ble source. He lets uothing go to waste. — 

 He gatliers in his corn and his wheat, his 

 rye and liis barley, and he gathers also the 

 honey from the flowers of his fields. It is 

 his. He pays nothing for it. Genial nature 

 plants the flowers and fills their cups with 

 honey, and he gets it simply for the taking 

 of it, and thus saves what would otherwise 

 be lost. 



Now, are we at liberty to neglect the 

 development of an industry that can, by 

 proper management, be made to bear fruit 

 an hundred fold, and thus add to the happi- 

 ness of our people and the wealth of our 

 Srtate? 



We are told by Prof. Shaler and others 

 that we have untold mineral wealth in our 

 mountains. But the great question of the 

 day is, how to reach it. Legislatures have 

 met and adjourned ; conventions have done 

 the same ; the wise heads of the State have 

 talked the matter up, but still the work 

 remains undone. There is no highway 

 opened up to these mines of wealth. 



My own country has expended 30,000 

 dollars in the matter, without one cent of 

 return. And, I fear, before these vast 

 riches are brought to our doors, we will all 

 have gone to our long resting places. 



But it is not so with the flowers. We 

 want no highway to reach them. They are 

 all around out doors. They are in our 

 fields, and the honey is in them, and each 

 one of us is responsible for himself, if he 

 does not prepare the little, winged harvest- 

 ers to gather it in. 



As I said before, it belongs to farming, 

 and pays as well as any work done upon 

 he farm. The returns for the investment 

 and labor are as good as the returns from 

 any of the products of the farm. Am I 

 aying too much ? Have I made an asser- 

 ion which I cannot sustain ? My aim is 

 not to be extravagant, or say one word 

 in this matter which is not strictly in 

 accordance with my knowledge and belief. 

 My experience as a bee-keeper is the very 

 best evidence I can offer. I have taken 4 

 crops in succession, and they have paid me 

 more than 100 per cent, on the investment. 

 They have averaged me, for the 4 years, 

 more than $12 to the colony. For the last 2 

 years I have kept 30 colonies, and they have 

 given me $12 to the colony. What better 

 can you do with wheat, corn or hemp ? 



Many of our people at this time are turn- 

 ing their attention to sheep husbandry, and 

 they think it pays well. But, take 30 sheep, 

 a fair average for an ordinary farm, and 

 make your calculations and see if they will 

 yield .$12 profit per head. They will require 

 hiore care than your bees, the year round. — 

 They will cut down your grass, and they 

 will not yield you iiflii per head, notwith- 

 standing you have a protective tariff for 

 your wool and I have none for my honey. — 

 Thus it appears that bee-keeping is fully 

 equal to, if not better, than sheep raising. 



Again, for the last 2 years I have taken 

 from 30 colonies 2,000 lbs. of honey each 

 year. Now, if I can raise 2.000 lbs, can not 

 niv brother farmers do lialf as well and 

 raise 1.000 lbs ? Doolittle, of New York, 

 took last year over .500 lbs. from 1 colony. — 

 But suppose every farmer in Jessamine 

 county would make 1,000 7bs. instead of 



2,000 lbs. as I have done ; and as we have 

 just about 600 farms, of 200 acres each, it 

 would make the round sum of 600,000 lbs. of 

 honey for Jessamine county. 



1 consider this not beyond the capacity of 

 our county when the seasons are at all 

 favorable, but I doubt whether our farmers 

 will make 1,000 lbs ; therefore, I will divide 

 it again, and make it 500 lbs, U, the amount 

 I have taken, and about what Doolittle 

 took from 1 colony only, and then we have 

 for our county just 300,000 lbs., surely 

 within the reach of her people. And this, 

 at 25 cts. per lb., is $75,000 for Jessamine 

 county ; and, as our State has about 120 

 counties, I will multiply that sum by 100, 

 and we have for the State of Kentucky $7- 

 500,000 annually going to waste in her flora. 

 And as a source of wealth to the nation, let 

 us multiply this amount bv 30, leaving off 8 

 of the States, and we have .1?325,000.000 of 

 wealth lying in the tiny cells of her flora. — 

 Thus intelligent bee-keeping seems des- 

 tined to become a source of nntold wealth 

 to our nation. 



In this calculation I believe I am far 

 under the true estimate. In a few years, 

 you will learn from the census of the States 

 and the nation, through experienced bee 

 men, that the resources from this direction 

 alone will be estimated at from $500,000,000 

 to $1,000,000,000. 



But, of course, we do not all e>xpect to 

 make fortunes in this business. 1 do not 

 discuss it for that purpose. The price of 

 honey may change. The law of supply and 

 demand governs the market price in all 

 commodities. If we overstock the market 

 with honey, as with any other product, the 

 price will fall. Suppose it does. Who 

 cares for that? We still have a home 

 demand in our families, which, if supplied, 

 will be a blessing to us right here. This is 

 the special view I wish you to take of it.— 

 How many of our farmers are absolutely, 

 sorely taxed for the sweets that go upon 

 their tables ? How many are in debt, and 

 how many are barely able to come out even 

 at the end of the year ? To these I would 

 say, keep a few colonies of bees, manage 

 them intelligently, and supply your own 

 families with this best of sweets, free of 

 expense. H. C. Herspekgeb. 



On motion, the President appointed the 

 following committee on apicultural sup- 

 plies and implements : H. C. Hersperger, 

 Thos. T. Hayes and O. N. Featherstone.— 

 After due deliberation, the committee 

 brought in the following report : 



" We, your committee on apicultural supplies, 

 recommend the Langstroth hive above all other 

 hives, for convenience of raising box or extracted 

 honey ; we also recommend the Bingham smoker as 

 the most effective smoker. We approve of the half 

 frallon Klass jar with glass top, as the very best jar 

 for comb and extracted honey. We also approve of 

 the 1 and 2 lb. jars of C. F. Muth, of Cincinnati, for 

 extracted honey. The extractors of Novice and 

 Muth were both recommended so highly that the 

 committee were unable to decide between them." 



Mr. C. H. Dean, who had on exhibition a 

 Simplicity hive, gave his views and prefer- 

 ences for the same, and said, that in follow- 

 ing out the suggestions of A. I. Boot, of 

 Medina, Ohio, the inventor, he had made a 

 half chaff hive, and approved of it, not only 

 as a winter, but a summer hive. Mr. Hers- 



