DEPARTMENT REPORTS. 51 



State Board of Agriculture. The daily weighing of a colony of bees has 

 been continued the present season. I think these weights, with the peculiari- 

 ties of the weather, would be good material for the report. Such data are 

 often very valuable, and frequently lead to important discoveries. 



THE APIARY. 



The winter of 1882-83 was a very severe one with bees. While many bees 

 throughout the country died all of ours put in the cellar came out in fine con- 

 dition, except one, which, from an accident, died of starvation. One other in 

 whose hive much pollen was placed the preceding autumn, had dysentery, and 

 was quite weak in bees. This one was found queenless, and was early united 

 with others. The cellar maintained a temperature of about 40° F. The bees 

 ■were in the cellar 142 days. The amount of honey consumed by the bees 

 wintered in the cellar was an average of 4|- lbs. The greatest amount con- 

 sumed by any one colony was 6 lbs. Four colonies were wintered outdoors 

 in chaff hives. One of these died. The other three were weak. The average 

 consumption in these colonies was 14|- lbs. 



We had no spring dwindling, but found we had three drone-laying queens, 

 a thing new in our experience. This reduced our colonies to eleven in the 

 early season. The season has been below the average, though on the whole a 

 pretty good one. 



We have secured about 80 lbs of honey to the colony, about one-eighth of 

 which was comb honey. We only tried to secure comb honey from four 

 colonies. The quality of the comb honey from the Syrian bees is excellent, 

 and we find the bees easily managed and very excellent in quality. 



1 still think, as I suggested last year, that to make the apiary larger and 

 place it in charge of a competent assistant, it might be made more than self- 

 supporting, would have added usefulness as an educating feature of the 

 college, and would greatly relieve me, as now not infrequently the entire care 

 of the bees often devolves upon me, and that in the very busiest season of the 

 year. 



PROGRESS IN THE DEPARTMENT. 



During the past season we have secured a series of Ward's casts and other 

 specimens for the museum. A large collection of insects is suspended on the 

 walls of the class room. Both of these features are valuable aids, and help to 

 make the course more profitable to the students. We still need specimens in 

 the museum. One of the next additions sliouid be a faunal collection of 

 birds. Some families of birds are hardly represented at all. 



OUTSIDE WORK. 



During the past year I attended the annual meeting of the American 

 Bee Keepers' Society at Cincinnati. As president of the association I gave 

 an address on the so-called "dry feces" of bees. 



During the winter I attended two farmers' institutes, one at Jeddo, the 

 other at Galesburg, at eacii of which I lectured twice, once on Physiology and 

 once on Economic Entomology. 



1 have attended and lectured before two meetings of the State Horticultural 

 Society, one at Flint, the other at Ionia. I have also attended, as President, 

 the annual meeting of the State Bee Keepers' Association at Kalamazoo, 

 before which I gave a paper. I have also attended and taken part in the 

 two meetings of the Central Michigan Bee Keepers' Association. 



