THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



149 



upon my theory, has, to say the least, 

 failed to grasp it, and is really fight- 

 ing a man of straw of his own manu- 

 facture. J.,et me re-state my theory 

 with the \itmost possible brevity : 



1. Uees naturally fall into a condi- 

 tion of torpor, scientifically known as 

 hibernation, during the winter. 



ti. Tlie conditions under which they 

 do tliis in a state of nature, so far as 

 we know them, are as follows : a. 

 Protection from the extreme cold by 

 non-conducting walls and roof. 6. 

 Total absence of upward ventilation, 

 c. Suflicieut connection with the outer 

 air to make them susceptible to 

 changes of temperature, that they 

 may rouse up at intervals of mild 

 weather, and feed. d. A uniform sup- 

 ])ly of pure, stillair through a vertical 

 shaft or column, that ventilation 

 may be regularly carried on according 

 to its known laws. e. Total quiet. 



.',. To winter bees well, it is only 

 necessary to see that they have an 

 adequate supply of food, and that 

 they are in a condition favorable to 

 hibernation. I have shown at length 

 in what respects the ordinary methods 

 of wintering render hibernation im- 

 possible, and need not repeat myself 

 here. 



Mr. McNeill thinks that hiberna- 

 tion, if proved, will not help us to 

 solve the winter problem, for " have 

 we not still to learn how to make 

 them hibernate i"' To some extent we 

 have, but we are not wholly in the 

 dark about the matter. Experiments 

 and observations already made, and 

 what we know about bees that winter 

 in a state of nature, throw much 

 light upon the subject. We have got 

 the principles, all that remains is the 

 practical application of them. For 

 tliat, further experiment is needed. 

 Hibernation either is, or is not, a law 

 of bee-life. One thing is certain— it 

 was not recognized as such, and 

 among the multitudinous methods of 

 wintering, was not so much as named, 

 until "Mr. Clarke" was moved im- 

 pulsively, rheumatically, and hi-falu- 

 tinly, "to write in the grandiloquent 

 stiain in which he has already writ- 

 ten." If hibernation is a law of bee- 

 life, we must conform to it, sooner or 

 later ; if it is not, why " there's an end 

 on't," and the sooner the better. 



Speedside, Ont. 



Convention Notices. 



1^ The next meeting of the Union 

 Bee- Keepers' Association of Western 

 Iowa, will be held on April 2-5, 188-5, 

 at Earlham, Iowa. 



M. E. Darby, Sec. 



1^ The Progressive Bee-Keepers' 

 Association of Western Illinois will 

 meet in Bushnell, Ills., on Thursday, 

 May 7, 1885. Let every bee-keeper 

 who can, he present and enjoy the 

 meeting. J. G. Norton, hee. 



m" The Willamette Valley Bee- 

 Keepers' Association will hold its 

 second meeting at La Fayette, Ore- 

 gon, on the third Tuesday in June, 

 issr). All who are interested are in- 

 vited to attend. 



llADLEY, (S'ec. 



The International Congress. 



SECOND DAY. 



The morning session was called to 

 order at 9 a. m., by President Brown, 

 and reports of honey-p oducing llora 

 in North Carolina, Virginia, Califor- 

 nia and Tennessee were read by the 

 Secretary. Mr. W. S. Hart, of New 

 Smyrna, Fla., was appointed as assist- 

 ant by the Secretary, and the ad- 

 ditional names of members who had 

 arrived since the last meeting were 

 enrolled. 



As there was no membership fee, 

 the Secretary could not get quite a 

 number of the names of those who 

 were present; and the following list is 

 therefore very incomplete. The num- 

 ber of colonies of bees reported aggre- 

 gate 9,o42. It is safe to say that about 

 12,000 colonies of bees were represented 

 by those present. 



E. T. Nelson, Preston, Minn. 

 Chas. Oliver. Springboro. Pa. 

 C. Tiiompson, Brl(!hton, Mtch. 



A. W. Gardner, Centreville, Mich. 



B. F. Carroll. Dresden, Tex. 

 Ij. Lindsly, Waterloo, La. 



