266 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Local Convention Directory. 



JB87. Time and place of MeeUno. 



May 4, 5.— Texas State, at McKinney, Tex. 



B. F. Carroll, Sec, Dresden, Teat. 



May 5.— Progressive, at Bedford. Ohio. 



Miss Dema Bennett, Sec., Bedford, O. 



May 5. -Sheboygan County, at Hingham.'Wis. 

 Mattie B. Thomas, Sec, Sheboygan Falls, Wis. 



May 10.— Keystone, at Scranton, Pa. 



Arthur A. Davis, Sec, Clark's Green, Pa. 



May 10.— Cortland Union, at Cortland, N. T. 

 D. F. Shattuck, Sec, Homer, N. Y. 



May 24.— N. W. Ills. & 8. W. Wis., at Rockton, Ills. 

 D. A. Fuller, Sec. Cherry Valley, Ills. 



May 26.-'We8t Lake Shore Central, at Kiel, Wis. 

 Ferd Zastrow, Sec, Millhome, Wis. 



Dec- 



-Michigan State, at Bast Saginaw, Mich. 

 H. D. Cutting, Sec, Clinton, Mich. 



^F" In order to have this table complete, Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetings.— Bd. 



hives, with frames crosswise, and 

 frames hung lengthwise in winter and 

 spring. It took all my first year to 

 climb that (to me) almost insurmount- 

 able obstacle. The plan involves a 

 world of work and bother, but it is 

 perfectly successful. No dead bees 

 or moldy combs are in the hives, and 

 no spring dwindling ! 



SChSSi^ 



■fsmk" 



Successful Wintering of Bees.— I. 

 A. Travis, Lyons, o. Wis., on April 13, 

 1887, says : 



I put in the cellar last fall 110 colo- 

 nies of bees, and on April 2, 1887, 1 

 took out 109 colonies, all in good con- 

 dition. The one that died, starved 

 but a few days before I put them out. 

 Is this not doing well ? 



Feeding Honey in Musty Combs.— 

 A Subscriber at Prophetstown,^ Ills., 

 asks the following : 



I have lost several colonies of bees 

 from diarrhea, their combs being 

 left in a musty, bad condition. Is 

 there any danger of the bees contract- 

 ing disease, if this honey is fed to 

 healthy colonies V 



LNo; it will be as good as any for 

 spring feeding.— Ed.] 



Building up Starving Colonies.— 



T. F. Kinsel, Shiloh,6 Ohio, on April 



14, 1887, says : 



Last fall when putting my bees into 

 the cellar I found 8 weak, light colo- 

 nies. These were set aside by them- 

 selves, so they could be fed, if neces- 

 sary. The middle of February I made 

 an examination and found these 8 

 colonies starving. I took a frame of 

 sealed white clover and basswood 

 honey and inserted it in the centre of 

 the cluster. They soon became quiet 

 again, and are as good to-day (put out 

 of the cellar on April 2, and on April 

 8 I finished) as any. All my bees 

 spotted their hives when put out ; 

 these 8 certainly no more than the 

 others. My cellar can be kept at 38° 

 to 42° Fahr. All the colonies had 

 brood when put out of the cellar, and 

 some of it was capped. 



nies, and I shall not unite them with 

 others, but supply them with eggs 

 from other colonies, as I shall soon 

 need to make up nuclei, and they are 

 fair colonies. I secure excellent re- 

 sults in giving a space of an inch or 

 more below the brood-combs in win- 

 ter, as then they never get clogged up 

 as they formerly did. Of those win- 

 tered in the cellar, we raise the front 

 board of the hive, giving a large en- 

 trance. The bees taken out of the 

 cellar on March 1 have from 3 to 4 

 combs of capped brood, and plenty of 

 bees to keep them warm. Those just 

 taken from the cellar have but very 

 little brood, and about the same num- 

 ber of bees. This spring has been 

 very favorable to putting bees out 

 early, as there has been but very little 

 severe weather since March 1. 



Gathering Pollen.— S. Burton, Eu- 

 reka,© Ills., on April 16, 1887, says : 



My bees have wintered on the sum- 

 mer stands all right, except one col- 

 hny that I neglected to pack as I did 

 the others. I had 1.5 colonies, and I 

 now have 14 that are good and strong. 

