614 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Sept. 26, 



G. M. Doolittle, Borodino, N. Y. 



E. A. Stratton, Horsehpads, N. Y. 

 H. E. Bliss, West VVinfield, N. Y, 

 Frank Mc-Nay, Mauslon, Wis. 



W. J. Brown, Chard, Ont. 

 (Jporge W. York, Chirago, Ills. 

 W. Z. Hut<'hiuson, Flint, Mich. 

 Gpo. J. Soitler, Mosiertown, Pa. 

 Win. McEvov, VVoodburn, Ont. 

 S. T. PiHtit, 'Belmont, Ont. 

 W. A. Chrysler, Chatham, Ont. 

 R. F. Holtermann, Brantford, Ont. 

 Prank Benton, Washington, D. C. 

 Ralph Benton, Washington, D. C. 

 J. C. Lillibridge, Port Allegany, Pa, 

 R. MeKnighl, Owen Sonnd, Ont. 

 R. A. Marrison, Inverary, Ont. 



F. A. Gemmill, Stratford, Ont. 

 E. E. Slingerland, Troy, Pa. 



ti A. Aspiiiwall. Jackson, Mich. 

 Ira Barber, DeKalb Junction, N. Y. 

 Dr. A. B. Mason, Toledo, Ohio. 

 L. D. Stilson, York, Nebr. 

 E. Dickinson. Jr., North Glanford, Ont 

 J. W. vSparliiig, Bowmanville, Ont. 

 D. H. Coggshall, West Groton, N, Y. 

 Wm. Couse, Streetsville, Ont. 

 D. B. Lovett, Crestline, Ohio. 



LADY MEMBEKS PRESENT. 



Mrs. Martin Emigh, Holbrook, Ont. 



Mrs. H. J. Beam, Black Creek, Ont. 



Mrs. E. H. Stewart, Niagara Falls South, Ont. 



Mrs. Adam Garner, Niagara Falls South, Ont. 



Mrs. J. K. Darling, Almonte, Ont. 



Mrs. J. G. Sized, Si;arboro Junction, Ont. 



Mrs. H. E. Bliss, West VVinfield, N. Y. 



Mrs. W. J. Brown, Chard, Ont. 



Miss Constance Root, Medina, Ohio. 



Miss Carrie Root, Medina, Ohio. 



Mrs. Wm. McEvov. Woodburn, Ont. 



Mrs. M. Rickard,"BufiFalo, N. Y. 



Mrs. P. Byer, Markham, Ont. 



Mrs. Anna L. Cowan, Dayton, Ohio. 



I,IPE MEMBERS PRESENT. 



A. I. Root, Medina, Ohio. 

 Thomas G. Newman, Chicago, 111. 



HONORARY MEMBERS PRESENT. 



Rev. L. L. Langstroth, Dayton, Ohio. 

 Rev. Wm. F. Clarke, Guelph, Ont. 



Next came an essay by Mr. B. Taylor, of Forestville, 

 Minn., entitled, 



Xlie Surest and Best 'W^ay of Producing: a 

 Crop of Comb Honey. 



There have been poor honey crops here (southern Minne- 

 sota) for five seasons in succession. Six years ago we had the 

 greatest crop on record, and for 25 years previous a good 

 crop was about as certain as the seasons, provided proper in- 

 dustry and skill were used. Then there came a change. Min- 

 nesota had in all the years previous to 1889, been regularly 

 blessed with abundance of rainfall in the growing season, and 

 generally, with much snow in winter, farm crops of all kinds 

 flourished ; wild flowering plants struggled for room in every 

 waste place, and the flowers were reeking with nectar. But 

 for the last five seasons there has been a great lack of rain- 

 fall in the summer and fall months, vegetable growth was 

 checked, and farm crops became less certain. The carpet of 

 green that clothed our landscape in the fall months was turned 

 to brown, often in the early months of summer. The white 

 clover that lined our roadsides and pastures with silvery 

 whiteness began to disappear more and more with each re- 

 turning season ; trees began to be scrimped in growth of leaf 

 and blossom, until in the fall of 1894 stately oaks and other 

 trees withered and died for lack of moisture. The honey 

 crops began to wane, and the bees wintered with less certainty 

 each year. Skillful apiarists that were able to still secure 

 some surplus began to be the ones that had the " worst luck " 

 in winteritig the colonies, and the less skillful, who got no 

 honey, became the most successful. 