J. Van Deusen & Son, Sprout Brook. N, Y. 



Martin Bmigh, llalbroofe, Ont. 



Kufiene Set'or, Forest City, Iowa, 



Christian Steiner, Lafayette, La. 



Geo. P. Pefler, Pewaukee, Wis. 



(1. M. Bliss, Fox J-iike, Wis. 



,Ta8. Forncrook, Watertown, Wis, 



U, (irinsell. Baden, Mo. 



T. 11. McFarlane, New Smyrna, Fla, 



W. S. Hart, Hawk's Park, Pla. 



Tlios. (i. Newman, (.'hicaeo, II !, 



<.'. L. Newberry, Davenport, Iowa. 



Oscar F. Bledsoe. Grenada. Miss. 



Mrs. W. W. Kinnie, Beloit, Wis. 



J. A. Schuddemayer, B'ack .Jack Springs. Tex. 



Dr. H. Besse. Delaware. Ohio. 



S. J. T. Moore, Monroe, La. 



Mary Besse, Delaware. Ohio. 



Mr. & Mrs. F. E. Peters. Shelbina. Mo. 



J. M. KillauKh. San Marcos, Tex. 



S. K. Phillips, Klmira, N. Y. 



Dr. J. P. H. Brown, Augusta, Ga. 



Amos Abrams, Benton, La. 



Mrs. Dr. .1. Oren. Laporte City. Iowa. 



T. P. Andrews. Farina. 111. 



II. W. Funk. Bloominu'Uin. III. 



P. L. Viallon. Bayou Goula, La. 



Dr. Jesse Oren, Laporte City, Iowa. 



Miss Anna Saunders, Woodville, Miss. 



W. F. Roberts. M. D., Clinton, La. 



S. C. Bovlston. ('harleston S. C. 



Dr. McKenzie. Carrollton, La. 



.las. A. Nelson. Wyandott, Kans. 



S. A. Stillman, Louisiana, Mo. 



H. A. Stearns. Detroit, Mich. 



T. .1. Price. Macomb, 111. 



C. (). Perrine, California 



.1, W. Winder, (;arrollt<in. La. 



P. J. Christians, New Orleans, La. 



A. G. Woodbury, Darlington, Wis. 



Wm. .1. Dawson, Caddo, La. 



Sylvester Johnson, Irvington, Ind. 



I. W, Dark. Columbia, Tex. 



H. C. Austin, Austin's Springs, E. Tenn. 



J. Vandervort, Laceyville, Pa. 



O. K. Flournoy, San Antonio, Tex. 



Dr. J. \V. Huds.)n. Mayesville, S. C. 



J. G. A. Wallace, Brighton. Ont,, 



Mrs. L. Harrison, Peoria, 111. 



A. 1. lioot. Medina. Ohio. 



Ernest Root, Medina, Ohio. 



W. P. Laughter, Edna, Tex. 



John E. Heard, Pikevllle, Tenn. 



J. J. Nagel. Davenport, Iowa. 



L. Johnson, Walton, Ky. 



Thos. F. Kerr. San Antonio. Tex. 



Dr. O. M. Blanton. Greenville. Miss. 



John Crawford, Pleasant, Ind. 



Dr. T. E. Loopt', Eureka, Wis. 



James B. Mason. Mechanic Falls, Me. 



A. W. Fisher, Ganges, Mich. 



S. AV. Salisbury, Kjinsas City. Mo. 



K. Delmonly. Vermillionville. La 



J. A. Field, Bismark, Dak. 



J. A. (Jreen, Dayton, III. 



J. W. Northcutt. Walton, Ky. 



J M. Ilyne. StewartsviUe, Ind. 



Miss Lottie Dushield. San Antonio. Tex. 



Dr. D. R. Fox, Jesuit's Bend, La. 



S. L Tyler, Knobn(»ster, Mo. 



M. W. ilarrington. Homestead. Iowa. 



G. R. Maben, Forest City. Iowa. 



.Jno. F. Ilepo, Boonville. Ind. 



<;eo. C. Rnbey. Hazen, Ark. 



