may lessen the number of colonies one- 

 half. It may be two or three years before 

 we again have such a honey crop as we had 

 last year. The European demand is becom- 

 ing greater every year. Taking these 

 things in consideration, will it not be best 

 for us to care well for our bees? Let it be the 

 care of every one to get up their honey in 

 the most desirable shape so that it will com- 

 mand the best price ; by this we will build 

 up and not tear down our markets. 



AFTERNOON SESSION. 



Convention called to order by the Presi- 

 dent ; after a few passing remarks he re- 

 quested J. F. Bean, of Montgomery, to take 

 the Chair. 



Managing Natural Swarms. 



Mr. Bagby said he was little troubled with 

 that, as he always prevented swarming as 

 much as possible ; but if they did swarm in 

 the honey season, he would put them back 

 into the old hive again and keepfhis colonies 

 full and strong until fall, when it is an easy 

 matter to divide them and make as many 

 colonies as desired. 



Mr. Dean said he had practiced Mr. Hers- 

 perger's plan, when he knew they were 

 about to swarm he took a new hive and put 

 it where the old one stands ; take a few 

 frames of brood, put it in a new hive, move 

 the old one a short distance, and the bees 

 returning will enter the new hive, feel con- 

 tented, and probably imagine they have 

 actually swarmed and go right to work. 



J. R. Williamson said when bees swarm 

 naturally it is sometimes difficult to get them 

 to stay in a new hive, particularly when the 

 scouts have previously selected and deter- 

 mined on a place to swarm to. 



Mr. Spurr, Jr., said he had been in the bee 

 business several years, and he did not think 

 or believe in the theory of bees sending out 

 scouts to select a location. 



Mr. Bagby said that he firmly believed 

 honey bees do send out scouts, and has seen 

 it demonstrated. 



J. K. Williamson said a good plan of satis- 

 fying a swarm to stay in a new hive after 

 swarming, which has proven almost infalli- 

 ble, was to take a frame of brood from an 

 old colony replacing it with frames of empty 

 comb, or comb foundation ; put the frame 

 of brood in the new hive ; the bees will 

 rarely ever leave brood. 



Artificial Swarms. 



J. R. Williamson said a very successful 

 plan is to take frames of brood from the 

 colonies that are strongest or are about to 

 swarm, replacing each with comb founda- 

 tion, introduce a young and vigorous queen 

 to each colony made, or have queen cells, 

 remove the old hives if you choose, fumi- 

 gate or smoke all colonies well during the 

 operation, and all will be well. 



Mr. Cunningham said he approved of this 

 plan, although he had not much experience 

 making artificial colonies ; generally lets his 

 bees swarm naturally, but did not believe 

 that natural swarms are best. 



Mr. Herring said he was young in the 

 business, but even in this poor season he 

 had taken 75 pounds of surplus honey from 

 one colony ; had always made and built up 

 weak colouies with comb foundation. 



553 



Are drones from fertile workers or unfertile 

 queens capable of fertilizing queens'? 



Mr. Bagby said the cage of drones I hold 

 in my hands are drones of a fertile worker, 

 and it is a remarkable fact that she had 

 chosen all the largest cells to lay in, and 

 never laid an egg in worker comb until all 

 other comb was filled. 



J. R. Williamson said he had never 

 thoroughly tested the matter whether drones 

 of a fertile worker are capable of fertilizing, 

 but it is his intention to test the matter, and 

 has no doubt of the results being satisfac- 

 tory. 



Mr. Dean said it is impossible to test the 

 matter, and rather ridiculed the whole pro- 

 position. 



The Secretary said there is nothing impos- 

 sible. Before telegraphy, steam, and hun- 

 dreds of other wonderful inventions were 

 discovered, the men that invented them 

 were hooted at as lunatics, until the grand 

 realizations were accomplished facts. We 

 are all the instruments of a Supreme Being, 

 creatures subordinate to His will, and surely 

 all will acknowledge nothing is impossible 

 with God. 



Dr. Van Antwerp said he had not the 

 least doubt but that drones of fertile work- 

 ers were capable of fertilizing a queen, and 

 would like to see the matter thoroughly 

 tested. It would require great care to 

 carry on the experiment ; it could only be 

 satisfactorily proven where other drones are 

 entirely absent. As he was told by a gentle- 

 man who keeps bees on Put-in-Bay Island, 

 (which is about three miles square) that all 

 his bees were blacks, but they had un- 

 doubtedly met some Italian drones. So that 

 fertilization in confinement would be the 

 most positive proof, and if he had control of 

 a large conservatory filled with beautiful 

 flowers, he firmly believes he would prove 

 the matter of fertilization in confinement to 

 the satisfaction of all bee-keepers. 



The Secretary said the matter under dis- 

 cussion is one of the utmost importance to 

 every intelligent apiarist in the world, and 

 the most important question that has ever 

 been submitted for consideration before 

 this Association. 



J. R. Williamson said he had under con- 

 sideration for a long time a plan of fertiliza- 

 tion of queens in confinement and had not 

 the least doubt of its accomplishment. 



Mr. Bagby said the only experience of the 

 kind he ever had, when fertilzation in con- 

 finement was accomplished, was when once 

 he had a crippled queen that could not fly, he 

 got a crippled drone and put them together, 

 the next time he went to see the queen she 

 was fertilized, and the drone dead ; he 

 thought he had struck a bonanza, and 

 crippled a lot more queens for the same 

 purpose, but his hopes were " blasted," his 

 fortune gone. 



Mr. Cunningham said he hoped Mr. W. 

 would go on with his experiments, and 

 wanted to see every encouragement extended 

 to any person who would give time, labor 

 and attention to try and discover anything 

 of so much value to the bee-keeping 

 interests. 



The best method of wintering bees'? 



Mr. Bagby said he worked or managed 



