189b. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



217 



An essay on " California Bee-Keeping," was read by the 



Secretary. 



At the Wednesday morning session Mr. A. B. Mellen pre- 

 sented an interesting essay upon the subject of " Honey vs. 

 Money." This called forth some discussion in the line of co- 

 operation. 



Mr. Mendleson then favored the association with his essay 

 upon the "The Use and Abuse of Smoke in the Management of 

 Bees." Little smoke, gentle handling, clean hives, were the 

 texts followed. Rough and rapid work with bees, and much 

 smoke always resulted in cross bees. Mr. Taylor had bees so 

 cross that they could not be cured with any of the foregoing 

 methods, Prof. Cook said. He could manage cross bees the 

 best under a tent. 



At this stage of the meeting Dr. Gallup, of Santa Ana, 

 arrived, and was given a warm welcome by the bee-keepers. 

 He was made an honorary member. Hon. Mr. Hambaugh, of 

 Illinois, and Mr. Alphaugb, of Canada, were also in attend- 

 ance, and were made honorary members of the association. 



FEEDING BEES. 



The subject of feeding bees received a general discussion. 

 Mr. Mclntyre could usually tell when a oolony needed feed- 

 ing by observing if there were young, immature bees in front 

 of the hiTe. He fed mostly in jars inverted on the hive. To 

 prevent robbing, put a robber trap in front of the hive. After 

 a large number of robbers had been confined for several hours, 

 they were glad to get home and stay there. Dry years were 

 the most profitable to him, for he not only obtained a good 

 price for his previous year's honey, but kept his bees in such 

 condition that when the good year did come he obtained a 

 large yield. 



Mr. Cory, after 20 years' experience in feeding, was more 

 successful when he fed diluted honey. He had fed several 

 hundred pounds to a single colony in order to get reserve 

 combs for future use. 



Capt. Wood fed by pouring honey on a barley sack laid 

 over the frames, and found it a good way. 



Dr. Gallup thought bees would get daubed, but if the 

 honey or feed was diluted there would be no danger to the 

 bees, if fed in warm weather. 



Mr. Alpaugh said that if they fed honey in Canada it 

 would granulate in the comb, unless it was mixed with syrup, 

 or if the honey was scalded it would not granulate. 



Mr. Mclntyre said that sage honey will not granulate in 

 three or four years — that is the difference between Canada 

 and California honey. 



Capt. Wood exhibited an old weather-beaten hive, and his 

 method of management. He preferred an old-style Root Sim- 

 plicity smoker, but improved by Wood. His honey-knife was 

 also made with considerable metal in it, in order to hold heat. 

 He kept the knife hot while uncapping, by inserting it in a 

 peculiarly constructed copper boiler. He also used a very in- 

 genious scraper, something like an intensified putty-knife. 



The majority of the bee-keepers present preferred the 

 Langstroth hive and the Bingham knife. 



The question-box was opened, and the question, "What 

 is the general average production of honey in California?" 

 was read. Mr. Mclntyre said that apiaries under good man- 

 agement would average 75 pounds per colony. 



At the afternoon session the association proceeded to the 

 election of officers. Prof. Cook was the unanimous choice for 

 re-election for President, John H. Martin was re-elcted Secre- 

 tary, and H. E. Wilder was elected Treasurer ; Dr. Millard 

 and M. H. Mendleson as Executive Committee. Geo. W. 

 Brodbeck, Vice-President for Los Angeles county ; J. F. Flory, 

 for Kings ; B. S. Taylor, for Riverside; J. A. McKinney, for 

 San Bernardino ; R. Touchton, for Ventura; Dr. B. Gallup, 

 for Orange; and G. S. Stubblefield, for San Diego county. 



The reports of committees were then received. The Sec- 

 retary was voted .S25 for his services. Mr. Levering presented 

 an appeal to the association, asking that bee-keepers put 

 the product of one colony of bees during the coming season 

 for the benefit of Rev. L. L. Langstroth, and to be applied to 

 the " Langstroth Fund." Upon motion of Mr. Cory, it was 

 resolved to send .§10 of the money in the hands of the Treas- 

 urer to Mr. Langstroth. A collection was afterwards taken, 

 and §6.60 additional was raised. 



