Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1889-01-18

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nual fair was not fully decided upon, but
will be fixed at meeting of the execu-
tive board called at the Addison House
on Monday, Jan. 2s, at 10 o'clock a. m.
VERMONT BEE.kEEPERs' ASSOCIATION.
PROCEEDINGS AT THE ANNUAL MEETING
ON TUESDAY.
The 18th annual meeting of the Yer
mont Bee-Keepers' association was held
in the basement of the town hall in Mid
dlebury on Tuesday of this week. The
attendance was good. The morning ses-
sion, beginning soon after 10 o'clock, was
called to order by President r. H.
Holmes of Shoreham. The first business
was the appointment of this committee on
nominations: j. /. Clark, 7. S. Warner,
j. G.. Barker.
j. E. Crane of Middlebury spoke on the
subject, "Wintering bees in special repos-
itories." He thought that bees could be
wintered most cheaply indoors, his ex-
periments proving that they consumed
less honey than when out of doors. Con-
corning the matter of temperature to keep
them quiet he found so to 80 degrees best,
but sometimes they kept still if it got up
to 60 or 65 degrees. Good ventilation
aided in the direction Of keeping the bees
still. He advised putting bees in the Gel
lar earlier than he formerly thought best.
A good date was Nov. l, and they may
well be removed by May l, or as soon as
they can begin to gather natural pollen.
There is no danger from six months con-
finement in the cellar if the bees are kept
quiet. President Holmes asked which
was worst for them, bad stores or too high
temperature. Mr.. Crane thought it
hard question to answer. Mr.. Nahum
told of friend of his who had succeeded
in keeping bees at temperature of 60
degrees he also said that watering the
bees often kept them still in dry cellar,
though if the cellar were damp that was
unnecessary unless they were raising a
brood. Mr.. Crane remarked that bees
were like people in some respects, re-
quiring a higher temperature in damp
atmosphere. He had made experiments
showing that there were colonies which
would thrive on five pounds of honey
during the winter, while others would
consume 20 pounds and then die. No
more skill was required in cellar winter
ing than in out-of-dOor wintering. The
arrangement he would recommend would
be temperature of 40 or 45 degrees and
a constant current of fresh air in the
cellar, the air to be warmed and thus
raise and control the temperature. He
packs his hives six deep, with just an al
ley-way between. They are single-wall-
ed hives.
Next came reports of wntering. The
losses varied from two per cent up and
were probably greater last winter than is
usual. 1t seemed to be agreed on all
hands that it was advisable to pack bees
early in the season.
The minutes of the last annual meeting
were read by the secretary, Miss NJ. A.
Douglas of Shoreham, and approved.
Mr.. Crane read letter from an organ
ization formed for the purpose of gather
ing statistics of the honey crop each year.
Its name is "The United States Honey
Producers Exchange The member.
ship fee is 81. He thought it a valuable
organization, in that its figures will en-
able producers to Judge how to act with
respect to the disposition of their crops.
AFTERNOON SESSION.
BY request the secretary read the old
constitution. The committee appointed
last year to revise the constitution pre-
sented their report, as follows:
PROPOSED CONSTITUTION.
Article This organization shall beknown
as the Vermont Bee-Keepers' association.
Art. 2.-Its object shall be to promote the
general interests OF agriculture thu oughout the
state; to form friendly bond OF unity be
tween the bee.keepers; to impart IA general
knowledge OF the honey resources and the
best methods OF its production.
Art 3.-Any person interested in agriculture
may become member OF this association by
signing the constitution and paying a mem
/ bership tee OF % cents to the secretary and
ted free aud paying annually the sum OF %
cents to detray the running expenses OF the
association.
AIT. Amy person may he made an honor
AIRY member OF this association by a majority
vote OF the members present at any regular
meeting.
| Art. 5.--The officers of this association shall
consist of president, n vice-president from
each county in the state represented at the
! annual meeting, and secretary and treasurer
] These shall ~ ive