778 



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Mr. Clarke asked whether it was 

 intended to publish the report in 

 pamphlet form, and upon receiving an 

 answer in the artirmative. moved that 

 the sum of |20 be set apart for this pur- 

 pose ; that report to be published by 

 Mr. Newman, as usual. Carried. 



The other expenses of the Associa- 

 tion, such as printing, postage, badges, 

 and music, amounting to 139.25, were 

 also allowed. 



The Secretary having refused to 

 accept anj- remuneration for his ser- 

 vices, a vote of thanks was tendered 

 him by the Association. 



Mr. McKnight, of Ontario, gave a 

 rescitation, a description of an Irish 

 wedding, that was full of humor, aud 

 evoked a great deal of laughter. 



After a few pieces of music liy 

 Field's orchestra, and a short informal 

 meeting, the Convention adjourned 

 until morning. 



THIRD DAY. 



The President called the Convention 

 to order at 8:30 a.m., and requested 

 the Rev. W. F. Clarke to lead in 

 prayer. 



The report of Secretary Dadant, 

 showing a balance in the hands of the 

 Treasurer of $59.75, was read and 

 approved. 



The Treasurer's reports were re- 

 ceived and approved. It was moved 

 to pay the Janitor |3 for his services 

 and attention to our wants. Carried. 

 The subject of location was then 

 discussed, and after the reading of an 

 invitation bj' the Eastern bee-keepers, 

 to meet somewhere in the Northeast, 

 and more especially at Lake George, 

 the Convention decided to hold its 

 next meeting at Albany, N. Y. 



The Association received an invita- 

 tion to meet some day in Denver.Colo. 

 This invitation was brought in person 

 by the President of the Colorado State 

 Bee-Keepers' Association, the Rev. E. 

 Milleson. 



The election of officers resulted as 

 follows : President, P. H. Elwood, of 

 Starkville, N. Y. ; Vice-President, 

 Eugene Secor, of P"orest City, Iowa ; 

 Secretary, C. P. Dadant, of Hamilton, 

 Ills ; and Treasurer, Ernest R. Root, of 

 Medina, Ohio. 



The essay of Chas. F. Muth, of Cin- 

 cinnati, O., was then, by request, read 

 by Thomas G. Newman. 



Are Italians or Hybrids Preferable in 

 an Apiary Run for Honey ? 



his Italians were adding a peculiar 

 charm to Ills apiary. 



It was not a small satisfaction to show 

 to his friends his golden-colored, large 

 bodied Italian queens, whose royal man- 

 ners and measured steps made one feel 

 proud every time their hive was opened ! 

 Yes. a ■' two-incli queen," as he called 

 the large yellow queen to a friend, drew 

 a host of admirers. Her niotlier had 

 been sent him by a friend in St. Peters- 

 burg, Russia. No tifty dollars would 

 have bought that queen, whose daugh- 

 ters and grand-daughters all showed 

 their line '• Russian " family strain. 



The Italian bees have developed inter- 

 est in apiculture, and aided materially 

 toward new discoveries. Their qualili- 

 cation as honey-gatherers was soon 

 appreciated. The black bees or hybrids 

 would attract no attention at all, and 

 the Italian colonics found no rest with 

 our enthusiastic brethren. Their colo- 

 nies would be divided, an unlimited num- 

 ber of queens reared, nuclei started, etc. 

 The arrival of a friend was the signal 

 for the opening of the hives of the pure 

 Italians. The queens had to be admired, 

 etc. Wlio thought of the hybrids ? 

 '■ That one is not pure," one would say, 

 passing by a hybrid colony. And it was 

 all the attention paid it. 



The next thing we learned, was that 

 the blacks aud hybrids were better 

 honey-gatherers than Italians. Yes, and 

 we were told that dark-colored Italians, 

 and those bees that are the bravest on 

 the warpath, were the best bees for 

 profit. Our good friends, Messrs. Jones, 

 Benton and others, deplored Asia, and 

 gave us Syrian. Cyprian and Carniolan 

 bees. The Prussian government im- 

 ported large numbers of Egyptian bees. 

 Most of us old bee-keepers liave tried 

 them all, and I believe I express the 

 opinion of the majority if I say that the 

 p\ire Italians are the best, all points 

 considered. 



