THE AMERlCAl^ BEE JOURNAL. 



87 



ing headless-nails driven Into the 

 front edge of the main bottom ; and 

 two long wooden buttons with square 

 notches on the back end of the hive, 

 hook on projecting nails in the back 

 end of the bottom-board. 



REVERSIBLE HIVKS. 



Dr. Miller had tried an Invertible 

 hive last summer. It had some good 

 points, but with all his inverting and 

 re-inverting he failed to make the 

 bees understand what was wanted of 

 them ; they would not work in the 

 sections. 



Mr. Gammon had last summer tried 

 a sectional hive ; but when he under- 

 took, by interchanging the parts, to 

 have the honey carried from the 

 brood-department into the sections, 

 he failed entirely. He had never had 

 a hive become so clogged with honey 

 to the restriction of the queen. lie 

 had also fitted a set of ordinary frames 

 for reversing. When he first reversed 

 them, he found one capped queen-cell, 

 which he removed, and others started. 

 A day or two later he found the bees 

 had destroyed the latter, and was 

 much elated, thinking that he had 

 found an easy preventive of swarm- 

 ing. But about the time the first 

 queen-cell should have hatched, out 

 they went, and they kept on swarm- 

 ing, and at last killed their own 

 queen. 



ALSIlvE CLOVER. 



From ten years' experience, Mr. 

 Lewis pronounced this one of the very 

 best grasses for hay and pasture, es- 

 pecially on low ground. For hay it 

 should be sowed with timothy, which 

 helps to hold it up. Sow 1 bushel of 

 seed to 16 acres. It makes but one 

 crop of hay, does not turn dark in 

 curing, and stock eat it up clean. It 

 will re-seed itself indefinitely. 



Dr. Miller had not succeeded in get- 

 ting it to grow, and it did not re-seed 

 itself for him. 



Both Mr. Lewis and Mr. High- 

 barger gave good reports of the 

 Alsike as a honey-plant. They thought 

 that it was better than white clover, 

 and less affected by drouth. 



The President of the association for 

 the ensuing year is Mr. L.Highbarger, 

 of Adaline, Ills. ; and the Secretary is 

 Mr. D. A. Fuller, of Cherry Valley, 

 Ills. 



Winnebago, 5 Ills. 



For the Ajncrlcan Bee JoumaL 



Bees in Winter Quarters. 



V. W. CLOUGH. 



weather is not injurious to bees, but 

 the mischief lies in the rapid change 

 of temperature. Any old shed, coal- 

 house, or in fact any building that 

 can be darkened answers the purpose. 

 Noise does not disturb the bees, if 

 the hives are not jarred. 



To those who have large numbers of 

 colonies I recommend for winter 

 quarters a building on the plan of an 

 ice-house — the walls being packed 

 with sawdust, perfectly air-tight at 

 the bottom, with a small ventilator at 

 the top, without any light-holes as 

 windows, so that when the door is 

 closed the bees will be in a perfectly 

 dark room. 



Geneseo,^ Ills. 



Vermont Convention, 



Winter quarters should exclude 

 light, and from the time they are put 

 away in the fall until removed in the 

 spring, the room should remain dark. 

 This will fceep them quiet, even dur- 

 ing warm days. After being prepared 

 for winter, I do not want my bees to 

 have any flight. 



The repository should be so con- 

 structed that tlie variations of tem- 

 perature will be gradual. Sudden 

 changes should be avoided. Cold 



The Vermont Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation met at Burlington. Vt., on 

 Jan. 13, 1887. President P. C. Abbott 

 occupied the chair, and congratulated 

 the association on having started 

 from the humble position of a small 

 Addison county association and risen 

 to the dignity of a State organization, 

 so that every bee-keeper in the State 

 might have the benefit of associated 

 effort and experience. 



The first essay read was by J. H. 

 Larabee, on " In Embryo," which 

 contained valuable advice, intended 

 especially for beginners in apiculture. 



A. E. Manum discussed the subject 

 of " The brood-chamber from April 1 

 to Aug. 1," giving his methods of 

 strengthening weak colonies in the 

 spring, preparations for the collec- 

 tion of surplus honey, and extending 

 to the close of the honey harvest, 

 preparation for winter, etc. The sub- 

 ject was fully discussed. 



