ISSO 



THE LANCASTER FARMER. 



123 



and he believed that he could be Inductd to 



The resolution was unniiimo\i6ly adopted, aud 

 Mr. Landis was instructed to 6eo Mr. (irow and try 

 to obtain his services on the second day of the fair. 



The president appointed Messrs. W. H. BroBius, 

 Johnson Miller and Ephraim Hoover to sample the 

 fruit on exhibition, who, after inspection, reported 

 as follows ; 



Six varieties peo.-s by H. M. Enijle, Kostiser, very 

 fine and good ; Osband's Summer, splendid in ap- 

 pearance as well as in (piality ; Ducliess<' du Beurre, 

 very ffood, tart ish pear; Kirtlnnd, very sappy and 

 of a most delicious lUivor, quality good ; Annes I)e 



Two varieties apples by D. M. Mayer, Early Straw- 

 berrv, very excellent. 

 Apple for a name— small, sweet and fair quality. 



Referred Questions. 



"Ought farmers to be exempt from taxation to 

 the amount of their indebtedness ?" Keferred to 

 Peter Hershey. . 



"How can the paper moth be most effectively ex- 

 terminated ?" To Dr. S. S. Rathvon. , , ,„ „ 



"Has the Grange movement been successful i lo 

 Johnson Miller. ,, v ^ 



"Do old maids or young maidens make the best 

 farmer's wives?" To M. D. Kendig. 



Adjourned. 



POULTRY ASSOCIATION. 



The Lancaster Poultry Association met in their 

 rooms Monday morning, August 2d, S. N. Warfel 

 presiding. This was the first meeting in two months, 

 the last meeting having been postponed on account 

 of the 4th of July. 



Members Present. 



S. N. Warfel, President, E. C. Brackbill aud J. M. 

 Hagen, Strasburg; Wm. Schoenbergcr, J. B. Lichty, 

 J. B. Long, Chas. Lippold, Clias. E. Long, J. M. 

 Johnston, S. M. KIuls Frank Griest and H. W . 

 Stein city; T. T. Evans, Lititz; J. M. Bruckart, 

 Salun a; J. M. Malone, Brickerville; James Wood, 

 Little Britain, and Joseph T. Witmer, Paradise. 



The Executive Committee held a meeting before 

 the society met, and discussed at great length the 

 time of holding the next chicken show. 



No action was arrived at and the matter was re- 

 ferred to the society. 



Tre;isurer's Report. 



Under new business the report of the Treasurer, 

 T. Y. Evans, Lititz, came up. From it we glean 

 that there was in the Treasurer's hauds on July 1 of 

 this year, 8153.79. 



New Member. 



On motion, J. M. Malone, of Brickerville, was 

 unanimously elected a member of the association. 



The Next Poultry Show. 



The matter of the time to hold the show referred 

 to the meeting by the Executive Committee was 

 called up by 'a motion of Wm. Schoenberger, se- 

 conded by Frank Griest, that the show be held on 

 the same days of the weeks on which it was held 

 last year, (that is from Friday of one to Wednesday 

 of the next week.) 



The discussion on this showed that the contending 

 point lay m the holding of the show over Sunday. 

 Mr. T.'T. Evans, had himself no scruples against 

 holding it over that day, but he was afraid the 

 society would lose the co-operation of local fanciers. 

 Rev. D. C. Tobias (Lititz) he knew was opposed 



to it. „ J . , 



Mr. Evans was sustained by the President, to 

 whom much complaint had been made, both in the 

 rooms and out. He did not know whether it was 

 religious scruples or not, but strong objections to 

 keeping the birds over Sunday in the rooms had been 

 made. 



Charles E. Long fuvored the old days, as Monday 

 aud Saturday were the best days finaueially. With 

 those days the last show was was a success, and why 

 run a risk now ? 



Chickens were taken care of belter in the rooms 

 than they would be on the cars; coming from a dis- 

 tance this would be the case if the show was held on 

 Tuesday as suggested, was, beside the financial 

 view, the argument of J. B. Lichty. 



J. M. Johhnslou amended the above motion by 

 substituting the days from Tuesday noon to Friday 

 evening of the same week. The amendment was 

 seconded and lost by a vote of 4 to 7. The original 

 motion was now carried. 



The Date of Holding It. 

 The days having been settled, it was moved by J. 

 B. Long that the show be held from Friday, January 

 T, to Wednesday, the llith. This was amended by 

 J. B. Lichty, who proposed the dates from Friday, 

 the 14lh, to the 19th of January. The amendment 

 was carried. Thus, to sum up, tlie show which 

 gave such satisfaction last year will be repeated 

 from Friday, the 14th, to Wednesday, the 19tli of 

 January, 1881. 

