him that I should have peaches. He said 

 time would tell and sure enough it did, for 

 I never had a more abundant crop of 



feaches and he did not raise a single peach, 

 believe he became satisfied that bees were 

 no detriment to peaches, especially in bloom- 

 ing time. 



I thank you for the honor you have con- 

 ferred upon me and beg indulgence for such 

 errors as 1 shall doubtless commit. Let us 

 now proceed to business. 



REPORTS. 



J. M. Slocum does not keep bees, hut 

 raises small fruits quite extensively. Last 

 year he was peculiarly unfortunate, getting 

 only small yields of almost everything on 

 which he relied for the support of his fam- 

 ily; and it was absolutely impossible for 

 him to market a single peach of the earliest 

 varieties, in consequence of ravages of the 

 honey bees. Frequently from 15 to 25 bees 

 would gather on a single peach; in short 

 they destroyed his crop. As soon, however, 

 as his grapes began to ripen, the bees left 

 the peaches for the grapes and thus gave 

 him a chance to market his late peaches, 

 while destroying his grapes. He has 800 

 grape vines and ought to have realized some- 

 thing like $200.00 for the crop, but in fact 

 was only enabled to market .ftSO.OO worth 

 last season. He feels injured and aggrieved 

 in consequence, and would like to have 

 members of this association help him out of 

 his dilemma. Being first on the ground, 

 have others the right to locate near enough 

 with their insects to destroy his revenue and 

 starve his family ? Some say that bees can- 

 not puncture the skin of fruit and only 

 work where an opening has first been made. 

 Now, we know that bees have mandibles or 

 jaws and can bite, and Mr. Hayhurst has 

 told me that they could gnaw through thick 

 muslin cloth and had done so for him ; and 

 why cannot they bite through the skin of a 

 grape or peach ? I never saw them make 

 the first puncture, but 1 have brushed them 

 off a grape when there was only a small 

 punctureand fresh juice exuding therefrom. 



W. P. Hogarty read portions of reports of 

 different conventions from pages or the 

 American Bee Journal, wherein the 

 subject of "Bees Injuring Fruit" was dis- 

 cussed, showing that the honey bee is not 

 guilty of the damages laid to its charge. He 

 also gave his own opinion to same effect. 



Win, M. Ketterick has always kept bees, 

 and for a long time nearly or quite 100 colo- 

 nies. Also raises fruit of various kinds. 

 Never knew his bees to injure any kind of 

 fruit or grapes, except last season when it 

 was very dry and there were no flowers; 

 the bees' did then work in his grapes. Has 

 different kinds of grapes, and bees worked 

 in some kinds worse than others. The kind 

 however, that his bees seemed to like best 

 was Diana ; lie found so many stung with 

 some kind of insect that they became 

 wormy and worthless. His wife could not 

 use them for pies as was her custom, by 

 reason of the worms. Did not think the 

 puncture where the bees first started to 

 work was made by the bees, but by some 

 other insect. So with the peach— never saw 

 bees harm a sound peach, if ever so ripe. 



S. W. Salisbury has several hundred 



Eeach trees and over one acre of grapes in 

 earing. Had last autumn 70 colonies of 

 bees and his neighbors nearly as many more; 

 he never saw bees in any numbers in his 

 vineyard. His grapes were not harmed by 

 bees in the least. Peaches should be picked 

 before they are mellow and then the bees 

 get left. You will then see in many cases 

 the skin broken by the blue jay, the katydid 

 or the grasshopper; not enough possibly to 

 injure the peach but enough to enable the 

 honey bee to get a start as soon as the peach 

 ripens. Cannot blame the honey bee for 

 seeking moisture and food in every conven- 

 ient location and should in fact blame it if 

 it did not. He hates loafing bees as well as 

 other loafers. He likes to see them work 

 and especially when he knows that fertili- 

 zation of fruit bloom largely depends on the 

 agency of honey bees; he would not begrudge 

 them a small share in the fruit so essentially 

 their own. 



ORDER OF BUSINESS FOR NEXT MEETING. 



1. Adulteration of honey? Disquisition 

 by Dr. C. II. Orrendorf. 



2. In what shape shall honey be put up 

 for market? Disquisition by J. Passmore. 



3. Which is the best way of increasing, 

 by natural or artificial swarming? Disqui- 

 sition by L. W. Baldwin. 



4. Are bees injurious to fruits? Disqui- 

 sition by W. P. Hogarty. 



Convention adjourned to meet at the same 

 place on the first Friday in May, 1879. 



P. Baldwin, Sec. 



®VLV %ttUv ^0*. 



Chillicothe, Mo., April 3d, 1879. 

 As soon as I can steal a moment, I will 

 write you my experience in packing bees in 

 prairie hay. Mine were in square shallow 

 hives (said to be the poorest for wintering), 

 packed as tightly as could be all over but 

 the fronts. They had but very little venti- 

 lation, and that below at the regular en- 

 trance ; and in 12 years' experiments and 

 experience, I have never before had bees 

 come through in so good condition. They 

 are all strong with bees and brood for this 

 time of year, and yet it does not appear that 

 they have consumed on an average 5 lbs. of 

 honey. This proves that bees need to be 

 kept comfortably warm, and need little or 

 no venti Nation in cold weather. I have al- 

 ways before had some weak colonies and 

 moldy combs ; this year but a single colony 

 showed any signs of dysentery. 



J. W. Greene. 



[We should be glad to have Dr. Greene 

 give "his experience," as suggested, to our 

 readers. The successful ones should be able 

 to tell us "how to do it," if any one can. 



—Ed.] 



Wenham, Mass., April 3, 1879. 

 Bees have wintered very well hereabouts. 

 We had 7 inches of snow on Monday that 

 will cool them off some. I saw bees cairy 

 in pollen on March 20th— very early for these 

 parts. H. Alley. 



