TH© mimBmicmn mmm jQURNai,. 



777 



us a part, at least, of tlic Ijaiuiuct wliidi 

 you will <>njoy in full. 



If my tlicmo sooins pri'sumptuous in 

 that only the most s('lf-conli(l(>ut and 

 amhitious would prcsuTuc to approach it, 

 jileasp hoar in mind that it was not of 

 my own choosing. Dr. Miller would 

 frankly say ■• I don't know." Perhaps I 

 would be wise to stop at his say ; but I 

 fear I should disa^)point. 



Of course I need not say tliat successful 

 wintering is all-important. The bees 

 must be in good vigor when the spring 

 opens. It is as much of a truism to state 

 tliat the bees must breed up very rapidly 

 in April and May. We must have a 

 perfect r\ish of be.es as the clover harvest 

 opens. To accomplish tliis, we must see 

 to it that the bees have not just enough, 

 but a generous amount of stores during 

 this time of rapid breeding. Uees seem 

 to have a logic of their own, and to 

 reason about in this way : Jlany mouths 

 take much bread. We have little bread, 

 therefore' we must not have too many 

 mouths. 



In the Northern States we must pro- 

 tect the liees in the spring, to secure the 

 populous colonies so essential to the best 

 success. Our e.xperinu'nts for the past 

 two years, prove conclusively that pro- 

 tection pays ane-Kceedingly heavy profit. 

 Chaff hives will do, but I prefer an outer 

 case and excelsior packing. This is 

 cheap, convenient, neat, and, is in every 

 way, a success. The cover forms a shade- 

 board for the hives later : and. with it, 

 we need no other arrangement to induce 

 the best work. 



It also goes without saying that we 

 must have a prolific queen. I suggest as 

 a sub.iect for discussion, whether it will 

 not pay to re-queen the apiary every 

 year, or at least every second year. I 

 believe this can be done at no extra cost, 

 and in the general average, at a great 

 profit. 



The swarming must he so managed 

 that we shall have strong colonies when 

 the season opens. Tliis is not difificult, 

 but it is not the province of this address 

 to discuss this question. The plan must 

 keep the colonies strong through the 

 season. 



But after all this— with the strongest 

 colonies, best arranged hives and surphis 

 attachments, all in place at the dawn of 

 the season, we are yet di'pendent on the 

 flowers. If the flowers are not. or if they 

 secrete no nectar, then shall we secure 

 no lioney. 



Why do the flowers refuse to secrete 

 nectar ? Here is where I would do well 

 to quote Dr. Miller's modest sentence. 

 "i et, I fancy, I do know something about 

 it. If we have such profound drouths as 

 we experienced in Micliigan and the 

 West in I81S8 and I88SI, then the plants 

 fairly writhe, and roll up for very thirst. 

 They have not enough moisture for the 

 life sap, and so, perforce, wither up. 

 Witli no sai), how can they secrete nec- 

 tar '? They have no strength to mature 

 seeds. Why then waste that strength in 

 secreting nectar to win the aid of the 

 bees to fertilize the blossoms, that seed 

 may be formed ? 



A lasting drouth is fatal to the produc- 

 tion of honey. Cold rains are, likewise, 

 serious breaks in the elaboration of 



iiectar by the llowers. They keep the 

 bees in tli<' hives, and the nectar from 

 the flowers. The flowerssay, i)ractically 

 at least, we will not wastes energy in 

 throwing out the distress signal, when 

 there ar(^ lui eyes to see it, if out. We 

 have all seen this' truth demonstrated 

 (luring fruit bloom. We must have 

 warm, moist weather to give Uw. idants, 

 the flowers and the .secretion, or we 

 cannot secure the honey. 



But how about such a season as 1 81)0? 

 Abundant rains, many very warm days, 

 seemingly just the conditions for the 

 best success ; yet no thrift in the apiary? 

 Abundant white and Alsike clover, yet 

 no nectar secretion — no storing of honey. 

 Could I have Icjoked forward to June, 

 last April or .May, I would not have 

 given a nickle to have been insured a 

 good honey croii. How are we to exjilain 

 this ? I will suggest one explanation, 

 and ask others to add theirs, in the hope 

 that we may reach a solution. 



