Chas. Dadant was stung by a bee while in 

 bed ; the next morning the bee was found 

 on the window trying to get out. 



Dr. D. G. Campbell. I have kept bees two 

 days alive without stingers. 



When a colony of bees try to swarm, is it 

 the more profitable to allow them to do so, 

 or to cut out the queen cells, and return 

 the bees, when honey is the main object f 



Dr. N. H. Derr. If it is an early swarm 

 keep it; a late one. return. 



Jesse Borgart. I think it useless to cut 

 out queen cells, as the bees will swarm any 

 how, sometimes with only an egg in the 

 queen cells. 



Will. M. Kellogg. Have found that I 

 usually set more honey from the old and 

 new colony, than I do from the old colony 

 alone. In cutting out queen cells to prevent 

 swarms coming out a seeond time, many do 

 not cut close enough. You must not only 

 cut out all the queen cells but all the little 

 cups of queen cells that may be started. 



Moving bees, what effect has light, warmth, 

 or noise f 



D. D. Palmer. I moved 96 colonies from 

 Kentucky by rail and boat. Colonies were 

 liiiht ; I lost none, although I had them sev- 

 eral hours in the light. As to noise, I had 

 an instance of bees in a cellar noticing the 

 loud noise of a weight falling on the floor 

 above. 



Will. M. Kellogg. 1 think they noticed 

 the fall of the weight by the concussion. I 

 don't think bees can hear. 



C. P. Dadant. I think light objectionable 

 as the bees get tired of trying to go out. 



C. O. Perrine. Had a similar experience, 

 and agree with Mr. Dadant. 



Floating Apiary. 



Mr. C. O. Perrine was asked to give a 

 word picture of his floating apiary, and 

 responded as follows : 



What first induced me to go into it, was 

 the want of white comb honey. 1 can get 

 all I want of colored honey, but want hun- 

 dreds of tons of white honey for my house. 

 I began the honey business at Cincinnati, 

 in 1865, removed to Chicago in 18(>9, where I 

 continued the business, keeping many hands 

 at work, peddling direct to the consumer. 

 I wanted to extend my business and did so 

 in the Eastern States, afterward in Europe. 

 I received some lots of very nice honey 

 from California and depended on them 

 greatly for my supply of white honey, but 

 it did not come. 1 got a big order from 

 Europe, had a great deal of trouble to fill it, 

 and could not do it entirely. Could not get 

 such honey as we wanted to ship there. 



We packed comb and extracted honey in 

 jars and had great difficulty from its candy- 

 ing. Boiling honey hurts its flavor. I went 

 into the country to see bee-keepers about 

 getting nice honey by migratory bee-keep- 

 ing. Going from place to place, could get 

 no encouragement. 1 went South and found 

 lots of white clover, have traveled in the 

 South considerable. I thought I could make 

 a good thing by planting some seed of good 

 honey plants, so I got $60. worth of melilot 

 clover seed, and I have it yet. I tried to 



get land to plant it on, but could not get it. 

 Then I resolved to try the floating apiary, 

 and began to build two barges. 1 was 

 kept from starting as early as I wanted to, 

 fully six weeks, by a variety of causes 

 beyond my control. I did not get as many 

 bees as I wanted. Our machinery broke 

 down twice, which threw us back eight 

 days. We were getting behind all the time, 

 so we closed up the hives with wire cloth. 

 Our colonies were very strong, and we lost 

 about 50 by smothering. Owing to lateness 

 of the season I concluded not to go far 

 North and put my bees on shore about 60 

 miles above St. Louis. My bees are in good 

 condition for wintering. The floating 

 apiary is an experiment yet. I put about 

 $12,000 in the venture, and I shall keep try- 

 ing till 1 know whether it will succeed or 

 not. I invite any of you who wish, to come 

 down and see us. I expect to take my bees 

 to New Orleans this winter. 1 may not 

 bring all my bees North, but keep. some 

 down there for experiment. I propose to 

 try the house apiary principle on the boats. 

 I would like to ask some one who knows, if 

 bees notice color more than form. A great 

 many bees get into the river, possibly 25 per 

 cent. The rivers in the South run on ridges, 

 and when the river rises it runs over into 

 bayous and deposits soil, slanting off into 

 the swamps. The little streams all run 

 swiftly. There are many peculiar things 

 about working barges; have to keep the same 

 side of the barge to the shore all the time. 

 I propose to put the bees on the boats this 

 time in cold weather, then they will come 

 out and fly a few at a time. 1 think bees 

 return to their hives more by form than by 

 color. I have tried different colors. We 

 got but few new swarms, the honey did not 

 come in fast enough. 1 had a little steamer 

 that cost me $2,900, and sold it at a loss of 

 $900. 1 thought of going up as far as St. 

 Paul, but owing to difficulties could not do 

 it. I propose to tow my bees only by night 

 next year. My boats are near 120 feet long. 

 1 shall wait till the weather is quite cold 

 before I go South. 



The exhibit of the products of the apiary, 

 books, tools, etc., at this meeting was very 

 large, and in quantity and quality, would 

 not have done discredit to any State or 

 National Fair. 



Adjourned to meet at Hamilton, Hancock 

 Co., 111., at call of the executive committee. 



W. M. Kellogg, Sec'y. L. H. Scudder, Pres. 



Lancaster Co. (Pa.) Convention. 



This Association held its regular quarterly 

 meeting at Lancaster, Nov. 11, 1878, Pres. P. 

 S. Reist in the chair. 



In the absence of the regular Secretary, 

 Frank R. Diffenderffer was made Secretary 

 pro tern. 



REPORTS. 



Peter S. Reist said that he recently read 

 an article in which honey was recommended 

 for food and for medicine, and which also 

 strongly advised the formation of local 

 societies for the purpose of thoroughly 

 understanding the bee question. The 

 amount of honey raised in this country last 



