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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



COWVEBfTION DIRECTORY. 



Time and place of meeting. 



1891. 

 May 6.— Central Michigan, at Lansing, Micb. 



W. A. Barnes, Sec, Lansing, Midi. 



May 6.— Bee-Keepers' Ass'n and Fair, at Ionia, Mich. 

 Open to all. Harmon Smith, Sec, Ionia, Mich. 



May 7.— Susquehanna County, at Montrose, Pa. 



H. M. Seeley, Sec, Harford, Pa. 



June 2.— Des Moines County, at Burlington, Iowa. 

 John Nau, Sec, Middletown, Iowa. 



In order to have this table complete, 

 Secretaries are requested to forward full 

 particulars of the time and the place of 

 each future meeting.— The Editor. 



North American Bee-Keepers' Association 



President— P. H. Elwood. . . .Starkville, N. Y. 

 Secretary— C. P. Dadant Hamilton, Ills. 



National Bee-Keepers' Union. 



President— James Heddon ..Dowagiac, Mich. 

 Sec'y and Manager— T. G. Newman, Chicago. 



Bee ajid tlojiea Gossip. 



Bees in Southeastern Kansas. 



Bees did very poorly here last season, 

 on account of the drouth. My pa says 

 there are a great many bees in this part 

 of the State, but that they are poorly 

 cared for,being kept in old box-hives, and 

 scattered all over the yards, and he 

 thinks that a great many of them have 

 died this Winter, judging from the way 

 the hives are turned over in places. I 

 lost my colony of bees during the recent 

 cold weather, but I shall try to get 

 another colony. Mattie Roby. 



Chanute, Kans., March 21, 1891. 



Past and Future Bee-Keeping. 



Sixty or seventy years ago bee-keeping 

 was given very little attention. Bees 

 were hived in log gums, or any recepta- 

 cle that happened to be at hand when a 

 swarm issued — in fact, it did not make 

 much difference if they took "French 

 leave," for the woods were full of wild 

 bees, and honey was plentiful and cheap. 

 My grandfather frequently found bee- 

 trees yielding large amounts of honey. I 

 remember hearing him tell of finding a 

 large bee-tree that had baffled his skill 

 for quite a while. One day he went out 

 for his usual sport, when a shower of 

 rain came on, and he took shelter under 



a stump of a tree (that had been broken 

 off, and was thickly covered with vines), 

 and to his surprise backed right in on 

 the bees, for it was very warm weather, 

 and they were hanging out. The tree 

 was undoubtedly a very old one, for the 

 honey in the bottom was candied, and of 

 a very dark color. -But what wonderful 

 improvements have been made in our 

 beloved industry since the time of our 

 ancestors ! We owe Father Langstroth 

 a debt of 'gratitude which we can never 

 pay, for the invention of the movable- 

 frame hive. Then we have the honey 

 and wax-extractors, queen and drone- 

 traps, bee-smoker, section honey boxes, 

 bee-escape, queen-cages for shipping 

 bees, and many more useful articles, 

 nearly all of which have been invented 

 within the last few years. But we are 

 going to have better hives, better bees, 

 and better methods of management, in 

 the near future, and much of the labor 

 now performed by man, will be done by 

 the bees. I think the time is not far 

 distant when the bees will hive them- 

 selves, and the apiarist can go to church, 

 or visit his friends, instead of being 

 compelled to remain at home to take 

 care of swarms, S. G. Kilgore. 



London, Ohio. 



Bees in "Egypt."' 



Bees did well, in this vicinty, last 

 Fall. At the opening of the season, I 

 had 6 colonies ; I purchased 2 colonies, 

 and they increased to 23, besides 2 or 3 

 swarms which went to the woods. My 

 surplus amounted to about 250 pounds 

 of comb-honey. I bought 20 colonies 

 more, and now have 43 colonies. I 

 have had experience with bees, from the 

 log-hive to the movable-frame hive, and 

 handle them both with and without veils 

 and gloves, but must say that when I have 

 no veil I sometimes have to pick out 

 stingers, "and reduce swellings. 



Carmi, Ills. Elias Robinson. 



Grocers Sent for His Honey. 



My bee-house is 20 feet by 10 feet 10 

 inches, w^alls packed with dry sawdust, 

 door in each end, and one window, with 

 shutter, sash, and screen. Of my bees, 

 20 colonies remain in the house Winter 

 and Summer, flying in and out at will. 

 The other 20 colonies are piled up in the 

 house, with natural gas to keep the tem- 

 perature above freezing. I used the 

 Langstroth frame for many years, and 

 have some of them yet, not so long, but 

 deeper. Frames 12x15, nine in each 



