Dec. 28, 1899. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



819 



breeding purposes, it appears to me that the drones are 

 judged too much by the merits of their sister workers. It 

 must be borne in mind that the drones of a colony seem to 

 be the product of a previous generation, and the character- 

 istics of the colony from which the queen has sprung is the 

 one to look to for a guide of the collective value of her 

 drones. How many queen-breeders keep any such record ? 

 I think but few. In the rapid interchange of breeding- 

 mothers tliru the mails, what guide have we of her parent- 

 age, or, rather, of her fraternal comparisons, of which her 

 drones appear to be a reproduction ? I can safely answer, 

 not much to boast of ; we work considerably in the dark ; 

 but we must seek the light, and endeavor to improve our 

 understanding, and progress will crown our efforts whether 

 we are professional or amateur bee-keepers. 



F. Hahman. 



Mr. Selser — I would like to say that this question of 

 controlling bees and improving the stock is an important 

 one. I was struck when going to Mr. Hahman's house to 

 see black bees, and when I left the neighborhood I made up 

 my mind that he owned about all the yellow bees in the 

 neighborhood ; I askt him how he managed it with so many 

 black bees around him. He said he kept a large number of 

 drones. 



Dr. Mason — What methods have been proposed by 

 which we can control this matter of fertilization ? In the 

 Bee-Keepers' Review there appears a method that .seems to 

 be very practical. Confine the drones you want to use, and 

 the queens you want fertilized, and put them in the cellar 

 until the time other drones are thru flying for the day ; then 

 let free the drones and queens you have confined, and the 

 probabilities are that the queens will be fertilized by the 

 confined drones. 



Mr. Stone — Why not use drone-traps ? 



Dr. Mason — They don't confine the neighbor's drones. 



Mr. Stone — I want to mention another matter, and per- 

 haps I can get a little light. In our State (111.) we need a 

 foul-brood law, and I believe it was the amateur bee-keepers 

 that defeated it. We greatly need such a law. 



J. H. M. Cook — The amateur bee-keeper, in the sense of 

 this paper, is one who studies the habits and work of the 

 bee ; but the careless farmer who keeps a few bees is the 

 one who does the damage. 



President-elect E. R. Root gave notice that the next 

 annual meeting of the Association will be held in Chicago, 

 the time of the meeting to be given later, but will be during 

 the G. A. R. encampment. 



Mr. Secor, chairman of the Committee on Resolutions, 

 presented the report of the committee as follows : 



REPORT OF THB COMMITTEE ON RBSOI,UTIONS. 



Whereas, It has pleased the Ruler of the Universe to 

 remove one of our loved and honored members from his 

 field of earthly activity ; therefore, be it 



Resolved, That in the death of our brother, Miles Mor- 

 ton, of New York, the industry of bee-keeping has sustained 

 the loss of an active and capable honey-producer, a master 

 mechanic, and an honest man of high character. 



Resolved., That the labors of George W. York, editor of 

 the American Bee Journal, in the prosecutions for the adul- 

 teration of honey, are appreciated \>y this Association, and 

 we bespeak for his journal the hearty support of all bee- 

 keepers, as a partial remuneration for his disinterested 

 services. 



Resolved, That the thanks of this Association are due, 

 and they are hereby heartily tendered to the Philadelphia 

 Bee-Keepers' Association for the uniform kindness and 

 courtesy shown to our members during this convention, and 

 especially for the unceasing activity and kindness of W. A. 

 Selser and F. Hahman, of the Entertainment Committee, 

 in looking after our comfort while in this beautiful city. 

 The Philadelphia Bee-Keepers' Association has confirmed 

 and emphasized the fact that we are in the " City of Broth- 

 erly Love." 



The services of Mrs. Wilber W. Miller, who has so ably 

 read the papers before this convention, are hereby acknowl- 

 edged. She has given this Association great pleasure, and 

 we desire to express our thanks. 



Miss Hohrlein, of St. Louis, who has so skillfully 

 played the accompaniments to the songs sung, is entitled 

 to grateful acknowledgements. 



Eugene Secor, j 

 E. R. Root, Commi/tee. 



W. Z. Hutchinson, ) 

 The resolutions were approved by a rising vote. 



