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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



This was followed by a discussion on 

 "feeding-back unfinished sections," 

 "robbing," and "the size of starters 

 used in sections," etc. 



O. H. Sweezy, then read an essay on 

 "Bee-Keeping in Connection with Small 

 Fruit." 



This was followed by a general discus- 

 sion. 



The Convention then adjourned until 

 one o'clock. 



The afternoon session was called to 

 order promptly at 1 p.m. The first thing 

 in order were the reports of the secretary 

 and treasurer. Secretary Fuller being 

 absent, no full report could be had. The 

 secretary pro-tem reported Tuesday's 

 receipts $2.75, and Wednesday's $1.75. 



The election of officers resulted as 

 follows: S. H. Herrick, President; L. 

 Highbarger, Vice President ; Chas. Winn, 

 Secretary; O. J. Cummings, Treasurer. 



Then the Convention adjourned to 

 meet on the third Tuesday in May, at 

 Russell Marsh's residence, in Guilford, 

 Ills. 



The Report of those present, showed 

 1,451 colonies of bees; 11,017 pounds 

 of comb honey, and 21,223 pounds of 

 extracted honey. Considering the poor 

 season, this was one of the best meetings 

 the Society ever had. 



D. A. Fuller, Secretary. 



Bee-KeerersofYeOlienTime. 



MES. L. HAREISON. 



Fifty years ago I was at my grand- 

 father's, and some of us (children) saw 

 honey running from a bee gum, and put 

 a japanned bread-dish under it, to catch 

 the drip. I can see, with my mind's eye, 

 just how that dish looked, but I have 

 never tasted anything half so delicious 

 since. 



My grandfather kept his bees in gums, 

 which took their name from being cut 

 from the hollow logs, of gum trees. All 

 that was necessary to do, was to saw off 

 a hollow log, about 3 feet long, and nail 

 a board on top, to keep out snow and 

 rain. The entrance was made by cutting 

 notches in the bottom, which we called 

 teeth. 



In the Fall, grandfather lifted the 

 hives, and those that he thought too 

 light to winter, he sat over a fire which 

 was kindled in a hole in the ground, of 

 about the circumference of the gum ; the 

 fire was made of dry sticks which had 

 been dipped in melted brimstone. The 

 fumes soon smothered the bees, and they 

 fell into the fire. 



The nice white comb honey, if there 

 was any, was used in the comb, and that 

 containing bee-bread, grandmother put 

 into a linen bag and hung near the open 

 fireplace to drain — this was called 

 strained honey. When the bag ceased 

 to drip, it was put into a keg of water, to 

 soak out the remaining sweetness, and 

 then hung up again to drain. 



The bag wound up its career by being 

 boiled in a kettle to extract the beeswax, 

 and was kept down in the water by 

 stones. When it was boiled sufficiently, 

 the kettle was set off and the wax 

 allowed to cool. 



The wax was used to put with tallow, 

 in making candles, to make them harder. 

 The sweetened water, obtained from 

 soaking the combs, was used in making 

 metheglin. The product from the gums 

 was all used, but it was not very satis- 

 factory. 



My father and mother did not improve 

 upon grandfather's method of keeping 

 bees, but followed in his footsteps. My 

 husband had an aunt. Aunt Betsy Jairus, 

 contemporary with my grandfather, who 

 kept bees successfully at North Branford, 

 Ct. She was much ahead of my Ohio 

 grandfather, for she used box hives and 

 secured the surplus in a box, put up on 

 top of the hive, and the bees came up 

 through holes bored in the cover. 



Ever since I have been a bee-keeper, 

 my husband has regaled me with stories 

 of how Aunt Betsy Jairus kept bees. 

 She was called thus, to distinguish her 

 from another Aunt Betsy Harrison, who 

 lived in the same neighborhood. This 

 woman had common sense ; was very 

 energetic, and made money with her 40 

 or 50 colonies of bees — carried a little 

 wooden paddle to tap them, if they 

 attempted to sting her bare arms. Peace 

 to her ashes, and may her grave ever be 

 green. — Pra trie Farmer. 



Bee-Escajes, Bee-Legislation, etc, 



DR. C. C. MILLER. 



That Carrier for hives, of Dibbern's, 

 is good, as described on page 16. I do 

 not know whether it is better or worse 

 than the rope I use. Mine is merely 

 three thicknesses of rope, twisted to- 

 gether so as not to cut the hands, and 

 slipped under the cleats to carry by. 

 One or two persons can use it, and I 

 think one person can use Dibbern's, by 

 having the sticks go under the front and 

 back cleats. I think that his can be put 

 on more quickly, if you do not care how 

 much you stir up the bees. After they 



