THE AMERICAJS BEE JOURNAL. 



103 



become discoinagert by reverses, I 

 expect to remain where I am— let the 

 damage to the honey-interests of 

 Florida be little or great. I consider 

 it best to state plain tacts, as personal 

 examination has warranted me in 

 doing, let it injure wliom it may. 

 New Smyrna,© Fla., Jan. 25, 1886. 



Iiifliaiia state CoiiTentioii, 



The seventh annual meeting of the 

 Indiana State Bee-Keepers' Society 

 was called to order promptly at 1:30 

 p.m., on Jan. 20, 1886, President 

 Jonas Scholl in the chair, with about 

 70 members in attendance. The work 

 of the Society was commenced with 

 the payment of dues and the enroll- 

 ment of new members. The reports 

 of the oflicers followed, showing the 

 Society to be in a prosperous condi- 

 tion. The regular dues of the mem- 

 bers was reduced from §1, to 50 cents. 

 A special committee, appointed at 

 the last meeting of the Society, for 

 the purpose of revising the constitu- 

 tion, reported in favor of changing 

 from a delegate body, allowing all to 

 become active members on the pay- 

 ment of dues as prescribed in the by- 

 laws. 



Mrs. C. Bobbins was given a vote 

 of tiianks for the beautiful badges 

 which she provided for the members 

 of the Society. 



President Scholl, in his annual 

 address, after giving a kind greeting 

 to those present, remarked as follows : 



The past winter was a remarkable 

 one, a winter of unusual severity, 

 and caused a fearful destruction of 

 bees in some parts of the State. 

 While the spring and summer were 

 in the main favorable for an increase 

 of colonies, but little surplus was 

 obtained, and that only in favored 

 localities. The statistics for 1885 

 show a large reduction in the number 

 of colonies and pounds of honey. 

 With our home markets almost bare 

 of honey, we have good reason to 

 expect better prices for what can be 

 produced next season. The progres- 

 sive bee-keeper, however, will not 

 concern himself so much about an 

 increase of price for his crop, as how 

 to produce honey at less cost, so that 

 he can well afford to take current 

 prices ; and with the facilities and 

 improvements now at our command, 

 we should be able to produce honey 

 at a fair prolit, even if compelled to 

 take lower prices than were obtained 

 the last two years. 



We all admit the superior quality 

 of honey that is allowed to remain in 

 the hive to the close of the honey sea- 

 son, vvhen it is all capped, and thor- 

 oughly ripened by tlie heat of the 

 bees. Bui we know also that this 

 diminishes the yield very much. If, 

 tlierefore, the same object can be 

 accomplished by the concentrated 

 heat of the sun, I would say, all honor 

 to the man who will perfect an 

 arrangement for ripening honey by 

 solar heat. 



We all rejoice to learn that the next 

 meeting of the North American Bee- 

 Keepers' Society will be held in this 



city, and now let us take the neces- 

 sary steps to give a hearty welome to 

 the National Society, which, after an 

 absence of K! years, returns once more 

 to Indianapolis. Here it was or- 

 ganized in 1S70, and met here in 1872. 

 I would recommend that a committee 

 be appointed to make such prepara- 

 tions as will insure our brother bee- 

 keepers from abi'oad a hearty and 

 welcome reception. The parent So- 

 ciety has been, and is yet, a power for 

 good in the interests of bee-keeping. 



EVENING SESSION. 



The discussion in the evening was 

 opened by Mr. Davis, on the subject 

 of " Planting for Honey." He did 

 not believe that it would pay small 

 farmers to devote any tillable ground 

 exclusively to honey-producing plants. 

 He had great faith in Alsike clover, 

 both as a honey-producer and a forage- 

 plant, and said that bee-keepers 

 would be helping themselves and their 

 neighbors by inducing all farmers to 

 plant it. His opinions were endorsed 

 by all present who knew anything 

 about this comparatively new clover. 



Mr. C. F. Muth read an essay on 

 " The Effects of Pollen in the Hive 

 for Winter." He did not believe that 

 pollen was injurious to the bees ex- 

 cept in aggravated cases. The subject 

 of this paper was considered in all its 

 bearings, showing it to be a subject 

 to which bee-keepers have given con- 

 siderable thought. Mr. Muth also 

 spoke of his trip through the South. 

