774 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



For tbe American Bee Joamau. 



Nortli American Bee-Keepers' Society. 



THE THIBD DAT. 



MOKNIKG SESSION. 



President Miller called the conven- 

 tion to order at 9 a.m., and W. Z. 

 Hutchinson, of Flint, Mich., gave a 

 short address upon 



Tbe Production of Comb Honey, 



the main ideas being in substance as 

 follows : 



To produce comb honey we must 

 have populous colonies at the begin- 

 ning of the honey harvest, and to 

 secure these, breeding must go on 

 rapidly and uninterruptedly for two 

 months previous to the honey harvest. 

 Aside from food in abundance, 

 warmth is the one great requisite for 

 breeding. The heat from a colony of 

 bees is suflBcient; the difficulty is, 

 that it is lost by radiation. To pre- 

 vent this loss, pack the colonies when 

 taken from tbe cellar ; and allow the 

 packing to remain until time for put- 

 ting on the supers. 



President Miller— How would you 

 pack the bees V 



W. Z. Hutchinson— I would sur- 

 round each hive with a box of cheap 

 lumber. I use the shade-boards, 

 tacking them together, and using a 

 shade- board for a roof. I prefer saw- 

 dust for packing, as the litter result- 

 ing from its use is a benefit. I would 

 use supers only one tier of sections 

 high, filling them with foundation. 



K. N. Betsinger— Would you use 

 separators ? 



W. Z. Hutchinson— No, sir. 

 N. N. Betsinger— Do you not thiak 

 that straighter combs can be secured 

 by using separators V 



W. Z. Hutchinson— I do ; but I can 

 secure combs that are straight enough 

 without them. 



N. N. Betsinger— But to secure the 

 very finest honey, do you not think 

 their use is necessary ? 



James Heddon— Who has a finer 

 lot of honey in Mr. Burnett's store 

 than Mr. Hutchinson ? No one. 

 What dealer in this city has more or 

 finer honey than Mr. Burnett V Not 

 one. To what city is more honey 

 sent than to Chicago ¥ 



W. Z. Hutchinson— This whole 

 ground of comb-honey production has 

 been so well covered in previous. dis- 

 cussions that I feel it a waste of time 

 to discuss it further. 



The convention next listened to an 

 address by James Heddon, of Dow- 

 agiac, Mich., upon 



Bee Hives and Fixtures. 



Mr. Heddon said : As an opening 

 to my remarks, 1 think I can do no 

 better than to repeat the little lecture 

 that Mr. R. C. Otis recited when he 

 came to my house years ago, and sold 

 me a right to use the Langstroth hive. 

 He began something like this : "When 

 bees swarm, they look for a shelter, 

 some place to get into out of the suu 

 and storm ; a nail-keg or a box, or 

 even a hollow-tree suits them just as 

 well as the most elaborate hive in 

 existence ; and they thrive just as 



well, and the nail-keg meets every 

 requirement until it is full, and the 

 bee-keeper wishes to get his share of 

 honey, then the nail-keg is not just 

 the thing; then we need a hive so 

 constructed that the bee-keeper can 

 get his honey with the least trouble." 

 Now I think this an excellent speech, 

 and just as true now as then. In 

 making hives the great trouble is, 

 that bee-keepers are trying to make 

 hives that suit the bees instead of 

 themselves. This subject is a vast 

 one, and I scarcely know where to 

 begin, what to say, nor, perhaps, 

 where to leave off. I think I had 

 better resolve myself into a question- 

 box, and let you ask questions. 



President Miller— Would it not be 

 well for you to explain the Heddon 

 hive and its workings ? 



James Heddon— If the convention 

 so desires. [Yes, from several.— Sec] 

 Dr. A. B Mason now brought for- 

 ward a Heddon hive, and placed it 

 upon the table, and Mr. Heddon pro- 

 ceeded to briefly explain its merits. 



James Heddon— The frames com- 

 pletely fill each section of the hive ; 

 by reversion the bees fill them solidly 

 full of comb, and being held in place 

 by thumb-screws, nearly all of the 

 bees may be shaken from the hive. 



A. I. Root— Would it not be better 

 if the thumb-screws were made of 

 metal ? 



