TMU MMEmiCMP« BEE JO^RJi®!.:. 



781 



President Milleson said that hybrids 

 were considered the best by many bee- 

 keepers. 



"Which section is the best, the one- 

 piece or the four-piece ?" 



Secretary Clark preferred the four- 

 piece section, although it took more 

 time to form them than the one-piece. 

 If well put together, the one-piece will 

 do well. 



Mr. De Vinncj* said that the one- 

 piece sections had to be soaked, and if 

 too wet, there was trouble ; sometimes 

 they would split in two. 



Secretary Clark said that it was hard 

 to crate honey if the one-piece section 

 did not make a perfect square. 



Mr. Hurlburt said that too much 

 water was bad ; he moistened the in- 

 side with a sponge, but did not touch 

 the groove. He would take ten or 

 more and wet them crosswise. 



Seei-etary Clark laid them down, 

 and wet them on the backs, rather 

 than the grooved side ; as that swells 

 and the other side does not, there is 

 no danger of breaking. 



Prevention of Robbin;;. 



"What is the best way to prevent 

 bees from robbing ?" 



Mr. Bacon noticed a small swarm, 

 two weeks ago, that had done nothing, 

 and for days they waited on the out- 

 side. He thought that they were wait- 

 ing for others to rob them, and then 

 join them. 



President Milleson thought that he 

 would investigate ; there must be some 

 reason ; it may have been foul brood. 



Secretarj' Clark said that the best 

 way was to narrow the entrance so 

 that only one bee could enter at a 

 time ; another method was to make 

 each colony strong. 



Mr. Davis was bothered two j'ears 

 ago. If he covered the hive, it stop- 

 ped the robbing, but the bees could 

 not find tlieir way back. He found an 

 eflfective way. He opened the hive 

 and let them come in, then killed them 

 with sulphur ; in a short time he 

 opened it again, and when filled he 

 gave them another smoking. He 

 killed about 3 colonies, mostly his 

 neighbor's. 



Mrs. Rhodes found that if syrup was 

 placed in crocks on the ground, away 

 from the hives, it prevented robbing. 



Mr. Kniglit always narrowed his 

 hive-entrances, and had no trouble. 



President Milleson said that bees 

 were like men, if you allowed a man 

 to get some money that he did not 

 earn, he will always seek some way to 

 get other monej' that he has not 

 earned ; and bees will get honey with- 

 out work if they can. 



Tbe Colorado Honey-lfield. 



"What is the aggregate yield of 

 honey in Colorado for 1888 ?" was not 



answered, as the Secretary said that 

 he was getting honey all the time. The 

 members were directed to report to 

 him by the January meeting. Dr. 

 Shaw urged them to be careful, as 

 their figures were valuable, and none 

 such had ever been collected. The 

 Secretary said that if all would help 

 him, he could get up a column of 

 figures that would astonish our legis- 

 lators. He would send circulars to 

 every apiarist, but his experience in 

 the Horticultural Society convinced 

 him that not one in ten would report. 



Mr. Rhodes had found new bee-men 

 in Boulder county, who had started 

 with 20 colonies ; they now had 22, 

 and 1,000 pounds of honey. Wherever 

 he went he tried to get statistics. Dr. 

 Shaw favored personal visitation. 



It appears that there is a difterence 

 in the tendency of different samples of 

 honey to candy. What is the cause of 

 such a tendency ?"' 



Secretary tUark said that the dififei'- 

 ence was in the flowers and seasons. 



Mr. Pratt said that he had resolved 

 to build a bee-house the next day. Mr. 

 De Vinney said that bees often struck 

 each other in a bee-house, if they were 

 too crowded. Mr. Knight had found 

 that height made no difference ; a 

 house 9 feet from the ground did as 

 well as those lower. 



Mr. De Vinney said that the Legis- 

 lative committee should get to work 

 now ; they should go to our member of 

 the House and ui'ge the cause ; then 

 go to the Speaker of tbe House, and 

 get him to put this man on the com- 

 mittee. 



