746 



rtMM MMMRICMK MMm J©^KIfME<. 



afterwards the queen ? If tlie^oung 

 queen returns from her bridal-tour in 

 safety, this colony will be all right in 

 the spring. I will now put on this 

 Hill's device and spread on this new 

 muslin sheet, and run this hot flat-iron 

 over the top of the hive, which melts 

 the propolis, and sticks it fast. Now 

 this hive can be carried " up-stairs, 

 down-stairs, and in my lady's cham- 

 ber," and not a bee get put. I think 

 this is quite important, whether the 

 bees remain in-doors or out. 



When they are carried in the cellar, 

 or out, they cannot escape from the 

 top, or during the winter. I have had 

 colonies badly weakened, almost 

 ruined, Viy creeping up under the mus- 

 lin into the cap, and perishing. I tear 

 this sheet large enough so that the cap 

 shuts down over it, and when it is 

 on, the bees can be protected with dry 

 leaves or chaft' cushions, as preferred. 



Hill's Device. 



This looks like four half-moon pieces 

 of wood, with a piece of hoop-iron for 

 a back-bone. It makes a little warm 

 nest under the muslin, so that bees 

 can pass from one frame to another 

 after honey, without going down into 

 the cold. When I have not enough to 

 go around, I put on some cobs or 

 sticks. Bee-keepei's formerly made 

 holes in the combs, for passages for 

 the bees during winter, but this de- 

 vice obviates it. It is the invention of 

 a successful bee-keeper, of Mount 

 Healthy, O. 



I will now put on the device and 

 muslin on this large colony. It pays 

 to use new muslin in the fall, as the 

 the ventilation will be better during 

 the winter. I formerly used duck, but 

 it costs more and is no better. These 

 stiff, propolized ones make good kin- 

 dling on a cold morning. There is a 

 good deal of wax on them, but it does 

 not pay to boil them up to melt — more 

 game than candle. How the bees boil 

 out in front and on top ! I will mark 

 this hive "No. 1." You see that hive 

 over there marked "Extra." That 

 was marked "Extra" last year, and 

 holds good for this ; not on account of 

 it being so populous, but because it 

 stored more surplus than others of its 

 size. That is the kind of a colony to 

 rear queens from, and must keep its 

 colors flying. 



This one is the last swarm of the 

 season — quite late — and I did not 

 think that it would pary to climb after 

 them, but I did, all the same. I gave 

 it, when hived, six frames of comb, 

 that I took from a hive that had a 

 drone-laying queen which had been 

 unnoticed, until there was scarcely a 

 corporal's guard of workers. The hive 

 is quite heavy ; but, I will put these 

 two frames of uncapped honey back of 



the division-board, and leave them to 

 carry it in, before I put on the muslin. 

 I will mark it " C," and be sure that it 

 is carried into the cellar. 



Bee-Cellars. 



Take a look at mine. You see that 

 it is partitioned off from the main cel- 

 lar, and is under the sitting-room, 

 where a hai-d-coal Are never goes out, 

 from fall till spring. It has a window 

 hung on hinges, which is protected 

 with wire-gauze, and a sub-earth ven- 

 tilator. The window is covered with 

 thick green paper, to keep out the 

 light. It has been freshly whitened, 

 and the window and ventilator have 

 been open all summer. The brick 

 floor was thoroughly scrubbed, after 

 the bees were removed in the spring. 



Peoria, Ills. 



IN COUNSEL. 



Report of the Union Bee.Kcep- 

 ers' Convention. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY JOHN G. SMITH. 



The Union Bee-Keepers' Society met 

 on Oct. 16, 1888, at the City Hall in 

 Clayton, Ills., the attendance being 

 small, but all who did attend came 

 with knowledge obtained from the 

 store-house of experience (which is 

 acknowledged to be the very best) 

 concerning the habits and instincts of 

 one of man's best friends — the honej'- 

 bee. 



The convention was called to order 

 with President S. N. Black in the 

 chair, and the minutes of the previous 

 meeting and the Treasurer's report 

 were read and approved. The con- 

 vention then adjourned until 1:30 p.m. 



AFXERiVOOrV .SESSIOW. 



President Black called the conven- 

 tion to order, and an essay was read by 

 J. M. Hambaugh, on Hives and Honey 

 Receptacles. 



The next topic discussed was, 



Hoiv to Increase Colonies, 



J. G. Smith selects the best colonj' 

 in earlj' spring, confines the bees to as 

 small a space as they can well occupy, 

 by use of division-boards, and places 

 on top of the frames a bee-feeder. He 

 feeds regularly every 24 hours just 

 what syrup the colony can consume, 

 and no more. As the colony gets 

 strong in numbers, he removes the 

 division-boards and gives empty combs 

 or foundation as required until full 

 colonies are obtained. 



"What is the best method to pre- 

 vent swarmino; ?" 



J. G. Smith — Exchange places with 

 those that are about to swarm, with 

 those that are not. 



Mr. Spencei- — What if your colonies 

 are all strong ? 



J. G. Smith — The result is the same. 



Comb Honey ts. Extracted. 



President Black preferred to produce 

 comb honey. 



Mr. Spencer — Mr. President, I think 

 the reason that you do not like ex- 

 tracted honey is because you swallow 

 it too soon. 



" How can we overcome the prejn- 

 dice to extracted honey ?" Some one 

 answered that it was hard to do. 



J. M Hambaugh showed a sample 

 of extracted honey in a bottle, and 

 could hardly convince any one that it 

 was honey. 



Mr. Robbins preferred extracted 

 hone}'. 



President Black knew of no parties 

 in this place that adulterated honey, 

 but believed that it was done in large 

 cities. 



J. G. Smith had becm tiying to over- 

 come the prejudice against extracted 

 honej'. He had taken some nice comb 

 honey, extracted it before a customer's 

 own e3'es,and the customer thought that 

 the action of the extractor changed the 

 flavor, or gives the honey a taste that 

 he did not like. 



The convention then adjourned until 

 7:30 p.m. 



The convention was called to order 

 at 7:30 p.m., with President Black in 

 the chair. A general talk was in- 

 dulged in for about two hours, after 

 which the meeting adjourned till 9:30 

 a.m. the next day. 



SECO:«l> DAY. 



The convention was called to order 

 at 9:30 a.m., with President Black in 

 the chair, when the following subject 

 was discussed : 



Handling Comb and Extracted Honey. 



J. M. Hambaugh had worse luck 

 with comb honey than with extracted. 



W. T. F. Petty favored the produc- 

 tion of comb honey. He uses a frame 

 holding 4 one-pound sections each, 

 and places as nianj- of these frames 

 over the brood-chamber as is conven- 

 ient, with a case surrounding the 

 frames. 



President Black — Do you practice 

 tiering up ? 



Mr. Petty — Yes. 



President Black — How much foun- 

 dation do you use in each section ? 



Mr. Petty — Three-fourth inch pieces 

 as starters. 



President Black — How do you fasten 

 the foundation in the sections ? 



Mr. Petty — I use a Parker founda- 

 tion fastener. I do not think that it 