 After a discussion as to the time of judging the 



birds, the understanding was reached that that work 

 should be done In the first two days. 

 Adjourned. 



THE BEEKEEPERS' ASSOCIATION. 



The quarterly meeting of the Beekeepers' Society 

 was held Monday afternoon, August 9th, in the par- 

 lor of the Black Horse hotel. 



Members Present. 

 The following members were present: J. F. Her- 

 shev, .Mount .Joy; I. G. .Martin, Earl; Ellas Hershey, 

 Paradise; C. A, Gast, city; F. K. Diffenderfler, city; 

 John H. Mellinger, Strasburg; John Eitermiller, 

 Strasburg; A. B. Ilerr, Mountville; L. Fleckenstein, 

 Highville; J. B. Eshleman, Ephrata; Thomas Thur- 

 low, city'; Daniel Hess, Strasburg; Christian Eshle- 

 manj Strasburg; Peter S. Heist, Lititz. 

 Season Reports. 

 President Hershey started in the spring with 60 

 colonies, of which he sold 8. He has at the present 

 time 108 colonies. He also got 250 pounds of honey; 

 raised 'IM queens. Mr. Hershey pays more attention 

 to raising young swarms than to growing honey. 



He also has Mr. Detwiler's colonies under charge. 

 There are 6.5 colonies; he got 787 pounds of box 

 honey and 80 pounds of extracted, and 3 young 

 colonies. They are now gathering honey fast. This 

 is a small yield— too many old queens. There are 

 250 colonies within the radius of a mile of his place. 

 A. B. Herr began the season with 5 colonies, and 

 now has 13. He tried to make swarms, not honey. 



L Fleckenstein Uegan with 9 colonies. He got 

 215 pounds of honey, and expects a good deal more. 

 His bees cross the Susquehanna into York county, 

 and bring over buckwheat honey. He has Vi colo- 

 nies now, although he tried to get honey rather than 

 new colonies. „ , . v 



John Eitermiller started with 19 colonies, now has 

 32, and got 400 pounds of honey. 



J H Mellinger began with 12 colonies, and in- 

 creased them to 16; he got about 275 pounds of 



honey. . , , 



I G Martin started with .30 colonies, and Increased 



them to 32. He has also received 760 pounds of 



honey up to the present time. 



Ellas Hershey began the season with 24 colonies, 

 increased them to 39, and has taken about 750 

 pounds of honey. 



Mr Thurlow started with 9 colonies, increased 

 them to 14, and has so far obtained 325 pounds of 

 honey. 



J B. Eshleman wintered 25 colonies ; he now has 

 30 ; his yield of honey is 400 pounds. The hives are 

 well filled with honey and are ready to go into winter 

 quarters. He has raised a good many queens. He 

 intioduced new queens into a good many of his colo- 

 nies, which was a drawback. 



honey. Too much rain Is blamed as the cause for 

 this. It has been more profitable to raise queoni 

 this season than honey. 



The Best Plan to Raise Queen Cells. 

 J. F. Hershey asked the above question, aud called 

 for the members' views. 



Mr. Thurlow gave the methods of the distin- 

 guished apiarian, H. Allen, of Massachusetts, at 

 some length. 



Mr. J. F. Hershey detailed his own method, and 

 said he had no trouble In raising full queens. 

 Transferring Swarms. 

 Mr. Mellinger asked whether It was too late to 

 transfer swarms? 



If there is an abundance of honey It may be done 

 now, but it rerpiires skill. A better time Is the 

 spring, when It is comparatively easy and nearly al- 

 ways successful. 



How Large Should a Hive Be ? 

 Mr. Herr thought the lower box ought to be of 

 about 2,0110 cubic inches Inside capacity. These 

 dimensions have given him good results. 



Mr. .Mellinger advocated the use of a hive of 1,728 

 Indies capacity. 



I. G. Martin has Langstroth's hive, which is of 

 about 1,700 inches capacity. He believes you get 

 more honey out of such hives. 



Mr. Mellinger thought it depended far more on 

 your queen and bees than it did on the size of the 

 hive. 



Elias Hershey believed a hive a foot square l« the 

 best of all sizes; the bees can better take care of 

 themselves in it. 



Mr. FleckenBlelu, after trying many kinds, has 

 now a hive a little larger than a foot square. 



Mr. Thurlow believed a broad chamber of 2,000 

 cubic inches is entirely too large. In such a case 

 more honey Is stored there than will winter two 

 swarms, aud very little in the boxes. 

 Average Yields. 

 It was asked what the average yield of honey was 

 in this county per hive. Elias Hershey one season 

 averaged fifty-three pounds. This year his average 

 will not be over twenty-five. I. G. Martin said his 

 highest average was forty-eight pounds. Last year 

 it was only thirty-five, while this season it will not 

 exceed tweuty-five pounds. 