 He talked at considerable length on the 

 possibilities of bee-keeping in Florida, 

 and said that he thought it might be 

 the Eldorado of the bee-keeper who 

 worked for extracted honey, but that 

 a peculiarity of the climate in the 

 mangrove country— dampness — made 

 the producing of comb honey imprac- 

 ticable. This led to the subject of 

 what kind of honey, comb or ex- 

 tracted, was in greatest demand, and 

 the most prolitable to the producer. 

 The facts on this subject would indi- 

 cate that there was a very great differ- 

 ence in the kind of honey demanded, 

 depending upon locality. The decision 

 of the convention was 'that extracted 

 honey could be produced at less than 

 half the cost of comb honey, but that 

 bee-keepers should produce both 

 kinds, being governed by the demand 

 in their own markets, as to which 

 kind they should produce the most of. 

 The subject was continued to the 

 hour of adjournment. 



SECOND DAY— MORNING .SESSION. 



The meeting was called to order at 

 9 a.m.. President Scholl in the chair. 

 After disposing of the usual prelimi- 

 naries of the Society, Mr. Reynolds 

 read an essay on " Early Spring Man- 

 agement;" calling particular atten- 

 tion to several causes by which colo- 

 nies were likely to be diminished 

 during early spring. Bees leaving the 

 hive in search of water he thought 

 was one of the most frequent causes, 

 and advocated putting water into the 

 hives to prevent the necessity of 

 their having to leave the hives in 

 search of it. Mr. Muth had tried the 

 plan, but could see no benefit, as the 

 colonies to which he gave water 



suffered losses equally with those not 

 having the water attachment. Mr. 

 Leaming said that Father Langstroth 

 mentioned this subject at consider- 

 able length in his book, and believed 

 the plan of much benefit. Mr. Bull 

 did not believe that it was of much 

 advantage. Bees use considerable 

 water during early spring, but he 

 said that the rearing of brood stimu- 

 lated the bees to extra exertions, and 

 they left the hives in search of new 

 honey as well as for water. The Sec- 

 retary had noticed that if the bees 

 during a pleasant day got a taste of 

 honey from the soft maple or willow, 

 that the day following they would 

 leave the hives in great numbers 

 though the weather be very cold. 



Mr. Cotton called attention to the 

 fact that the next meeting of the 

 North American Bee-Keepers' Society 

 would be held in this city next year, 

 and mpved that a committee of five 

 (tw-o of which should be ladies), 

 should be appointed by the President 

 to confer with the Executive Commit- 

 tee of the National Society, and give 

 all assistance possible in the way of 

 making the meeting a success. 

 Messrs. I. N. Cotton, Sylvester John- 

 son, F. L. Dougherty, Mrs. Robbins, 

 and Mrs. Landers were appointed as 

 the committee, the members of the 

 Society pledging their hearty support 

 to the undertaking. 



Mr. Knowlton moved that a com- 

 mittee of three be appointed to pre- 

 pare a new premium list for the 

 Apiarian Department, and asked its 

 adoption by the State Board of Agri- 

 culture for the next State Fair. 

 Messrs. Knowlton, Cox and Lane were 

 named as such committee. 



The Society then proceeded to the 

 election of officers, resulting as fol- 

 lows : President, I. N. Cotton, Trad- 

 ers' Point, Ind. ; Vice-President, E. 

 J. Howland. Indianapolis ; Secretary ,^ 

 Frank L. Dougherty, Indianapolis ; 

 Treasurer, Mrs. E. Stout. 



Miss Eva Scholl read an essay on 

 " Winter Protection of Bees," which 

 was well received, and showed the 

 writer's familiarity with the sul)ject 

 in hand. A verv large majority of 

 the members coincided with the main 

 features of the article, offering evi- 

 dence of experience that much had 

 been gained in the way of successful 

 wintering. 



Mr. Mason read an essay on ' I he 

 Most Desirable Quality of Bees," 

 giving the preference to Italians. Mr. 

 Knowlton said that there was but one 

 true race of the yellow bees, the 

 others being offshoots from the Ital- 

 ians. The Secretary said that there 

 was sufficient evidence in favor of the 

 Italians, as all of the most practical 

 bee-keepers in the country reared 

 them and did all in their power to 

 keep them pure from any stain of tlie 

 native black bees. 



Several valuable essays were fol- 

 lowed with appropriate discussions 

 full of valuable information to bee- 

 keepers, after which the convention 

 adjourned. F. L. DoUGnERTY, 6'ec. 



Any person not a subscriber, receiving ai 

 copy of this paper, will please consider it 

 an invitation to become a subscriber to it. 



