1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



313 



Just prior to the issuing of a swarm, there may be seen 

 running about the hive over the combs and over the backs of 

 the other bees a very small proportion at first — probably a 

 retinue of the "queen's attendants" — producing a zeeping 

 sound unlilce any other I ever heard, not excepting the warn- 

 ing of the guards at night when a moth alights among them. 

 So my only deduction is that when the queen is deprived of 

 the use of her wings entirely, she is cutoff from one means of 

 communication, which may be all there is in it. 



Had our friend, the " Gleaner," "given me the slightest 

 hint " as to what constitutes t/ie best foundation fastener, I 

 should have tried to answer his question, on page 205. 



Wheelersburg, Ohio. 



Report of the Venango County Convention. 



BY C. S. PIZER. 



The second annual convention of the Venango County 

 Bee-Keepers' Association met in Franklin, Pa., Jan. 28, 

 1895. A goodly number of the apiarists of Venango and ad- 

 joining counties were present. Deputy Mayor I. H. Borland 

 delivered the address of welcome, at the conclusion of which 

 President R. D. Reynolds delivered his annual address. 



1st topic — " Spring Management of Bees," by T. C. Kelley. 

 He said it should begin in the fall, at which time the bees 

 should have sufficient stores to carry them through, and 

 should there come a scarcity of nectar from inclemency of the 

 weather, or from any cause, during the height of the breeding 

 season, they should be watched closely, as their stores at that 

 season would disappear very fast, and to avoid starvation, 

 honey, or syrup made of sugar, should be fed. He also laid 

 much stress on the kind of hive. He exhibited one of his 

 choice, and invention, with frames 1232xl2j.2 inches, placed 

 in brood-chambers suspended at an angle of 45 degrees, with 

 sections on the two upper oblique sides. 



2nd topic — "How to Best Improve Bees for Business." This 

 brought forth a general discussion, with an agreement that 

 careful selection of queens and drones — drones to be of a dif- 

 ferent strain from the queens — was the key to improvement. 



ord topic — " Large or Small Hives " was discussed ■pro 

 and fo;!. J. F. Hagarty advocated a small brood-chamber of 

 6 or 7 frames Simplicity size, as giving him the best results. 

 While H. S. Sutton claimed for the 10-frame hive ample room 

 for suQicient stores to carry the colony over without tbe close 

 attention that is required with a small hive. 



4th topic — "What Should We Cultivate for Bee-Forage?" 

 by H. S. Sutton. He advocated the cultivation of sucli nectar- 

 bearing trees as would produce value in their growth for lum- 

 ber or fruit-bearing qualities. He made special mention of 

 the basswood as a tree the cultivation of which should be en- 

 couraged, and strongly advocated its value to the farmer as 

 well as to the apiarist. 



The 5th topic was presented by Ed JoUey, who set forth 

 the great value of the bee in the pollenization of the inferior 

 fruits ; also the declination of the same without pollenization. 



6th topic — "The Best Method of Working Bees for 

 Profit," by R. D. Reynolds. He gave good pointers as to loca- 

 tion, and the different products of the apiary in demand, with 

 the price above cost of the production. Every one engaged in 

 apiculture should judge for himself whether" the rearing of 

 queens, production of comb and extracted honey, or the sale of 

 full colonies would meet this requirement. If a specialty was 

 made of any one branch, try to excel in it. 



7th topic — " How to Make Our Conventions Attractive," 

 by R. D. Reynolds. He advocated advertising and talking 

 bees and honey. 



After disposing of a lot of questions, a canvass was made 

 for the yield of honey for the year 1894, which showed an 

 average of oO pounds per colony. The greatest average was 

 that of J. F. Hagarty, being 35 pounds per colony. 



The next annual meeting will be held in Franklin, Pa., 

 Dec. 27, 1895. 



The olficers elected for the ensuing year are : President, 

 R. D. Reynolds, of Cooperstown ; Vice-President, Ed Jolley, 

 of Franklin : Treasurer, H. S. Sutton, of Franklin ; and Sec- 

 retary, O. L. Greenlee, of Utica. Franklin, Pa. 



A B t; of Bee-Ciilliire.— We have some of these books 

 left, and in order to close them out quickly, we renew the low 

 offers we made on them. This is tbe fine cyclopedia of bee-keeping 

 by A. I. Root, containing 400 pages and nearly 200 engravings. 

