THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



195 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



WASHINGTON, MARCH, 1870. 



^" Though we have enlarged the Journai;, by 

 adding four pages monthly, making it a twenty-four 

 page pamphlet, clear of advertisements, we still fiud 

 ourselves cramped for want of room, and compelled 

 to "hold over" several communications. We would 

 suggest to correspondents to condense their articles 

 as much as possible. Readers require variety in our 

 columns, and articles compressed and brief are all 

 the more likely to be carefully read. 



Meeting of Michigan Bee-keepers. 



13^ The Michigan Bee-keepers' Association will 

 meet at Lansing, (f/Iich.,) on the 33d and 34th of this 

 month, (March.) As it is proposed then to malce ar- 

 rangements for holding a National Bee-keepers^ Con- 

 vejition, it is desired that there be a large attendance 

 of bee-keepers from other States, and from the Brit- 

 ish Provinces. 



After an unusually long delay, we have received 

 the Report of the proceedings of the German Bee- 

 keepers' Annual General Convention, held in the city 

 of Nuremberg on the 14th, 15th and 16th of Septem- 

 ber last. Tliere were JDresent four hundred and tifty- 

 three bee-keepers and persons int.rested in bee cul- 

 ture. Among them were sixty-seven deputies from 

 various apicultural and agricultural associations, and 

 a number of ladies. A large part of the first day 

 was devoted to celebrating the twenty-fifth anni- 

 versary of the establishment of the " Bienenzei- 

 TUNG," and conferring merited honorary marks of 

 distinction on Mr. Seminary-prefect Andrew Schmid, 

 who was mainly instrumental in starting the paper, 

 and who has edited it uninterruptedly for a quar- 

 ter of a centi;ry. Want of room prevents us fr jm 

 giving a detailed account of what was done on the 

 occasion, when there seems to have been a general 

 rivalry to manifest high appreciation of the ser- 

 vices rendered by the veteran editor. Though some 

 of the more prominent bee-keepers of Germany were 

 unable to attend the Convention, the discussions were 

 spirited and exceedingly interesting. We have marked 

 a number of passages for translation. 



We are at all times disposed to allow correspond- 

 ents full scope in the expression of their views and 

 opinions, however much we may dissent from them, 

 and ordinarily let them pass " without note or com- 

 ment." But, in a matter so important in bee-culture 

 as the fundamental principle of the Dzierzon theory, 

 of late so frequently impugned in this coiantry, we 

 cannot properly refrain from reiterating our own 

 convictions on suitable occasions. Thus, we hold it 

 o be a matter settled physiologically that impregna- 



tion does not afl'ect th* drone progeny of a queen, 

 and that, consequently, in every case, the drones pro- 

 duced by a queen are the infallible indicators of her 

 oion character and quality. If a supposed full-blood 

 Italian queen be fertilized by a black drone, and the 

 drones produced by her show any symptoms of hybridi- 

 zation, however slight, set her down in your register 

 as having herself unquestionably an original or inher- 

 ited taint. Her drones are worthless fur breeding pur- 

 poses, where the introduction or re-establishment of 

 the pure Italian race is aimed at ; and she is incapa- 

 ble of producing even such hybrid workers as the 

 breeder looks for, under the mistaken notion that 

 she was pure prior to fertilization. 



We have received copies of the following recent 

 publications : 



Vice's Illustrated Catalogue and Floral Guide, 

 from James Vick, the veteran seedsman, Rochester, 

 N. Y. 



Allen's Seed Catalogue for 1780, from R. H. 

 Allen & Co., 189 and 191 Water street. New York, 

 N. Y. 



Annual Trade List of the Cherry Hill Nurseries, 

 of Hoopes, Bro. & Thomas, West Chester, Pa. 



The Public Ledger Almanac for 1870, from Geo. 

 W. Childs, Philadelphia. A copy of this almanac is 

 presented to each subscriber to the Public Ledger. 



Premium List of the Mechanics and Agricultural 

 Fair Association of Louisiana, for the fourth grand 

 State Fair, commencing April 33d, 1870, and continu- 

 ing nine daj's. 



Also, a small pamphlet on " Bees" and their man- 

 agement, by W. & H. Goulding, manure manufac- 

 turers, Cork and Dublin, Ireland. 



Correspondence of the Bee Journal. 



New Cumberland, W. Va., Jan. 33. — Bees have 

 done very poorly here for the last two years, on ac- 

 count of the drouth. I started two years ago with 

 thirty-three stands, and paid out forty-five dollars tor 

 Italian bees and feed, and have not one dollar out of 

 honey in those two years. But I think that next 

 season will prove a good one for bees, as clover 

 never looked better tlian it does at this time. — Wm. 

 Gregory. 



Byron, Mich., Jan. 34.— I wish success to the Bee 

 Journal. It is just what every bee-keeper wants. 

 I followed the directions given in the Bee Jouunal 

 on feeding bees, to induce or promote breeding, and 

 my bees have done the best of any in the neighbor- 

 hood ; enough better than others to more than thrice 

 pay the price of the Journal. Bees have not done 

 well here for the last two years. A great many stocks 

 will perish this winter, if not fed. — John Middles- 

 worth. 



East Tilton, N, H., Jan. 26.— One year ago last 

 September, I bought my first swarm of bees. At that 

 time I could not tell a worker from a drone, or a 

 drone from a queen, nor drone-comb from worker- 

 comb. But by the information and instruction ob- 

 tained from your Journal, I not only soon learned 

 readily to detect either, but even handle my bees 

 about as I am a-mind to, to the astonishment of some 