It happens sometimes that black or 

 hybrid colonies give as good results as 

 any ; but as a rule, and according to my 

 experience, they were my purest Italians 

 that gave me the largest crops. 



Pure Italian colonies are always best 

 supplied with winter stores, after a poor 

 season has been recorded, while during a 

 good flow of honey, they seem to be the 

 only variety whose whole energies appear 

 to be bent on the collecting of the sweets. 

 Very few swarms issue during such a 



Twenty-five or thirty years ago, after 

 the Italians had made their appearance 

 in this country, every bee-keeper was 

 enthusiastic — not only because the good 

 old rule held out yet, that there was one 

 bad season only in seven, and large 

 money was realized for good crops, but 

 also because the three golden bands of 



time. Breeding is 

 creases gradually 

 nectar ceases. 



These virtues of 

 be over-estimated. 



neglected, and 

 as the yield of 



de- 

 the 



pure Italians cannot 

 They are the cause 

 of small consumption of honey after the 

 harvest is over, aud consequently have a 

 better supply of winter stores when fall 

 approaches. 



My bees are wintered on the summer 

 stands, and my success in wintering has 

 been, so far, second to that of no one, in 

 spite of full supplies of pollen and fall 

 honey. I do not believe in closely I'X- 

 tracting and back-feeding, nor am I 

 afraid of any kind of fall honey being 

 injurious to my bees. But I do believe 

 in large brood-chambers, which are 

 appreciated by no variety of bees better 

 than by i)uri' Italians. 



Their breeding ceases gradually with 

 the flow of honey, and honey takes the 

 place of their brood. Almost as soon as 

 their young bees emerge, lioney appears 

 in those vacated cells, and keeps grad- 

 ually spreading from the outside combs 

 towards the center of the hive. No 

 other race of bees has their brood-cham- 

 ber as well provided with winter stores, 

 if. after the main harvest is over, a let- 

 alone policy is observed. 



Besides the virtues mentioned above, 

 the Italian bees are the most docile of 

 all ; they are beautiful to look at, and no 

 stampede talces place when a comb with 

 bees is taken from a hive and set along- 

 side in the grass. One can handle them 

 without veil or gloves. A little smoke 

 only is required to keep their temper 

 withi n due bounds. If I had no other 

 reason than the last, it would be a suffi- 

 cient one for me to say : Give me, for 

 profit and pleasure, the pure Italian bee 

 every time. Chas. P. Muth. 



The time left being very short, the- 

 President decided that no discussion 

 would follow. 



The report of the Defense Committee 

 of the Association was then called for, 

 and Thomas G. Newman, the General 

 Manager of the National Bee-Keepers' 

 Union, .addressed the Convention as 

 follows : 



National Bee-Keepers' Union. 



Article X, of our By-Laws, makes a 

 Defense Committee of the officers of the 

 "National Bee-Keepers' Union;" its 

 President is declared to be a Vice-Presi- 

 dent of this Association, and its General 

 jSIanager is a " delegate to the Interna- 

 tional Convention." In behalf of your 

 Defense Committee I will therefore make 

 the following Report : 



The Union will not make war upon 

 any legitimate pursuit, but when the- 

 rights and privileges of bee-keepers are 

 attacked, it will make a defense like the 

 ancient patriots — united, systematic, 

 fierce and overwlielming ! Its tower of 

 strength being in the rightfulness and 

 justice of its cause. 



THE UNION ALWAYS TRIUMPHANT. 



To show the value of united action, 

 and the moral weight of the " backing "■ 

 of the National Bec-Keepers' Union, we 

 will make a brief enumeration of the 

 outcome of all the suits against bee- 

 keeping in the United States, which the 

 Union deemed it expedient to defend, and 

 it will be seen that not one has been 

 decided nrininst the hces .' 



The " Freeborn " case in "Wisconsin 

 was presented in such a manner, backed 

 up by the Union, that the Judge kicked 

 it out of court ! 



In the '• Bohn " case, in California, the 

 united resistance of the bee-keepers of 

 the Nation was too much for the fruit- 

 growers — and that trouble is now all 

 conquered ! the raisin-growers admitting 

 that they were mistaken ! 



The "Darling" case in Connecticut 

 was dismissed as soon as it was discov- 

 ered that he was "backed up" by the 

 National Bee-Keepers' Union ! 



