THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



649 



up the required weight, moisten it 

 with one-Hfth its bulk of boiling 

 water, iind work it with a spoon or 

 stick in a basin on the stove till it is a 

 smuoth, stiff paste, then pour it into 

 shallow tins or wooden frames placed 

 on a greased paper on a board ; let it 

 cool, and it then is ready for use. 

 With this candy it is almost an im- 

 possibility for a colony of bees to 

 starve if they are properly packed 

 with material to keep them of as 

 even a temperature as is possible. 

 The candy is to be placed on top of 

 the frames over the cluster of bees, 

 and then covered tightly to prevent 

 the escape of warmth and moisture, 

 as both elements are necessary that 

 the bees may be able to work on the 

 candy and convert it into shape to 

 store it in the combs. This candy is 

 similar to tliat used in the spring to 

 induce early breeding. 

 Woodbury,^ Conn. 



For tbe American Bee JournaL 



The Kentucky State Convention. 



The annual meeting of the Ken- 

 tucky State Bee-Keepers' Association 

 assembled in Walker's Hall in Cov- 

 ington, Ky., at 10 a.m. on Sept. 23, 

 18So. The President, Rev. L. John- 

 son, occupied the chair. There were 

 present besides bee-keepers of the 

 State, quite a number from Ohio, 

 notably among whom were Father L. 

 L. Langstroth and Chas. F. Mutli, 

 besides Dr. Lay, of Texas, T. Hul- 

 man, of Terre Haute, Ind., and Mr. I. 

 Mucci from Italy, who is now at Lex- 

 ington, Ky. 



The President appointed P. Mc- 

 Vean, A. W. Stith and J. T. Connley 

 as a committee to draft and report an 

 order of meeting. They reported that 

 the association should meet at 1:30 

 p.m. for permanent organization, and 

 meet thereafter at 7:30 p.m., at 9 a.m., 

 and adjourn at leisure. 



The Kev. L. L. Langstroth was 

 feeling well, and his remarks were 

 full of wisdom. Every one profited 

 by the wise sayings as they were 

 uttered by that venerable man. lie 

 exhibited specimens of Apis dorsata 

 in alcohol, also some volumes of an- 

 cient bee-books, from which he read 

 some selections that were unique and 

 quite instructive, proving that some 

 men knew much of the habits of bees 

 centuries ago. 



In regard to honey-flows, Mr. 

 Langstroth remarked that an abund- 

 ance of fragrance denoted plenty of 

 honey ; that when the early flowers 

 were thus deficient, we could expect 

 but little honey later on in the season; 

 thai buckwheat was profitable as a 

 honey-source only in cool or moist 

 latitudes, but that in central Ohio 

 and farther south it was of but little 

 value to the bees ; that flowers were 

 benefited and fertilized bv the visits 

 of the bees, their attendance always 

 producing more fruit of all kinds and 

 more clover seed ; and that white 

 clover and red clover always produced 

 abundance of seed when the bees 

 worked on them attentively. He be- 

 lieved that the pure Italians would 

 always be the superior bees, unless a 



dash of Syrian blood would be a bene- 

 fit to them. He was a friend to the 

 black bees, but they were deficient in 

 many respects. VVhen honey was 

 plentiful they would do, but when a 

 crisis came they failed. They desert 

 their niu'lei, abandon the hives when 

 starvation is imminent, and succumb 

 to robbing, yet they are generally 

 the robbers. He said that the energy 

 of the Italians was wonderful beyond 

 conception, both in obtaining stores 

 and in the defense of their hives 

 against enemies. 



The convention then adjourned 

 until 1:30 p.m. 



AFTERNOON SESSION. 



At 1:30 p.m. the Association met 

 and was permanently organized. The 

 minutes of the last annual meeting 

 were read and approved. Messrs. G. 

 W. Demaree, C. F. Muth, and P. 

 McVean were appointed a committee 

 to draft an order of business, and in 

 their report they embodied a list of 

 ten questions for discussion. A very 

 interesting essay from Mr. J. M. 

 Hicks, of Battle Ground, Ind., was 

 read, which was replete with valuable 

 information about wintering bees and 

 obtaining choice articles of comb and 

 extracted honey. 



