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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



and he (the Secretary) had suggested 

 that perhaps Mr. Larrabee would like to 

 have bee-keepers tell him what experi- 

 ments they would like to have him try. 

 For one thing, the President would like 

 to learn what Mr. L. had already done. 



J. H. Larrabee — We have made some 

 experiments to determine how many 

 pounds of honey are consumed in secret- 

 ing 1 pound of wax. We have also 

 decided not to experiment further in 

 planting for honey. 



J. A. Green — Why have you so de- 

 cided ? 



J. H. Larrabee — It takes too many 

 acres of plants to do any good. We had 

 eight acres of rape near the apiary, but 

 it seemed to furnish no honey. 



O. O. Poppleton — Practical bee-keep- 

 ers decided long ago that it did not pay 

 to plant for honey alone. But an experi- 

 ment of even eight acres of rape for one 

 year is not conclusive. Some years the 

 fields are white with the bloom of clover, 

 yet no honey is secured. 



President Miller — I think it would be 

 well if the results of these experiments 

 could be given monthly. Many who 

 read them might thereby get helpful 

 hints, or might be able to help the ex- 

 perimentorin a similar manner. Perhaps 

 the Secretary of Agriculture might not 

 like to have Mr. Larrabee " give away" 

 this matter in advance of his report to 

 the Government, but I presume the Sec- 

 retary does but little reading of the bee- 

 periodicals, and probably would know 

 nothing of the matter. 



J. H. Larrabee— It is Dr. C. V. Riley to 

 whom I report. I presume he reads 

 bee-literature more or less. It is quite 

 likely he would not object to my giving 

 in advance to the bee-periodicals the re- 

 sults of my experiments. It would cer- 

 tainly do no harm to ask him. 



Upon motion of J. A. Green the Secre- 

 tary was instructed to write to Dr. 

 Riley and ask permission for Mr. Larra- 

 bee to publish in advance, in the bee- 

 periodicals, the results of experiments 

 when he thought best to do so. 



Contraction of the Brood-Nest in 

 "Wintering. 



In reply to a question, C. P. Dadant 

 said he did not contract unless the combs 

 were empty, or the colony weak. His 

 hives contain 9 Quinby frames. If the 

 bees occupied 7 combs, he would not 

 remove any. 



A. I. Root — I do not advocate 8-frame 

 hives, but you know the boys do. They 

 say that taking off the upper story con- 

 tracts sufficiently for Winter. 



President Miller — I have about con- 



cluded that the man who uses 8-frame 

 hives must feed the bees in the Fall or 

 Spring — perhaps both. 



A. I. Root — Would it not pay better to 

 contract and get the honey in the sec- 

 tions where we can sell it for 18 cents, 

 and then feed up on granulated sugar ? 



C. P. Dadant — We have found it to 

 pay better to leave in plenty of honey, 

 as the bees breed up better in the 

 Spring. 



President Miller — Is a comb full of 

 honey, that will not be used in the Win- 

 ter or Spring, of any advantage. 



O. 0. Poppleton — Yes ; it gives the 

 bees confidence to go ahead and use 

 what honey they need. 



B. Taylor — I am willing to go to the 

 trouble of taking out any extra comb in 

 the Fall, and returning it in the Spring. 

 A comb not covered with bees can be 

 kept much better out of the hive. The 

 more completely the combs are covered 

 with bees the better, provided there is 

 sufficient stores. It is surprising to see 

 into how small a space bees can be 

 crowded in the Fall. 



Verbal Statistics. 



President Miller said that after reach- 

 ing home, and reading over the report 

 of a meeting we often find that some 

 man was there whom we were particu- 

 larly anxious to meet, but we did not 

 know he was there. If, by means of a 

 badge, or in some other manner, we 

 learn that a stranger whom we meet is a 

 bee-keeper, we immediately wish to 

 know, and probably ask his name, then 

 his place of residence, next how many 

 colonies he has, then how much honey 

 he secured this year. That is about the 

 way it goes. 



He proposed that each one stand up 

 in turn and tell liis name, residence, 

 number of colonies, and yield per col- 

 ony. This was done, and proved quite 

 interesting, as well as amusing in some 

 instances. If this could be done some- 

 time during the first day, it would help 

 some in making acquaintances. 



Prevention of Swarming. 



A. I. Root said : Get a race of bees 

 that will not swarm ; the same as we 

 now have non-sitting strains of poultry. 



President Miller — Is not the thing 

 possible ? 



O. O. Poppleton — I have several times 

 tried buying queens that were cracked 

 up for this or that — among other things 

 that of non-swarming — but I have quit 

 it. It is no go. 



J. A. Green — Bees may not swarm for 

 a year or two ; then they go at it again. 