 They have been gathering natural 

 pollen for several days. My bees are 

 pure Italians, hybrids and blacks, in 

 separate hives. 



Swarming Expected Soon.— F. L 



Merrick, Waldron,CH Ills., on April 

 14, 1887, says : 



My bees were packed on the sum- 

 mer stands, and all came through the 

 winter in fine condition. They are 

 bringing in pollen lively. They had 

 an abundance of honey, but I com- 

 menced feeding in February. I think 

 some of them will swarm within 30 

 days. 



Wintered without Loss.- L. Reed, 

 Orono,OMich., on April 14, 1887, 

 writes : 



On Nov. 1.5. 1886. 1 put 54 colonies 

 of bees into the cellar in good condi- 

 tion. I have been putting them out, 

 a few at a time, since April 9 ; to-day 

 I put the last out, all having come 

 through in splendid condition— no 

 disease, no light colonies, and all 

 strong in bees. We have had a steady 

 winter, with sleighing up to April 1. 

 We are having nice weather now, 

 the mercury being up to 70° in the 

 shade to-day ,and has been there a few 

 days before. Bees are carrying in 

 pollen to-day. White clover is start- 

 ing nicely, and prospects for a good 

 honey season are fair. 



Disagreeable Weather, etc.— Abe 



Hoke, Union City,o* Ind., on April 19, 

 1887, says : 



This is a beautiful morning ; but 

 yesterday was a very disagreeable 

 day, as it snowed all the afternoon. 

 It was cold last night ; the snow was 

 3 inches deep. In my letter on page 

 235, 1 am made to say that I had not 

 lost an entire colony in three winters. 

 It should have read, " in three winters 

 in straw hives ;" for I lost 13 colonies 

 in wooden hives during the winter of 

 188.5-86, which I reported to the Bee 

 Journal. 



[" In straw hives " was omitted, by 

 an oversight of the printer.— Ed.] 



Honey and Pollen Yielding Trees. 



—In reply to a question in a private 

 letter from Mrs. H. Hills, of Wiscon- 

 sin, in regard to alder, soft maple and 

 poplar yielding honey and pollen. 

 Prof. A. J. Cook says : 



The alder yields some honey and 

 much pollen. The maples— all of 

 them— yield richly of both honey and 

 pollen. Had we populous colonies at 

 this season of the year, we should find 

 the maples among our best honey- 

 plants. Poplars and willows certainly 

 furnish nectar as well as pollen. 



Spring Protection of Bees.— Mrs. 

 H. Hills, Sheboygan Falls,©* Wis., on 

 April 14, 1887, says : 



If the Rev. Wm. F. Clarke could 

 look in my hives to-day. he would see 

 how the uninstructed mind was 

 obliged to solve thut problem, " spring 

 protection," and did succeed in " kill- 

 ing two birds with one stone," by 

 securing, at the same time, " contrac- 

 tion of the brood-chamber." I had 2- 

 inch chaff division-boards at both 

 sides and ends of ordinary Simplicity 



Favorable Spring for Bees.— Mrs. 

 L. C. Axtell, Roseville.o Ills., on 

 April 14, 1887, writes : 



My 202 colonies of bees are in tine 

 condition for this time in the spring. 

 Five colonies were lost from out-door 

 wintering, but all except one that 

 was stolen was due to carelessness in 

 preparing them, as all that were pre- 

 pared properly, and had queens, are 

 in good condition. There was no loss 

 in the cellar-wintering of 113 colo- 

 nies ; 4 are queenless, but fair colo- 



My Experience with Bees.— Frank 

 Andrews, Smethport,6 Pa., on April 



18, 1887, writes : 



I commenced keeping bees in 1882; 

 got my start by taking 4 colonies on 

 shares. I kept them only one year, 

 as the owner would not furnish half 

 the hives. We divided them, and I 

 had 3 colonies of my own in the spring 

 of 1883. The spring of 1886 I had 22 

 colonies, and last fall I had 42, and 

 2,756 pounds of honey, about half of 

 it being comb honey in one-pound 

 sections. I have lost no bees in win- 

 tering, had one colony given to me, 

 and now have 43 very strong colonies. 

 1 winter my bees on the summer 

 stands, and do all feeding in the fall. 

 I keep them as warm as possible 

 through the winter and spring until 

 they swarm. I obtained 185 

 pound sections of honey 



one- 

 from one 



