THE AMERICAJSI BEE JOUllJ^AL. 



87 



rule that each colony of bees pays its 

 rent, and they do it. Mrs. II. was 

 fully satisfied that she could support 

 herself by keeping bees. 



" Should a beginner procure bees in 

 box hives and transfer them V" was 

 discussed at some length with opin- 

 ions about equally divided pro and 

 con ; and as to the " best race of bees," 

 Italians were decidedly the favorites. 



Comb foundation, with all the ad- 

 vantages to be gained by its use, was 

 pretty thorouglily discussed, which 

 led to the question, " is wiring neces- 

 sary or desirable." Messrs. Muth, 

 Davis and Gully dil not see any ne- 

 cessity of wiring the frames. Messrs. 

 Scholi, Reynolds, Learning and the 

 Secretary were decidedly in favor of 

 wired frames. Tlie differences in 

 opinions led to a pretty thorough ven- 

 tilation of the entire subject in hand 

 and ended in a call for supper. 



The meeting was again cfilled to 

 order promptly at 7:30 p. m. " Bee- 

 Pasturage," followed next on the pro- 

 gramme and Messrs. Davis and Gully, 

 having paid considerable attention to 

 this subject, were called on to give 

 their opinions, which they did at some 

 length, the subject being one of very 

 great interest to bee-keepers. 



Mr. Davis said : " Our principal 

 experiment has been with the Simp- 

 son honey-plant or tigwort. We have 

 two acres of this plant, which we 

 planted in hills S^4 i^eet apart and cul- 

 tivated as corn. " The plants began 

 to bloom about July 1 and lasted 

 until frost. While in this case we 

 secured no surplus honey, we feel 

 amply repaid for the trouble and out- 

 lay. We had extracted the honey 

 very closely up to the cessation of 

 white clover bloom, and as the season 

 turned out very dry we should have 

 had to feed extensively to save our 

 bees. We are of the opinion that the 

 figwort did not produce more than 

 half of what may be expected of it 

 under favorable circumstances, yet 

 the bees worked on it from early to 

 late, commencing before it was hardly 

 light and ending only with darkness. 

 It kept the bees breeding until late in 

 the fall, filling their hives with stores 

 and putting them in better condition 

 for winter than they have been for 

 several seasons past." 



Mr. Kenedy had seen the before- 

 mentioned patch of Simpson honey- 

 plant, and thought the results very 

 gratifying. As for himself he did not 

 have land sufficient to try anything of 

 the kind; but. instead, he prefers 

 Alsike clover. lie thought that every 

 bee-keeper in the land could well 

 afford to buy one-half bushel of Alsike 

 clover seed and give it to any farmer 

 who would plant it. He felt satisfied 

 that as soon as farmers could be made 

 to understand the value of Alsike 

 clover it would almost entirely super- 

 sede red clover. It is a better forage 

 crop, a better fertilizer, a better crop- 

 per all the way through than red 

 clover. 



Many honey-producing plants were 

 suggested as worthy of cultivation in 

 a small way or on waste land, and 

 it was considered that a united effort 

 on the part of bee-keepers might in- 

 crease the honey-flora of the country 



tenfold with but little expense. Mr. 

 Pugh and Mr. Douglierty expected 

 the honey-producing trees and shrubs 

 to be numbered by the hiaidreds at 

 Leinden Place in the very near future. 



The question of " Foul Brood " elic- 

 ited the fact that up to the present 

 time it had not made its appearance 

 in Indiana, but as it joined us on the 

 North and South we must be careful. 

 Mr. Muth gave his experience with 

 this dreadful scourge, until the meet- 

 ing adjourned to U:'M a. lu., .Jan. 28. 



On re-assembling at the morning 

 hour. President Scholi called the spe- 

 cial committee, to which the recom- 

 mendations of the retiring Pi'esident, 

 Mrs. Bobbins, had been referred, who 

 made the following report: 



" Your committee to whom were 

 referred the recommendations con- 

 tained in the President's address, beg 

 leave to report, first, that being in- 

 formed by the Secretary that the 

 actual and necessary expense of this 

 Society is about $7.5 per annum, we 

 report favorably on the recommenda- 

 tion that the membership fee should 

 be raised to $1. We also report favor- 

 ably on the recommendation that this 

 Society petition the Legislature for a 

 small appropriation to enable it to 

 publish its proceedings and discus- 

 sions, and believing such publication 

 would be vastly beneficial to the peo- 

 ple of our State — we therefore recom- 

 mend the appointment of acommittee 

 of three to thus memorialize the Leg- 

 islature, and that the delegates present 

 from different parts of tlie State be 

 requested to confer with their respec- 

 tive representatives and senators and 

 urge such an appropriation. — S. 

