162 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



taken to purify wax; that to secure 

 this it was necessary to keep wax in 

 a melted condition for several hours, 

 long enough indeed to allow all sedi- 

 ment to settle at the bottom. A. I. 

 Koot said he had worked up 12 or 14 

 tons of wax this season, and pursued 

 substantially this plan. He made 

 three qualities of foundation. Wax 

 from the top of the tanks was used 

 for section foundation, being the 

 whitest; the second and third quali- 

 ties being darker were sold at less 

 price for brood comb foundation. 



At the instance of Prof. Cook, it 

 was decided that the rest of the even- 

 ing be given to Rev. L. L. Langstroth 

 for a talk on old bee books. This was 

 very interesting. Beginning with 

 Aristotle, Virgil, Columella, and 

 Pliny, on each of whose knowledge of 

 bees remarks were made. The speaker 

 came down to books that appeared in 

 the days of the Stuarts and the Com- 

 monwealth, the former entitled "The 

 Monarchy of Bees, " and the latter, 

 "The Reformed Commonwealth of 

 Bees;" indicating the different politi- 

 cal circumstances of tlie times in 

 which they were written. Some ex- 

 tracts were given from these books, 

 and Mr. Langstroth expressed the 

 hope that he might yet be able to pub- 

 lish a work embodying these and other 

 observations on old bee books, which 

 would show modern beekeepers that 

 ancient apiarists knew a great deal 

 more about bees than they usually got 

 credit for. Even the advanced bee- 

 keepers of to-day might learn much 

 from them. 



At adjournment, it was decided 

 that the convention should close with 

 to-morrow afternoon's session. 



THIRD DAY. 



The Association met at 9 a. :\i., 

 Vice President Cook in tlie chair. 

 About 100 members were present at 

 the opening of the morning session. 

 Discussion of questions was resumed, 

 the first being, " What is the best way 

 of preserving surplus combs from tlie 

 ravages of the moth?" 



Judge Andrews thouglit there was 

 no time when there were not eggs of 

 the bee-moth in tlie comb. Heat would 

 develop them. The combs should be 

 carefully kept in some cool place. 



Di'. Brown found it necessary, in tlie 

 warm climate of Georgia, to have a 

 comb repository, which he kept fumi- 

 gated witli sulphur. 



Ml". Jones places his frames about 

 an inch or an inch and a half apart, 

 and if allowed to hang all winter, ex- 

 posed to frost, there will be no trouble 

 from the moth. He recommended 

 that the joists of the honey-house 

 overhead be set just the right width 

 to hang the frames on rabbets, tacked 

 to the lower edge of the joists. 



Prof. Cook summed up that the 

 moth would never trouble combs 

 while sufficiently covered with bees; 

 not so protected, the moth will cer- 

 tainly be developed ; hence strong 

 colonies were the best antidote to 

 this insect. Comb should not be left 

 lying loose around the apiary, but 

 should be stored out of reach of the 

 moth miller, and kept in a cool place. 



The right temperature at which to 

 winter bees was the next question 

 considered. 



Prof. Cook would say from 40 to 45 

 degrees. 



Dr. Miller called attention to the 

 varying markings of thermometers, 

 which rendered it undesirable to fix 

 very exactly the degree of tempera- 

 ture to be maintained. He would ad- 

 vise watching the bees, and keeping 

 them in that temperature in which 

 they preserve perfect quietude. 



Mr. Jones used to think 40° was 

 about the right temperature, after- 

 wards he thought it should be 43° to 

 45° ; but he had come to the conclusion 

 that it was better the temperature 

 should go higher than 45° than under 

 40°, especially during the latter part 

 of the winter. He had frequently had 

 the temperature of his houses go above 

 50° ; in one case, accidentally it went 

 up as high as 70° without any ill ef- 

 fect. More harm comes of letting tlie 

 temperature go too low, tlian too high. 

 The general subject of wintering 

 bees was then taken up. 



A. I. Root was not going into the 

 subject at length, but wished to men- 

 tion a case in which the bees had i)eeu 

 given access to water by means of a 

 sponge, with good results. 



Prof. Co>k had followed that exam- 

 ple of giving the bees a drink, but 

 every colony so treated had turned 

 out unsatisfactorily. 



Mr. .Tones did not Ijelievein keeping 

 hotel in a bee-house. He had never 

 had any trouble with his bees being 

 too dry. Excess of moisture had 

 often trout)led him. While speaking 

 of wintering, he would strongly rec- 

 ommend the use of a bee-house with 

 hollow walls, of a foot or more in 

 thickness, filled in with sawdust or 



