415 



advertising. Never will such a course be 

 approved by sensible bee-keepers, who will 

 turn the cold shoulder to this editor. 



To sum up our report, we desire that a 

 new committee be appointed to follow the 

 move already in progress, to extend it to 

 every kind of adulteration in food and med- 

 icine, till the object in view be reached. All 

 of which is respectfully submitted. 



Chables Dadant, Chairman. 



Hamilton, 111., May 7, 1879. 



The report was received and the commit- 

 tee continued. Chas. Dadant & Son re- 

 fused to receive any pay for their services. 



Drawing of Prizes. 



Quite a number of valuable prizes were 

 given away to the members present, con- 

 sisting of full colony of bees with imported 

 queen, tested queens, comb foundation, 

 cash, plants, eggs, books, etc. 



Best Method of Raising Italian Queens. 



C. P. Dadant. Our plan is, in the spring 

 divide a strong colony of bees, take the 

 queen away with the smaller quantity of 

 old bees, put in a new hive on the old stand 

 with a part of the combs. Make 2-comb 

 nuclei. In 9 or 10 days introduce queen 

 cells to these nuclei. Raise queen cells in 

 strong colonies ; we think queens raised in 

 small colonies of less value. The first 

 queens hatched are undoubtedly the best. 

 Put drone comb in strong pure colonies 

 early and stimulate to cause the queen to lay. 



Chas. Whitlock. I buy black bees in the 

 spring if 1 can ; take the bees all out, kill 

 the queen, take some combs out of pure 

 Italian colonies and put in with the black 

 bees ; they will go to work and raise queen 

 cells. In 10 days look the combs over ; will 

 find queen cells. I make my nuclei 2 days 

 before I look for cells. Select good long 

 cells ; rough ones the best. The number of 

 cells varies according to the season. 



D. D. Palmer. It is easy to get an almost 

 unlimited number of queen cells ; cut off 1 

 or 2 inches from the bottom of the comb, 

 and you will get plenty of cells. 



E. D. Godfrey. I use new comb, strong 

 colonies, take the queen away, cut combs to 

 leave in strips, get a large amount of cells. 

 Feed all the honey they will eat ; cells will 

 be large and good. 



L. H. Scudder. Have any discovered any 

 difference in queens raised from eggs or 

 larvae ? 



N. Grigsby. I have queens hatched in 10 

 clays, also 16 days ; the oldest queens are 

 always the best with me. 



E. D. Godfrey. You must feed colonies 

 when raising queen cells, unless honey is 

 coming in in great plenty, or you will not 

 get good cells. 



Chas. Whitlock. I have a similar experi- 

 ence to Mr. Grigsby. 



AFTERNOON SESSION. 



"Why Do Bees Swarm Ont in Spring ? 



C. P. Dadant. I don't think any one ever 

 saw full strong colonies leave, always the 

 light ones ; sometimes caused by lack of 

 pollen. We have kept them at home bv 

 giving combs of pollen. Another cause is 

 dampness in the hive ; also bad honey. 



There are numerous causes. It comes of- 

 tener after a hard winter. I think they 

 always have a queen at such a time. When 

 they leave in the fall I think it is caused by 

 weakness and probably too much honey, 

 which is colder than partly empty combs. 



D. D. Palmer. There is very little of this 

 among the practical bee-keepers ; it is 

 among the beginners mostly. 



Chas. Whitlock. I agree with Mr. Da- 

 dant as to cause and size of swarms. Rob- 

 bers get to work and the swarm goes with 

 them. 



The ladies of Hamilton and vicinity ex- 

 erted themselves so energetically in the 

 provision line, that a large basket picnic 

 dinner was served both days in the Masonic 

 Hall kitchen, so that members present need 

 not go home for dinner. Over 60 the first 

 day and more than 90 the second day sat 

 down to the bountifully filled tables and did 

 ample justice to the feast of good things set 

 before them. Resolutions of thanks were 

 passed to the ladies for their labors and din- 

 ners, the mayor and council for the use of 

 their hail, the citizens of Hamilton and 

 vicinity for providing homes for visitors, 

 the band for their excellent music, the local 

 bee-keepers who labored to make the meet- 

 ing so complete a success, the local and 

 other newspapers for their kind notices of 

 the call, and the orators who came from a 

 distance to talk to us. 



The Society presented the Secretary with 

 a bound volume of Cook's " Manual of the 

 Apiary." Messrs. Paul Lange and George 

 Bischoff were appointed a Committee of Ar- 

 rangements for the next meeting. 



Adjourned to meet at Burlington, Iowa. 

 Time of meeting being left to the Executive 

 Committee. L. H. Scuddeb, Pres. 



Will, M. Kellogg, Sec. 



Lancaster County, Pa. 



The quarterly meeting of the Lancaster 

 County Bee-Keepers' Society was held Mon- 

 day, Aug. 11th, 1879. The Secretary being 

 absent, J. M. Johnston was chosen Secre- 

 tary pro tern. 



Importance of the Honey Crop. 



On taking the chair, President Reist made 

 a brief statement, showing the importance 

 of the honey interest in the United States. 

 He said that careful statisticians placed the 

 annual value of the honey crop at $8,800,000 

 and the annual value of the wax at $6,000,- 

 000, making a total of $14,800,000. The 

 money value of the honey exported amounts 

 annually to $1,200,000 and the export of wax 

 amounts to 701,000 lbs. At the late English 

 Honey Show the United States were credited 

 with showing the best product. It was 

 estimated that there were 35,000 bee-keepers 

 in the United States and that the product 

 was 35,000,000 lbs. of honey— an average of 

 1,000 lbs. each. 



Beport of the r.ocal Honey Crop. 



President Reist added that his own bees 

 had increased about 75 per cent, during the 

 past season— all by natural swarms. One 

 of his colonies that had no queen had been 

 robbed; another was attacked, but was 