James Heddon— No, because they 

 would cost so much that you would 

 make them too small, then the threads 

 would not hold in the wood, and it 

 would be slow work turning them out 

 and in. The wooden screws should 

 not be made too large, and should be 

 boiled in tallow ; they will then hold 

 sufficiently strong, and will never 

 swell enough so that they cannot be 

 turned. 



President Miller— I have publicly 

 given Mr. Heddon credit for his 

 break-joint honey-board. Am I wrong? 

 Did any of you use it before Mr. Hed- 

 don did ? [No one replied.— Sec] 



President Miller— How many have 

 used the metal queen-excluding 

 honey-board, and think its use a 

 detriment V [Three members arose. 

 —Seel 



President Miller— How many have 

 used them, and think they secure as 

 much honey as when they are dis- 

 pensed with ? [Twenty-five voted.— 



Sec 1 



N. N. Betsinger— What is the ad- 

 vantage of the break-joint principle ? 



James Heddon— It prevents the 

 building of brace combs. The bear- 

 ings of my hives are only % of an inch, 

 and by putting them together with a 

 sliding cornerwise movement, but 

 few bees are killed. With the beveled 

 edge this is impossible. 



A. I. Root— How about the propo- 

 lis V Would not this cause trouble in 

 making this sliding movement V 



Miss Dema Bennett— I would like 

 to ask Mr. Heddon if there is no 

 trouble from water coming in through 

 these square joints. I have had 

 trouble by the water coming in and 

 wetting the cushions. 



James Heddon— These two ques- 

 tions answer each other. If there is 

 so much propolis thrust into the joints 



that it causes trouble in manipulation, 

 how is the water to get in ? I never 

 use cushions or quilts inside the hive 

 during the propolis season, the bees 

 have access to all parts of the hive, 

 and all cracks are stopped by propolis, 

 so that no wind or water enters. 



N. N. Betsinger— Does Mr. Heddon 

 wish us to understand that his hive is 

 the first one with a double brood- 

 chamber ? 



James Heddon — It is the first one 

 with a horizontally-divisible brood- 

 chamber. 



N. N. Betsinger— I have used hives 

 years ago embracing the same prin- 

 cidIss 



.Janies Heddon— Will Mr. Betsinger 

 please point out to us where he has 

 written about this hive i* 



N. N. Betsinger— I did not write 

 about it. No one offered to pay me 

 enough to describe it, and I could not 

 afford to write for nothing. So far as 

 the shaking out is concerned, I can 

 shake the bees from a Langstroth 

 hive as quickly as they can be shaken 

 from a Heddon hive. Simply drive 

 them down with smoke, and then 

 shake them out. Langstroth frames, 

 either broad or wide frames, have 

 projections to handle them by. 



As a reply Mr. Heddon simply held 

 up one of his frames by the edges of 

 the side- bars. 



Mr. Eugene Secor, of Forest City, 

 Iowa, at this time read an essay, 

 entitled, 



Bee-Keeplns Alone, or wllh Other 

 FurBUitsI 



In the choice of a vocation there 

 are certain questions which rightfully 

 claim the consideration of every man 

 or woman. The instinct of self-pres- , 

 ervation implanted within us, nat- 

 urally makes the leading one,whether 

 most important or not, this : Will it 

 command sufficient returns in dollars 

 and cents to afford a comfortable sup- 

 port for self and family V Another is, 

 is it congenial V In a country where 

 every one may choose bis occupation, 

 free from the degrading curse of caste, 

 no one should follow a pursuit that 18 

 not in harmony with his inborn pre- 

 dilections. 



Another question is, or ought to be, 

 will it properly cultivate the intellect- 

 ual and moral nature, so that the 

 worker will develop and grow in all 

 his faculties, while striving to earn a 

 comfortable subsistence. '-It is not 

 allot me to live," according to the 

 common acceptation of the term. 



Now, unless these questions can all 

 be answered in the affirmative, there 

 is something lacking in the employ- 

 ment, or in the make-up of the person. 



As to bee keeping, there can hardly 

 be a question as to its intellectual and 

 moral tendency. For proof , I have 

 only to cite the shining examples, 

 both living and dead, who are, or 

 have been engaged in the pursuit. 

 Who ever heard of a bee-master being 

 charged with a crime V 



It will be congevial to those fitted oy 

 nature to follow it, just as a natural 

 mechanic feels at home with the tools 

 with which he cheerfully earns a 

 living. There is no use in saying 



