698 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



and hybrids, and the queens are all 

 pure, but some of them were impurely 

 muted. 



The season here has been about an 

 average with the general reports. 

 The black bees in this section that 

 did not abscond in the summer, will 

 nearly all starve the coming winter. 

 I have about 300 sections tilled with 

 from one-third to full drawn comb, 

 nicely cleaned up and arranged in 

 supers with the full drawn comb on 

 the outside, and those with the shal- 

 lowest cells in the centre, packed 

 away for next year. 



Ealeigh, ? Ills., Oct. 25, 1887. 



American Agriculturist. 



Early Winter ManaEement of Bees. 



A. H. DUFF. 



Success with bees depends largely 

 upon fall management. At no other 

 time in the year is more careful 

 manipulation required than in pre- 

 paring bees for winter quarters. To 

 place a colony in the best possible 

 condition, a fair amount of brood- 

 rearing should be kept up during 

 August and September. In most 

 localities, very little if any honey can 

 be gathered "by bees during those 

 months. Hence, brood-rearing is 

 checked, and very few, if any, young 

 bees are hatched during this time. 



So at the beginning of winter the 

 colonies go into quarters, made up of 

 old bees that are certain to die in 

 large numbers with old-age before 

 spring, leaving weak colonies to com- 

 mence the season's work. It is there- 

 fore important to see that the neces- 

 sary amount of breeding is kept up 

 during the fall months to furnish 

 young bees to stand the long confine- 

 ment of winter. This is in the power 

 of every bee-keeper, by simply feed- 

 ing enough to stimulate brood-rear- 

 ing, during the scarcity of natural 

 stores. 



It is also necessary that every col- 

 ony should contain a good fertile 

 queen. The queen is the life of the 

 colony, and, however careful we have 

 been in other particulars, if we have 

 omitted this important part, it cer- 

 tainly will endanger the loss of the 

 colony. 



Every colony should have 25 or 30 

 pounds of good sealed honey to carry 

 it through the winter, and if the bees 

 lack the required amount, they should 

 be fed. If the feeding is done in Sep- 

 tember, the weatlier being favorable, 

 it will allow the bees to seal up their 

 stores, which is very important, be- 

 fore going into winter quarters. It 

 has been pretty generally settled by 

 bee keepers that granulated sugar is 

 the only safe food for bees during 

 winter. It is not advisable under any 

 circumstances to attempt feeding 

 honey or syrups of anv kind to bees 

 during cold weatlier ; it will produce 

 diarrhea, and increase the loss of the 

 colony. Syrups made in the form of 

 candy mav be used, but must be given 

 them during a warm day, when they 

 are flying freely. 



Out-door wintering in chaff hives 

 is preferred by a great number of api- 



arists, though many winter their bees 

 successfully in cellars. But no one 

 can reasonably expect much profit 

 from bees which are allowed to stand 

 out in unprotected hives all winter. 

 The work of placing in winter quar 

 ters should be done before steady cold 

 weather sets in, and then they should 

 be allowed to remain undisturbed. 

 Stock of every kind shoul 1 be ex 

 eluded from the apiary at all times, 

 but poultry may have the range of the 

 apiary. 



Bees need little attention during 

 winter. At the approach of a warm 

 day, see that the entrance to each 

 hive is open, so that the bees can 

 have free passage out and in. Dar- 

 ing cold weather it will do no harm 

 if the entrance, or even the hives, are 

 totally covered with snow; it serves 

 as a protection. 



Ohio. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Tlie Kentucky State Conyention. 



The Kentucky State Bee Keepers' 

 Society met in the Court House in 

 Falmouth, Ky.. ou Oct. 18. 1887. at 10 

 a.m. President Rev. L. Johnson not 

 being present, Mr. Peter McVean was 

 called to the chair, and Alex. W. 

 Stith, of Portland, Ky., was appointed 

 Secretary pro tern. 



After the transaction of the usual 

 business of the society, the conven- 

 tion proceeded to elect the officers for 

 the ensuing year, which resulted as 

 follows: President, Alex W. Stith, 

 of Portland ; Kecording Secretary, G. 

 W. Demaree, of Christiansburg, and 

 John S. Reese, of Winchester, Corres- 

 ponding Secretary. Vice-Presidents 

 were chosen for the following coun- 

 ties : Henry county. Dr. L. E. Brown; 

 Kenton, Peter McVean ; Shelby, E. 

