166 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



bees are kept " — but one who has the care, 

 management or superintendence" of the 

 Bees themselves ! Then again, when it is 

 known, tliat in the last edition of Webster, 

 sixty or seventy of the ablest philologists 

 and scientists of any age were its authors, 

 the reliability of its position should scarce- 

 ly be questioned. For these reasons, and 

 others that might be given, did our space 

 permit, we "hold fast the form of sound 

 words."— Ed. J 



Michigan B. K. Association. 



This Association held its annual meeting 

 at Lansing, on Wednesday and Thursday, 

 March 14 and 15; Prof. A. J. Cook, Pres.; 

 A. B. Cheney, Sec. pro tern. 



After the opening exercises, consisting of 

 prayer and music by the choir, a paper on 

 "Foul Brood," bj^ C. F. Muth, was read. A 

 short discussion followed — all agreeing that 

 foul brood was the greatest difficulty which 

 apiartsts had to contend with. 



W. Porter had introtluced foul brood into 

 his apiary by purchasing old comb. His 

 plan has been to destroy comb and all; but 

 after hearing Mr. Muth's paper, he believed 

 that plan to get rid of the disease was 

 worthy of a thorough trial. 



Dr. Whiting, of Saginaw, believed the 

 only way to get rid of it was to destroy the 

 comb. He had no faith in any Ivhown 

 chemicals to effect a permanent cure. After 

 destroying the comb he removes his bees 

 into new hives, which have been drenched 

 with hyposulphate of soda or a solution of 

 common salt. He has never tried Mr. 

 Muth's remedy. 



L. B. Baker wished to know if the disease 

 could be communicated from one colony to 

 another. 



The president said the disease is sup- 

 posed to be fungoid in its nature, and the 

 spores are liable to be carried by the bees 

 from one hive to another. 



A letter was read from Mr. Kelly, of Ionia 

 Co., in which he asked the convention 

 whether any of its members had ever com- 

 numicated foul brood to their apiaries by 

 introducing foreign queens. This question 

 was not answered. 



Pres. Cook then delivered his inaugural 

 address. 



" Honey as Food," a paper by Julius 

 Tomlinson, was then read, 



Messrs. Porter, Hunter, and Boss were 

 appointed a committee on the various ap- 

 paratus exhibited; and Messrs. Massey, 

 Dicer and Allen, on resolutions. 



C. W. Garfield and wife sang the song, 

 " Musings of an old Piano," and the con- 

 vention closed its first session. 



THURSDAY. 



H. T. Ross, of Milford, gave his experi- 

 ence of 50 years in wintering bees. He 

 claimed they might be wintered either on 

 summer stands, in the cellar, or by bury- 

 ing; giving preference to the latter. He 

 cited cases where he had kept small stocks, 

 mere nuclei, by the latter method. He 

 argued that there should be air space above 

 and below, placing nuich stress on ample 

 ventilation. 



A paper on " Wintering bees on their 

 Summer stands," by J. H. Townley, was 

 read. 



Following this paper an interestiilg dis- 

 cussion took place. The general opinion 

 seemed to be that bees might be safely win- 

 tered, either in the cellar or on their sum- 

 mer stands. Mr. Hetherington, of Saginaw 

 — brother of Capt. Hethermgton, of N. Y., 

 who has upwards of 1,000 colonies — gave 

 preference to packing either with straw or 

 chaff. But an evident majority were in 

 favor of wintering in the cellar. Letters 

 were read from nearly all parts of the State, 

 announcing that bees are wintering finely. 

 It is very plain that Michigan bee-keepers 

 do not look upon wintering as any longer a 

 difficult thing. 



James Heddon read a paper on "Desirable 

 Combs— how Secured." 



A paper on the " Composition of Honey," 

 by Prof. K. F. Kedzie, of the State Agricul- 

 tural College, was read. 



Mrs. L. B. Baker read a paper on " My ex- 

 perience as a Bee-keeper." 



For the first time in the history of this 

 Association, ladies were present and took 

 part in the exercises. Miss "Cyula Lins- 

 wick" contributed a paper entitled " Shall 

 women keep Bees ?" 



Otis Fuller read an essay on "Farmers as 

 Bee-keepers." He thought that if they 

 were adapted to the business they might 

 make bee-keeping very successful, and 

 proved the assertion by relating his own ex- 

 perience. 



Frank Benton, of Detroit, presented a 

 paper entitled "The Apiai'ist." He claimed 

 it to be the duty of persons contemplating 

 bee-culture to learn its theory. In Germany 

 a young man who wishes to engage in the 

 business first serves an appi'enticeship 

 under some practical and learned bee-keep- 

 er, where he acquires skill and at the same 

 time makes himself familiar with all the 

 theories pertaining to the breeding of bees. 

 Mr. Benton dwelt at length on the extensive 

 apiaries of Gcrnuuiy, and their many able 

 text-books ami journals published in the in- 

 terest of bee-culture. 



The person who would become a success- 

 ful apiarist must be possessed of intelli- 

 gence, a disposition to investigate, i.e., an 

 inquiring turn of mind, and an inclination 

 to be thorough in what he undertakes. 

 Without these he will not sufficiently mas- 

 ter theoretical bee-culture as to enable him 

 to understand the practical difficulties he 

 will surely encounter. He must have that 

 disposition which leads men deeper and 

 deeper into the mysteries of nature— which 

 makes them enthusiastic in the pursuit of 

 knowledge. Industry and perseverence 

 must be shown by the bee-keeper. He must 

 labor with both brain and hand. Mr. Ben- 

 ton thought that Americans might take, 

 with profit, a few more lessons of their 

 trans-Atlantic friends, especially in pa- 

 tience and thoroughness; but believed that, 

 with their practical tendencies, our people 

 might yet lead the world in apiculture. 



W. L. Porter, of Northville, read a paper 

 on the relative merits of the " Italian and 

 Black Bees," claiming superiority for the 

 latter race. 



A lively discussion followed. No one 

 present fully concurred with the writer of 

 the paper. The president said that while 

 Mr. Porter's premises were correct, his con- 

 clusions might not be. While black bees 



