THE AMERICAI^ BEE JOURNAL. 



527 



111.; Secretary, W. Z. Hutchinson, 

 Rogersville, Mich.; Treasurer, T. G. 

 Newman, Chiciigo, 111. 



Upon motion of T. G. Xewman, it 

 was decided tliat, at future elections, 

 to save time, the Secretary should 

 furnish printed ballots, with blanks 

 left for names of persons to be elected, 

 and so arranged that all the officers 

 could be elected at one ballot. 



The meeting then adjourned to 

 meet at 7 p. m. 



EVENING SESSION. 



The first subject discussed was 

 that of " Over-stocl£ing a Locality." 



The greater part of the time set 

 apart for tliis discussion was taken 

 up in listening to reports from mem- 

 bers regarding the number of colonies 

 that they pastured upon certain tracts 

 of land. Dr. Miller tinally asked liow 

 many members present tiad kept 

 more bees in one locality than could 

 be kept with proht. Ten members 

 stood up. The discussion that fol- 

 lowed brought out the idea that, as a 

 general thing, an apiary should not 

 contain more than 125 or 150 colonies, 

 and the Held should be clear three 

 miles in each direction. 



I)r. Miller : When our locality be- 

 comes over-stocked, what shall we 

 do V Sliall we sell some of our bees V 

 Shall we plant for honey, or what 

 shall we do V 



r. Wilcox : Plant Alsike clover. 



A Member : Upon what soil do 

 plants furnish tlie most honey V 



L. H. Scudder : One plant in my 

 locality does best upon light sandy 

 soil. 



A Member : What plant will it pay 

 to cultivate for honey alone V 



Geo. Thompson : Sweet clover. 



J. A. Green : In my locality, sweet 

 clover grows upon the river banks, 

 where there is little else except pure 

 sand. 



Wm. Camm : I prefer figwort. 

 Sweet clover will not grow upon every 

 soil. I tried some upon clay, and it 

 did not grow. I have sowed sweet 

 clover in the spring ; it made a line 

 start, but the drouth killed it. Sowed 

 some in the fall witli better success. 

 By enriching the ground, I have made 

 sweet clover blossom. I consider it 

 an advantage to cut it in .June. 



James Ileddon : There is one kind 

 of soil in wliich sweet clover will grow 

 every time, and that is gravel. 



James Marvin : My neighbor, M. 

 M. Baldridge, had, in one season, 75 

 acres of Alsike clover, and from it my 

 bees gathered a large crop of very 

 superior honey. 



James Ileddon : Is there any one 

 present whose income has been in- 

 creased by planting for honey alone V 



Dr. Miller : My bees fairly revel 

 upon my hgwort, but I cannot be cer- 

 tain that it has paid me ; because bees 

 work upon blossoms, is no proof that 

 it i>ay3 to raise them. 



Wm. Camm : After liarvesting a 

 crop of oats, I have plowed the (ield 

 and sowed it to buckwheat, from 

 which I have obtained a crop of honey 

 more than sufficient to pay the ex- 

 pense. 



S. N. Black : And I have sowed 

 buckv/heat in a corn field, after it was 



cultivated the last time, and received 

 from it enough honey to make it pay. 



T. L. Von Dorn : I have a neigh- 

 bor who has had large crops of honey 

 from rape. 



James Ileddon : I have a student 

 from Nebraska, and he says that his 

 father regards matrimony vine as a 

 great honey producer. 



T. L. Von Dorn : I agree with this 

 gentleman. 



The meeting adjourned to meet at 

 9 a. m. 



MORNING SESSION. 



The Convention met at 9 a. m. ac- 

 cording to adjournment. President 

 Miller announced for discussion •' Sur- 

 plus receptacles.'- 



As the subject seemed a little slow 

 in starting. President Miller said : 

 Who raises extracted honey V Up 

 with your hands. Now, who raises 

 comb comb y Two-thirds of the 

 members made a specialty of comb 

 honey. 



Dr. Miller : Now, who uses sep- 

 arators? To the surprise of some, it 

 was found, upon voting, tliat three- 

 fourths of the members could get 

 along without separators. 



Mrs. L. Harrison : If we sell at 

 home, there is no necessity of using 

 separators, but if we have to crate 

 and ship our honey, it is a different 

 thing. I have my honey stored in 

 boxes. 