 Johnson, C. F. Muth, Committee." 



After a lengthy discussion as to the 

 aims of the Society, the report of the 

 committee was adopted. Following 

 this came a paper by Prof. S. T. Vir- 

 den,of Purdue University, on "The 

 Sting of the Bee," illustrated with 

 diagrams of the several parts greatly 

 enlarged. Mrs. Lucinda Harrison, of 

 Peoria, Ills., read a paper, " AV'ork for 

 Women ;" and Mrs. Noe, president of 

 the Women's State Fair Association, 

 entertained the Society with a few- 

 pleasant remarks descriptive of the 

 good work which had been done by 

 the ladies at our State Fairs, they 

 having commenced with a very small 

 space in one corner of the building 

 and enlarging their work, until next 

 season they will occupy the entire 

 second floor of the Exposition build- 

 ing. All honor is due to Indiana's 

 State Board of Agriculture, it being 

 the only one in the country allowing 

 woman's particiiuition in their labors. 



Adjourned for the noon hour. 



The afternoon session opened at 

 1:30, p.m., with President Scholi in 

 the chair. Secretary Heron of the 

 State Board was made an honorary 

 member, as was, also, Mrs. Lucinda 

 Harrison, of Illinois. Messrs. Cotton, 

 Muth, Learning, Dougherty, and Mrs. 

 E. Stout were appointed delegates to 

 the next National Convention to be 

 held at Detroit next fall. The dele- 

 gates were instructed to ask that In- 

 dianapolis be made the next place of 

 meeting of the National Society. 



Gov. I. P. Gray was introduced and 



addressid llic meeting with a few 

 well chosen remarks in which he 

 favored tlie passage by the I>egisla- 

 ture of very stringent laws against 

 food adulteration. 



The Secretary said : ■' In an address 

 before the State Board of Agriculture, 

 during the fall of IkkO, I advocated 

 the establishment of an apiary at 

 Purdue University ; Prof. Ingersol 

 at that time thought it impracticable. 

 Later, I offered to donate bees suflii- 

 cient for tlie enterprise, renewing my 

 offer each year. Prof. J. Troop, who 

 is here, is willing to take tlie matter 

 in hand, and members of the Society 

 have expressed a willingness to eon- 

 tribute all the bees necessary. Messrs. 

 Dougherty, Davis and Gully, Muth, 

 Scholi, Bull and Learning each do- 

 nated one colony." 



Following some preliminaries of the 

 Society, the meeting adjourned sine 

 die. F. L. Dougherty, Sec. 



Jonas Scholl, Pres. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



Cause of Bee-Diarrhea. 



W. C. STEDDOM. 



After reading the many letters with 

 regard to wintering bees, and the 

 articles in support of the different 

 theories as to the cause of bee-diar- 

 rhea, and comparing them with my 

 own experience, and then summing 

 up the points which do not direptly 

 conflict, I conclude that when we 

 have so arranged our preparations 

 that our bees will not overload them- 

 selves with food just previous to or 

 during cool or damp weather while 

 confined, we need not fear pollen, 

 breeding in confinement, nor bother 

 ourselves about the " shaft of air " 

 beneath them. 



On page 36, Mr. G. W. Demaree 

 says : "I can produce ascites in bees 

 at any time when they are handling 

 new honey and preparing food for the 

 young, by simply setting a case of 

 sealed honey with the bees in it, in a 

 cool, damp cellar." Last fall, while 

 preparing my bees for winter, I took 

 off a case mostly filled with honey, 

 and finding a lot of bees in it, I tried 

 to smoke them out, but as they were 

 averse to leaving it, I placed them in 

 the cellar, away from robbers, leaving 

 a small opening through which .the 

 bees might pass out. 



Forgetting the case, it remained 

 two or three days, when I brought it 

 out and found the bees still in it and 

 scarcely able to crawl, their abdomens 

 being much distended. Although the 

 sun was shining bright and warm, 

 they could not lly, so badly were they 

 afflicted with diarrhea. On examin- 

 ing the honey, I found no pollen nor 

 brood in the hive from which it was 

 taken, so they could not have been 

 preparing food for the young ; neither 

 were they young bees. 



If some of the able writers on bee- 

 culture will tell us how to prevent 

 this undue loading with food, whether 

 it be the result of excitement or from 

 other causes, I believe that our win- 

 tering troubles will be much lessened. 



Oregonia, P O. 



