84 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Feh. 7, 



and very practical ones, succeed with them ; witness our 

 friends E. France and Son, of Platteville, Wis. But we have 

 tried their way and we prefer ours. Our large Quinby hive, 

 containing 10 frames, being nearly as large as two eight- 

 frame regular Langstroth hives, our method does not require 

 so much work, especially since the invention of the bee-escape, 

 which cannot be used when there is brood in the surplus box, 

 as is almost always the case in full-story supers ; for the bees 

 will not desert the brood. Hamilton, 111. 



(To be continued.) 



Report of the Michigan State Couvention. 



BY W. Z. HDTCHINSON. 



The dozen or so veterans that gathered in the parlor of the 

 Perkins Hotel, Detroit, had a good, social time, and discussed 

 the topics laid down in the programme, and those other little 

 side-issues that crop out and often prove the most interesting 

 part of a convention, but there was no crowd and nothing 

 conventional. It is evident that the financial and apicultural 

 depression has a depressing effect upon our conventions. 



The forenoon of the first day (Jan. 2) was spent in chat- 

 ting, recalling old times and building castles in the air. At 

 1:00 p. ra. President M. H. Hunt called the meeting to order, 

 and Hon. R. L. Taylor, of Lapeer, read the following essay on 



Apicultural 'Work at the Experiment 

 Station. 



Since this Association a year ago saw fit to appoint a 

 committee to assist in directing the apicultural work of 

 the station, it is fitting, if not to be expected, that I should 

 make at this annual meeting something of a report of the 

 operations in this line under my charge. 



It is with serious regret that I have to report that the 

 character of the season has been such as to greatly interfere 

 with the making of many of the experiments projected, and 

 in several cases prevented their execution altogether. Of this 

 latter class were all those that depended upon a consider:j,ble 

 amount of swarming — such as the comparison of the amount 

 of work done by natural swarms with that done by made 

 swarms; the comparison of the advantages of comb, comb- 

 foundation and starters in hives used for the reception of new 

 swarms; and the trial of hivers and non-swarmers. 



The experiment for the comparison of starters, founda- 

 tion and comb was made in the season of 1893, but for 

 several reasons besides the one that no single experiment in 

 such matters should ever be taken as final, I greatly desired 

 to repeat it under a set of circumstances that experience and 

 further thought have suggested, such as to give promise of 

 something more nearly approaching a crucial test. The im- 

 possibility of carrying out the intended comparison of natural 

 with made swarms was a disappointment, as the comparison 

 seems to give promise of someihing of much value to many in 

 the management of an apiary. 



There was some swarming in the apiary, but not sufficient 

 to furnish swarms that could fairly be compared, since intelli- 

 gent work requires the issuing of several swarms at or about 

 the same time ; besides this, the yield of nectar was so exceed- 

 ingly light that the experiment, even if swarms could have 

 been had, would have been rendered abortive. Some of the 

 experiments which were actually carried out would no doubt 

 have yielded results of greater value had the season been more 

 favorable in the particulars here referred to. 



STIMULATIVE FEEDING AND SPRING PROTECTION. 



The first new work that engaged my attention at the 

 opening of spring was experiments designed to test the value 

 of stimulative feeding and the value of special protection in 

 spring. A most thorough and comprehensive experiment was 

 planned and carried out, with the purpose of getting some 

 results, if possible, that might serve to help clear up the mys- 

 tery that seems to envelop these subjects. About TO colonies 

 were taken, and as the two experiments could be made on the 

 same set of colonies without any sort of interference, there 

 were practically about 70 colonies used in making the exper- 

 iment upon each of the two matters referred to. 



A large proportion of the colonies were carefully packed 

 with saw-dust, on their removal fiom the cellar, and a portion, 

 both of the packed and the unpacked, was regularly fed 

 during the settled weather of spring, when there was no 

 nec^tar to be gathered, up to the time of white clover bloom. 

