sugar-making till the wind changed to 

 a more favorable direction. 



Mr. Board man, Ohio, has had a little 

 experience with spider plant and fig- 

 wort. He does not think much of the 

 former, as the flow of honey is not con- 

 tinuous during the day, and after the 

 early morning hours the bees do not 

 work on it ; but with figwort the case is 

 different, and the bees visit it at all 

 hours of the day. lie thinks it will pay 

 bee-keepers to cultivate it. 



A. I. Root, Ohio, is satisfied cultiva- 

 tion does much in developing any honey 

 plant, and will greatly increase the 

 quantity of nectar. 



S. T. Pettit, Ontario, called attention 

 to the hawthorn or thornapple of this 

 country. Its time of bloom was very 

 opportune for the bees, and its nectar 

 so easily obtained and so fragrant that 

 bees would fly a long distance to work 

 on it. Where a hawthorn bush was in 

 bloom, vast numbers of bees could al- 

 ways be found. 



D. A. Jones, Ontario, was called up 

 to give his views regarding over-stock- 

 ing. He thinks it very difficult to over- 

 stock any good location with bees. He 

 has 300 colonies in his home apiary, and 

 at another locality but a few colonies, 

 entirely out of range from any other 

 bees. This latter bee range is quite as 

 desirable as the former, and the bees 

 equally as good and strong, yet they 

 store no more honey per colony. He 

 has visited many apiaries in the East 

 with 1,000 to 1,200 colonies in one place, 

 and that, too, where appearances indi- 

 cated that 6 or Smiles afforded no more 

 nor better pasturage than 2 or 3 miles 

 would in America. He is satisfied that 

 over-stocking is an imaginary evil, and 

 one of the improbabilities in a good lo- 

 cality for bees. 



Adjourned till 7 p. m. 



EVENING SESSION. 



President Newman invited Vice Pres- 

 ident Dr. J. P. II. Brown to the chair, 

 and gave the following address on the 



Improved Kace of Bees. 



To obtain the best results we must possess 

 the highest grade of bees that it is possible 

 to obtain. Our object being to elevate the 

 race, there must be no backward steps ; no 

 deterioration should be countenanced ; no 

 thoughtless or hasty work must be allowed 

 —but after carefully weighing the matter 

 the most thorough and rigid treatment 

 should be employed, all looking to the ad- 

 vancement of the* art and science of repro- 

 duction, and the building, up of a strain of 

 bees that will give the very best of results. 



In developing the highest strain of 

 horses, not all their offspring are equal to 

 the best ; careful selection of those coming 

 the nearest to the ideal animal must always 

 be clusen, from which to breed, and the 



closest sending is necessary while making 

 that selection. The same is true of cattle, 

 sheep, hogs, poultry, and bees. "Sports'* 

 and "variations" continually occur, pro- 

 ducing inferior progeny ; but all careful 

 breeders who have an eye to the improve- 

 ment of the race will reject those that do 

 not come up to the "standard of excellence;" 

 sending such animals and poultry to the 

 shambles— so let us carefully select the best 

 queens and drones to breed from, and re- 

 morselessly sacrifice all others. 



Five points are essential to govern the 

 selection : they must be prolific, industri- 

 ous, docile, hardy, and beautiful in ap- 

 pearance. 



The queen must be prolific, to be able to 

 keep the hive full of bees, to gather the 

 honey harvest when it conies ; the bees 

 must be industrious to let nothing escape 

 their vigorous search, while gathering the 

 sweet nectar ; they must be docile to allow 

 the apiarist to manipulate them with ease 

 and pleasure ; they must be strong and 

 hardy, to withstand the rapid changes in 

 climate ; and must be of singular beauty, to 

 attract the admiration of the fancier of line 

 stock. 



" The bee of the future" will be present 

 at the very moment when the slumbering 

 flower, under the penetrating dew, awakes 

 to consciousness, and unfolds its buds to 

 take in the first rays of the morning sun. 

 The ideal bee will dip into that tiny foun- 

 tain, which distils the honey drop by drop, 

 and bear off its honeyed treasure to its 

 waxen cells of virgin comb. 



Much has been written and spoken about 

 queens duplicating themselves— but what 

 we want is progression, not duplication ! 

 We want to breed up— good, better, best- 

 not simply to hold what we have, but to 

 improve the race. Mr. Langstroth struck the 

 key-note when he said : " We want the 

 best race of bees, or the best cross in the 

 world." It is yet an open question as to 

 what part will be taken by the Asiatic 

 races in producing "the coming bee." A 

 "cross" in this direction, and breeding in 

 or out the distinctive features and propensi- 

 ties, may possibly, be "the next progressive 

 step." But of one thing I am certain, how- 

 ever, "the bee of the future" will be the 

 one that will gather the most honey, be the 

 most prolific, and, at the same tune, the 

 most docile, hardy and industrious ; and 

 when produced, whatever may be its color 

 or markings its name will be Apis 

 Americana .' 



D. A. Jones. Ontario, moved a vote 

 of thanks be tendered Mr. Newman for 

 the able address. Carried unanimously. 



Rev. L. Johnson, Kentucky, would 

 like the question fully discussed as to 

 the superiority of bees. Since he be- 

 came enthused in the occupation of bee- 

 keeping, he has been unable to pass a 

 hive of bees without observing all the 

 characteristics connected with it. He 

 thought the Italian bee a great advance 

 on the old-time black bee, and doubted 

 not they were capable of still greater 

 improvement. He thought all would 



