106 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



progress has been made towards 

 placing this important rural indus- 

 try on a more satisfactory basis. 

 A well-attended meeting was held 

 in the hall of the Chamber, when 

 a paper on "Modern Beekeeping," 

 by Mr. Bonney, was read, and 

 the new frame hives and other 

 beekeeping apparatus were ex- 

 plained by Messrs. Bonney, TVeid- 

 enhofer, and Robertson, to the 

 evident interest of the public. The 

 Chamber has also become a sub- 

 scriber to the English, American, 

 and Australasian bee journals, so 

 that the best current information 

 relating to beekeeping is now ac- 

 cessible to the public at the office 

 of the Chamber. It will no doubt 

 be remembered that at our last an- 

 nual meeting the Hon. R . D. Ross, 

 M.P., drew attention to the import- 

 ance of introducing the Ligurian 

 bee, which is not only valuable as 

 a honey producer but also for 

 fructifying clover and other deep- 

 tubed flowers ; and an opportunity 

 offering to obtain a colony of Lig- 

 urian bees from Queensland, the 

 Chamber willingly availed itself of 

 it. Money was accordingly voted 

 for the purpose, and the colony ar- 

 rived safe and was placed in the 

 care of Mr. Bonney, who has from 

 month to month reported satisfac- 

 tory progress. An attempt has 

 been made,^y the withdrawal of 

 the black bees from Kangaroo Isl- 

 and, and the placing of twocolonies 

 of pure Ligurians there, to thor- 

 oughly establish these in that 

 locality, from which it is hoped 

 supplies may in future be drawn. 

 Two colonies have been placed, one 

 in the care of Mt. Buick, of Amer- 

 ican River, and the other in care 

 of Mr. Turner, of Smith's Bay ; 

 and other Ligurian queens, raised 

 from the original importation, have 

 been distributed to Mr. Justice 

 Boucaut, Mr. W. Stevens, and Mr. 

 J. Robertson, from whom satisfac- 

 tory reports respecting their in- 



teresting charges have been received 

 to the gratification of the Commit- 

 tee. Although the queen-rearing 

 was not quite so successful as Mr. 

 Bonney could have desired, the 

 Committee believes that substan- 

 tial progress has been made in 

 advancing the industry. The 

 Chamber has also been glad to as- 

 sist in the initiation of aBeekeepers' 

 Association, which has been organ- 

 ized with a view to secure an 

 interchange of experience and 

 opinions of apiarists on matters 

 of mutual interest. 



REPORT OF THE NORTH- 

 EASTERN BEEKEEPERS' 

 ASSOCIATION. 



(Continued from p. 71, Vol. III.) 

 KEARIXG QUEENS. 



In the absence of Mr. Alley, who 

 was to deliver au address on "Rearing 

 Queens," Capt. Hetheriugtou was 

 called upon. Mr. H. stated that he 

 had tried the experiment of introduc- 

 ing j'oung and fertile queens to a colony 

 in summer, in order to prevent swarm- 

 ing, but it had utterly failed. He had 

 also experimented with introducing 

 queens in cells, protected by a film 

 of foundation, which was wrapped 

 ai'ound them, and during the first sea- 

 son, had succeeded in introducing two 

 or three hundred successfully; but on 

 further testing failures resulted. 



He did not wish to recommend any- 

 thing new that had not been tested 

 more than one season. Usually the 

 man with the least experience was the 

 most positive one in these conventions, 

 or as a writer for the periodicals. 



Messrs. Locke, Dickinson, Goodspeed 

 and others, then discussed the subject 

 resulting as follows : 



To rear good queens, first select 

 strong populous colonies in the spring, 

 and take the best of care of colonies 

 from which, both the brood for cells 

 and also the drones are to be taken. 



The drone mothers should be select- 



