method of queen rearing. He said that 

 in rearing queens careful selection 

 should be the breeder's greatest con- 

 cern. He considered the cheap queens 

 now offered for sale as detrimental to 

 the industry. 



He was followed by Messrs. Lewis, 

 Coles, Blackburn and Perry, whose re- 

 marks entirely agreed with his. 



The question was asked, " which were 

 the best Italians, light or dark ?" 



Mr. Harper preferred the light, be- 

 cause of their docility : Prof. Cook and 

 others preferred the dark. 



The President then announced that 

 the question-drawer would be opened, 

 and appointed Prof. Cook, Mr. Baker, 

 Mr. B. Salisbury, Mr. Harper and Mr. 

 Smith, to answer the questions. 



While the questions were being pre- 

 pared, time was given to examine the 

 exhibits of apiarian supplies. 



President Ashworth had a consign- 

 ment of section honey boxes, etc., from 

 Lewis & Parks. Mr. C. B. Smith, a hive 

 and sections. Mr. Wood, of the firm of 

 Norman & Wood, a chaff hive. Mr. 

 Perry had comb foundation, sections, 

 feeders, etc. 



The question-drawer was opened, and 

 the many inquiries it contained showed 

 that great interest was taken by those 

 present. The following were a few of 

 the most prominent ones : 



Ques. — " What is the opinion concern- 

 ing grape sugar for feeding ?" Ans. , by 

 Prof. Cook, I am utterly opposed to it. 



Ques. — " What is a living price for 

 extracted honey V' Ans., by C. B. 

 Smith, 15c. 



Ques.—" Which is the best for fall 

 feeding, honey or sugar?" Ans., by 

 Prof. Cook, Sugar. 



Ques. — " What is the evidence of foul 

 brood?" Ans., by Prof. Cook, A very 

 offensive stench. 



C. B. Smith moved that the President 

 publish his experience with grape su- 

 gar. Declared optional with the Presi- 

 dent. 



Mr. Blackburn stated that he had suc- 

 cessfully fed grape sugar for spring 

 feeding. 



Mr. Fishel stated that he had fed the 

 same, much to the injury of his bees. 



Prof. Cook read an essay entitled 

 " A Curious Discovery in Natural His- 

 tory." 



After some further discussion, Mr. L. 

 B. Baker offered the following resolu- 

 tion, which was unanimously adopted : 



Besolved, That it is the sense of this 

 convention that 15c a lb. is a fair price 

 for fine comb honey in good marketa- 

 ble shape, and that we will retain the 

 products of our industry until such may 

 be obtained. 



The convention then adjourned to 

 meet again in the Pioneers' Boom of 

 the Capitol building in Lansing, on Oct. 

 7, 1880. George L. Perry, Sec. . 



Read before the Indiana Convention. 



Untested Queens. 



A. G. HILL. 



This term signifies a laying queen, 

 shipped with guarantee of safe arrival, 

 but no warrant is given to insure the 

 purity of her brood. She must in all 

 cases be reared from the brood of a 

 queen of undoubted purity. From the 

 time of the first importations of queens 

 from Italy to this country, producers 

 have placed on the market queens of 

 this character ; so the subject is not a 

 new one, although it has recently been 

 quite generally treated upon. Much of 

 the sentiment against this class of 

 queens has perhaps arisen from preju- 

 dice, and just because some one has 

 chosen to speak against them. It is the 

 case among men of honesty, that just 

 as good stcrck is employed in rearing 

 queens which are sola before their qual- 

 ity is ascertained, as is used in breeding 

 the tested queen, and often they are 

 progeny of the same colony. 



That no one can rear queens and sell 

 them at $1 each (the prevailing price) 

 at a profit to himself, has been stated. 

 To verify this statement a few cases of 

 repeated failure have been cited ; but 

 how do these failures compare wit li 

 those of the honey producers, which 

 have been so universal ? The queen 

 breeder of 1879 reaped a good harvest. 

 The heavy losses of bees and the anx- 

 iety of the unfortunate to increase, 

 have made a ready sale for all the queens* 

 that were reared. 



It is urged that those who sell queens 

 cheaply must necessarily rear them 

 cheaply, and therefore produce an infe- 

 rior stock. An experience of 15 years 

 in this branch of apiculture has not 

 yet enabled me to discover a cheap 

 method by which to rear queens. The 

 dollar queen of to-day is brought about 

 in the same manner as the $10 queens 

 of as many years ago. 



You may say of the producers, that 

 they use small nuclei, employing a less 

 amount of bees, and thus reducing the 

 expense; but the small nucleus was not 

 abandoned because of the inferior qual- 

 ity of the queens bred therein, but on 

 account of the liability of the bees to 

 abscond and the amount of attention 

 required to keep them in fitness. •''No 

 one ever found fault with Quinby's 

 queens, reared in boxes, containing 3 

 or 4 frames, 5x6 inches square. Instances 