 The regular price is S1.25, but we will send the American Bee Jour- 

 nal one year and the "ABC" bound in cloth — both for only .SI .80 ; 

 or the parchment cover (very heavy paper) "A B C" and the 

 American Bee Journal one year — both together only $1.50. 



CONDUCTED BY 



JJR. J. P. II. BROW'JV, ^\uaUSTA, GA.. 



[Please send all questions relating to bee-keeping: In the South direct 

 to Dr. Brown, and he will answer in this department.— Kd.1 



Bees and Cane-]Mill§. 



A correspondent living in Mississippi sends the following : 



Last fall there was an unusual quantity of cane molas- 

 ses made in this neighborhood. The weather was warm dur- 

 ing the greater part of the time, and the bees flew freely. A 

 visit to the cane-mill disclosed the fact that there was a whole- 

 sale destruction of bees going on. They were crushed in the 

 mill, drowned in the cane-juice, and whenever a bee flew 

 through the steam arising from the open kettle, she instantly 

 fell into the boiling syrup. Whenever the syrup was poured 

 off, dead bees by the handful were found at the bottom of the 

 kettle. This went on for three weeks at least, and the result 

 was that colonies previously strong wore reduced to mere 

 nuclei, and all hopes of a surplus this year have receded 

 again. In an ordinary year it is not unusual for bees to 

 swarm before the 15th of this mouth. This year the first 

 young bees had just made their appearance at that date. Per 

 contra, five colonies of blacks purchased from an apiary four' 

 miles distant, where there was no molasses made, are very 

 strong in numbers, and apparently ready to swarm. Some of 

 the depopulated colonies show symptoms of " spring dwind- 

 ling," as laid down in the books. The reason is supposed to 

 be, that such colonies have not sufBoient strength to form a 

 cluster in the winter, so that brood-rearing can go on in the 

 early spring, and the result is that there are no young bees to 

 replace the old as they pass away in the spring. The idea 

 suggests itself, in the North and West the cider-mills may be 

 in the same way the cause of spring dwindling. 



Can you suggest any plan by which the bees may be re- 

 strained in the fall from visiting the cane-mills ? Would it do 

 to raise the hive from the bottom-board and tack wire-cloth 

 over the bottom and entrance of the hive, and thus restrain 

 them from going abroad during this season? Novice. 



Columbia, Miss., March 12. 



In our neighborhood we have no cane-mills to entice the 

 bees to destruction, and while I can give the correspondent no 

 advice based on experience in this particular matter, I would 

 suggest out-door feeding prudently applied, during the season 

 of the mills running, with a view to keep the bees at home; 

 or I would remove the bees to a locality beyond the reach of 

 the mill. The latter plan would be attended with some little 

 work, but it might be less expensive than to feed, particularly 

 if the hives have plenty of stores. 



I fear the wire-cloth plan might, in the wind-up, be " worse 

 than the disease." 



Report of the Texa§ Slate ConTenlion. 



The 17th annual convention of the Texas State Bee- 

 Keepers' Association met at the residence of W. R. Graham, 

 in Greenville, April 3, with about 20 members present. 



Dr. Marshall, in his usual way, opened the convention 

 with a few appropriate remarks and prayer; then Mr. W. R. 

 Graham introduced his wife and daughter. Miss Nellie, and 

 announced that to-day they were celebrating the 44th anni- 

 versary of their marriage, and that Miss Nellie was their 

 youngest child. 



Dr. Wm. R. Howard, the Secretary, being absent, Mr. J. 

 C. Hunter was elected Secretary ; after which the President 

 declared the convention open for business, and questions were 

 called for. 



DISCUSSION OF (QUESTIONS. 



The subject of fastening foundation in frames by means 

 of imbedding wire into it without any other means of fasten- 

 ing, was taken up. A frame was thus exhibited by Mr. 

 Graham. After a somewhat lengthy discussion, it was thought 

 to be practicable. 



Painting hives was next discussed at considerable length, 

 pro and con, and painting was generally recommended. 



The structure of hives — the dovetailed or nailed, which is 

 best ? After some comment the dovetailed hive was recom- 

 mended. 



Loose hive-bottoms were talked of and endorsed. 