But now old-time conditions seem to be returning ; good 

 rains continue to come in regular order, the brown earth is 

 being again clothed with a carpet of green and gold, and the 

 colonies of bees are increasing in weight in a way that prom- 



ises better times for 1896, for the apiarist, for the bees will 

 now rear brood until late in the fall, and the hives will be 

 stocked with ]/o)()i(/ bees at cellaring-time that will not die of 

 old fKje before young bees can be reared next spring to take 

 their places ; and the hives will also be well stocked with 

 natural stores, so we need not be doctoring the colonies with 

 artificial feed. I begin to fear that whenever we have to be- 

 gin doctoring our colonies for any reason, trouble is not far 

 away. 



The outlook is, then, hopeful, and I have resolved to pro- 

 duce a big crop of cotnb honey in 189<5, if life and health per- 

 mit, and the present hopeful condition continues. If I suc- 

 ceed I will have to have my colonies strong in bees when white 

 and Alsike clover blooms again, about June 1 next year, and 

 I shall begin at once to utilize present opportunity to be sure 

 to have the bees as I have already indicated. 



I am quite certain I can winter with certainty in almost 

 any kind of hive, provided it is filled with a large colony of 

 young bees, and plenty of natnnd sealed stores at the com- 

 mencement of winter, and I give intelligent care as to winter 

 quarters: this I will give by putting my colonies into a dry, 

 dark, well-ventilated cellar, and keeping them at a tempera- 

 ture as near 40'-' as possible. Each colony will be covered 

 either with soft felt, sheeting paper, or a quilt of two or more 

 thicknesses of burlap or cotton sheeting, and these fastened 

 down tightly to the top of the hive (the cover being removed), 

 so as to retain the natural heat of the bees, for I am now con- 

 vinced, by repeated experiments, that the colonies should be 

 covered ivarmly, even in tlie cellar. I will let the bottom- 

 boards of the hives remain, but will have a wide entrance 

 (the entire width of hive), both in front and rear, left open. 



The bees will be put into winter quarters when real winter 

 has apparently come. 



I have some second swarms that came late; these will be 

 at once supplied with heavy combs of natural stores, which I 

 have in stock, regardless of the flowers yielding fall honey, 

 for I want these young colonies to be stimulated to rear all 

 the brood possible, and this they will not do if stinted for 

 stores; the second swarms will make my best colonies for next 

 year. 



This fall I will give strong colonies all the supers of sec- 

 tions filled with full sheets of moderately heavy foundation; 

 they will partly or wholly draw it out, and if any brood-cham- 

 bers should be light ifi stores when these cases are removed, I 

 will give them heavy combs of honey to make them rich in 

 winter stores and spring food for rearing early the army of 

 workers that are to gather a great crop of clover and bass- 

 wood honey next year. 



The sections of honey stored this fall will be extracted, 

 and then set out some fair afternoon so the bees may clean 

 them of every particle of honey. During the winter and 

 spring the combs will be leveled to uniform thickness on a 

 comb-leveler, and then returned to the section-cases with one 

 of my slotted handy separators between each two combs, and 

 then set in a proper place until 10 days before clover blooms 

 next year, when I will put one case on each strong colony 

 previous to swarming ; in the cases the bees will have no 

 combs to build, and they will fill them as speedily as a set of 

 extracting-combs ; the sections will have the comb built soJitl 

 to them on all parts, the honey will be very white, and the 

 combs the smoothest you ever saw. If I do not have enough 

 drawn combs to hold my crop, I will use full sheets of founda- 

 tion in sections to supply the deficiency, putting the sections 

 with foundation in the center o( the super, and drawn combs 

 on the outside. 



Next spring, as soon as there is a fair prospect that hard 

 winter weather is passed, I will move my colonies to the sum- 

 mer stands. Each will be examined on the first fair day after 

 they have had a good flight, to ascertain the amount of bees 

 and stores, and to know they have a queen. The colonies will 

 be in my handy hives of 10 frames of 100 inches each of 

 tcoriio' comb, or 1,000 inches of straight worker comb per 

 hive, and with not two square inches of drone-comb in any 

 hive. They will bo supplied with combs of honey if lacking in 

 stores, united with others if queenless, and then covered 

 warmly, and then left in quiet, unless something should call 

 attention to some particular hive, when special attention will 

 be given it. 



After some of the colonies have become strong in bees, I 

 will put an extra hive, filled with worker comb, under them ; 

 this doubling of hives will be done for experiment, to ascer- 

 tain if this enlarging of brood room will give better results in 

 comb honey than single hives ; but the most of my colonies 

 will be in single hives, and near the time white clover blooms, 

 as has been mentioned, all strong colonies will be given a 

 super of prepared sections, the section room increased as 

 needed, by putting other cases under the partly-filled ones, 