Mr. Abbott — I most heartily agree with the committee 

 about the entertainment. I have never attended a conven- 

 tion anywhere where I felt so much at home as I have here. 

 Every effort has been put forth for our comfort, and those 

 efforts have proved a success. 



Dr. Mason — I wish to emphasize the resolutions. I don't 

 think we can speak too highly of our entertainers. I 

 thought those fellows in" the " wild and woolly West " did 

 everything up in grand style, and they most certainly did 

 well in providing for the comfort of the delegates who at- 

 tended the conventions at Lincoln and Omaha, but if there 

 were not any of them here, I should say the Philadelphia 

 bee-keepers had "knockt the socks clean off of them." As 

 Dr. Miller says, each year we can do better. 



Pres. Whitcomb — Remembering the two meetings that 

 have been held in Nebraska, I realize how hard Mr. Hahman 

 and others here have workt. I trust that we will all meet 

 again in Chicago in 1900. 



The convention then adjourned. 



A. B. Mason, Sec. 



The Proceeding's of the Utah Bee-Keepers' 

 Convention. 



REPORTED BY GEO. E. DUDLEY. 



The Utah Bee-Keepers' Association met Nov. 24, 1899, 

 in Salt Lake City, with Pres. E. S. Lovesy in the chair, and 

 Geo. E. Dudley was appointed secretary pro tern. 



The first subject for consideration was the loss of bees 

 during summer, by the bees crawling about outside of the 

 hives and dying in great numbers. Mr. Cornwall reported 

 that he had this trouble among his bees every year, begin- 

 ning about the middle of August, and lasting about six 

 weeks. It seemed to be the judgment of several present 

 that the smoke from the smelters caused this trouble. So 

 far no remedy had been found that would relieve this dif- 

 ficulty. 



The wintering of bees was nest discust. Mr. Lovesy 

 gave several illustrations in proof that bees must have ven- 

 tilation in winter. If they are sealed down air-tight they 

 would sweat, the bees and combs be damp, the air would be- 

 come foul, and this would make the bees too weak to seek 

 their stores ; they would thus die of starvation. He said 

 he found this to be the case every spring, while bees that 

 had sufficient ventilation usually lived. 



Foul and pickled brood was next considered. Mr. Hone 

 gave his experience with pickled brood. He used salt and 

 sulphur as a remedy, and cured the trouble. He thinks the 

 dairy business is injuring the bee-industry by feeding 

 the sweet clover and other flowering plants off the land. 



Mr. Hone also related some of his experience vs'ith foul 

 brood. He spoke of cleaning the hives thoroly, and not 

 giving them the chance to become foul. 



Mr. Schach said that he had cured pickled brood by a 

 free use of dry slackt lime and salt, scattering all thru the 

 hive. He said it cleansed and purified the bees, and kept 

 down disease. 



Mr. Lovesy, in giving his experience with foul brood, 

 opened up a new field for investigation. He said that in 

 localities where foul or pickled brood was prevalent he had 

 examined many apparently healthy colonies, with no sign 

 of any disease about them other than sometimes a few or 

 more cells of the brood showed a wrong or back presenta- 

 tion. He said that later they turned out either foul or pick- 

 led brood if left alone. He gave it as his opinion that the 

 larva; were alteady diseased, and in their agency turned 

 over with their heads in the bottom of the cells, and died in 

 that position, as it was impossible for them to hatch out. 

 He said it was easier to treat the disease at this stage than 

 to wait for further development. 



Secretary Fagg said that twice this season he had 

 caught the bees killing their old queen, and concluded that 

 the subject of requeeniug could be left to the bees. 



Mr. Bangitor said that last j'ear he had 35 colonies, in- 

 creast to 82, and took off 10,000 pounds of honey ; but this 

 year from the 82 colonies he got only 700 pounds, while 

 some of them died thru the winter and spring. He believed 

 that many of his bees were poisoned by spraying with 

 Paris-green. 



Mr. Hone said a weak colony having a queen could be 

 placed over a strong colony and they would not kill each 

 other, but would live and build up by the upper colony re- 

 ceiving heat from the lower. 



All present favored the sale of comb honey by the case 

 instead of by weight. 



