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is necessai'y to invert either hives or 

 sections in order to get them filled 

 completely. 



J. G. Smith remarked as follows on, 

 " What constitutes a normal colony of 

 bees ?" 



The subject is a lengthy one, but I 

 will try to give a short synopsis of it. 

 The word " normal," as I understand 

 it, means perfect, complete. A normal 

 colony of bees consists first of a good, 

 prolific queen, a suitable hive, nice, 

 straight combs, eggs and larval bees 

 in all stages, and hatching brood, and 

 mature workers and drones. I cannot 

 give here a full synopsis, as the de- 

 scribing of the many changes and dif- 

 ferent duties that each class of bees 

 have to perform, would consume too 

 much valuable time. 



" How long does it take to rear a 

 queen P" 



T. S. Wallace had reared queens in 

 eleven days, from the egg, and con- 

 sidered it a sufficient length of time. 



J. M. Hambaugh claimed 14 to 16 

 days. 



Bonr to Re-(laeen Colonies 1 



Mr. T. S. Wallace gives queen-cells 

 to the colony. 



President Black first shakes all the 

 bees of the colon}' in front of the hive, 

 then drops a fertile queen in their 

 midst. He had been very successful 

 in this way. 



Mr. Howard Ogle cages a selected 

 queen, removes the rejected one, 

 places the former queen in a cage on 

 a comb as near the spot as possible to 

 where th3 rejected queen was ; closes 

 the hive, lets the bees liberate the 

 caged queen, and examines the hives 48 

 honrs later, when he removes the cage. 

 He had been generally successful in 

 tljjs way. 



How to Unite Colonies. 



Mr. D. E. Robbins places one hive 

 on top of the other, first removing the 

 bottom-board of the hive to be placed 

 on top, then puts the two hives to- 

 gether. He pays no attention to the 

 queens (this should be done late iu the 

 evening), but lets them remain in that 

 condition for three daj's, then shakes 

 all together, when the job is complete. 



J. G. Smith does the same as Mr. 

 Robbins, except that 24 hours was the 

 time I'equired. 



How to Winter Bees. 



Mr. David W. McDaniel preferred a 

 cellar, with slight upper ventilation in 

 each hive. 



J. M. Hambaugh prefers the same as 

 Mr. McDaniel. 



Mr. Daniel Shank, a nurseryman of 

 Clavton, [jreferred lower ventilation. 



Mr. T. S. Wallace winters his bees 

 in a cellar, and favors lower ventila- 

 tion. He cuts holes in the bottom- 



boards, and covers them with wire- 

 gauze. 



"When should bees be put into win- 

 ter quarters ?" 



J. M. Hambaugh puts his bees in 

 about Nov. 20, and takes them out 

 sometime in April. 



The convention then adjourned till 

 1 p.m., when the afternoon session 

 opened with President Black in the 

 chair, and tlie discussion continued as 

 follows, on 



Sivarming and Bee-Pasturage. 



President Black thought that pure 

 races of bees would not swarm as 

 much as the mixed races. 



" What is best to plant or sow for 

 bee-pasturage ?" 



Mr. Shank exhibited a raspberrj-- 

 eane, and a bottle of raspberries in 

 salt brine. They were of the ne\\ 

 German variety, which he thought 

 could hardly be excelled as a honey- 

 plant. The canes are self-supporting 

 and very hardy ; the fruit is very large, 

 and excellent in flavor. Every bee- 

 keeper, as well as others, ought to 

 grow them. 



President Black sows buckwheat and 

 Alsike clover. He found the latter to 

 be good bee-pasturage. 



J. M. Hambaugh bad some experi- 

 ence with Alsike clover, but wished to 

 try it another season before reporting 

 as to its value as a honey-plant. 



Mr. Petty thought that melilot or 

 sweet clover was verj' good, if not the 

 best pasture for bees. 



"What is the proper space between 

 brood-frames from center to center of 

 the top-bars ?" 



Mr. Pettj' — One and one-third inches. 



Mr. Robbins — One and one-half 

 inches. 



President Black — One and one-third 

 inches is about right. 



The Rev. Mr. Pears was present, and 

 on motion he was unanimously made 

 an honorary member of the Society. 

 Mr. Pears then thanked the Societj' for 

 their courtesy. 



It was then noted that the name of 

 this Society be changed to the "Cen- 

 tral Illinois Bee-Keepers' Union." 



The following resolution was then 

 passed unanimouslj- : 



Resolved, That we tender our sincere 

 thanks to the landlord, T. H. Brents, 

 and to the resident members oi this 

 Society for their kindness and hospi- 

 tality during our sojourn among them. 



The election of officers for next year 

 being in order, resulted as follows : 

 President, Howard Ogle ; Vice-Presi- 

 dent, W. T. F. Petty ; Secretary, Jos. 

 M. Hambaugh ; Treasurer, J. G. Smith. 



The officers will act as a committee 

 on programme for the next meeting. 



Mt. Sterling, Brown county. Ills., 

 was then chosen as the next place of 

 the annual meeting, the date of the 



meeting to be decided by the President 

 of this Societj'. 



On motion of J. M. Hambaugh,. 

 Pres. S. N. Black said : "I recommend 

 the members of this Society to join the 

 National Bee-Keepers' Union, at their 

 earliest opportunity." 



The convention then adjourned 

 meet next year at Mt. Sterling, Ills. 

 John G. Smith, -Sec. pro lem^ 



NEW LAWS 



Of llie International Americait 

 Bee-Associaiiun. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY R. F. HOLTEKMANN. 



It was with feelings of pleasure that 

 I found Dr. Miller's criticisms of our 

 Society, on page 711. There were 

 several points that I thought might be 

 changed to advantage, but when 

 President Mason brought the matter 

 up so (to me) unexpectedly, it took 

 my breath away ; all the time I knew 

 there were, some points, in my esti- 

 mation, objectionable. Now kindlj' 

 bear with me, and I will state them. 



Article I. Strike out the word 

 "American," and you have the name. 

 Let me say that I cannot see any rea- 

 son why we should not have an asso- 

 ciation trulj- international. Whodai'es 

 to say that we in America have noth- 

 ing to learn from Germany, Britain, 

 France, Norway, Sweden, and other 

 countries, and that the}- have nothing 

 to learn from us, or from one another ? 

 If this is the ease (and we know that 

 there are men there of means, and 

 who desire to advance bee-keeping), 

 wh}', then, have we not reason to ex- 

 pect that they sliall join us in conven- 

 tion ? We may make a special eftbrt 

 to have such a meeting, saj' once iiii 

 five years. Yet, let it be international^ 

 and let them understand that our 

 doors are always open to them, and 

 thev have a right to meet us on equal 

 footing. 



Some may say, " Have we not papers 

 published in the interests of bee-keep- 

 ers, and we can have an interchange 

 of all valuable ideas ?" Let me say 

 that that is impossible. He who thinks, 

 that he may remain at home, and read 

 the report of a convention, and profit 

 equallj' with the one who has attended, 

 is greatly mistaken. Reports are not 

 verbatim. Every reporter — it may 

 even be unconsciousl}' — gives promi- 

 nence to wluit he thinks is of impor- 

 tance, and what he may consider cor- 

 rect, however mistaken he may be. 

 You have then, to a great extent, to 

 think as he does, and to see as he 

 sees. Even were you to read a report 

 verbatim, you would not share equally 

 in advantage, for the verj' tones used 



