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Tmm mwmmmi^mM beb j&umnmLf. 



COXVENTIOIV DIRECTORY. 



1888 Time and Place of JlfeeMnj. 



Oct. 16. 17— Union, at Clayton, IHb. 



S. N. Black, Pres., Clayton, Ills. 



Oct. 20.- Wabash County, at Wabash, Ind. 



Henry Cripe, Sec , North Mancheater, Ind. 



Nov. 21,22.— PanHandle. at Wheeling, W. Va. 



W. L. Kinsey, Sec , Blaine, O. 



Dec. —.—Michigan State, at Jackson, Mich. 



H. D. Cutting. Sec, Clinton, Mich. 



t^~ In order to have this table complete. Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetingB.- Ed. 



StUCTlOX^^^^ 



A Power for Protection.— G. H. 



Ashby, Albion, N. T., on Oct. 1, 18S8, says : 



I send my dues for the Bee Keepers' 

 Union. Tlie Union is doing wonders for 

 tlie small amount expended. I do not be- 

 lieve tliat any bee-keeper, whether of few 

 or many colonies, wnnid miss one dollar per 

 year— about 8 cents per month ; and if only 

 one-half would "chip in" that amount, 

 what a power for protection the Uuiou 

 would be. 



Over One-Hair a. Crop.— C. Thiel- 

 mann, Thielmanton, Minn., on Sept. 27, 



1888, says : 



Bees in this vicinity have had a good time 

 for honey yatlierinsj for the past 5 or 6 

 weeks ; but for the past 2 weeks they have 

 not done much in the sections on account 

 of the cold nights, but they have filled the 

 brood-chambers with honey. They have 

 more than what they need for winter and 

 spring. There are multitudes of flowers in 

 bh)om yet, but It has been too cold the past 

 two dajs for the bees to work. The honey 

 crop here is a little over one half, and 

 about one-third of it is white, hut not as 

 white as usual. 1 got about 7.000 pounds, 

 fi,000 pounds of which is comb honey. 



IJee - Keeping- in Oalcota.— An- 

 drew Craig, Empire, Dakota, on Sept. 23, 

 1888, writes : 



1 have 3 colonies of bees, one ot which 

 stored 18 pounds of surplus honey in sec- 

 tions ; the other 3 did nothing. Settlers 

 here are few and far between, and my bees 

 liave trouhled nobody yet. My surplus was 

 all gathered after Aug. 10. and is of light 

 amiier color. It was one half granulated 

 within a week after being taken otf. Alsike 

 clover sowed last spring blussnmed some, 

 and bees worked immensely ou bee-balm. 

 Buckwheat yielded no nectar this season. 

 <iolden-rod aud asters are abundant. 



Best Season for 5 Years.— K. A. 



Dyke, Effingham, Ills., on Sept. 37, 1888, 

 writes : 



Having seen so many discouraging re- 

 ports in the bee-papers lately, I feel like 

 giving mine for this season. '1 commenced 

 the season with 13 colonies, increased them 

 by manipulation to 'a, and secured 1,100 

 pounds of honev, three-fourths of it ex- 

 tracted, and all from heart's-ease and 

 Spanish-needle. I had to feed my bees dur- 

 ing Auaust until about tlie 16th, to keen 

 them from starving, and to keep up brood- 



rearing ; they used up the feed clean each 

 day, and when the huney-flovv came on 

 Aug. 31), it was a refieshinu sight to see 

 them lay it away. From Aug. 3(5 to Sept. 9 

 the weather was cloudy, some rainy, and 

 quite warm, but very little sunshine; and 

 with thousands of acres of bloom in sight 

 and range, it is no wonder that the l)ees 

 stored honey rapidly. Since that time it 

 has not been so favorable, and ouly asters 

 are yieldiut! anytiiing now. This has been 

 the best seasmi here for five years. Last 

 year was considered a failure, yet 1 in- 

 creased from 9 colonies to 12, and wintered 

 all on the summer stands safrjy.and secured 

 3,50 pivunds of suriilus honey. 1 am dispos- 

 ing of my honey in the liome markets, at 

 13>< to 18 cents per pound, wholesale ; aud 

 1.5 to 20 cents retail. 1 have lots ot compe- 

 tition in the way of broken honey aud 

 "squeezed stuff," 



Frozen Foundation.— C. G. Ridout, 

 ot Hutchinson, Minn., asks the following 

 questiou : 



Will it in any way injure comb founda- 

 tion to freeze, or be kept in a room all win- 

 ter that does freeze hard ? 



[No ; if not handled while it is cold. 

 Take it into a warm room and let it remain 

 for a day or two before handling it in any 

 way.— Ed.] 



Tlie Illinois State Fair D. R. 



Rosebrough, Casey, Ills., on Sept. 27, 1888, 

 writes : 



I have just returned from the State Fair, 

 and so far as bees and honey are concnrned, 

 it was a failure. There were only three or 

 four exhioits of bees and honey, but it was 

 in small amounts, and in bad condition. 