 Drane ; Mason, W. C. Pelham ; Boon, 

 R. A. Connley ; Gallatin. J. T. Conn- 

 ley ; Grant, Mrs. Clay White; Har- 

 rison, T. W. Smith ; Mercer, Egliert 

 Salvisa; Clark, Mr. Green, of Win- 

 chester, Ky. ; Scott, J. K. Northcut; 

 and Fayette, Walter B. Downing. 



Sbort speeches were made by 

 Messrs. Stith, Thornton, and Dem- 

 aree, on the subject of getting bees 

 ready to gather the early honey har- 

 vest. Dr. Henry made extended re- 

 marks on the subject of adulterating 

 honey. Mr. McVean thought that 

 the danger to the business of bee- 

 keeping, on account of the nefarious 

 practice, so common a few years ago, 

 of buying up and adulterating honey, 

 was all past now. Mr. Demaree said 

 that honey must be sold on the repu- 

 tation of the producer. 



The convention adjourned then for 

 dinner. 



AFTERNOON SESSION. 



The convention was called to order 

 by President Stith, and the names of 

 the following persons were enrolled 

 as members of the society : Thos. S. 

 Tomlin, S. M. Blackburn, W. G. Gos 

 ney. R. M. Houston, Luther Brad- 

 ford. B. L. Colvin, S. Taylor, and I. 

 W. Wright. 



The Question Box was then opened, 

 and nearly every phase of bee-culture 



was discussed. Mr. Bagley gave his 

 method of introducing queens, which 

 was new to many of those present. 

 He cages the queen with some of the 

 bees belonging to the colony to which 

 the queen is to be introduced, and 

 after giving them a "big scare" by 

 shaking them up, he introduces the 

 queen, bees and all directly to the 

 queenless colony. 



Reports were made from several 

 parts of Eastern and Central Ken- 

 tucky, and the facts show that the 

 honey crop was shorter the past sea- 

 son than at any time heretofore. But 

 bees have gathered plenty of honey 

 from goldeurod and the little white 

 and purple asters for winter stores. 

 On this account bee-keepers in those 

 sections of the State are feeling very 

 much encouraged. 



Rev. L. Johnson, of Walton, Ky., 

 formerly President of this society, 

 sent a written report, giving a most 

 encouraging account of the prosperity 

 of bees in his part of the State. Since 

 the fall rains revived vegetation, col- 

 onies that were near the starving 

 point at the close of the summer 

 drouth, have filled up their hives with 

 choice honey from goldenrod and the 

 several varieties of asters, and will 

 go into winter quarters well supplied 

 with stores. 



G. W. Demaree, by request, ad- 

 dressed the assembly on the good 

 work accomplished by the Kentucky 

 Bee Keepers' Society, and the future 

 of bee-culture in our State. He 

 pressed the fact that the members of 

 this Society are peculiarly fitted to 

 push forward and keep up this branch 

 of husbandry, and if they fail on 

 account of loss of interest in the good 

 work, there will be none to take their 

 place. Bee-culture demands more 

 study and more skill than any other 

 rural employment, and hence our 

 ranks are not likely to swell to gi-eat 

 dimensions. He showed that bee- 

 culture is not necessarily a "little 

 business." No honest and decent 

 employment which pays well on the 

 money invested and labor emploved, 

 can be " little " in any sense. What 

 our State needs most now, is more 

 "little successes" and less "big 

 failures." 



After a harmonious session, the 

 convention adjourned to meet at a 

 time and place to be fixed by the ex- 

 ecutive committee. 



G. W.. Demaree, iSec. 



GleanlDSfi. 



Epalizing Prices for Honey. 



DR. C. C. SULLER. 



I am decidedly in favor of the pub- 

 lication of market reports. I am 

 satisfied, however, that sometimes 

 harm is done by them. I think they 

 are often incorrect — I know they have 

 been sometimes. At one time I took 

 the pains to go to about every house 

 where honey was wholesaled in Chi- 

 ciigo, and I could not buy honey 

 wiihin several cents of the price 



? noted in the bee papers and dailies, 

 went to the office of the leading 

 daily which gave honey quotations, 



