bees as soon as he unpacks them, 

 in spring, and takes frames of brood 

 from the weakest colonies and adds 

 them to the strong ones; thus, in a 

 few days, he has half of his colonies 

 very strong, and tlie other half very 

 weak, and from these strong ones he 

 always gets a large amount of comb 

 honey early in the season. As soon 

 as he gets them half ready for comb 

 honey, he commences to build up tlie 

 weak ones to run for the extractor, 

 later in the season. M. E. Mason 

 said, if we want plenty of good comb 

 honey, we must have strong colonies 

 early in the season. He would put on 

 the boxes when the bees begin to 

 build bits of comb on top of the brood 

 frames. If the bees do not go up into 

 the sections readily, take a frame of 

 sections that are partly lilled, and 

 place it in the centre of the upper 

 story, and they will usually go to 

 work in them. Adjourned to 9 a. m. 

 Second Day. — Convention called to 

 order at 9:15 a. m. President E. F. 

 Mason in the chair. Several members 

 addressed the convention on different 

 topics, giving much Information and 

 advice, especially to beginners. 



" Comparative Value of the Differ- 

 ent Races of Bees." Italians were 

 thought to be the best, all things con- 

 sidered. President Mason thought 

 his blacks Hlled the sections fuller, 

 and capped the honey better than the 

 Italians, but obtained less honev. 



"Best Method of Wintering." M. 

 E. Mason thinks they should be well 

 packed early in the fall, so as to get 

 their house in order, before cold 

 weather comes on ; see that there is 

 plenty of good, sealed honey, or, if the 

 honey is not of the best quality, re- 

 move it entirely and feed them sugar. 

 He has a few that are on the sum- 

 mer stands without packing, and they 

 have come out several times, when it 

 was too cold, and the ground around 

 these hives are covered with dead 

 bees, while those packed are in good 

 condition, and he thinks they will 

 stand it another month without a 



flight. P. F. Twitchel, one year, 

 packed all his colonies but six. Those 

 packed wintered well, while the six, 

 not packed, all died. Mr. Videto 

 spoke of a neighbor who had a swarm 

 alight on top of a fence, and he put a 

 nail keg over them, bottom up, and 

 they went to work in it and remained 

 there all winter, with the bottom all 

 open, and no upward ventilation ; 

 they came out in the spring, bright 

 and strong. 



oT to" m m ^ 



.£ .Sci 2 -S 2 



"S^ C90 'cii ~ S 



I oi of oi 2 n 



^ f^; ]2; J?5 o cd a) 



< o____n 



'l 5 5 12 300 ^77! 5 



2 90 90 105 300 400 20 



3 20 2 6 150 



4 11 10 23 1,000 400 .. 



5 14 23 .■^6 400 .... 7 



6 2 2 3 100 5 



7 6 13 100 



8 3 2 5 150 



9 54 54 80 4,500 1,000 7 



10 6 6 25 .... 300 .. 



11 5 3 9 .... 60 .. 



12 26 9 28 60 400 .. 



13 3 6 50 



14 28 27 56 800 



15 6 6 13 400 250 40 



16 42 36 62 1,800 400 .. 



17 2 2 7 7 



18 8 8 20 250 435 10 



19 .55 .52 72 1,200 2,000 15 



20 62 60 83 300 2,400 50 



21 112 102 73 1,400 300 20 



22 6 6 12 225 



23 1 2 6 200 



24 2 2 5 200 



25 2 5 10 180 



26 4 4 6 .... 440 5 



27 5 5 8 125 50 .. 



28 2 2 4 35 



29 4 3 7 60 



30 15 15 30 400 



31 5 5 10 50 .... 5 



The next convention will be held in 



Jefferson, Ashtabula Co., Ohio, on the 

 third Wednesday and Thursday in 



January, 1884. C. H. Coon, 8ec. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



My Report and Other Items. 



R. GAMMON. 



I have just been reading about large 

 reports, separators, etc. I have no 

 use for separators in getting my 

 honey- in marketable shape, and as 

 far as half-pound sections, I shall not 

 use any, at present; doubtless, there 

 will be a sale for a few at good prices, 

 but let the supply be large, and I 

 doubt if they will bring any more 

 than one-pound packages. I use l}i 

 pound sections, and find no trouble in 

 selling them at about 17 cents per 

 pound. In regard to the large yields, 

 I have not much to say, only I would 

 like to know all the particulars in 

 connection with it. I have never been 

 able to obtain any such amounts, as 