Stephen R. Pratt, R. H.-'Rhodes and 

 Henry Knight were appointed commit- 

 tee on Legislation. Messrs. CUark, 

 De Vinney ami Hurlburt were ap- 

 pointed a committee on fraudulent 

 honey. 



Mr. Pratt said that he would like to 

 have members address him thus : 

 "Box 2804, Denver, Colo.," and state 

 what legislation they desired. 



On motion the executive committee 

 was ordered to draw up a programme 

 for the annual meeting on the third 

 Monday in January, 1889. The con- 

 vention then adjourned until that date. 

 J. M. Clark, Sec. 



SWARMING. 



Experimciils for Controlling; the 

 Swarming Fever. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY DK. A. E. SMITH. 



1 carried on some experiments last 

 summer to prevent swarming, and as 

 far as the colonies were concerned, 

 they did not swarm, but produced 140 

 pounds of comb honej' each. 



The plan is as follows : I watched 

 the colony closely. Just when I 

 tliought they would commence build- 

 ing queen-cells, I opened the hive, 

 took out two frames of brood, shook 

 off most of the bees, looking sharply 

 that I did not have the queen, and put 

 in their places two frames full of foun- 

 dation. I then replaced the section- 

 cases. 



In one week the}' began to show 

 symptoms of swarming (as I thought), 

 and I removed one frame, and put in 

 its place a frame full of foundation (I 

 use the 10-framo Simplicity hive). In 

 the last removal, I changed the outside 

 for the center frames, putting the four 

 center ones to the outside. 



At the first removal I also took out 

 the fourth ones from the outside. In 

 the last removal, I took an outside 

 frame, but the one with the foundation 

 went in the same place that one of the 

 first did. 



As I could not experiment on a large 

 scale, and some apiarists may know 

 something of this method, I would ask 

 them, "About what proportion of col- 

 onies will it prevent from swarming ?" 

 This seems to be enlarging the brood- 

 nest, but it makes no difference what 

 it is, that is the way to get the honey. 



This was done while I was putting 

 on or taking off section-cases, so it will 

 be seen how much labor it took with 

 those colonies, and the removal. 



I should sa}' that at the second re- 

 moval, and the change of inside for 

 outside frames, I like to uncap as 

 much honey as I think the bees will 

 take care of, and iq) it goes. 



This, to me, looked the most feasi- 

 ble in my " well-digested plan," for the 

 production of comb honey, and it was 

 a perfect succass. I use a modifica- 

 tion of the T-super, and "tier up," 

 filling the sections full of foundation, 

 and never forgetting to praise the 

 Italians. 



If in another year I could succeed in 

 a large majority of cases, in prevent- 

 ing swarming, that would be well, but 

 I was afraid of an accident, etc. Any 

 information will be thankfully re- 

 ceived, and for this purpose I wish to 

 submit it to the correspondents of the 

 American Bee Journal. 



Darlington, Wis. 



Convention I>'otices. 



C^ Tbe Nebraska State Bee-Keepers' Association 

 wili convene at Lincoln, Nebr., on Jan. 9, lO and u. 

 1889. J. N. Heater, Sec. 



ZW The annual meeting of the Ontario Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association will be held at Owen Stiund, Ont.. 

 on Jan. Sand 9, 1889. Vf. CovsE. Sec. 



ZJ^ There will be a meetinE of the Susquehanna 

 County Bee-Keepers' Association at the Court House 

 in Montrose, Pa., on Saturday, May 4. lK.mi,at 10 a.m. 

 H. M. SEELET, Sec. 



fy The twentieth annual convention of the New 

 York State Bee-Keepers' Association will he held 

 in tbe City Uall, Syracuse, N. Y.. on Dec. 11. 12 and 



13, 1888. G. H. KNICKBRBOCKBR, SCC. 



