I'HE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



58 



I should not do it. If your bees are 

 in health, just "let well enough 

 alone " until it is time to put them 

 out.— .James Heddon. 



You can try it, but I should not' on 

 very many. I believe it unwise to 

 raise the temperature in the cellar 

 above SOJ, Fahr.— A. J. Cook. 



1 should prefer to leave them as 

 they are, rather than to risk them in 

 the higher temperature.— J. E. Pond. 



It cannot do much harm, but we 

 ■would not do it, tor you will probably 

 lose as many bees by restlessness as 

 you will gain by breeding. — Dadant 

 & Son. 



I think the plan a good one. Why 

 not raise part of the bees and leave 

 part at the bottom, and then tell us 

 which does the better?— W. Z. 

 Hutchinson. 



I do not feel at all sure about it, 

 but I should feel afraid to try very 

 many in that way. Try a small num- 

 ber and see how it works, and be sure 

 to report. For one, I should much 

 like to know the outcome. I feel 

 afraid that under ordinary circum- 

 stances bees would not be quiet at 

 €0" or (irp. and I think I should rather 

 have them quiet, whether they bred 

 or not.— 0. C. Miller. 



If it is desired to keep bees quiet 

 and save their strength and vitality 

 until a time when their activity will 

 be of some account, then the tempera- 

 ture of the cellar should not go above 

 50°, for the reason that at .lO^ and 

 above, the bees are always active in 

 the hive. Again, I should not want 

 to force them, if I could, beyond their 

 natural disposition to rear a little 

 brood about Feb. 1. Rearing a great 

 amount of brood in February and 

 March will not be profitable for many 

 reasons. It is the bees that are 

 reared in April and May, and up to 

 the middle of June, that gather the 

 most of our surplus.— G. L. Tinker. 



As an experiment, there may be no 

 harm in trying it on a part— and then 

 comparing results. Still we fail to 

 see a good reason for the experiment. 

 They will breed soon enough for all 

 practical purposes without it.— The 

 Editor. 



^ovxcspontitntt. 



Explanatory.— The llgures before the 

 names indicate the number of years that the 

 person has kept bees- Those after, show 

 the number of colonies the writer had in the 

 previous spring and fall, or fall and spring, 

 as the time of the year may require. 



This mark © indicates that the apiarist is 

 located near tne center of the State named; 

 6 north of the center; 9 south; 0+ east; 

 ♦O west; and this 6 northeast; ^northwest: 

 o* southeast; and ? southwest of the center 

 of the State mentioned. 



Convention Notices. 



ty The Northeastern Michigan Bee-Keepers' 



Association will hold its Hftli annua! meeting on 

 Wednesday. Feb. :!, IHH7, in the Common Council 

 Booms, at Bay City, Mich. 



w. Z. UcjTcniNSON, See. 



»*" The Fremont ProKresslve Bee-Keepers' As 



Bociatinnnill hold its semi-annual meetinn in con 

 Junction with the Farmers' Institute, at Fremont, 

 Mic*- — "-- • ■ — -- - - 



ilich..on Feb. 4, i«87. 



GEO. E. Hilton, Sec. 



tW~ The next meetinK of the Hardin County 

 Bee-Koepers' Association will be held in Eldura. 

 Iowa, on Feb. IJ. ihh7. at G. W. Ward's office, at 

 10 a.m. Our monthly meetincs are very interest- 

 ing, and we hope for a lar*ie attendance. 



J. W. BucHAXAN, See. 



ly^ The Wl9con9in State Bee- Keepers' As'soci- 



ation meets at the ("lapltol In MadNon, Wis., on 

 Thurday. ?'eb. :{. I8S7. at 9 a.m. All procresstve 

 bee-keepers are earnestly invited to attend, and 

 flupply-dealers are requested to exhibit their best 

 Implements and inventions. The State Atrricullu- 

 ral convention will be in session at thp same lime, 

 comraencintr on Feb. 1 and clot^inKon Feb. 4, which 

 will bean additional inducement for many to at- 

 tend. Hotel rates are from *l to fi per day. Re- 

 turn tickets will very prfibably be Kiven over the 

 principal railroads at reduced rates. 



F. Wn,cox, Sec. 



For tDe Amerlcaa Bee Journal. 



Tie Illinois Central Convention, 



The Illinois Central Bee-Keepers' 

 Association met at the Court House 

 in Mt. Sterling, Ills., at 10:30 a.m., on 

 Nov. 24, 1886. 



After the usual routine of opening, 

 Mr. J. M. Hambaugh, of Spring, Ills., 

 read the following essay, entitled, 



HIVES, FRAMES AND SECTIONS. 



