S. T. Pettit, Ontario, said he lias no 

 trouble keeping the combs free from 

 moths. He places them in close, tight 

 hives, piled above each other, with a 

 newspaper placed between to keep all 

 close. By this method they are never 

 troubled with moths. 



H. R. Boardman, Ohio, thought comb 

 foundation was a very important sub- 

 ject. Last season he had about 600 

 combs built out from foundation, and 

 there was neither warping nor sagging 

 observable. He used no wires, but, in- 

 stead, a cross-piece from end to end of 

 the frame, then put in the foundation 

 in two strips ; this method virtually 

 makes two combs in each frame ; the 

 bottom of the upper comb leaving pass- 

 age-ways over the cross-piece to each 

 side of the comb. He uses the best 

 yellow wax. 



D. A. Jones, Ontario, recommended 

 foundation running \ x / 2 t° 5 feet per lb. 

 He uses a Dunham machine, is well sat- 

 isfied with it, and thinks there is none 

 better. 



C. H. Deane, Kentucky, has had no 

 trouble preserving old combs, and for 

 use in extracting thinks they are pref- 

 erable to new combs built from founda- 

 tion, as they are not so liable to injury 

 in handling. He could indorse all that 

 had been said in favor of the Dunham 

 foundation and machine. 



Mr. Boardman thought 4J3 to 5 feet 

 per pound the most economical weight 

 for use in the brood chamber. 



The following was then read on 



Permanence of B«?e-Keei»ing Industry. 



All great achievements, whether in 

 science or art, if traced hack in their his- 

 tory, will be found to have sprung from 

 small beginnings, and the perfected article 

 is usually the results of the contributions of 

 many minds. The wine and silk interests of 

 this country are familiar examples. 



In considering the stability of any in- 

 dustry it seems proper to give a brief out- 

 line of its rise, progress, present status, and 

 its claims on the community for perpetuity. 

 It is within the easy recolle'ction'of most of 

 us here assembled, when boxes and log 

 gums were the only homes provided for 

 the industrious little bee and each year, as 

 cold weather approached, a sufficiently 

 number paid the penalty for their industry 

 with their lives in order to provide their 

 keepers' table till the next year should 

 bring a fresh supply. There were very few 

 consumers of honey outside of its pro- 

 ducers—and indeed the product of the hive 

 being usually a conglomeration of bee- 

 bread, brood and cocoons, mixed up with 

 many varieties of honey, was not very 

 tempting to sensative palates. The little 

 which was secured in fair order had to be 

 sold at such prices that it was regarded as a 

 luxury to be indulged in only by the rich, or 

 by the apothecary for medicinal purposes. 



With the rude appliances then in use, no 



progress was made nor was it possible, and 

 he who should at that time have proposed 

 bee-keeping as a means of gaining a liveli- 

 hood for himself and family, would justly 

 have been regarded as a first-class subject 

 for a lunatic asylum. As for a system of 

 bee-keeping, there was none, but each fol- 

 lowed his own inclination, deriving his 

 notions of managment from the accumu- 

 lated verbiage of tradition. 



Superstitions the most foolish were held, 

 and practices the most unreasonable pre- 

 vailed. Hardly a fact relating to the natu- 

 ral history, anatomy and physiology of the 

 bee had been correctly stated. Some re- 

 garded the drones as females and the 

 mothers of all the rest, while others re- 

 garded them as water carriers, and still 

 others as a kind of police to defend the 

 stores through the working season. The 

 workers were regarded by some as males — 

 others as females — others without sex, and 

 still others as about equally divided in this 

 regard. There was substantial agreement 

 in but one thing, viz : that there was one 

 king who ruled the whole hive with abso- 

 lute sway, directing all its movements, and 

 without whose presence work would at once 

 cease. The combs were supposed to be 

 made from the gum of trees and perhaps 

 mixed with the pollen of flowers. The 

 same absurd notions, with a few honorable 

 exceptions, were embraced in all that re- 

 lated to this subject. Such assumed premi- 

 ses, as a correct theory carried into practice 

 would necessarily produce just such results 

 as we have enumerated. 



This state of things, although in the near 

 past, may be well denominated the " Dark 

 Ages" of bee-culture in America, but as all 

 dark nights have their mornings, so in this 

 case, a bright sun at length loomed above 

 the horizon in the person of Rev. L. L. 

 Langstroth, proclaiming that the night of 

 superstition had ended and the morning of 

 improvement had dawned. The hive and 

 the book which he brought out at this early 

 day contained a correct basis for all future 

 improvements, and in connection with other 

 eminent services to the cause of bee-cul- 

 ture, have rendered his name dear to every 

 lover of the honey bee, and will be held in 

 sweet remembrance long after he shall be 

 gathered to his fathers. Yes, they will 

 form a monument more enduring than the 

 marble which will mark his last resting 

 place. 



The foundation once laid, enterprising 

 and progressive minds were not slow in 

 building thereon. Rock has been laid upon 

 rock and stone added to stone until the 

 structure has assumed enormous propor- 

 tions and with no adverse, influences, the 

 "cap stone" will ere long be brought with 

 shouting of "grace, grace unto it." The 

 past thirty years have added more valuable 

 information in regard to a correct practice 

 based on the true theory of bee-keeping, and 

 have added a greater number of useful im- 

 plements than 5,000 years which preceeded 

 this period. 



The advent of the movable frame hive in 

 America marks the beginning of this won- 

 derful era. The honey extractor soon fol- 

 lowing, swelled the tide immensely. The 

 invention and successful use of comb foun- 



