stretched from one side of the case to the 

 other. On the foundation the bees had 

 built brood cells, the queen had laid eggs in 

 them, and a great many of the cells were 

 capped. By an arrangement at the bottom 

 of the case feed could be introduced. 



A. "Vase of Honey. 



D. H. Lintner showed a glass vase nearly 

 a foot in height and 6 or 8 inches in diame- 

 ter, the inside of which the bees had com- 

 pletely filled with honey. The vase pre- 

 sented a novel and very pretty appearance. 

 Mr. Lintner said that he placed a small 

 piece of comb foundation on the inner sur- 

 face at the top of the vase. He placed the 

 vase on a wooden bottom, with an opening 

 in it for the bees to enter or leave at their 

 pleasure ; he introduced the bees, covered 

 the vase with a wooden box, and let the bees 

 do the rest of the work. They commenced 

 building comb on the foundation he had fur- 

 nished, commencing at the top and building 

 a comb of the usual thickness from the top 

 to the bottom, conforming the two ends of 

 it with mathematical precision to the shape 

 of the vase, harely leaving room for them- 

 selves to pass from one side of the comb to 

 the other. The center comb being finished 

 and filled with honey, the industrious little 

 architects went to work and built additional 

 combs on each side of the center one, the 

 inner surface of these being parallel with 

 the surface of the center one, and the outer 

 surfaces being nicely conformed to the shape 

 of the vase. These too were filled with 

 honey and capped. The vase was quite a 

 curiosity and much admired. 



Honey for Shipment. 



I. G. Martin exhibited a jar of pure ex- 

 tracted honey, and also a shipping crate 

 containing 12 2-lb. boxes of comb honey 

 which was very fine. Mr. Martin explained 

 his plan of putting the bees to work. Each 

 of his hives contain 21 2-lb. frames, in each 

 of which he placed a small piece ot comb 

 foundation. As fastas the frames are filled 

 with honey, he removes them, replacing 

 with empty ones. 



J. F. Hershey also exhibited a somewhat 

 similar shipping crate, containing 25 1-1 b. 

 boxes. He said he could sell 1-lb. boxes 

 more readily than larger ones. His boxes 

 are 5x3% inches, outside measure. Unless 

 he has natural comb, he places a little comb 

 foundation in each box before he sets the 

 bees to work. 



How Bees Are Shipped. 



Mr. Hershey also showed 2 dozen cages, 

 each containing an Italian queen and (i or 8 

 workers. The cages are simply wooden 

 blocks, with holes bored in them 1J^ inches 

 in diameter, the top being covered with a 

 wire screen. Iu this way they are easily 

 shipped by express. 



Are Bees Injurious to Crops ? 



The following essay was read by D. H. 

 Lintner : 



"Some people will contend that bees ai - e 

 injurious to crops. Now, instead of bees 

 being injurious to crops, I shall prove to 

 you that they are an advantage. First, the 

 stamen and pistils of flowers answer the 



different organs of the sexes— that is, male 

 and female. The stamen is the male, which 

 furnishes the pollen ; the pistil is the fe- 

 male, which must be impregnated by this 

 dust or pollen from the stamen, or no fruit 

 will be produced. Now, as we all know 

 that the breeding in and in of animals is det- 

 rimental, so it is in the vegetable kingdom. 

 The pollen from one flower always falling 

 on the pistil of its own flower would deter- 

 iorate. Thus it becomes necessary that the 

 pollen produced by the stamen of one flower 

 shall fertilize the pistil of another to pre- 

 vent barrenness. This is fully accomplished 

 by the bees traveling from flower to flower 

 and carrying the pollen sticking to their 

 legs and wings, to the next flower, and im- 

 pregnating the pistil of it. If all the bees 

 were to be destroyed, I for one, if a farmer, 

 would prefer to go into some other busi- 

 ness. This prejudice against bees seems to 

 me to have no foundation, and 1 hope that 

 the day is dawning when it will be done 

 away with." 



Mr. Fleckenstein indorsed the essay, and 

 in confirmation of the opinion that bees will 

 not cut whole grapes, he stated that in some 

 way a number of bunches of grapes on his 

 vines had become broken, and hundreds of 

 bees were soon swarming around them. He 

 removed all the broken grapes, leaving the 

 sound ones on the vines. In 15 minutes 

 every bee had left. 



On motion, the society adjourned to meet 

 on the second Monday of November. 



Texas Bee-Keepers' Association. 



The Texas Bee-Keepers' Association held 

 their first annual convention in Greenville, 

 Hunt Co., Texas, July 12, 1879. 



The Convention was called to order by 

 the President. The President's address 

 was short but interesting. He was well 

 pleased with the progress of the Associa- 

 tion, and the increased interest manifested 

 in bee-culture since the organization of the 

 society. He impressed the Association 

 with courage to carry on the good work 

 begun. Twelve months ago the first con- 

 vention was called together, through the 

 efforts of three or four working bee-men in 

 Hunt county and the President himself. 

 The meeting was a success beyond their 

 utmost expectations, and resulted in the 

 organization of the Texas Bee-Keepers' 

 Association at this place. Since that time 

 it has increased in interest, and many live 

 and active members have been added to its 

 ranks. He called attention to our represen- 

 tation in the National Convention, to be 

 held in Chicago next October, on which he 

 spoke witli much interest. He viewed the 

 present year as a failure in the honey yield, 

 caused by the extreme drouth, which so 

 depopulated the colonies that we could not 

 expect more than to save our bees through 

 the winter ; and even this should not dis- 

 courage us, as every year was not like this, 

 nor was any pursuit a success every year. 

 Agriculture and horticulture, like apicul- 

 ture, have their seasons of short crops, as 

 well as their seasons of abundance. 



After the President closed, the officers for 

 the ensuing year were elected as follows : 



