Mr. Van Duseii believed in having a good 

 supply of lioney for food. lie frecjuently 

 uncaps comb in the early part of tlie season. 

 Heat should also be economized. 



Mr. Betsinger would remove honey from 

 the comb, put comb in empty, and thin the 

 lioney with water for feeding. 



3Ir. Root said care must be taken to give 

 bees a supi)ly of water. 



Mr. House— In " spreading" great care 

 should be taken by those not well posted. 



THURSDAY, FEB. 7. 



Vice Pres. Doolittle in the chair. 



The Connnittee on Constitution and By- 

 Laws reported in favor of making the mem- 

 bership continuous instead of having to be 

 renewed from year to year. Adopted ; and 

 the alterations in Constitution and By-Laws 

 ordered. 



On motion, the Convention recommended 

 all bee-keei)(n's to sign the petition, now cir- 

 culating, reqiiestiiig (Congress to so amend 

 the postal laws as to permit the sending of 

 queen bees through the mail. 



The Connnittee on Bee-Papers reported 

 the following, which was adopted : 



Whereas, The Bee-Keeper's Magazine has unjustly 

 charged bee-keepers with fraud in selUng honey in 

 glass boxes, and OleiMiings in Bee VaUure is deprecia- 

 ting the value of honey to the detriment of pro- 

 ducers, and 



Whereas, Most consumers demand that honey be 

 sold in glass boxes, while it is evident that honey 

 cannot be produced at the depreciated value quoted 

 in Gleanings, and 



Whereas, Said periodicals have taken arbitrary 

 measures to the detriment of tliosr iiitcrcsti'd, while 

 we recognize the periodicals lU'V(^t(Ml to apirulturc to 

 be the imediunis through which both iirodiiccr and 

 consumer should receive n>utual b»'n<'tit ; tlicn^fore. 



Resolved. That the North-Eastern licc-Kccpers' 

 Association, now in sessiim, do eniphatic^ally tlisap- 

 prove of the course pursued by said periodicals. 



The secretary read a paper on overstock- 

 ing, by James Heddon, of Mich. 



Mr. Bacon said flowers come and go 

 quickly. We need bees enough to gather 

 tlie honey when it is ready, or it is wasted. 

 H' we have not enough to do this, the locality 

 is not overstocked. He does not think 150 • 

 colonies will overstock a favorable locality. 



Mr. House: Much depends on conditions. 

 Some localities will sustain 150 swarms, 

 while others would sustain few or none. 

 As an average, 50 swarms are sufiicient for 

 one locality. 



Mr. Root thinks that in any location, take 

 the season through, 25 swarms will do better 

 than 100. Yet, in some localities, with proper 

 care, '200 or :^00 will do well. He thinks 

 there are 500 in his locality. But the larger 

 the number, the more likely the necessity, 

 at some portion of the season, for feeding. 

 He favored locating in unoccupied sections. 



Mr. Betsinger: Much depends on care. 

 He has proportionately better results from 

 a larger number of swarms than he formerly 

 had from a smaller number. 



Mr. Doolittle thought that the question of 

 overstocking depended very much on the 

 care or the want of care. He could not 

 think .50 swarms would overstock a circuit 

 of eight miles diameter. 



Mr. House has had some apiaries, with 

 the same care, yield 25 pounds to the swarm 

 and others 100 pounds of honey. Much de- 

 pends on pastures as well as on care. 



Mr. Bacon wanted to know which swarms 

 had the advantage of pasture. 



Mr. House said he thought his home api- 

 ary, which made the poorest yield, had the 

 best pasture. He laid their failure to over- 

 stocking; 



Mr. Nellis thought that when all the cir- 

 cumstances were taken into consideration 

 there would be less appearance of clashing 

 in the experience of different beekeepers. 

 When conditions are right, bees gather 

 honey very rapidly. They do all their work 

 within six weeks, at intervals during the 

 season. 



Mr. Betsinger thought overstocking im- 

 possible, as he could demonstrate by figures. 



Mr. Perry had hunted wild bees, and had 

 never yet captured a bee that had flown 

 much over two miles. It takes a bee thirty 

 minutes to go two miles, load itself and re- 

 turn, when it takes its honey from a box. 

 It cannot, therefore, go four miles and make 

 honey to any profit. 



Mr. House's experience was similar to- 

 that of Mr. Perry. 



Mr. Locke read the following address on 



OUR OBJECT AND OUR MISSION. 



3Ir. President and Gentlemen : 



Why have we met here? Are not our 

 State and National Conventions the mouth- 

 pieces of bee-keepers, organized for their use 

 and benefit? If so, we have met here to 

 debate and decide upon the most remunera- 

 tive management for the apiary. 



How, then, can we best fulfil this mission? 

 By presenting new ideas, and criticising all 

 those introduced in a candid and gentle- 

 manly manner. In this way can we obtain 

 the information desired, and present the 

 same to the thousands of bee-keepers who- 

 are looking to us for it— though unable to be 

 present and take part in our deliberations. 



The time lias come when it is necessary 

 for the apiarist to be the embodiment of sys- 

 tem, and his apiary must have the best sup- 

 plies and most competent help; and must be 

 carried on systematically. 



Profit in apiculture means hard work, and 

 plenty of it. Instead of a few old gums and 

 box li"ives, and brimstone fortlie bees in the 

 fall, and 710 manugemcnt — the present de- 

 mands the best movable-frame hives, with 

 large capacity for surplus, simple in con- 

 struction, and admitting of ease and speed 

 in handling. One that will winter well on 

 summer-stands without further packing or 

 protection; with entrance easily contracted 

 or enlarged, and with a brood chamber that 

 can be expanded at will. 



Comb honey must be placed upon the 

 market in neat boxes and good crates, and 

 extracted honey in such a way as to drive 

 all adulterations out of existence. 



The people must be educated as to the 

 value of honey and its uses, as well as how 

 to keep it from granulating. 



Consumers demand glassed honey-boxes 

 filled with the nicest white comb honey. If 

 this Association should adopt a standard 

 box, and all members should put their honey 

 into it. I believe it would further their inter- 

 ests vastly. 



The suggestion of our President as to the 

 gathering of statistical matter concerning 

 crops, &c., in August is a good one, and 

 should receive our earnest attention. 



The great advance that apiculture has^ta- 



