Tmm mfmnmi^mn mmm jQ^Jummmi^. 



123 



desired. All they ask is, that we shall 

 co-operate with, and assist them, by 

 furnishing the names of two or three 

 intelligent bee-keepers in each countj', 

 who will interest themselves in trying 

 to report accurately. I have prepared 

 a list of two names from nearly every 

 county in the State, but considerable 

 correspondence and inquiry will be 

 necessary before I can ascertain their 

 willingness and fitness for the work. 

 We have reason to be thankful to the 

 Department for its friendly interest in 

 behalf of bee-keeping. 



In conclusion, I cannot better de- 

 scribe that conrention than by reading 

 a little poem, from page 755 of the 

 American Bee Jodenai. for 1887, 

 written by Eugene Secor, of Iowa. 



The convention then adjourned. 



F. Wilcox, Sec. 



PECULIAR SEASON. 



De§troying: the Bassirood- 

 Poultry and Bees. 



Written for Ui« Amertcan Bee Journal 

 BY H. M. CATES. 



The past was one of the most pecu- 

 liar seasons that I have known since I 

 began keeping bees. The spring 

 opened favorablj', and every colony of 

 my bees was strong in numbers until 

 about the first or the middle of April, 

 when there was about 15 days of the 

 worst weather for bees that I have 

 ever seen. 



Every morning it would be fair and 

 sunshiny, and the bees would roll out 

 of the hives and go to the woods where 

 soft maple and elm were in bloom. 

 They would make a trip or two, loaded- 

 with pollen, when up would come a 

 very cold north wind, and then great 

 crowds of bees could be seen dropping 

 in the grass between the woods and 

 home, chilled to death. Such affairs 

 soon reduced the colonies to nuclei. 



White clover then opened, when the 

 bees gathered enough to build up on a 

 little, and by the time basswood 

 bloomed, most of the colonies were 

 strong enough to begin work in the 

 sections. I finally obtained about 25 

 pounds of honey per colony, with no 

 increase, except 2 colonies that I 

 divided. 



About the middle of last November 

 I went with a horse and buggy, some 

 50 or 60 miles, to Williamsburg and 

 Richmond ; and as I drove along I 

 kept a sharp lookout for bees, but I 

 saw none except here and there a few 

 in log or box hives, until I got to 

 Williamsburg. There I saw the Rey- 

 nolds brothers. 



The next day I visited Mr. Reynold's 

 apiarj-, and found him just packing his 

 last hive for winter. He uses chaflf 



hives, and is very successful with his 

 way of wintering. 



Catting tbe Bassnrood^jTreea. 



One thing that is going to injure the 

 bee-business in eastern Indiana, is the 

 "Excelsior" business. There are 

 thousands of linden trees being cut 

 here every spring for this business. 

 One man sold over 2,000 tine linden 

 trees last spring, that were in size from 

 6 inches to 2 feet in diameter. This 

 was all cut within sight of my apiary, 

 and it will leave us with no honey 

 source except the clovers, white and 

 Alsike ; of the latter I have 3 acres that 

 will bloom the coming season, and I 

 shall sow 20 acres more of it in the 

 spring. 



Keeping Poultry ivltb Bees. 



Some bee-men advocate the keeping 

 of poultry with bees. These same 

 writers should have been in my apiary 

 last May, and have seen a neighbor's 

 large Pekin duck go flopping out from 

 the bee-yard, with a dozen or more 

 bees sticking around its eyes. At the 

 same time the owner of the duck ap- 

 peared, and was very angry at the 

 bees. Had those, who advise keeping 

 poultry with bees, seen the excitement 

 in my bee-yard, they would think very 

 diflerently on the subject. 



Shideler, Ind. 



COLUMBUS, O. 



The Ohio Centennial Exposition 

 Honey Exhibit. 



Written for ITu, American Bee Journal 

 BY DR. A. B. MASON. 



The Ohio Centennial Exposition, to 

 be held at Columbus, O., next Septem- 

 ber and October, offers about $320 

 in premiums in the Apiarian Depart- 

 ment, and will put up a building for 

 the apiarian exhibit. I am sorry to 

 say that the exhibit will be confined to 

 residents of Ohio. I am Superintend- 

 ent of the Department, and the Board 

 of Directors wish me to furnish a plan 

 for the building. I will send a pre- 

 mium list as soon as published, to all 

 intending exhibitors, who apply to me 

 for it. 



I am sure that our honey exhibits at 

 the Fairs have helped to work up a 

 market for our honey, and if properly 

 conducted, they do much towards 

 showing up the importance of our 

 industry. 



When, a few weeks ago, I told some 

 of the Directors that the annual pro- 

 duction of honey in this country was 

 said to be about 100,000,000 pounds, 

 and worth $15,000,000 ; and also about 

 100,000 pounds of beeswax, they 

 "bunged out" their eyes at me as 

 though I was " lying," but I gave 



them hot shot, and made them sur- 

 render. 



I wish that our Ohio bee-keepers 

 would " wake up " this season, and 

 show the people at the Centennial the 

 importance and beauty of our spe- 

 cialty, and make an exhibition of bees 

 and honey worthy of our State. 



It is intended to have the building 

 so arranged that honey can be ex- 

 hibited without the crates, and still be 

 safe from bees, etc. 



It was said that the honey exhibit at 

 the Tri-State Fair at Toledo last fall, 

 was the most attractive feature of the 

 Fair ; but the bee-keepers of Ohio 

 ought to make the grandest exhibit at 

 Columbus that was ever made in this 

 counti-y ! Let us " pile up " the honey 

 until the building is filled to its utmost 

 capacity for a fine display. 



Reduced freight and passenger rates 

 will be made known in good time, and 

 abundance of time ^vill be had for 

 arranging displays. 



The last, or " Convention Number " 

 of the American Bee Journal, is 

 " worth its weight in gold." Every 

 thing is boiled down," and the useless 

 parts left out. 



Auburndale, Ohio. 



TEMPERATURE. 



The Eowest Temperature at 

 IVhich Bees Work. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY S. D. HASKIN. 



On page 67 is quoted from Gleanings, 

 the temperature at which bees will fly. 

 My observation demonstrates that they 

 are safe if it is 45° in the shade or 

 cloudy, and I have had one colony to 

 work hard on buckwheat at that tem- 

 perature. It was in this wise : 



Keeping bees in a neighborhood 

 in Pennsylvania where much buck- 

 wheat was raised, I detected the odor 

 of buckwheat around one of my hives, 

 and on examination found that they 

 were storing that veiy article. Fol- 

 lowing their direction, I found that 

 bloom plenty, and bees working on it 

 pretty freely. The previous year the 

 same field had buckwheat on it, and 

 sowed with oats in the spring, the 

 shelled or wasted grain came up with 

 the oats. 



But here is the peculiarity, and it 

 shows why and how it is that some- 

 times we find so much difference in 

 our honey, and in the same yard at 

 this time : 



I had about 50 colonies, and none of 

 the rest of my bees paid any attention 

 to buckwheat, but worked on willows, 

 fruit and berry bloom until white 

 clover came. There was a great deal 

 of buckwheat raised that year, and 



