154 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



more wax than ripe honey with which we 

 have made our experinieiits ? This ques- 

 tion is what led me to make tlie follow- 

 ing experiments, and although nut mi- 

 nutely correct, they are, 1 think, sutlicient 

 proofs to show that it does not require -0 

 pounds of honey to produce one pound of 

 wax, as asserted in some of our latest 

 works on apiculture. 



During a How of honey (nectar), I took 

 a full frame from each of several colonies, 

 apparently of the same strength and con- 

 dition, and inserted empty ones in their 

 places. I picked out 4 of these colonies 

 which had built the same amount of 

 comb in the same length of time in the 

 empty frames which were inserted. I 

 then took all their combs away, and to 

 each of two of them I gave 10 frames ol 

 empty combs, and to each of the other two 

 10 empty frames ; at the end of 2S days I 

 had extracted from the two having the 

 combs, 57 pounds and 4 ounces and 63 

 pounds and 3 ounces, or an average of 59 

 pounds and 11 ounces ; from the two hav- 

 ing empty frames, I extracted 3!t ponnds 

 and 4 ounces and 33 pounds and s ounces, 

 or an average of 30 jjomids and 14 ounces. 

 After melting the combs of the last two 

 colonies, I obtained 7 pounds and 14 

 ounces of wax, or an average of 3 pound: 

 and 1.5 ounces, showing that there was a 

 little over 7 1-3 pounds of honey consumed 

 for each pound of wax made bj' the bees. 

 In a former experiment of the same kind, 

 8 pounds of honey was consumed. 



Dr. Blanton stated that his method 

 of purifying wax was by boiling it in 

 pure, clean rain water three or foifr 

 times, straining it through a cheese 

 cloth, letting it cool slowly, and then 

 running it off into moulds. 



The Congress then adjourned till 10 

 a. m. on Thursday. 



THIRD DAY. 



President Brown called the Congress 

 to order at 10 a. m., and called for the 

 report of the Committee on Trans- 

 portation, which was as follows : 



The Committee, to which was referred the 

 matter of freight charges on ajiiarian sup- 

 plies and products, bejr U*a\et<i report that 

 they are unanimously- of the <ipiiiion that the 

 excessive charges now cxacti'd li\' the trans- 

 imrtatiou lines, arise, not so much trom the 

 desire to exact these amounts, as from the 

 I act that few elassillcations include the sup- 

 plies of bee-keepers under their propernom- 

 eiiclature, which are fre<(ueittl,\' incorrectly 

 eharfi-ed, and at ditfert-nt times different 

 ciiarges are made upon the same article. 

 Also, that these charjres are exacted through 

 ignorance of the real value, and also of the 

 risk incurred In transportation. 



We, therefore, beg leave to otter the fol- 

 lowing resolutions for your consideration: 



Kesoi.veu. First. Tliat tlie charges now 

 made on our products and apiarian imple- 

 ments by the transportation lines of the 

 country are in many cases excessive, and the 

 articles themselves are not properly classi- 

 fied when compared with other agricultural 

 supplies of equal value, weight and com- 

 pactness. 



KESor.vED, Second, That the charges on 

 our honey products when i)ut up in like 

 packages, should not be more than that of 

 syr-up — the weight of honey \u the cubic foot 

 being nearly 'iO per cent. more, and fre- 

 finently of not more marketat>le value. 



Resolved, Third. That all liee-organizii- 

 tions fjc advised to approach the transporta- 

 tion lines in their vicinity, and endeavor to 

 obtain a uniform classification by explaining 

 the nature, weight, value and risk incurred 

 in transportation of the articles necessary to 

 om- business. 



The report was received and the 

 Committee discharged. It was then 

 unanimously adopted. 



The following from Prof. A. J. Cook, 

 Agricultural College, Mich,, was then 

 read by Mr. Hart: 



FECUNDATION OF QUEENS. 



The subject assigned to me by the 

 Committee, is the somewhat startling 

 theory recently stated and defended by 

 someof the writers on apictiltiu'e, "That 

 the licjuid juii'es of the tfri uu'-brood may 

 be sueccssfuliy and exclusively used to 

 impregnate a queen." 



Any theory in natural history which cuts 

 athwart the conclusions settled by the 

 long, arduous experimental research of 

 the scientists of the world, should be con- 

 sidered as resting on a false basis, either of 

 experiment or oliservaticm, ludil tried over 

 and over again under the most crucial 

 tests, and the most thorough and exhaust- 

 ive experiments. 



Scientific men in all the civilized nations 

 of the world have agreed, alter the most 

 wide searching and profouiul study and 

 experiment, that there are only "three 

 methods of reproduction among animals : 



First, we have fission, or mere separa- 

 tion. One aninutl divides and becomes 

 two animals, each as perfect as the parent. 

 This method prevails among the proto/.tia 

 —nearly all of which are microscopic— the 

 the sponges and the polyps. Thus it is 

 confiiied to the very lowest of animals. In 

 this reproduction liy fission there are rea- 

 sons to believe that, in some cases at least, 

 the separation is preceded by the reception 

 into one animal of the entire substance of 

 another auiuutl of the same s]iei-ies. This 

 might seem to lend support bi the theory 

 under iliscussion ; exccjit that it is only 

 observed among the annnalmilEe— the low- 

 est of the animal creation, where the whole 

 body substance is wholly, and only, lui- 

 dilterentiated protojilasm. To use it in 

 support of the theory in qiu'stioii would be 

 a far-fetched argmiient. 