 The best exhibit of honey and bees was 

 from Piatt county. Dadaut's coiub founda- 

 tion took the " blue ribb m." 1 could not 

 take any honey this year, as I had none to 

 take, and that was likely the reason why 

 there was not more exhibited ; but I am in 

 hopes ot having some honey next year. I 

 think that the bee-ket-pers of Illinois should 

 arise in their might, and not allowour sister 

 States to excel us in this line ; so next year 

 I want to see a dozen or more beekeepers 

 with honey at our State Fair. All other ex- 

 hibits of agricultural products, except 

 honey, were grand. 



Uee-Keeping- in Ontario.— Mr. R. 



F. Holterraann, ot Branttord, Ont., Vice- 

 President of the Ontario Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation, sends the following report of bee- 

 keeping in Ontario : 



The past winter was passed fairly well by 

 the bees. Spring dwindling was excessiv.-, 

 owing to severe weather. The clover yield 

 was a total failure in umst localities, linden 

 the same, and at its close showers and warm 

 weather gave us somethistle honey in buck- 

 wheat localities ; the fall flow was fairly 

 good. On an average not suHioient honey 

 has been secured for winter, yet colonies 

 are otherwise in good condition. Whilst 

 the average is so low, we hear of isolateil 

 cases where a yield of 30 to 40 and even fiO 

 pounds per colony has been obtained ; and, 

 on the other hand, colonies had to be fed in 

 the height of the honey season. Increase 

 has been but slight, and all colonies remiiii- 

 ing should be carefully preserved and cared 

 for. There has been practically no coiidi 

 honey taken, and the extracted honey will 

 be off the market before the end of the' pres- 

 ent mouth. 



Xlie Kef. I.,. Ij. Lians:.>>trotli.— In 



an article noticing the receipt of a cabinet 

 photograph of Father Laugstroth, from Mr. 

 T. B. Reynolds, of Dayton, O., the Brttlgh 

 Bee Journal for Sept. 30, remarks as fol- 

 lows : 



The photograph is a full-length, cabinet 

 size, and gives a good idea of the general 

 appearance and intelligent countenance of 

 one who still retains so many admirers and 

 friends in both hemispheres. It gives us 

 much pleasure to note that, though long 

 past the allotted threescore years and ten, 

 and though for many years he his passed 

 through much physical suffering, he con- 

 tinues to look so hearty and well, and it 

 would appear as if many years were still in 

 prospect before the "the grand old man" 

 is called away from our mid-t. The name 

 of the Rev. L. L. Laugstroth has for so 

 many years been " a household word " with 

 bee keepers, that we feel assured that many 

 will feel inclined to indulge in the enjoy- 

 ment of being anle to look into that calm, 

 intelliienf, and benevolent face which is 

 now presented to them. 



We feel a spirit of gratitude pervading 

 our hearts that we have been permitted to 

 look, as it were, upon his living presence. 

 Our memory passes back to that sentence 

 which well-nigh thirty years ago he nenned: 

 " Debarred to a great extent by ill-health 

 from the appropriate duties of my profes- 

 sion, aud compelled to seek an employment 

 calling me as much as possible into the 

 open air, I cherish the hope! that my laliors 

 in an important department of rural econ- 

 omy may prove serviceable to the com- 

 munity." Truly, whatever loss there may 

 have been to his fellow men in his inability 

 to follow his high and Imly callin;!, there 

 has been a clear, and a great, and an abid- 

 ing gain to the hee keeping world ; and we 

 are ready to subscribe to that which his 

 friend, the Rev. Robert Baird, said of h m : 

 " He well deserves the name of Benefactor 

 — infinitely more so than many who in all 

 countries aud in all aaes have received that 

 honorable title." And how feelingly Mr. 

 Laugstroth directs the attention of those ot 

 his own profession to the study ot the 

 economy of the honey-bee: "The atten- 

 tion of ministers of the gospel isparlicu'aily 

 invited to this branch ot natural -history. 

 An intimate acquaintance withihebee-liive, 

 while beneficial to them in many ways, 

 might lead them in their preaching to imi- 

 tate more closely the example of Him who 

 illustrated His teachings by " the birds of 

 the air, and the lilies of the field," as well 

 as the common walks ot life, and the busy 

 pursuits of men. 



The " old man eloquent " is still with us, 

 and his voice is ever and anon heard in the 

 exercise of his sacred calling. It was but a 

 very short time since — only a few months 

 ago— that this good man visited Mr James 

 Heddon, of Dowaitiac, Mich. Mr. Ileddon 

 says: "Nearing eighty years of age, and 

 nut in the enjoyment of very robust, physi- 

 cal health, 1 was astonished to find his men- 

 tal powers as young and vigorous as those 

 of a man of middle aae." On this occasion 

 he nreai^hed in the Congregational Church, 

 and Mr. Heddon proceeds to say : " I think 

 1 may safely say that many years have 

 passed away since our city has been hon- 

 ored with such beiieficentaud well-delivered 

 sermons. His voice is lound, full, and 

 melodius, fully equal to four times the 

 capacity of anv church in the city." We 

 can mily breathe a hope that one whom bee- 

 keepers have learned to love and reference 

 may long be spared to us. 



[The last sentence calls forth our most 

 hearty response.— Ed.1 