It has been said by a noted apiarist, 

 that " all other things being equal, 

 bees will gather as much honey in a 

 nail-keg as in anything else." While 

 we cannot exactly admit this, it is 

 about as true to state that bees in one 

 of the modern improved hives, with 

 no more attention paid them than 

 was paid to them in tlie primitive 

 days of our ancestors, would probably 

 yield no better results than the pro- 

 verbial nail-keg, or ancient logs and 

 straw-skeps. It then follows that to 

 enhance the production of honey, we 

 must not only be equipped with the 

 proper means, in the way of hives 

 and fixtures, but we should also be 

 equipped with a knowledge of how 

 and when to act; the latter being 

 fully as important as the first. 



Prior to the invention of the mov- 

 able-frame hive, bees were a source 

 of mystery, and comparatively little 

 was known of the nature and habits 

 of these wonderful little insects, aside 

 from the "business end," with which 

 all seemed to be familiar. The old 

 methods by which the bees instructed 

 the aborigines in this important 

 branch of their physical anatomy, 

 still remain with them to this day, 

 terrorizing many with the thoughts 

 of so pointed an industry. 



It was the inventive genius of 

 Father Langstroth that perfected the 

 work begun by Huber, Munn and 

 others, and brought forth the most 

 progressive and useful of all other 

 inventions in the apicultural worll, 

 namely, the first practical movable- 

 frame hive. All honor due to Father 

 Langstroth for this great invention, 

 and his scientific researches as given 

 in hia invaluable work, the "Hive 

 and Honey Bee." The invention of 

 the movable-frame hive has been the 

 source of all practical improvements, 

 and has been the key whereby to un- 

 lock the mysteries connected with 

 this most wonderful and mechanical 

 little insect. 



To thoroughly understand their 

 wants, as regards their dwelling- 

 house and great laboratory, we should 

 be conversant with their nature and 

 habits. We should first understand 

 their wonderful power of reproduc- 

 tion, and their instincts of great 

 strength numerically, during the most 

 important period of their existence — 

 the laboring days of summer— and as 

 the days wane back to the season of 

 their long nap, they again decrease in 

 numbers back to that of probably not 

 over one-third or one-fourth of their 

 prime condition in summer. 



To suit these requirements, our 

 hives must be so constructed that we 

 can adapt them to these requirements 

 with the greatest possible ease and 

 dispatch. They must be so arranged 

 that we can contract or expand the 

 brood-chamber at our wish. Our 

 brood-frames should all be of exact 

 dimensions, cut by machinery, and 

 be interchangeable with all the hives 

 throughout the entire bee-yard ; like- 

 wise should all hive-bodies, supers, 

 covers, stands, etc., be of exact 

 dimensions, and interchangeable. In 

 my estimation the chief and most im- 

 portant item for first consideration is 

 the adopting of the brood-frame, after 

 which all other requirements must be 

 made to suit. 



In the consideration of the brood- 

 frame, we must cater to the natural 

 instincts of the queen as regards her 

 power of reproduction. We should 

 give her every resource whereby she 

 will be enabled to ply her vocation 

 uninterrupted, and in accordance 

 with laws governing her nature. We 

 should work for the bees as the most 

 essential requisite, for with our hives 

 literally boiling over with bees, tjie 

 season permitting we can rest assured 

 of the harvest. 



In this consideration, take a peep 

 at the bees in their abode, when left 

 to " their own sweet will " in the con- 

 struction of their combs and brood- 

 chamber. Having transferred many 

 colonies from box-hives and old fash- 

 ioned " bee-gums," I have taken pains 

 to notice how the bees prepare the 

 combs for the reception of the brood, 

 and how the queen proceeds in her 

 avocation of egg-laying, when left to 

 her own will. It is evident that deep 

 combs, with brood beneath the stores, 

 is in accordance with their laws, and 

 if any one will examine the brood- 

 nest in early spring, he will find near 

 the centre of each a small patch of 

 sealed brood in the centre of two or 

 three of the combs, from the size of a 

 silver dollar to that of a hand, and 

 immediately around this will be found 

 larva; in various stages of develop- 

 ment, and on the outside of all,fre3hly 

 laid eggs ; this is conclusive evidence 

 that the queen directs her movements 

 in a circle, commencing in the centre 

 of the comb, as near as the nature of 

 circumstances will admit. This leads 

 to the conclusion that the brood- 

 frames should be made large and 

 roomy, if we desire to obtain the best 

 results numerically from the queen. 



We should have the combs large 

 and uninterrupted with horizontal 

 bars and bee-spaces through the cen- 

 tre of the brood-nest. I believe them 



