190 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



DEAD LARVAE ON THE GROUND SPREAD THE 

 DISEASE. 



There is one way by which I think it is 

 possible that disease may be spread of 

 which I have not spoken. Where many 

 liives are diseased, thousands of the dead 

 larvse are hauled out of the entrances and 

 left near by on the ground. These, decay- 

 ing, may (after a little) become dust to be 

 blown on or into flowers, into the en- 

 trances of hives, or earned by the bees 

 where they will get into the food of young 

 larvEe. I have in some instances advised a 

 change of location with entirely satisfactory 

 results. I have found two or three beekeep- 

 ers who feed their bees a weak brine, think- 

 ing it very beneficial. 



CEMENT HIVE. 



One man I met had constructed a hive of 

 cement. Unfortunately he had made a 

 slight mistake in the size, so he could not 

 use his fi-ames in it, and so had never tried 

 it. It looked substantial, and might prove 

 a success in some parts of the country. 



HONEY FROM CORN. 



Another beekeeper told me how his bees 

 gathered considerable honey from corn, 

 and, later in the season, wrote me that 

 again they had stored some ten or tAvelve 

 pounds to the hive, thus helping him to 

 solve his winter problem, for his bees, like 

 most bees in our State, had not stored 

 enough to winter on. 



THE PLEASANT PART OF THE WORK. 



While there are many unpleasant fea- 

 tures in connection with inspection work, 

 (liere are many pleasant experiences to be 

 thankful for. It is pleasant to study the 

 honey resources of one's State, and to see 

 the advantages and disadvantages of differ- 

 ent sections. One has also an opportunity 

 to make some choice acquaintances, and to 

 visit old friends without much loss of time 

 or expense. One such I must mention. 



Forty-three years ago I learned of a man 

 about seventy miles away who wanted to 

 sell out his entire stock of bees, as he had 

 met with some loss and was qviite disgaisted. 

 After some correspondence I went to his 

 place and bought most of his stock. He 

 was a very intelligent beekeeper for those 

 times, and I much enjoyed the time I was 

 with him, as he told me so much that was 

 then new. Afterward we corresponded for 

 a time, and I lost ti'ack of him, and I 

 tliought he had of me. While looking up 

 foul brood in his neighborhood I thought I 

 would go over to see him and inspect his 

 bees, for I knew he would have some, for 

 who ever, after once falling in love Avith 

 bees, would go without them? I found him 

 and his good wife more than pleased to see 



me, and he could not do enough for me. 

 I found that he had a good stock of Italian 

 bees ; and if they defend their homes against 

 foul brood as vigorously as they did against 

 the interference of the inspector it will be a 

 long time before disease will do them any 

 harm. After a most delightful visit he took 

 me in his carriage over to see a neighboring 

 beekeeiDer, and then to the trolley line. 

 Middlebury, Vt. — The End. 



BRIEF REPORT OF THE NATIONAL CONVEN- 

 TION AT CINCINNATI 



BY E. R. ROOT 



The attendance at this meeting was not 

 large — indeed it was, perhaps, the smallest 

 of any of its kind that we have ever attend- 

 ed. At no time were there over fifty pres- 

 ent. In another way it was a large conven- 

 tion, because it was a representative meet- 

 ing. There were delegates, each represent- 

 ing an affiliated society, from Vermont, 

 Massachusetts, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 

 New York, Ohio, Kentucky, Michigan, In- 

 diana, Virginia, Tennessee, Iowa, Oregon, 

 Colorado, Idaho, and Texas; or, all togeth- 

 er, a membership of several hundred. Some 

 of the associations sent more than one del- 

 egate. In this connection it should be ex- 

 plained that this convention differed from 

 all others in that it was a delegate meeting. 

 Besides delegates, there were members of 

 the Association who, while the}^ had the 

 privilege of the floor, had no vote in busi- 

 ness matters. Then, as is usually the case, 

 there was some local attendance, but not 

 nearl}^ as much as we ordinarily see at con- 

 ventions located at Cincinnati. For that 

 mattei', there would have been a much larg- 

 er local attendance, we understand, if the 

 meeting had been held earlier, say along in 

 September or October. 



The Bureau of Entomology, Washington, 

 D. C, was represented by Dr. E. F. Phil- 

 lips, in Charge of Apiculture, and by Geo. 

 F. Demuth. Dr. Burton N. Gates, Dean of 

 the Apicultural School at Amherst, Mass., 

 was also present. Indeed, he was elected 

 presiding officer in the absence of Mr. Geo. 

 W.- York, the regular President. Mr. R. F. 

 Holtermann and Mr. Foster, of Canada, 

 represented Canada, but not as delegates. 



This convention was unlike any of its 

 predecessors in that its primary object was 

 the transaction of business, and a lot of it 

 was done. The principal subject of dis- 

 cussion at the first session was whether the 

 National Association should have an official 

 organ. Something over a year ago the 

 Board of Directors voted to buy the Bee- 

 keepers' Reviejv of Secretary Tyrrell. The 



