LiL,i:.A^i:so:S 1^; UEE CULTUUh;. 



851 



nests pay best, taking one season with another, 

 because they save time in taking out and 

 replacing combs for the purpose of reducing the 

 brood-nest in winter and in expanding it at 

 other times. Where one lias 100 or 200 colonies, 

 they think the handling of combs made quite 

 an item. It was better to have too large a 

 brood-nest than one too small. They had 

 learned, also, that, so long as bees paid so poor- 

 ly, it did not pay to try to build up weak colo- 

 nies by feeding, unless they had valuable 

 queens; and, lastly, that a good colony with a 

 large brood-chamber left alone, and not drawn 

 upon for either honey or brood, would seldom 

 pass a season without getting enough to winter 

 on. 



Some little discussion followed this paper, in 

 which it was held that the points were more 

 applicable to the locality of Mrs. Axtell. R. L. 

 Taylor asked, why, if she liked large hives 

 because of the trouble of handling combs, not 

 have the Heddon? C. P. Dadant said that 

 those colonies that do not swarm from year to 

 year supersede their queens as readily as those 

 that do swarm. The question was asked: 



WHICH IS BETTER — EIGHT OR TEN FKA.ME 

 HIVES ? 



Considerable discussion took place. Some 

 held that a ten-frame hive, when necessary, 

 could be reduced to 8 frames by means of dum- 

 mies. As usual, some preferred one and some 

 another. When a show of hands was called for, 

 it was found that Ki favored the ten-frame hive 

 and 42 the eight - frame. The rest pres(^nt 

 evidently did not know. It was then asked 

 how many had changed from an eight to a ten 

 frame hive. A rising vote showed only one. 

 When it was asked how many had changed 

 from ten to eight, 24 responded. R. L. Taylor 

 thought it was a question of locality, and what 

 th(f queen could do br^fore the honey-flow. 

 There was such a thing as having too much 

 room. J. M. Hambaugh wanted all the bees he 

 could get, and therefore preferred a large brood- 

 nest. 



THE LANGSTKOTH FUND. 



At this point a letter was read from the Rev. 

 L. L. Langstroth, extending his greetings to 

 the convention. As Mr. L. was in somewhat 

 straitened circumstances, Mr. Thos. G. Newman 

 made a strong appeal, and urged that bee- 

 keepers, inasmuch as they owed Mr. L. a great 

 debt, should give such sums as they felt able. 

 In response to this, the sum of $44.00 was col- 

 lected on the spot, and the rest was arranged to 

 be sent to Mr. G. W. York, 5(5 Fifth Ave., Chi- 

 cago. 



The question-box was resumed again. It 

 was asked. " Have the Syrians any points of 

 superiority?" Mr. Taylor thought they excel- 

 led in the hinder point. Mr. Frank Benton, the 

 secretary, who had handled them in their puri- 

 ty at Beyrout, Syria, said they had some good 

 qualities. They required a sparing use of 

 smoke: were very prolitic — too much so: but 

 this could be regulaied. In reply to the ques- 

 tion as to how the Carniolan bee could be dis- 

 tinguished from the blacks, he said they were 

 slightly larger, with light silver-gray band-J, 

 giving them a ringy appearance. As to tln-ir 

 action, they do not run off their combs as do the 

 blacks. When he handled them in their native 

 country he rarely iiad us(^ for the veil. When 

 found to be cross in this counti'y he u'ould 

 hardly think them to be pure. In comparison 

 with the Italians he thought them generally 

 gentler. 



HAS THE MATING OF QUEENS IN CONFINEMENT 

 BEEN SUCCESSFUI/? 



Dr. Miller thought not. Dr. C. V. Riley, 



entomologist at Washington, had been deeply 

 interested in the question, and, in spite of the 

 failures in the past, he thought the problem 

 might yet be solved, ani that the Departmen 

 of Agriculture would investigate the question. 



STANDING VERSUS HANGING FRAMES. 



The question was asked how many preferred 

 standing frames. A vote showed 9, while 49 

 preferred loose hanging frames. 



EVENING SESSION, FIRST DAY. 



The place of the next meeting was then dis- 

 cussed. Several places were named, among 

 which were Toronto, San Francisco, Denver, 

 Los Angeles, Buffalo, Columbus, and St. Joseph. 

 After some discussion, a vote showed that St. 

 Joseph was preferred by a majority. 



The election of officers was next in order, and 

 resulted as follows: For president. E. T. Ab- 

 bott, of St. Joseph, Mo.; vice-president, O. L. 

 Hersheiser; secretary, Frank Benton; treasur- 

 er, G. W. York. 



Next followed a question on the subject of — 



HOW CAN THE MEETINGS OF THE N. A. B. K. A. 

 BE IMPROVED? 



It was urged by some that the society be 

 more representative. At present it was getting 

 to be too local, as the list of members showed; 

 that the society should be thoroughly organized 

 and affiliated with State organizations, and 

 that each alHliated society should send one or 

 more delegates. Comparison was made with 

 the European societies, and it was urged that 

 the N. A. B. K. A. be more like them. The 

 president acknowledged that our meetings 

 were not as large as those in Europe, and asked 

 the secretary, Mr. Benton, in regard to it. 

 The latter said that, at one meeting in Frank- 

 fort, Germany, they had an attendance of 400; 

 that they also had a large exhibition of bee- 

 appliances, fruits preserved in honey, etc. The 

 society included Austria and Germany. Prof. 

 Cook, while acknowledging that, while all this 

 was very nice for Europe, it was entirely im- 

 practicable in the United States. Our country 

 was, he said, too large, and the traveling 

 expenses too great; but in spite of this we 

 needed not to feel bad, because we had good 

 conventions as it was; and as the bee-papers 

 gave reports, those who were not able to attend 

 were able to get the discussions. C. P. Dadant 

 agreed with Prof. Cook, and added that he had 

 tried very hard to get the State and Provincial 

 organizations to affiliate with the N. A. B. K. A.. 

 but failed. 



Contuiucd. 



THOSE OLD BEE-BOOKS. 



HUBER'S WORKS. 



Those who have Gleanings for 1889 will find 

 on page 389 for that year a picture of the cele- 

 brated man whose works I have before me; also 

 as much of his history as will be sufficient for 

 our purpose. We giv<^ the picture here again. 

 Huiier's method of conducting experiments with 

 bees by the help of his wife, and a servant 

 named Burnens, is. I assume, familiar to all. 

 The praise lavished on Huber by the civilized 

 world has been unstinted. By almost universal 

 consent he occupies a front seat among natural- 

 ists and bee-men; and my talk to-day will, I 

 fear, run more on the man than on his book. 



The high position occupied by Huber is due to 

 several causes, tln^ first oi which I would attrib- 

 ute to the real merit of his discoveries. But no 

 matter how valuable or otherwise those discov- 

 eries were to the world, the very fact that they 

 were the result of a purely mental effort on Hu- 

 ber's part would enlist our sympathy to a great- 