There being no further business, the meeting ad- 

 journed to meet again on the second Monday of 

 November. 



Do Italians Gather Honey from Red Clover ? 

 The above question was proposed by I. G Martin, 

 who asserted the affirmative. 



Mr. Mellinger also advocated the affirmative side 

 of the question. He believed much of the honey 

 gathered by Italians is derived from red clover. 

 " J. B. Eshleman followed with the same views. Go 

 into any clover field and you will find it covered with 

 Italians. If they don't gel honey there what are 

 they there for ? 



I. G. Martin placed on exhibition a case of red 

 clover honey, which was very beautiful. Also some 

 "honey-dew" boxes that were fine. 



J. F. Hershey believed we get more honey out of 

 the red clover than the white. He can see the clover 

 fields in his vicinity fairly swarming with bees. Per- 

 haps the western apiarians have clover that grows 

 more rank than ours, so that the bees cannot reach it. 

 L. Fleckenstein asked why more honey is stored in 

 the spring than afterwards, wheu the red clover 

 comes into blossom ? 



A Bee Feeder. 

 J. F. Hershey had on exhibition a bee feeder, 

 which he believed to possess many advantages. It 

 introduces the food just where the bees are, prevents 

 robbini', creates no excitement and allows but few 

 to o-et at it at one time. He explained the manner 

 oftts use, and it met with the approval ol the 

 society. He also said his colonics last winter did 

 well. They began making brood rapidly, and he 

 has not lost a single swarm in three years. He win- 

 tered 60 colonies. 



"Dew Honey." 

 The "dew honey" was tested and found to be far 

 inferfor to clover honey. It was also asked whether 

 this honey was good to winter hees on. The general 

 opinion is that it will do for that purpose, especially 

 in mild winters. 



Grape Sugar as Bee Food. 

 The value of grape sugar was also discussed. The 

 feeling was against its use to feed bees. There is not 

 enougli of sweetening in it. Good cane sugar Is 

 cheaper at double the price of grape sugar for this 

 purpose. 



A Bad Season. 



The season on the whole has been a poor one for 



LINN.ffiAN SOCIETY. 



A slated meeting of the Linnajan Society was held 

 on Saturday afternoon, July 31st, in the ante-room 

 of the museum. Vice Presldeut T. H. Baker was in 

 the chair, and six members and one visitor were 

 present. After tlie usual preliminary business was 

 transacted the following contributions and donations 

 were made to the museum aud library : 

 Donations to the Museum. 



Two fossils from the Susquehanna, by .Mr. Wm. 

 L. Gill. One appears to be a species of Spiri/era, 

 and the other a transverse Encrinal impression. 

 Three bottles of Insects, collected at the Tuequan 

 encampment, near York Furnace Bridge, on the 14th 

 and 15Ui of July. 



[The most abundant insects in that locality at 

 thai period were 'J\lraopestornator,CfirysocliusaHra- 

 tus, and Lygirm nuiicMS, and these were found on 

 ihe AacUpiat, or "wild cotton," It is remarkable 

 that the insects most abundantly and most 

 constantly Ibund upon this plain, are beauti- 

 lifully formed and brilliantly colored. The next 

 most abund.inl, and also the most conspicuous Insect 

 iu that locality on that occasion, was the large black 

 Priunuslatlcuniis,\,\\c type of a family of Luqicoriiia. 

 I confined two laiere speeinuns of this insect iu a 

 tight-fitting tin box, aud after my returu home I 

 forgot them until the 28th. When I then opened the 

 box I found one of the specimens intact, but the 

 other one all eaten up except the hard coriaceous 

 parts, by the larva oi nDiptii-oux parasite, the eggs of 

 which may have been deposited in or on the beetle 

 before it was captured or confined in the box. — 



Tliree arrow-heads, found aud donated by Win. L. 

 Gill, very perfect In form, two of Ihem being of the 

 ordinary form, and the third one cone-shaped with a 

 square base. The loni.' time that has intervened 

 since the manulaoture of these implements does not 

 seem yet to have cxausted the number, and those 

 that arc accustomed to searching for them never fail 

 to find a few, although many thousands of them 

 have been picked up since the red men have disap- 

 peared from the territory they once inhabited. One 

 is of white quartz and the other two a light-colored 



variety of chert. , , „ o tt .. 



A beautiful specimen of the " Snowy Heron," 

 Ardea (•(ijKiii/ijjcima, donated by \'r. A. K. Kauff- 

 man, Oreville, Lancaster county, Pa. This bird was 

 shot by him on the Little Conestoga, July 20, 1880. 

 These birds usually occur in large flocks along rivers 

 and large swamps, and only occasionally venture in- 

 land. Pennsylvania is about the limit of their usual 