 The most careful efforts were made to know at the outset the 

 weight and numerical strength of each colony included in the 

 experiment and to note the rate of increase in each of these 

 particulars from time to time as the exigencies of the experi- 



ments seemed to require, up to the end of the clover and bass- 

 wood honey season. This course gave data from which it 

 seemed to be mathematically demonstrated that for that 

 season the advantage of stimulative feeding was very slight, I 

 might say trifling, while the sawdust packing was a very 

 serious disadvantage. 



FOUNDATION FROM FOUL-BROODY COMBS. 



An experiment was made which is deemed of considerable 

 importance to determine whether foundation can be made 

 from foul-broody combs, by the use of such a low degree of 

 heat as to leave the foundation still infected with foul brood 

 germs, and so the possible means of conveying the disease to 

 healthy colonies. The highest degree of heat to which the 

 wax was subjected in any part of the process of rendering and 

 sheeting it was IbO'^ Fahr., and that was for a comparatively 

 short time during the rendering of the wax in a solar extractor, 

 so that only a small proportion of it at any time could have 

 felt that degree of temperature, and much of it was at no 

 time warmer than 160^ Fahr. The result was that in each of 

 the two colonies furnished with this foundation one cell of 

 unmistakable foul-broody matter was found, though it seemed 

 to differ somewhat in appearance from that having the usual 

 malignant character. The foundation was not completely 

 drawn out, and will be carefully watched for further develop- 

 ments. 



DIFFERENT "MAKES" OF COMB-FOUNDATION. 



The more important of the other experiments so far made 

 were those by which an attempt was made to test the qualities 

 of different makes of foundations designed for use in sections 

 for comb honey. One test was for the purpose of determining 

 the comparative readiness and rapidity with which the bees 

 did their work on each kind ; and one was to determine the 

 comparative thinness to which the bees would work the septa 

 of each kind. All these experiments were successfully and 

 satisfactorily made. Others of less importance it is unneces- 

 sary to mention here. 



WINTERING BEES IN CELLARS. 



An earnest effort is making during the present winter to 

 throw, if possible, some light on the questions which arise 

 relating to the wintering of bees in cellars. The question 

 relating to the effect of moisture on the wintering of bees is 

 given prominence. A number of colonies are placed together 

 and are kept enveloped in cloth continually saturated with 

 water, and some colonies are given plenty of upward ventila- 

 tion, while others have none at all. If moisture has such a 

 deleterious influence on the wintering of bees as is sometimes 

 claimed, it is confidently expected that these experiments will 

 disclose some of its effects with certainty. 



These brief outlines will serve to give a bird's-eye view of 

 the work that is being undertaken at the station. 



What of the coming year ? Shall the work bo con- 

 tinued on the same or similar lines, or shall it be varied ? and 

 if so, in what direction and to what extent? This is of 

 course, on the assumption that the work at the station is to be 

 continued. But of this we have no guaranty. It is indeed 

 the most unpleasant characteristic of this work, that its 

 tenure is very uncertain. Perhaps it may not be possible to 

 do away altogether with this uncertainty, and if it is not, 

 then it must continue to be as it is and has been, that the bee- 

 keepers of the State will have to be vigilant and active if they 

 mean to secure the continued recognition at the station which 

 the importance of their vocation warrants. We have been . 

 accustomed to contemplate with pride the position which our 

 State has held among apicultural communities. It has been 

 her won't to be at the front; shall she, because a Cook has 

 gone, be suffered to lose that position? 



This is written without reference to the question of who 

 shall perform the work. Close contact with the work has not 

 only magnified the importance of it, but has also revealed the 

 burden of the labor and care necessary to do it well. The 

 small stipend, now granted, by itself would be small induce- 

 ment to a competent person to carry the burden. The stipend 

 should be increased so that the work might be extended with- 

 out compelling the operator to carry a gratuitous load. 



By asking this, we ask nothing that our vocation does not 

 deserve. Apiculture lives not to itself. Its product consti- 

 tuting one of the most healthful of foods, and at the same 

 time so delectable as to be a luxury, is sure gain, being secured 

 from what would otherwise be waste only, and it may be that 

 this gain is but an incident to its greater bounty in causing 

 plant and tree to yield abundantly their seed after their kind. 

 R. L. Taylor. 



Mr. Taylor's essay was then discussed as follows: 



