embryonic queens, test with the severest 

 measure the qualities of my young queens, 

 destroy those that failed to fill the measure, 

 and for the balance ask a good price, for I 

 should have earned it, and I am sure that 

 very soon 1 should have no lack of pur- 

 chasers. 



Mr. T. G. Newman, in an animated speech, 

 condemned the dollar queen traffic as 

 detrimental to the best interests of apiarists 

 generally, and damaging to the race of 

 Italian bees. Many puny half-developed 

 queens that are sent out for a dollar, were 

 dear if sold 3 for 25 cents. A prominent 

 breeder having recently made a similar 

 statement in public. 



A resolution of thanks to Prof. Cook for 

 his essay was adopted, after which a reso- 

 lution discouraging the sale of dollar queens, 

 as detrimental to the interests of bee-keep- 

 ers, was adopted by a unanimous vote. 



Mr. Newman was elected an honorary 

 member of the Association. 



OFFICKES ELECTED. 



On Thursday morning the first business 

 was the election of officers, which resulted 

 as follows : 



President— Hon. A. B. Cheney, of Sparta 



Vice' Presidents— Geo. E. Steele, Elk 

 Rapids ; Dr. W. B. Southard, Kalamazoo ; 

 James Heddon, Dowagiac. 



Secretary— T. F. Bingham, Abronia. 



Treasurer— O. J. Hetherington, East Sagi- 

 naw. 



The Society decided to hold but " one 

 annual " meeting per year, and Jackson 

 was selected as the place for the next meet- 



The address of the National Association 

 "To Consumers of Honey" was commended 

 to the Members of the Association, and as 

 Mr. Newman, the President of the National 

 Association, was present, and had a number 

 of copies of it, to give to apiarists for inser- 

 tion in their local papers, the Association 

 requested all to get a copy and see the edi- 

 tors of their local papers and get them to 

 insert it. 



HONEY AS FOOD. 



Mr. T. G. Newman was called upon who 

 delivered an impassioned and eloquent 

 panegryic on honey, which was very well 

 received. 



Prof. Cook then read a paper on Grape 

 Sugar, written by Prof. Kedzie, of the State 

 Agricultural College. 



The following resolution was passed unai- 

 mously : 



Resolved, That we thoroughly disapprove of the use 

 of glucose for feeding bees, and urge that all the 

 bee-keepers of our State refrain from its use as bee 

 food. 



The President then read a paper from Mr. 

 Fish Bangs of North Lansing on 



HONEY PLANTS, 



n which he took strong grounds in favor of 

 Chinese mustard, or black mustard, as a 

 honey plant. He gave his own experience. 

 He says it makes fine honey, the best, accord- 

 ing to Prof. Kedzie, ever made. He sows 

 seed, or drills it in, cultivates it to keep 



down the weeds early, and later the plant 

 kill out the weeds. He regards it as a very 

 fine weed exterminator. 



Prof. Cook desires apiarists to have beds 

 of flowers near their hives, to keep bees 

 busy in the "dry season" along in July and 

 August. He says it will stimulate the bees 

 and increase the breeding. He recom- 

 mended black mustard, catnip, (the latter if 

 the honey it makes is good) cleome or Rocky 

 Mountain Bee Plant and Mignonette. 



Dr. Southard spoke very highly of catnip 

 as a honey plant. He also spoke of alsike 

 clover, but does not prefer it to white clover. 

 He also spoke of melilot, and calls it one of 

 the most valuable honey plants. He would 

 cut it back in June, from the 15th to the 30th, 

 to get the flowers from July 10th till the 

 time of frosts. He will sow 3 or 4 acres of 

 it the coming year. 



Mr. Heddon recommended sowing melilot 

 clover in waste places, along the roadsides. 



The President also read a paper on bee- 

 culture in Southern California, written by 

 Mr. M. S. Baker, of San Monico. 



Brief discussion followed on the merits of 

 different parts of our country for raising 

 honey, in which Mr. Heddon, Mr. Bingham 

 and others took part. 



MARKETING HONEY. 



The following from Mr. C. F. Muth, of 

 Cincinnatti was then read : 



Much has been said about the production 

 and marketing of honey and much more 

 remains to be learned. Nothing contributes 

 more to the success of any business than a 

 fair exchange of the ideas of practical men. 

 Producer and dealer are as near relatives as 

 capital and labor, and a feeling of good- 

 fellow-ship should exist between them. 

 Nothing is more ridiculous than for the pro- 

 ducer to think that all is profit with the 

 dealer ; or for the dealer to consider a good 

 crop of honey to be a clear gain to the pro 

 ducer. Both have their troubles and vexa- 

 tions ; both meet with losses, and the dealer's 

 is not the least of the two ; both have plenty 

 of exercise for brain and muscle, and a 

 depression in the market effects both alike. 



At present, honey is still considered a 

 luxury and the price is very low, too low to 

 satisfy either producer or dealer. Hard 

 times, as our present state of affairs is gen- 

 erally termed, is no doubt, the principal 

 scape-goat. But there will be a reaction 

 and the price of honey will be regulated, 

 like the price of other produce, by the rules 

 of supply and demand. It is a satisfaction 

 to notice that honey is appreciated more 

 every year. But, if any particular reason is 

 assigned for the fact that honey is not in 

 more general demand, that reason, perhaps, 

 is adulteration. It is a fact that the granu- 

 lation of honey is often an impediment to 

 its sale but this is attributable to the ignor- 

 ance of the consumer and not to the quality 

 of the honey, the former should be posted ; 

 but we should never tamper with the purity 

 of the honey. Who would, knowingly buy 

 adulterated honey, even if the article added, 

 as some assert, was purer and more valuable 

 than honey ? 



Prof. Cook, Messrs. Heddon, French, 

 Felker, Baker, the president and others, 

 discussed the subject. 



