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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



money to subscribe to the bee-papers 

 published to-day. 



F. H. Richardson — Mr. President, I 

 think this essay that Mr. Benton has 

 read, is a very good question for discus- 

 sion. 



Mr. Holtermann — We are not paying 

 enough attention to the practical mat- 

 ters, I think ; and by answering the 

 questions, I think we will get more 

 benefit. 



Pres. Abbott — Gentlemen and ladies, 

 I have here a letter from Mr. Doolittle, 

 in which he asks a question. What is 

 your pleasure regarding it? 



Mr. Benton — I would suggest that Mr. 

 Doolittle's question should go into the 

 question-box. 



The Kind of Bees. 



John Schumacher — Mr. Doolittle asks 

 if a colony in good condition would not 

 do more work. I do not think that a 

 good colony of bees in a poor season, or 

 a poor colony of bees, one that is weak, 

 will store much honey in a good season. 

 That is a sure thing. A poor colony of 

 bees will not store any honey, no matter 

 what the season is, and no matter what 

 kind of bees we have. 



Dr. Miller— I do not say that a 5- 

 banded, or a 3-banded, or a 43-banded 

 bee might not be a better bee. A bee 

 because it has more color may be better 

 or it may be worse. Some may be the 

 very best, or some may be the poorest, 

 but I do not think we are likely to have 

 better bees. 



Mr. Benton — When this matter of the 

 yellow bees came up, there was a point 

 that I thought I would bring out, but a 

 favorable opportunity to do so did not 

 occur. I have seen yellow bees and yel- 

 low bees. I have seen some yellow bees 

 from Cyprus that were great honey-gath- 

 erers. They have given us a record that 

 no other bees have equalled. Of the 

 yellow bees in this country I have seen 

 some that I believed contained Cyprian 

 blood, but those that contained Cyprian 

 blood were energetic and excellent honey 

 gatherers. I think there ought to be a 

 distinction between those that are yellow 

 sports and those which have been pro- 

 duced by crossing with Cyprians. Sports 

 may be somewhat degenerated. I am 

 not sure they are. I have not tried 

 them sufficiently. I can state that the 

 Cyprians are excellent honey-gatherers, 

 and, properly handled, they can be ma- 

 nipulated as easily and rapidly as any 

 3-banded Italians. 



Dr. Miller — I think a mistake has been 

 made. We have gotten from Italy a 

 race of bees, and we have found they 



are valuable. I will illustrate that and 

 try to get at it in another direction. 

 Here is a breed of cattle, renowned for 

 their milk. They have certain marks, 

 and this marking of the breed is, well, 

 say it is the whole of the head white. 

 That is the mark of the pure breed. I 

 take the notion that the cattle give more 

 and better milk because they have the 

 white head. I have a cow that has a 

 white head and a white neck, and I 

 think that a cow that is white all over 

 would give a great deal more milk, and 

 of better quality because she is white all 

 over. I fool myself. When I vary from 

 that mark of the pure breed I make a 

 mistake, and when I vary from the 3- 

 banded and take a 2-banded or a 5- 

 banded, and I am going away from that 

 breed, I fool myself. This 3-band busi- 

 ness is simply a mark of a valuable race 

 of bees. There may have been 2-banded 

 bees, but so long as we know the 3- 

 banded bees are good, that is the kind of 

 bees we should have. 



Adjourned until 7:30 p.m. 



First Day — evening session. 



The Association met, pursuant to ad- 

 journment, at 7:30 p.m. 



Pres. Abbott introduced Mayor Shep- 

 ard, who, as chief executive of the, city, 

 extended in a brief and well-worded 

 speech a cordial welcome to the Associa- 

 tion, and an earnest wish that its work 

 might prosper. This was responded to 

 by Mr. George W. York in behalf of the 

 United States, and Mr. R. F. Holter- 

 mann in behalf of Canada. Miss J. 

 Graves and Mr. Hardman then favored 

 the convention with some excellent vocal 

 and instrumenal music, after which the 

 President introduced Mr. J. R. Rippey, 

 Secretary of the Missouri State Board 

 of Agriculture, whose remarks were fol- 

 lowed by a vote of thanks to him for the 

 part he has taken in securing a place for 

 apiculture on the programmes of the 

 farmers' institutes which are being held 

 in the State. 



A violin solo, by Prof. N. Bornholdt, 

 followed, and was enthusiastically re- 

 ceived, whereupon Pres. Abbott intro- 

 duced Mr. T. B. Terry, of Ohio. This 

 gentleman, after alluding to the nature 

 of the institute work being done in Mis- 

 souri, spoke in substance as follows : 



"Value of Clover-Growing. 



I will give you a little bit of experience 

 on one line, and that is the line which I 

 am called on to speak about a great deal 

 in this State, and that is in the direction 

 of clover-growing, the amount of fer- 