" Cellar vs. out-door wintering " 

 was the subject of a discussion, led 

 by Dr. F. Bond, of Cornwall, who 

 favored cellar wintering, although he 

 thought it best to be governed by 

 circumstances. His apiary was located 

 in a windy place, so that he used a 

 cellar, it was well to economize heat 

 to save honey. He put his colonies 

 in the cellar just after the ground 

 froze, and took them out about April 

 10, or when the weather was warm 

 enough for the bees to work. He did 

 not pay much attention to ventilation. 



F. M. Wright, of Enosburgh, found 

 it necessary to ventilate, and recom- 

 mended upward ventilation from the 

 floor. He did not put his bees out 

 until about the last of April. lie 

 placed a quilt over the frames and 

 raised the hive off from the bottom- 

 board. 



The question was further discussed 

 by Messrs. Leonard, Manum and 

 Crane, the weight of opinion being in 

 favor of wintering in the cellar. Mr. 

 Crane gave his views on the condition 

 of the temperature as governing the 

 amount of moisture held by the 

 atmosphere. A cubic foot of air at 

 10^ would hold in suspense about one- 

 fifth of a grain of water and a rise in 

 the temperature will largely increase 

 the amount of moisture that will be 

 held. 

 Adjourned until evening. 



" Shall we feed sugar or honey when 

 hives are deficient in winter stores "i"' 

 was discussed by Messrs. Crane, 

 Bond, Leonard, Davis and others, the 

 weight of opinion- favoring honey as 

 the best and cheapest. 



Miss M. A. Douglas, of Shoreham, 

 read an essay on " How shall we mar- 

 ket our honey V" She admitted that 

 she was undecided whether it was 

 better to sell individually or through 

 an association. She was strongly in 

 favor, however, of placing a first-class 

 article on the market in preference to 

 adapting the quality of tne supply to 

 the demand. This essay took the first 

 prize, and will be published later. 



Mr. Leonard led the discussion on 

 " What is the best method of re- 

 queening colonies V" From the best 

 colonies he took sealed queen-cells in 

 the swarming season, and put them 

 into a cage in the middle of a queen- 

 less colony to hatch. A frame with 

 divisions both ways covered on one 

 side with wire cloth, and on the other 

 with a board or slats was used for this 

 purpose. He introduced the queens 

 into the hives in an introducing cage. 



Mr. Manum favored the introduc- 

 tion of fertile queens, which he placed 

 in a cage over a frame of unsealed 

 honey and unhatched bees. He then 

 cut a hole in the frame and placed it 

 in the colony, and the bees would 

 work their way through to the queen. 

 Sometimes the bees would seal the 

 hole up, when the hatching bees and 

 queen could feed on the unsealed 

 honey, and the queens could lay in the 

 cells deserted by the young bees. The 

 discussion was continued by Messrs. 

 Holmes, Hall and others. 



Adjourned until 9 a.m. 



The first business of the second day 

 was the report of the Secretary, which 

 showed that the expense of the pres- 

 ent convention amounted to $13.27, of 

 which $3 had been received. The 

 Treasurer's report showed $7.27 in 

 the treasury, leaving a deficiency of 

 53. The above reports were accepted 

 and adopted, and a contribution taken 

 at the time was sutBcient to defray all 

 expenses and leave a balance in the 

 Treasurer's hands. 



The following were elected oflicers 

 of the association for the ensuing 

 year: President, P. C. Abbot, of 

 Essex ; Vice-Presidents, F.M.Wright, 

 of Enosburgh ; D. S. Hall, of South 

 Cabot ; J. E. Crane, of Middlebury ; 

 Secretary, R. H. Holmes, of Shore- 

 ham ; Treasurer, J. E. Crane, of Mid- 

 dlebury. ^ XX i 



An essay by J. H. Martin, of Hart- 

 ford, N. Y., entitled " The exhibition 

 of honey at the county fairs," was 

 read by the Secretary. He noticed 

 the fact that the eastern bee-keeper 

 finds a sharp competitor in the west- 

 ern producer, as there they have a 

 longer honey-flow and a cheaper mode 

 of living, so that they can put their 

 crop on our eastern markets at what 

 seems to us ruinously low prices ; he 

 thought we should advertise by ex- 

 hibiting at our county fairs, and push 

 our business with the same enterprise 

 that the dry-goods merchant does his, 

 and, in order to maintain living 

 prices, high-pressure methods would 

 have to be resorted to. 