Dr. Gallup was then called upon, and made a fsw remarks 

 upon his early experiences in bee-keeping in the cold climate 

 of Canada. He did not keep bees at present, but was always 

 interested in them. He said he had gotten himself into 

 trouble by writing for the American Bee Journal, and was 

 flooded with letters asking all sorts of questions about Cali- 

 fornia. -J^ 

 Upon motion of Mr. Brodbeck, it was resolved that tne 

 California State Bee-Keepers' Association recognize the Cen- 



tral California Bee-Keepers' Association as co-workers with 

 us, and their action in sending such an able representative as 

 Mr. Flory was commended. 



The convention then adjourned to meet in Los Angeles at 

 the call of the Executive Committee. 



Bloomington, Calif. J. H. Martin, Sec. 



Managing the Hoffman Frames. 



BY C. M. BIVERS. 



I wonder if Shakespeare had in mind the difficulties of 

 adjusting a Hoffman frame in a crowded hive when he wrote — 

 " If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well it were done 

 quickly ;" or the bees' chances of life under such circum- 

 stances when he makes Hamlet say, "To be or not to be." I 

 hear your answer, "That is the question." 



That considerable pulling and prying is necessary in 

 getting the Hoffman frames apart, and that some care and 

 patience is required if we would avoid killing bees in read- 

 justing them, may be admitted for the purpose of this article. 



A handy tool as suggested by some bee-keepers for this 

 work, is the pocket-knife. Some say a nail is a fine thing, 

 and may be carried in the pencil-pocket. A screw-driver, and 

 under some circumstances a small crow-bar, have been recom- 

 mended. Now, without entering into a discussion of the com- 

 parative merits of these different implements, there is one by 

 the use of which we may avoid the killing of bees in crowding 

 the frames together, and with much less trouble than smoking 

 them out of the way. I refer to the screw-driver, but any 

 piece of iron not too thick, and of sufficient length, will 

 answer the purpose. 



The frame to be adjusted in the hive is so placed that the 

 end-bars of the frames are about 'H inch apart. The point of 

 the screw-driver is now placed between the end bars near the 

 top, and allowed to pass down between the two below the off- 

 set in the frames. When this is properly done, this crowds all 

 bees from between the end-bars. The frame may now be 

 pushed up against the blade of the screw-driver, the screw- 

 driver withdrawn and finally the frames crowded snugly 

 together. Seattle, Wash. 



Amount of Honey Consumed in Producing 

 a Pound of Bees. 



BY S. A. 8CHUDDEMAGF.N. 



How much honey is consumed in producing a given num- 

 ber or amount, say one pound, of bees'? — Question in the 

 American Bee Journal of Feb. 8, 1894. 



This is a very difficult question to answer, as it may 

 vary at different seasons, and is a good deal guess-work, as 

 the amount of honey and pollen consumed to rear one pound 

 of bees will probably never be accurately ascertained. It has 

 been assumed, and stated, that one colony needs 60 pounds of 

 honey in one year for its maintenance ; taut for this latitude 

 in a good season it is my opinion that this is not half enough. 



If we introduce an Italian queen in a black colony, we 

 find that the black bees have entirely disappeared in about twr 

 months and one week in the working season; deducting 21 

 days from the egg to the time until the bee hatches, leaves 

 about 45 days for the life of the bee ; but here we must take 

 into account the fact that only a favored few reach that age, 

 as the majority are swept away by the wind and accidents 

 while at work, in or before the prime of their life. 



In animal life, especially in mammals, it takes about from 

 7 to 10 pounds of milk to make one pound gain in weight : as 

 chyle — the food with which the nurse-bees feed the larva; — is 

 probably richer than milk, containing more albuminoids and 

 nitrogen, it may take less. All insects, in their larval state 

 are voracious eaters, and the larva of the bee will probably 

 consume more than treble its own weight during the seven 

 days it is fed, as much is lost by exhalation, and I believe that 

 the hatched young bee weighs less than the larva when it is 

 capped over, as the fluids in the body of the larva are ab- 

 sorbed and transformed in the tissues of the bee. To this 

 must be added the honey needed by the bees until they are old 

 enough to gather for themselves — about 10 days. 



In two experiments with hiving prime swarms on empty 

 combs, in a honey-flow, the gain of storing in the first 5 days 

 until larvse was fed, against other colonies having brood, and 

 their gain when they had larvie to feed a_nd themselves, indi- 

 cates a loss of 2)2 to 3 pounds a day. J " 



So I conclude that every pound of bees, when hatched, 

 have cost the colony and the bee-keeper at least two pounds of 

 honey, and probably 3, until the bees are old enough to gather ; 



