and look at the results, do we not find 

 a plain lesson before us V Is it not 

 clearly demonstrated that even here in 

 the latitude of Kentucky our- bees must 

 have proper protection in cold, rigid, 

 zero spells of weather, that often sweep 

 over us ? We give protection to our 

 stock and to ourselves, but we let our 

 bees winter without any. Our horses 

 and cattle may rough it through, but 

 they will come out in bad condition. 

 Our bees may rough it through (I speak 

 of severe winters), but they will come 

 out in poor condition for service in the 

 spring. The very mildness of our cli- 

 mate unfits us to guard against the zero 

 weeks that occasionally come down 

 upon us. It is hardly reasonable to ex- 

 pect bees to go through 4 or 5 weeks of 

 zero weather in a box of % inch boards, 

 and come out all right in the spring. 

 The food in the cluster becomes ex- 

 hausted, and, if the cluster is broken 

 to bring in a fresh supply, it cannot 

 again unite itself, and of course the 

 bees must perish with plenty of honey 

 around them. 



The opinion is held here in Kentucky 

 and elsewhere that bees sleep through 

 the winter, and the colder the winter 

 the better for the bees. This is a mis- 

 take. They eat, digest and live just as 

 cattle do, and the colder the weather 

 the more food they will consume in or- 

 der to keep up a proper degree of 

 warmth. 



You will understand me that the or- 

 dinary mild winters of Kentucky re- 

 quire no special care, but the long, cold 

 spell of 3 to 5 weeks must be bridged 

 over by painstaking of some kind or 

 other. Each may have his own method 

 in giving it, but protection they must 

 have. This, together with proper feed- 

 ing, will bring them out of winter quar- 

 ters in splendid condition to " improve 

 the shining hours." By proper feeding, 

 we do not mean feeding by the spoon- 

 ful, but with a liberal hand. Give them, 

 especially in March, not less than 10 lbs. 

 of honey or good sugar syrup. This will 

 put them in good cheer. They will go 

 to raising brood, and when the spring 

 opens you will have ;i hive full of young 

 bees ready for work. 



The honey or syrup you feed them 

 will not be lost. They will pay it back 

 with interest. They are close calula- 

 tors; they never raise much brood with- 

 out much honey ; they seem to measure 

 the honey and raise brood in proportion. 

 They may be raising brood rapidly in 

 April from the yield of honey in the 

 flowers, and if it "is suddenly cut off by 

 a cold snap, and no resources of supply 

 left them, in order to save their own 

 lives and perpetuate the colony, they 



will take the brood out of the cells and 

 drag it out of the hive, and thus bridge 

 over the interval of bloom. This may 

 be simply nature's law of self preser- 

 vation, but we cannot but admire the 

 instinct, if not intelligence, which God 

 has given them. I have said this much 

 of wintering and springing bees, be- 

 cause I regard it as the key to success- 

 ful bee-keeping. Strong colonies alone 

 give a heavy yield of honey. 



Of course much depends upon a good 

 . strain of bees. It is now well under- 

 stood there are Italians which are poor 

 workers, and there are Italians which 

 I are superior workers. It is our work to 

 cultivate and develop a superior strain 

 of bees, by raising queens from such as 

 give the best results. The superiority 

 of some colonies over others is seen in 

 almost every bee-yard, with the same 

 conditions, so far as we can see, attend- 

 ing them — not only for 1 year, but until 

 the queen becomes too old for service. 

 The course of the bee-keeper is here 

 clearly marked out. Raise queens from 

 the best, and let poor ones go ; keep the 

 fittest, and weed out the poorest. * 



Eminent bee-keepers all over the 

 country are already taking steps in this 

 direction. The natural law of selection 

 by a " survival of the fittest," is too 

 slow a process in this fast age of ours. 

 We want the work of many years com- 

 pressed into a few, that w r e may reap 

 the advantages, and see the footprints 

 of our going. 



I am gratified to believe that the in- 

 terest in bee-keeping here in Kentucky 

 is on the increase; that hundreds are 

 going into it, while but few are fall- 

 ing out. It is too late to be called a 

 failure. The science and the interest 

 and success attending it have made it a 

 source of wealth in our land. In the 

 North, East and West, many are mak- 

 ing it a special interest, through which 

 they obtain a living; and then again 

 here and there are many, in connection 

 with other pursuits, keeping bees intel- 

 ligently, and reaping a rich reward of 

 pleasure and profit. 



God seems to have intended the flow- 

 ers for every one, for he has made them 

 to bloom in every latitude, and bees to 

 live in every climate. The beautiful 

 Ligurians swarm among the flowers of 

 our laud as much at home as in their 

 own native Alps. And he who does not 

 provide for and accept that which is 

 given him, denies himself one of the 

 pleasures, blessings and privileges of 

 life. I thank you, gentlemen, for the 

 courtesy and kindness you have shown 

 me as your presiding officer. My best 

 wishes are for the continued prosperity 

 of the Society." 



