176 



and by adopting the above process, I had 4 

 of the 7 purely mated. This was my first 

 effort, and might say, it was a " happen so." 

 At another trial, where the Italians and 

 blacks were about equal in numbers with 7 

 queens, all were purely mated. 



From past experience and observation, I 

 am confident that fully three-fourths of our 

 queens may be mated with selected drones, 

 by a little painstaking. 



On recommendation of the committee on 

 the president's address, the resolutions 

 recommended therein were passed unani- 

 mously, and the omission in the report of 

 the committee on purity of queens, pub- 

 lished in the November number of the 

 American Bee Journal was ordered to 

 be corrected.* 



On motion, J. M. Williams was appointed 

 a committee to confer with the president and 

 directors of the Fulton county fair associa- 

 tion in regard to offering such premiums 

 as they may think proper for the encourage- 

 ment of bee culture. 



The committee on exhibits reported that 

 the honey extractor, as made and improved 

 by Mr. B. O. Everett, of Toledo, with gear 

 of double strength, and the post on which 

 the central shaft revolves being secured by 

 solder and bolt through bottom, thereby 

 giving great strength, together, with handles 

 at the sides for convenience in handling, 

 and lugs at the bottom fer securing firmly 

 while extracting, makes it as perfect as any 

 machine can be made. The other exhibits 

 consisted of a case of sections, chaff divi- 

 sion board, section boxes, simplicity and 

 quart bee feeders by A. Fahnestock ; four 

 bottles containing bees in alcohol, to show 

 progress in improvements, by careful breed- 

 ing, by President Williams; honey, hives 

 and Cook's new Manual of the Apiary and 

 the new Bee-Keeper's Text-Book, by Mr. B. 

 O. Everett, all of which were approved, and 

 a vote of thanks tendered to the exhibitors. 



On motion, Napoleon was designated as 

 the next place of meeting. On motion, the 

 thanks of the association were tendered the 

 proprietors of the Eagle House. On motion, 

 the Convention adjourned, to meet at Napo- 

 leon on the first Thursday in April, 1879. 

 Daniel Kepler, Sen. 



[*The omission referred to, consisted of 

 four words, "especially her queen progeny," 

 and was purely accidental. We cannot 

 now say positively, but it was probably an 

 oversight in setting up the type. We cheer- 

 fully make the correction.— Ed.J 



Eastern Nebraska Convention. 



Met at Omaha, Neb., Feb. 8, 1879, at 2 p. 

 m., in the Board of Trade rooms. 



Mr. Corbett was elected Chairman pro 

 tern., and H. Bruning, Secretary. 



Mr. Craig moved that the society be called 

 the "Eastern Bee-Keepers' Association of 

 Nebraska." The motion prevailed. 



On motion of Mr. Pigman, the Chairman 

 was instructed to appoint a committee on 

 permanent organization. The chair ap- 

 pointed Messrs. Pigman, Poland and Craig 



as such committee. It was resolved that the 

 committee on organization be instructed to 

 report on Saturday, February 22, at 1 p. m. 



The adjourned meeting assembled at the 

 same place on February 23d. 



Present—Messrs. Craig, Byers, Pigman, 

 Ehrenphort, Pageler, Bruning, Van Dorn, 

 Corbett, McLain, Poland and Peckham. 



The minutes of the last meeting were read 

 and approved. 



The committee on constitution and by- 

 laws reported, which report, on motion of 

 Mr. Van Dorn, was accepted, and the com- 

 mittee discharged. 



The constitution and by-laws were then 

 read by articles, and adopted with some 

 amendments, after which the constitution 

 was signed by all the gentlemen present. 



The following officers were then elected : 

 Hiram Craig, President; J. L.Poland, Vice 

 President ; W. G. Pigman, Secretary ; H. 

 Bruning, Treasurer. 



On motion of Mr. Ehrenphort, it was de- 

 cided to hold the next meeting of the Asso- 

 ciation at the Board of Trade rooms in 

 Omaha, March 14th and 15th, 1879. 



The President appointed Mr. Corbett a 

 committee to arrange for rooms for the next 

 meeting. W. G. Pigman, Sec'y. 



Read before the Southern Kentucky Convention. 



Natural vs. Artificial Swarming. 



BY JAMES ERWIN. 



Although much has been said pro and con 

 upon this subject, yet the rules and princi- 

 ples that govern natural swarming, and 

 which must be kept in view in practicing 

 artificial methods, are very imperfectly un- 

 derstood by the masses of bee-keepers. It 

 is patent to every observing apiarist, that 

 many of the methods of artificial swarming 

 now in vogue among bee-keepers are not the 

 best adapted to advance the interests of bee 

 culture. Therefore, this question becomes 

 one of considerable importance, and well 

 deserves a place upon our list of questions 

 for discussion, for it is only by interchange 

 of opinion and a comparing of experience 

 that bad methods can be rooted out and good 

 ones established. 



Of all the theories extant upon this sub- 

 ject, it may be said of the majority of them, 

 they are more plausible than practical. We 

 take the position that natural swarming is 

 the safest and best for bee-keepers in gen- 

 eral, and should be recommended to begin- 

 ners ; while the specialist, who by long 

 study and close observation has made him- 

 self thoroughly acquainted with the internal 

 economy of the hive and with the principles 

 that control the bees in the most of, if not 

 all of their actions (and to whom no advice is 

 necessary), will decide for himself as to 

 what system to adopt. Yet even the special- 

 ist, if he desires honey instead of increase, 

 will find natural swarming, if properly con- 

 trolled, to yield the best results. If he de- 

 sires increase instead of honey, he will find 

 a judicious system of artificial swarming to 

 be the most satisfactory. We will now con- 

 sider some of the advantages of natural 

 swarming, compared with artificial methods. 