The President's address was the 

 next order of business, which was 

 delivered in his usual able and ani- 

 mated way. He called attention to 

 the extensive progress made in the 

 art of bee-keeping of late years 

 throughout the world, but especially 

 to its dimensions as a business in 

 America, and said that in Kentucky 

 not one was making it an exclusive 

 business, yet thousands found it a 

 pleasant and profitable pursuit more 

 as a pastime aside from other occupa- 

 tions. He called attention to the 

 superior quality of the white honey 

 produced in Kentucky, and said that 

 with the little attention now given to 

 the pursuit, more than 80,000 colonies 

 were kept in movable-comb hives, 

 with a fair degree of intelligence, 

 which, with the low average of 30 

 pounds per colony, would amount to 

 2,400,000 pounds ; to say nothing of 

 the great amount taken by the box- 

 hive and "log-gum" bee-keepers, 

 from whom no reliable data could be 

 gathered. 



He then spoke of the possibilities of 

 bee-keeping in Kentucky, pictured in 

 his realistic manner, and urged that 

 the apiarist of Kentucky should adopt 

 and recommend a uniform standard 

 frame, and thought that none as yet 

 was as good as the Langstroth frame. 

 He believed that the ten-frame brood- 

 chamber was the best for this lati- 

 tude. He said that the apiarists of 

 the State had tried all the varieties 

 or races of bees, but so far as could be 

 learned the Italians were the best for 

 all purposes. He thought the State 

 Society should memorialize the Legis- 

 lature to assist in eradicating foul 

 brood entirely from the State, and 

 that every bee-keeper should try to 

 elevate the pursuit by attending "con- 

 ventions and liberally patronizing tlie 

 best apiarian literature. 



A lively discussion followed the 

 President's address. Mr.C. F. Muth 



led off by saying that the President's 

 scare at foul brood was rather over- 

 drawn ; that while the disease was to 

 be dreaded, it was indeed curable, and 

 that so far as he knew there was not 

 now a case of it in Kentucky. 



Mr. G. W. IJemaree said that the 

 President's remarks about the possi- 

 bilities of bee-keeping in Kentucky 

 were timely, and that for two years 

 the committee (of which Mr. D. is 

 chairman) had been gathering infor- 

 mation in that direction that would 

 be a surprise to the public. 



Father Langstroth said that we all 

 could have but a slight conception of 

 what would be accomplished in the 

 pursuit in the near future, with the 

 use of improved appliances by skilled 

 apiarists, and with improved bees 

 and fields and roadsides smiling with 

 flora, and crops planted for their 

 honey-producing value. As to the 

 improvement of bees, he thought that 

 much good had been done by the im- 

 portation of Asiatic races ; and that 

 although any or all of them did not 

 suit a majority of the apiarists as 

 well as the Italians, yet they would 

 be a great factor in producing the 

 best crosses. 



On motion the Association requested 

 Father Langstroth to deliver an ad- 

 dress at 1:30 p.m. the next day, on 

 the various steps that led to the in- 

 vention of his hive. The questions 

 submitted by the committee for dis- 

 cussion were then taken up as fol- 

 lows : 



"Are there more than one variety 

 of black bees in Kentucky V" After 

 some discussion it was generally de- 

 cided in the aflirmative. 



" Is the Italian bee superior to the 

 black for the apiarists of Kentucky ? 

 If it is, in what particular?" The 

 general answer was, " Yes, in every 

 respect when beauty is desired and 

 dollars and cents are considered." 



EVENING SESSION. 



The discussion continued as follows: 



" What is the cheapest method of 

 wintering bees in this latitude V" 

 After an animated discussion by the 

 champions of various methods, the 

 resolution presented by Mr. G. W. 

 Demaree was adopted, viz : 



Besolved, That for wintering bees 

 in this latitude, all that is needed is 

 plenty of good, natural stores or good 

 sugar syrup properly concentrated in 

 the brood department, and good, 

 close covers to tlie hives. 



" Is the use of a large or small 

 brood-chamber the most desirable V" 

 The eight-frame brood-chamber had 

 some advocates. Mr. A. W. Stith, a 

 very successful apiarist, uses it, yet 

 nine-tenths of the members present 

 voted that the ten-frame Lan^troth 

 hive was the best for this locality, as 

 it could be made smaller when needed, 

 by the use of division-boards, and by 

 " tiering-up " it could be made as 

 large as desired. 



" What are the chief enemies of 

 virgin queens at the time of their 

 mating V and what causes, at that 

 time, the frequent loss of the queen's 

 life ?" 



Father Langstroth stated that their 

 enemies are numerous ; that some- 



