1873.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



101 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Kansas State Beekeeper's Association. 



The annual meeting of this association was 

 held at Topeka, on the 24th and 25th of Sep- 

 tember, during the State Fair. 



The President being absent, the association 

 was called to order by the Secretary, N. Cam- 

 eron, and on motion Hon. M. A. O'Neill was 

 elected temporary President. 



The Secretary then read a portion of the 

 proceedings of the last two meetings of the 

 association, showing that the time of the an- 

 nual meeting had been changed from January 

 to the time of the State Fair. He also stated 

 that the former Secretary had never turned 

 over to him the constitution of the association, 

 and he had left the country, so that we were 

 without a constitution. 



On motion the following committee were 

 appointed to draft a constitution, to be sub- 

 mitted at the next session : Judge Guthrie, G. 

 F. Merriam and N. Cameron. 



An essay was then read by the Secretary, en- 

 titled "A Few Facts al)out Bees," after which 

 there was an animated discussion on the topics 

 suggested by the essay. 



Mr. Meador objected to the use of the word 

 fertilization, as often used by apiculturists to 

 express the copulation of the queen and drone ; 

 he stating that queens were fertile without 

 meeting the male bee, and that many workers 

 were also fertile that never had connection 

 with the drone; he claiming that they were 

 fertilized by the food they received, and were 

 capable of laying eggs that would produce a 

 progeny, which, however, would be all males 

 without impregnation, after which all the eggs 

 produce females: and that the male bees were 

 generally produced by eggs from the worker 

 bee that was fed for the purpose. 



Mr. O. Badders gave us the result of an ex- 

 periment which may lead to a new discovery 

 of no small importance. He removed a dozen 

 or more eggs from worker cells to drone cells, 

 and at the same time removed the queen from 

 the hive, and all the eggs thus removed hatch- 

 ed perfect drones as far as the eye could detect. 

 No other solution could be given to this -exper- 

 iment than that the bees removed the sperma- 

 tozoa that changes their character from male to 

 female, after they had been placed in the drone 

 cells. If this should prove true, on further 

 experiment and investigation, it will be a dis- 

 covery in apicultural science. 



Mr. Stiles wanted to know if there was more 

 than one kind of drones, as he understood that 

 drones were produced by fertile woskers and 

 the queen. 



He was answered that drones were all alike 

 perfect drones, however produced. 



A question was then proposed, whether wax 

 could be fed to bees so as to have them use it 

 in building comb ? 



Mr. Badders had fed wax (according to the 

 Adair tlieory) melted and worked in honey, so 

 that the wax would be in minute particles, and 

 his bees built comb very rapidly from it. 



Mr. Meador thought there was little gain 

 from feeding wax. They would use the honey 

 mixed with it and build some comb, but most 

 of the wax they would carry out of the hive. 



A question was then asked, why a queen was 

 diflferent from the worker bee? Some claimed 

 that it was on account of the worker cell be- 

 ing too small to allow the development of a 

 perfect female. Others thought it was more 

 owing to the food in quality and amount. An 

 instance was given where small and worthless 

 queens were produced in queen cells, on ac- 

 count of a scant supply of food ; and that it 

 required both the larger cell to admit of per- 

 fect development, and the proper food, in qual- 

 ity and amount, to produce it. 



Mr. Meador proposed the following question 

 for discussion to-morrow evening : Why does 

 Apiculture attract so little attention as a 

 branch of husbandry ? which was accepted by 

 consent. 



H. Cameron oflEered the following resolution, 

 which was adopted : 



Resolved, That a committee of three be ap- 

 pointed, whose duty it shall be to press upon 

 the State Board of Agriculture the importance 

 of encouraging Apiculture by more liberal 

 awards. 



Gen. H. Cameron, Dr. L. J. Dallas and G. F. 

 Merriam were appointed said committee. 



SECOND SESSION. 



Wednesday Evening — Hon. M. A. O'Neil in. 

 the chair. 



The committee on constitution not being 

 ready to report, the President read a very in- 

 teresting paper on Bee Culture ; after which 

 the committee on constitution reported, which 

 report was amended and adopted. 



The following names were received as mem- 

 bers of the association : 



Noah Cameron, G. F. Merriam, Hugh Cam- 

 eron. R. C. Callihan, O. Badders, D. E. Bow- 

 man, H. A. Stiles, J. V. Randolph, James D. 

 Meador, J. M. Miller, James H. Pheanis, G. W. 

 Skinner, S. M. Weymoth, W. H. Weymoth, S. 

 J. Miller, C. W. Stokes, E. D. Van Winkle, M. 

 A. O'Neil, P. J. Farr. 



The following officers were then elected to 

 serve one year : 



President— Hon. M. A. O'Neil, of Black Jack. 



Vice President — Capt. James D. Meador, of 

 Independence, Mo. 



Secretary — N. Cameron, of Lawrence. 



Corresponding Secretary — O. Badders, of 

 Leavenworth. 



Mr. Meador offered the following resolution : 



Resolved, That we regard the action of the 

 Postmaster General in ruling that bees are not 

 mailable matter, as an unlawful interference 

 with our rights. 



