Id07 



Cleanings In bee culture. 



m 



dation must be carefully put in so that it 

 swings clear from the bides. If not put in 

 squax"e, one corner of the sheet will be crowd- 

 ed against one side, which may make a 

 crooked comb. While it takes careful work 

 to put these lai'ge sheets of foundation in 

 propei'ly, I think it is much less work than 

 to use a smaller sheet with bottom starter, 

 while it gives almost as good i-esults. 



It is unquestionable that some method 

 must be used that will secure combs well at- 

 tached to the section all around if we are to 

 have honey that will ship safely. I have 

 never seen any comb honey built from start- 

 ei's only, or even with large sheets, that did 

 not nearly fill the section, that did not have 

 a considerable number of sections that were 

 really unfit to ship, and that would break 

 down in shipping. This not only disgusts 

 the honey- dealer but compels him to ask a 

 larger profit, thus reducing consumption, or 

 else compels the honey-producer to take less 

 for his product. Claims and complaints are 

 made to the railroads when honey is broken 

 in shipment, and, whether they pay these 

 claims or not, they give them a good excuse 

 for maintaining high freight rates on honey, 

 the burden of which must fall on the pro- 

 ducer. 



CONVENTION REPORTS. 



It will not be long before we have a new 

 departure in reporting convention proceed- 

 ings of value. Where hive manipulations or 

 other operations of a somewhat intricate 

 nature are described, the one preparing the 

 address should have the power to take photo- 

 graphs (at cost) of these operations, and 

 hand copies in at the convention. 



AN INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION. 



Could there not be in the United States a 

 truly international bee-keepers' convention? 

 Such a meeting should be of profit to the bee- 

 keeping world, and with it there should be 

 an international exposition of honey and api- 

 arian appliances and apiarian views, and the 

 vegetation from which the nectar is gathered. 

 Surely our various governments would help 

 such an undertaking. 



CONVENTION PROGRAM. 



The place for a convention should be se- 

 lected at as early a date as convenient, then 

 those interested can concentrate their ener- 

 gies on working up an interest. Next the 

 invitations to those who shall take part in the 

 proceedings should go out early so these can 



put their best efforts in preparing material 

 for the subject in hand. On every hand there 

 is too little effort to make a convention a suc- 

 cess. My observations go to show that, where 

 reason is used in selecting the time and place 

 for a convention, if failure there be, it is gen- 

 erally due to a lack. of thorough and united 

 work to create an interest. 



SCANT AND IMPROPER STORES. 



At the above convention a discussion took 

 place which went to show that, if carefully 

 done, the feeding of sugar syi'up during win- 

 ter may do no harm; and when dysentery in 

 winter quarters is the result of improper 

 stores, or if there is a shortage of stores, the 

 feeding of sugar syrup may do much good. 

 O. L. Hershiser has, during the past winter, 

 fed over the cluster in inverted jars, the 

 mouth being covered with a thin cloth, 25 lbs. 

 of sugar to 10 lbs. of water, with 3 lbs. of hon- 

 ey added, and a teaspoont'ul of cream of tar- 

 tar. 



Mr. Alex. Taylor gave an instance where 

 a man fed in saucers shoved under the clus- 

 ter. The man fed the bees regularly, and the 

 bees came out in first-class condition. The 

 writer related his experience in feeding one 

 colony two parts of sugar to one of water. 

 The stock had dysentery from improper stores. 

 The result was satisfactory so far as he could 

 judge. Since the convention, some more 

 have been fed, apparently stopping the dis- 

 ease. The great difficulty, however, is to 

 keep the stores warm. The convention ap- 

 peared to consider that ideal conditions could 

 l3e obtained by feeding some sugar syrup in 

 the fall. This the bees w^ould use first when 

 in winter quarters and then turn to honey. 



LOCALITY. 



In the British Bee Jo^irnal report of the 

 British Bee-keepers' Association conversa- 

 zione, Mr. Cowan (the chairman) stated that 

 the Italian bee had not proved as satisfactory 

 as the English (black) bee. Objection was, 

 thirty years' experience had taught him that 

 English bees were much better suited to their 

 own climate than the others, which began 

 work too early in the spring, while the natives 

 stayed at home and saved themselves from 

 the perils of the English weather, which dec- 

 imated the foreigners. The latter also rear- 

 ed brood much earlier than English bees, and 

 therefore they consumed more honey at a time 

 when that commodity was obtainable in the 

 fields. Observation from so high an author- 

 ity is worth quoting. It may be that the Brit- 

 ish climate gives a long-drawn-out spring, 

 such as we rarely have. The I'easons given 

 above, all point to qualities we prize. Again, 

 Mr. Cowan states, "Carniolans were more 

 satisfactory here than any other foreign bee." 

 On page 145 of the same journal. Humble 

 Bee states, under "Nuptial Flight," "The 

 Carniolans are stronger on the wing, and 

 would be more likely to mate a young queen. 

 I succeeded in bringing them down to the 

 ground by the dozen, or even to my hand, 

 by the attraction of a youug un.iiated (ineun 