With us w(> had the clover and the 

 bloom, and so all that we lacked were 

 the conditions lor nectar-secretion. We 

 had the rains and the warmth, so the 

 usual conditions were not lacking. The 

 only explanation I can ofter is. that last 

 year being so terribly dry, the young 

 plants were so blighted that they could 

 not recover, and so were unable'to per- 

 form their usual functions. Hence the 

 dearth of nectar-secretion. 



We know that a young calf or colt that 

 is partially starved, never recovers its 

 full vigor ; and so, never can be at its 

 best in its after years, no matter how 

 well cared for. The young wheat was 

 starved for water last fall. As a 

 sequence, the yield was five or si.\ bushels 

 of viu-y poor wheat to the acre, instead 

 of 25 or 26 bushels of first-class grain. 



Clover is a biennial, and so. last year 

 was storing up vitality and substance to 

 form the flowi>rs and seeds of this season. 

 It lacked food to do this iireparatory 

 work, and so lacked power to iierform 

 the subsequent functions : even though 

 all the surroundings were favorable. 



This. Mr. President, is my theory. If 

 it lacks foundation, please overthrow it 

 and suggest a lietter. If it be sound- 

 then, in future, we shall be as eager that 

 the previous season be favorable, as that 

 the one at hand is to our liking. 



A. J. Cook. 



Dr. Miller said that whether Prof. 

 Cook's theory be correct or not, it will 

 make but little difference in the prac- 

 tical result. Although the outlook and 

 prospects were good, this year, we had 

 no crop. It was neither too wet nor 

 too dry. 



A Member asked: "What is the 

 cause of the failure tlien ?" 



Dr. Miller— •■ I don't know.' (Lauo-h- 

 ter.) 



R. McKnight — I cannot see the con- 

 sistency of the theory of Prof. Cook, in 

 regard to the clover. When there is a 

 luxuriant growth and abundant bloom, 

 we ought to expect a good crop. 

 Atmospheric conditions must have 

 much to do with the yield of nectar. 

 A favorable condition of the atmos- 



phere is almost certain to bring on a 

 good crop, when fiowers are plenty. 

 The exact condition of the atmo.spherc 

 in a good honey yield wo cannot tell. 



J. Blanchard— In 1868 we had cir- 

 cumstances tending, in mj- opinion, to 

 a very good honey-tlow. but the bee.s 

 starved. Manj- bees and many blos- 

 soms were to be found, but there was 

 no honey. I agree with Mr. McKnight, 

 that all depends on certain atmospheric 

 conditions which are not yet under- 

 stood , 



S. A. 8huck — During linden-bloom, 

 this summer, on a certain warm pleas- 

 ant day, the bees worked wonderfully; 

 the weather had all the indications of 

 rain, in pi-ospective. There was a, 

 light rain shortly after, and the crop 

 failed for 2 or 3 days after that. 



Dr. Miller — Can any one tell how we 

 can help all this ? If not. let us pass 

 to other subjects. 



R. L. Taylor — This matter is impor- 

 tant, if any light can be thrown on the 

 subject. 



J. W, Bittenbender — I think this is 

 the proper place to quote Josh Billings: 

 "What's the use to know so much, 

 when so much that you do know, ain't 

 so ?" 



L. W. Baldwin said that the most 

 important part of the subject, discussed 

 in Prof. Cook's essay, is how to get 

 our bees ready for the harvest, 



A. I. Root — There is something 

 wonderful in the way in which plants 

 will yield honej- one day and not 

 another. A certain bee-man sent to 

 us for tigwort seed, and raised a large 

 quantity, and after it had been bloom- 

 ing for some time, he wrote us a letter 

 complaining that we had humbugged 

 him, as he had not seen a single bee 

 on any of his plants. We were verj' 

 much at a loss to explain what was 

 wi'ong. when, the next day. we re- 

 ceived another letter from the same 

 party, saying that the bees had begun 

 working on the tigwort the same after- 

 noon, after he had written his letter, 

 and that they vvorked very heavily ou 

 it regularlj-. afterwards. 



R. B. Leahy said that he expected 

 to see a failure in the honey harvest 

 every season, following a verj- good 

 harvest. He thought that the reason 

 was that the flowers had exhausted the 

 necessary constituents that served to 

 make the honej-, and that a new sup- 

 ply had to be formed, in the ground, 

 by nature. 



MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS. 



The question-box being now ex- 

 hausted A. I. Root stated that it was 

 very important to have a report of the 

 proceedings in one of the bee-periodi- 

 cals, and that Mr. Newman had agreed 

 to publish it in the American Bee 

 Journal. 