J. M. Hathaway. Onawa, Iowa. 



R. Johnson, Tiffin, Iowa. 



W. H. Andrews. McKinney, Te.x. 



John Wilson. Omro, Wis. 



Chas. Dadant & Son. Hamilton, 



S. R. Wallis. Lafayette, La. 



C. Steim Lafayette La. 



The Vice-Presidents, one for each 

 State represented, are as follows : 



Arkansas.— tifo. <J. Robey. 

 I'anada.— J. (1. A. Wallacf. 

 Dakota.— J. A. Field. 

 Florida.— W. S. Hail. 

 Illinois.— H. W. Funk. 

 Indiana.— S.vlvester Johnson. 

 Iowa.— Dr. Jesse Oren. 

 Kansas.- Jas. A. Nelson. 

 Kentucky.— Rev. L. Johnson. 

 Louisiana.— Dr. Roberts. 

 Maine.— James B. Mason. 

 Michigan.— H. A. Stearns. 

 Minnesota.- K. T. Nelson. 

 Mississippi.— O. F. Bledsoe. 

 Missouri.— F. E. Peters. 

 New York.- L. E. St. John. 

 Ohio.— Dr. Besse. 

 Ontario.— J. G. A. Wallace. 

 Pennsylvania. — J. Vandervort. 

 South Carolina.— Dr. J. W. Hudson. 

 Tennessee.— H. C. Austin. 

 Texas.— W. H. Andrews. 

 Wisconsin.— A. G. Woodbury. 



The following persons then pre- 

 sented their credentials as represen- 

 tatives from local societies : J. Van- 

 dervort, L. E. St. John, J. G. A. 

 Wallace, W. F. Roberts, J. L. Harris, 

 James L. Meador, T. H. McFarlane- 

 and Sylvester Johnson. * 



The Secretary read the following by 

 G. W. Demaree, of Christiansburg, 

 Ky., on the 



PREVENTION OF S'W ARMING. 



To prevent swarming altogether is one 

 tiling, and to so manage the apiary as to 

 reduce increase to the minimum. Is alto- 

 gether another thing. By the constant 

 use of the extractor, swarming can be 

 very nearly, if not entirely, prevented. Of 

 course this applies only when runuiug the 

 apiary for extracted honey. 



When producing comb honey, swarming 

 can be controlled to some extent by re- 

 moving combs of brood from the .strongest 

 colonies, from time totime, and inserting 

 empty combs or frames tilled with foun- 

 dation In tlieir places. The first I do not 

 like, because it requires the removing of 

 the honey before it is properly evaporated. 

 I hold that honey can be more cheaply 

 eva])orated by the liees than by any arti- 

 ficial process, and in my opinion honey 

 must be finished up by the bees iu order 

 to retain to perfection the peculiar com- 

 bination whicli makes honey differ from 

 all other sweets. The second plan is en- 

 tirely too much labor in a large apiary, 

 besides it is impossible to utilize at all 

 times the frames of brood that it becomes 

 necessary to remove. 



If we are content to submit to one 

 "prime swarm" from each colony, we 

 can prevent " after-swarms " by having 

 on hand virgin queens from one to six 

 days old, and when a swarm issues, de- 

 stroy the royal cells and turn loose among 

 the bees a virgin queen. I greatly prefer 

 this method to any that 1 have tried, and 

 I have experimented, I believe, with everj' 

 plan suggested through the columns of 

 the bee-periodicals. 



It 1 am asked why this method is 

 superior to the old plan of destroying all 

 the cells but one, or the more feasible 

 plan of destroying all the cells and graft- 

 ing in a cell just ready to hatch, I answer 

 that bees when under the swarming im- 

 pulse will start queen-cells immediately, 

 no matter whether you leave one of their 

 own ceils, or give them one ready to 

 hatch ; and once having started cells, 

 they will have their own way and send 

 out a swarm, or put the bee-keeper to the 

 trouble of destroying cells as long as 

 there is any unsealed larva? in the hive. 



As far as my observation goes, 1 have 

 never seen a single case when a colony of 

 bees persisted in building qneen-cells in 

 the presence of a virgin queen one to four 



