AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



687 



Condensed by E. F. Quigley ; one or 

 the other will suffice. 



Adiourned until Oct. 8, 9 a.m. 



OCT. 8— MORNING SESSION. 



The meeting was called to order by G. 

 P. Morton, and the following officers 

 were elected : 



President, G. P. Morton, Prairie Home. 



Vice-Presidents. : For Central Missouri, 

 John Conser, Sedalia ; for Northeast 

 Missouri, J. W. Rouse, Mexico ; for 

 Southeast Missouri, J. W. Clark, Clarks- 

 burg ; for Southwest Missuri, E. R. 

 Garrett, Appleton City ; for Northwest 

 Missouri, J. S. Atkins, Missouci City. 



Secretary, W. S. DornBlaser, Higgins- 

 vllle. 



Treasurer, Mrs. J. M. Null, Miami. 



E. R. Garrett asked what was the 

 duty of a Vice-President? To look after 

 the interests of the association in his 

 territory. 



The report of the Standing Committee 

 on the World's Fair was read, and the 

 committee was granted further time. It 

 was moved and seconded that the chair 

 appoint five members to act as a World's 

 Fair Committee. One month was granted 

 to secure a member near St. Louis. 



The appointments on the committee 

 were P. Baldwin, Independence ; John 

 Nebel, High Hill ; C. C. Clemons, Kansas 

 City; J. G. Banning, Brookfield. 



The following were appointed a Com- 

 mittee on Resolutions : E. F. Quigley, 

 E. R. Garrett, and Mrs. J. M. Null. 



Bee-Escapes. 



G. H. Ashworth thinks they are great 

 labor-saving appliances. 



John Conser had tried nearly all 

 kinds, and said that most of them will 

 work well. The Porter lacks ventilation. 



The discussion was thus condensed by 

 J. G. Banning : Bee-escapes can be 

 profitably used to reduce the labor of 

 taking off surplus honey. 



Preparations for the Honey Harvest. 



BY BYRON nAMS. 



"What is the best way to build up 

 colonies to prepare for the honey 

 harvest?" 



There is nothing that I can say that 

 will be new to those of you who read the 

 bee-literature of to-day. However, old 

 ideas on the subject will bear repeating. 



My time to commence building up col- 

 onies for next season's work, is in Sep- 

 tember. 



I would see that all colonies had good, 

 young, prolific CLueens, and that they 

 had ample room to deposit eggs at that 



time, to rear plenty of vigorous young 

 bees to keep up the vitality of the colony 

 through Winter and early Spring, and 

 at this time I would see that each colony 

 has honey enough to carry them through 

 not only Winter, but at least until May. 



If a colony is populous in bees, I have 

 yet to see that a single ounce of honey is 

 wasted by leaving it with the bees. They 

 want plenty of room for brood, then if 

 there is room for it, 50 pounds of honey 

 will do no harm. I think it was A. D. 

 Ellingwood that said the more honey a 

 colony had the better it wintered, and I 

 agree with him, if other conditions are 

 right. 



Now, we are ready for Winter, and 

 here is how I winter my bees : I winter 

 them on the summer stands, and run my 

 bees for extracted-honey. I use the 

 simplicity hive with hanging frames. I 

 mention the above so that you will the 

 better understand details. 



First, I raise the rear end of the hive 

 two inches higher than the front. Now 

 take off the cover ; take out the extract- 

 ing frames, or combs, and four inches 

 from the back end of the hive place a 

 lath or strip of any kipd across the 

 frames on top ; now take shingles (or 

 boards of any kind will do), and fit 

 closely over the brood-frames, having 

 them fit up close in front. If there 

 should be two or three inches of open 

 space left at the back end of the hive, it 

 will be all right ; in fact, I prefer it 

 that way. 



Over the shingles and the open space 

 at the back end of the hive spread an 

 old burlap sack or old castoff clothing, 

 chaff cushion, or anything that will be 

 warm ; cover the boards enough to keep 

 the moisture arising from the bees from 

 freezing on them. Herein lies the suc- 

 cess of the plan. The moisture accumu- 

 lating on the boards, finds its way down 

 and out at the front end of the hive, 

 leaving the bees dry and warm, and 

 consequently healthy. 



The opening or space at the back end 

 allows a little ventilation, all that will 

 be needed. 



So much for Fall and Winter. Now we 

 come to Spring management, and if the 

 above has been done right, the bees will 

 almost do the rest themselves. 



Messrs. Doolittle, Hutchinson, and 

 others recommend an outer case for 

 Spring. Perhaps in their latitude it 

 would be best, but south of latitude 40^^ 

 I do not think it would pay to use them. 

 What does this convention say about it ? 



I would leave the top' covering on 

 until the latter part of April, or, if cool, 

 until the middle of May. We have too 



