580 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



Sept. 13 1900. 



Such a record may be of very great value if proper use 

 is"made of it. Having positive knowledge as to the rela- 

 tive working power of different colonies, the bee-keeper 

 will know from which colonies to breed so as to improve 

 the character 'of. his stock. Not only is it important to 

 know the best stock, but also to know the poorest. In the 

 ordinary apiary are found colonies that produce much less 

 than the average, which are allowed to go on year after 

 year reproducing their own kind. True, there may be, and 

 probably will be, an improvement of stock when the poorest 

 colony in an apiary is entrusted with the matter of super- 

 seding its own queen, but with that improvement the stock 

 will still be poor. The wise bee-keeper will at this time of 

 year take account of stock, and remorselessly kill every queen 

 whose progeny has shown itself inferior in working quali- 

 ties, replacing her with one of best stock. 



Some bee-keepers make a practice of replacing every 

 queen which has past a certain age. Much better is it if 

 instead of selecting for destruction those which have past a 

 certain time limit, those be doomed which have failed to 

 come up to the average in storing, whether the queen be 

 young or old. 



This must not be understood as meaning that the queen 

 now in the hive shall always be held responsible for the 

 work done. Here is a certain colony which had at the be- 

 ginning of the season a very old queen, but one which did 

 fine execution the previous year. Owing to her great age, 

 the colony was not brought up to full strength in time for 

 the honey harvest, but before the close of the harvest she 

 was superseded by the workers. The colony has done poor 

 work at storing, but it would be unwise to kill the present 

 queen. She is of'good stock, and next year her colony may 

 surpass all others. But when the same queen has been in 

 the h'ive all the season, she may be held accountable for the 

 good conduct of the colony under penalty of dethronement. 



Bee=Paralysis has had many a cure reported, but when 

 tried these cures do not seem to stand the test. Editor Root 

 gives in Gleanings in Bee-Culture a treatment which, altho 

 its difficulty of application may prevent its use in many 

 cases, it may still be well to know. Mr. Root says : 



" As to bee-paralysis, there has been proof advanced to 

 show that the disease is constitutional, and resides in the 

 queen. There has also been proof to show that even when 

 the queen is removed the disease would go on just the same. 

 The only rational way of treating bee-paralysis is to take 

 all the colonies so affected and remove them to a new loca- 

 tion a mile and a half from any other bees, and then remove 

 the queen and give them another. But before doing so, 

 shake all the bees in front of the entrance, in the grass. 

 The sick ones will remain outside, while the healthy ones 

 will crawl in. After the queen is introduced, go over the 

 combs ever so often, and hand-pick the sleek, shiny bees off^ 

 the combs. Once in awhile give the colony a frame of 

 hatching brood from a healthy colony. 



" We have found this, that removing the queen and also 

 removing the sick bees as fast as they show symptoms of 

 the disease, at the same time giving hatching brood, will 

 very often cure the worst cases. 



" One writer recommends putting a healthy colony on 

 the stand of the weak one, and the weak one on the stand 

 of the healthy one. The result is that the healthy bees 

 carry out the dead ones and the sick ones, and, according to 

 the statement of the one who recommends this treatment, 

 it effects a cure." 



" The Hum of the Bees in the Apple-Tree Bloom " is 

 the name of the finest bee-keeper's song — words by Hon. 

 Eugene Secor and music by Dr. C. C. Miller. This is 

 thought by some to be the best bee-song yet written by Mr. 

 Secor and Dr. Miller. It is, indeed, a " hummer." We can 

 furnish a single copy of it postpaid, for 10 cents, or 3 copies 

 for 25 cents. Or, we will mail a half-dozen copies of it for 

 sending us one new yearly subscription to the American 

 Bee Journal at $1.00. 



Convention Proceedings. | 



Report of the Proceeding's of the 31st Annual 



Convention of the National Bee-Keepers' 



Association, held at Chicag-o, 111., 



Aug. 28, 29 and 30, 1900. 



BV DR. A. B. MASON, SEC. 



The 31st annual meeting of the National Bee-Keepers' 

 Association was called to order at 7:15 o'clock, Tuesday 

 evening, Aug. 28th, by the President, E. R. Root, of Ohio. 



The convention, led by Mr. George W. York, of Illinois, 

 with Mrs. York at the piano, sang the " Bee-Keepers' Re- 

 union Song," after which prayer was offered by Mr. R. C. 

 Aikin, of Colorado. 



I'resident Root — The next thing on our program is 

 "How to Sell Honey," but we have with us Mr. Frank A. 

 Converse, of New York, Superintendent of the Live Stock 

 and Agricultural and Dairy Products, of the Pan American 

 Exposition. Those with whom I have talkt, think best to 

 call upon him to speak to us now. 



Mr. Converse — Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen : 

 I did not come here to advertise the Pan American Exposi- 

 tion. You represent one of the greatest industries in the 

 United States, and since my connection with the work in 

 our own and other States, I have come to believe that the 

 bee-industry is one that should receive special attention at 

 the hands of the Exposition. I am not a bee-man and know 

 nothing of the business whatever. I told your president I 

 would like very much to come and meet with you here, and 

 find out what you wanted with reference to an exhibit at 

 the Exposition. I may say to you that every State in the 

 Union will be represented at Buffalo next year. Many of 

 them have made large appropriations, and some of them 

 who have not made appropriations we expect will do so later 

 on. Every Central and South American country, save 

 three, have already signified their intention of making an 

 exhibit. Then in connection with the Live Stock Exhibit, 

 I come here to find out what you as bee-keepers want, and 

 if you want to make an exhibit by Stages, and in just so far 

 as I am able, and I know that is the wish of the manage- 

 ment of the Exposition, we will meet your suggestions and 

 your demands, and I would simply ask that during this con- 

 vention you have a committee, or formulate some action 

 which will guide us in making one of the best apiarian ex- 

 hibits that ever has been brought together on this conti- 

 nent. It seems to me that this is a question that interests 

 you as well as it does us, and I simply come here for that 

 purpose. I have been visiting at Colorado Springs, attend- 

 ing the Farmers' Congress, and have just stopt over here a 

 little while to meet you for this purpose. Now not being 

 a bee-man, I can not make to you any suggestions, but I 

 will promise you that we will do everything that it is possi- 

 ble for us to do to carry out any suggestion or any plan that 

 you may formulate. Our present plan, I may say, is to have 

 those exhibits in the main Agricultural Building, and we 

 do that for the reason that I am told by some of your num- 

 ber that at some other expositions the bee-men have made 

 their exhibits in a special building, and that but few. aside 

 from those vfho were specially interested in that exhibit, 

 visited that building. My idea is to give it a prominent 

 place in the main building, and make people see it whether 

 they want to or not. 



Now, then, about the character of the exhibit, you bee- 

 keepers know a great deal better about that than I do, and 

 our plans, so far as that is concerned, have not taken any 

 definite shape, and I should be more than pleased to have 

 this meeting take some action and make some suggestions. 

 I promise 3'ou, so far as we are able, we will carry out your 

 plans. 



Mr. President, I am not here to take your valuable time, 

 because I know you come here to listen to some talks and 

 look at the pictures, and I simply express in an offhand way 

 my pleasure at meeting j'ou, and I trust that your conven- 

 tion will be successful, and I know it will be, because j-ou 

 men and women have come together, I believe, in the right 

 spirit, and wherever men come together in that way, what- 

 ever the association may be, my experience is that great 

 good can come from it. I thank you very kindly, sir, for 