W. Z. Ilutcliinson : In regard to 

 crating and shippinghoney built with- 

 out separators, please allow me to say 

 that I, this season, raised 2,600 pounds 

 of comb honey without separators, 

 crated every pound, shipped it by 

 freight to the State Pair at Detroit, 

 shipped it back by freight, and carried 

 it 12 miles in a lumber wagon to our 

 County Fair witliout the loss or break- 

 age of a single comb. 



As Dr. Oren came in at this point, 

 the President thought it best to re- 

 sume the subject of pasturage, in or- 

 der that Dr. Oren might tell more 

 about a honey plant of the helianlhus 

 order, which he had on exhibition. 

 It blossomed in September, and con- 

 tinued in bloom until cold weather, 

 while the amount of honey gathered 

 from it was very great. 



Geo. Grimm : I have had consid- 

 erable experience with the same 

 plant. It grows along the river bank, 

 and we often haul our bees 30 or 40 

 miles in order that they may work 

 upon this plant. 



Wm. Camm: I have had experi- 

 ence with this plant, and lind it valua- 

 ble. I have tried Dr. Tinker's golden 

 honey plant, and with me it is worth- 

 less. 



The question of surplus receptacles 

 was again taken up. 



.Tames Ileddon : No one considers 

 sections cratable unless the combs do 

 not touch, but the thicker the combs, 

 provided that they do not touch, the 

 better, for the reason that thick combs 

 are not so easily broken out. Honey 

 raised without separators is thicker, 

 and better fastened to the wood 

 around the sides. I want no sections 

 with closed tops, but those with open 

 top-bars clear across. With closed 

 top-bars the bees have no guide, and 

 do not know where to have the edge 



of the comb. With open top-bars they 

 do have a guide. AVhere the open- 

 ings in tlie top and bottom bars do 

 not extend clear across, those little 

 projecting corners are liable, in crat- 

 ing honey or taking it from the crate, 

 to gouge into the sides of the neigh- 

 boring coinbs. To get straight combs 

 the sections should be lilled with 

 Given foundation, the hives should 

 stand level, except slightly raised at 

 the back. Bees having a dash of 

 German blood are a great help in 

 getting straight combs. To get sec- 

 tions holding half-pounds, I reduce 

 them in width and thickness. Half- 

 pountf sections ship better, because 

 they are smaller. One of my custo- 

 mers found the half-pound sections 

 very salable; other sizes were a drug 

 as long as they lasted ; the same was 

 not always true. I have tried wide 

 frames, and the case method upon a 

 large scale, and I expect to burn up 

 the wide frames, and use the cases 

 exclusively. 



F. Wilcox : In some colonies I can 

 get straight combs, in others not. 

 Strong colonies build straight combs, 

 weak ones are not so apt to. 



Dr. Miller : Too thin foundation 

 sometimes causes crooked combs. 

 Foundation made upon a press is less 

 liable to warp or bend than that made 

 upon a roller mill. I do not like the 

 Van Deusen foundation ; it is too 

 thin, and curls too much. I wish to 

 make a point, that the kind of foun- 

 dation made has much to do with the 

 success of crating sections. 



Rev. L. L. Langstroth : I believe 

 that this Convention represents the 

 largest number of large, practical, 

 successful honey producers of any 

 Convention that I have ever visited. 

 Mr. Langstroth here gave a long and 

 interesting account of how the inven- 

 tion of the movable comb hive was 

 brought about, and then spoke with 

 much feeling of 



THE HONORED DEAD. 



Mr. Samuel Wagner was first men- 

 tioned. He told how Mr. Wagner had 

 taken him by the hand aiul helped 

 him. How fair, square and liberal he 

 was. His library was full of bee- 

 keeping w'orks, and free access was 

 given to all who wished to read them. 



Moses Quinby and Mr. Langstroth 

 published their works at about the 

 same time, and it was a great source 

 of pleasure to know tliat they so 

 nearly agreed. Mr. Quinby had 

 learned how to make money at bee- 

 keeping, even when using box hives. 

 Mr. Quinby had told Mr. Langstroth 

 that the happiest moment of his 

 (Quinby 's) life was when he read to 

 bis family, from Mr. Langstroth's 

 work, couimendatory words in regard 

 to himself. 



Adam Grimm had done very much 

 for bee-keeping, had shown that a 

 fortune might be amassed in the busi- 

 ness. Mr. Grimm had once visited 

 Mr. Langstroth, and his greeting was: 

 ■■ Hail, great American bee-keeper 1" 



Kichard Colvin had spent thousands 

 of dollars in helping forward bee- 

 culture. 



K. C. Otis had, perhaps, been the 

 most instrumental of anyone in dis- 