The secoiul method of reproduction is 

 tliat of gemmation or budding. This re- 

 minds us of the budding among plants. A 

 bud-like process develops from the animal, 

 which finally drops off, ami with jierfec- 

 tion of growth becomes another animal 

 exactly like its parent. This kiml of re- 

 production is met in the jirotozoa. the 

 polyjis, and in some (d' the worms. Like 

 tiss'i(m, it is a low form of increase, thongli 

 liiglier than fission, and, as we see, is con- 

 fined to the lower animals. 



The third kind of reproduction is sexual 

 reproduction. This is seen in spongi's and 

 all higher groups, often existing siile by 

 side with the other and lower methods of 

 reproduction. 



In all sexual reproduction, eggs bud out 

 from <ngans called ovaries. These eggs 

 are cells, and in a few cases are capable of 

 development mi<ler favorable conditions 

 without the stimulative aid of any other 

 cell. Usually si)erm-cells must bud forth 

 from other organs— the testes— and be- 

 come incorporated in the cell sub.stance of 

 the eggs, before the latter may become 

 potent to develop and so reproduce the 

 species. Sometimes the eggs and sperm- 

 cells are produced in the same animal. 

 Such animals are called hi'rma]ihrodites. 

 Hermaphrodites maybe studied in animals 

 as high as earthworms and snails. 



The development of eggs without im- 

 pregnation, which can be conclusively 

 proved by any (me who. will take the 

 trouble, is so exceptional in sexual genera- 

 tion, that we neeil not wonder that it was 

 doubted at first, when announced as true. 

 We now kiKJW that in plant-lice, bark- 

 lice, and in the males of ants, bees and 

 wasps, fills is the method of development. 

 Any person with but slight pains and scien- 

 tific ability, can demonstrafe it. The fact 

 that those unicellular animals— the proto- 

 zoa— which, like the egg, are but cells, re- 

 produce usually without the vivifying in- 

 tlnenci' (d' other cells, makes this partlieno- 



geiiesis among high auimals, like bees, not 

 so strange. That some of the protozoa 

 unite their body substance prior to gen- 

 eration, makes lis understand more easily 

 why bisexual generation is the most com- 

 mon method among the higher animals. 



Now we see that in all this there is not 

 an atom of support for the new proposi- 

 tion. Of coiuse there are organized cells 

 in the liquid juices of drone-larv:e— as 

 there are in our own lymph and blood; 

 but these are not reproductive corpuscles 

 or cells, and to believe them capable to 

 fructify the germ-cells or eggs, would be 

 absurd, as such use would be unnatural and 

 foreign to their real functum. 



We all know how small drones often are, 

 and how easily they may be concealed 

 fr(mi the most \ isiihu'it >eareli ; some id' us 

 are certain from our own experiments that 

 rarely— very rarely I tbiiiR— queens are 

 fecuiidatedin confinement, or in the hive. 

 How then do these advocates of this new 

 and very exceptional theory, know but 

 some such drone, met their queens in the 

 hive. The whole matter is so complicated 

 that to say the iiiLpregiiation can only be 

 accounted for as tlie result of this very 

 artilicial inoculation, is most rash. Any 

 suidi llieorv slioiihl be tricil over and over 

 before if ispiislied forwartl to the dignified 

 position of a scientific theory. In a case 

 so eomplieated as the one before us, where 

 it is .so dilflcnlt to prove that the fecunda- 

 tion has not been entirely natural, all the 

 pains and all the more experimental ion is 

 called for. Many of us need to learn that 

 hasty generalization is the bane of any art 

 or science. 



The essay was considered quite con- 

 clusive, and no one made any crit- 

 icisms. 



The following essay by Mr. Charles 

 Dadaiit, was then read by the Secre- 

 tary, on 



FOfNDATION- 



r; 



-ITS 

 ■E. 



llISTOIiV AND 



Altliough the invention of comb foun- 

 dation is of late date, the need of human 

 ingenuity to aid the bees was recognized 

 long ago by scientific bee-keepers. There 

 are three points to be gained by the use 

 of comb foundation, viz : 



1. A saving of time, honey and labor to 

 the bees. Beeswax was found, by re- 

 peated experiments, to cost the bees not 

 less than 15 pounds of honey for every 

 pound of comb built. Tlie.se experiments - 

 proved conclusively that the actual value 

 to the bees, of beeswax, if it could be re- 

 turned to tlieni in the shape of combs, 

 was far in advance of the commercial 

 value of this article. Even at the low 

 price of 6 cents per pmind for honey, the 

 relative value of comb foundation is 

 demonstrateil to be not less than 90 cents 

 per pound. 



3. Another object to be gained by the 

 use of fmindation is the destruction of 

 drone-comb by replacing it with worker- 

 comb. Very few among our most practical 

 bee-keepers place enough importance 

 upon this item. We see thoughtful bee- 

 keepers seriously discussing the pro and 

 con of a drone-trap when they could ju.st 

 as w<dl do away with nearly every drone, 

 radically, by removing drone-ciunb. Of 

 course it is "impossible to remove every 

 drone-cell from any hive, but a few square 

 inches of drone-brood will never cause 

 the annoyance which is sustained by the 

 existence of whole sheets of drone-combs 

 in the breeding apartment of nearly every 

 hive. Is it necessary to remind bee-men 

 thai 33 drones require as much room, as 

 much care, and as ranch feed as 50 work- 

 ers '.' Is it necessary to tell them that a 

 sheet of drone-comb can be removed from 

 a hive in early spring and be replaced by 

 a sheet of worker-comb or worker foun- 

 dation in less than 5 inlmites '.' 



