106 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



turing for it tliB base of the honey 

 comb, that human skill has not 

 reached the point of m;uiufacturing 

 cells which will pass for genuine cells 

 of the comb. So far, your industry is 

 protected from the ingenuity of im- 

 posters. 



By resolution of Mr. Scholl, a vote 

 of thanks was tendered the Governor 

 for his address, and the interest which 

 he had shown in tlie Convention. 



The larger part of the afternoon was 

 taken up in the discussion of sugges- 

 tions brought out by the Governor's 

 speech. After the transaction of some 

 unimportant business, it was decided 

 to hold a night session, the meeting 

 adjourning until that time. 



Promptly at 7:30 the meeting was 

 called to order, when the President 

 proceeded to deliver his annual ad- 

 dre.ss. After reviewing the history 

 and the object of the Society, the 

 President said : " I hold it the' duty 

 of every apiarist, young or old, to be 

 always ready when called upon, to 

 give a reason for the hope there is in 

 him. And since I liold myself second 

 to none in fealty and devotion to the 

 cause, I make bold to bring my hum- 

 ble tribute, and lay it beside many 

 brighter garlands on tlie shrine of our 

 Society. Since our last meeting, many 

 of our brightest hojies and fond antic- 

 ipations have been blighted. The 

 death angel has been in our way, and 

 many of us who failed to have our 

 hives in proper condition, found in 

 the early spring " articwZo mortiit" 

 written over the doors of many of our 

 most beautifid colonies — even whole 

 apiaries have been depopulated. The 

 complaint is not confined to one local- 

 ity, but is universal through all the 

 northern states, especially so in the 

 more improved portions of the coun- 

 try. In the unimproved portion, 

 away from large orchards and sor- 

 ghum factories, they suffered the 

 least. Tlie coiu'se of this wide spread 

 disaster should claim our most partic- 

 ular attention at this time, and if 

 there is any way by which we can 

 avoid another visit of this, the worst 

 disaster that has befallen apiculture, 

 we should improve it. 



We find that no manner of winter- 

 ing had anything to do as a prevent- 

 ive, that is so far as packing was con- 

 cerned, for we lind that those wliohad 

 their bees in the cosiest nooks did not 

 escape, while in some eases those oc- 

 cuiiyiiig most exposed places came 

 through all right. 



While acknowledging that many 

 prominent bee-keepers did not agree 

 with him, the President attributedtlie 

 principal cause of disaster to allowing 

 tlie bees to go into winter quarters 

 with uncapped honey, which, Ijy fer- 

 mentation, is formed into carbonic 

 acid and alcohol. He advised the re- 

 moval ot this uncapped honey, in his 

 opinion, the rock on which' we had 

 stranded. 



He said bee-keepers of to-day must 

 improve on what they have learned, 

 be open to conviction, and learn from 

 any and all sources, for it is by gatli- 

 ering a little here and more there that 

 we have arrived at our present state 

 ofapicultural knowledge, and by look- 

 ing back over the past we can see 



what grand strides we have made in 

 the last few years. 



The President's address was dis- 

 cussed at some length. 



Mr. C. F. Muth, of Cincinnati, did 

 not believe it necessary to remove the 

 uncapped honey ; thought very much 

 more depended on the proper ventila- 

 tion of the hive. He gave his plan 

 for preparing hives for winter. He 

 removes the second story, Langstroth 

 hives, lays 2 or 3 slats across the 

 frames, under the cloth, to give room 

 for the bees to pass over the top of the 

 frames. On top of the clotli he places 

 a straw mat about one and a half 

 inches thick, a sample of which he 

 had present. On top of this mat he 

 places two additional slats of which 

 he lays the cover of the hive, allowing 

 a free circulation of air between the 

 mat and cover. 



The subject of wintering was dis- 

 cussed to a late hour, when the meet- 

 ing adjourned to the next morning. 



The first business on reassembling 

 was the election of oflicers for the en- 

 suing year. The nominating com- 

 mittee recommended the foilowing 

 names: President, I. A. Cotton, 

 Traders Point, Marion County ; Vice 

 President, Jonas Scholl, Lyons Sta- 

 tion, Fayette County ; Secretary, 

 Frank L. Dougherty, Indianapolis ; 

 Treasurer, Mrs. Lizzie Stout, Indian- 

 apolis. 



There being no other candidates, on 

 motion of Sylvester Johnson, Mr. 

 Davis was instructed to cast the vote 

 of the Convention for said nominees. 



On taking tlie chair. President Cot- 

 ton made a few pleasant remarks ; 

 thought the Association could not do 

 too much in furthering the interests 

 of apiculture. He did not contem- 

 plate extensive bee-keeping himself, 

 but was satisfied beyond a doubt that, 

 as Gov. Porter had expressed it, it 

 was a by-business which would pay 

 equally as well, if not better, consid- 

 ering the amount of capital invested, 

 than poultry raising, sheep husban- 

 dry, or the various other kinds of by- 

 business, to which the average tanner 

 must resort for success. 



The next thing in order being the 

 election of delegates to the National 

 Convention. Messrs. Cotton, Scholl 

 and Dougherty were elected as such 

 delegates, and' were instructed to ask 

 the Convention to come to Indianapo- 

 lis for their next meeting. 



Considerable time was given to the 

 subject of the care of honey, espe- 

 cially to extracted honey. 



Mr. Mntli wished to impress it on 

 the minds of bee-keepers, that honey 

 should be thoroughly ripe before being 

 placed uiioii the market, that freshly 

 extracted luuiey should never be 

 closed up. but should stand in open 

 vessels for nt least from 4 to ti weeks, 

 and in a warm place before being 

 closed up. 



Other equally important subjects to 

 bee-keepers were discussed at great 

 length, such as " Progressive Bee- 

 Keeping," by Dr. H. Peachee; " Pre- 

 piirinff Bees for Winter," by Jonas 

 Scholl; "Wintering Bees,"' by L. R. 

 Jackson ; " Statistical Report," for 

 Spencer County, W. F. Ranzler, all 

 of which were fully commented on. 



After returning a vote of thanks to 

 Secretary Herron, of the Board of 

 Agriculture, for favors shown, and to 

 Mr. C. F. Muth, of Cincinnati, for his 

 kind assistance, the Society adjourned 

 subject to the call of the executive 

 for the next annual meeting. — Indiana 

 Farmer. 



Read before the N. E. Convention. 



Failures in Apiculture. 



A. J. KING. 



Just in proportion that knowledge 

 has increased in relation to any given 

 pursuit, the number of failures have 

 diminished, and the profits increased. 

 But the field of practical knowledge is 

 now so wide, and the number of 

 avocations in which one may engage 

 for a life work are so various, that it 

 is impossible for one mind to master 

 tlie details of all, or even any consider- 

 able portion of them. Yet if what is 

 undertaken is no» thoroughly under- 

 stood and one's knowledge practically 

 applied, mistakes and failures will 

 continually occur, and a business 

 which might have been pleasant and 

 profitable, degenerates into one of 

 hazardous drudgery. In short, one 

 must realize that what is termed "good 

 luck " is only the result of carrying 

 out intelligent plans with a strong 

 heart and willing hands, and that "bad 

 luck " is the reverse of this. 



After the general introduction of 

 movable-frame hives in this country, 

 the average of honey production 

 greatly increased. Still, 50 lbs. of 

 surplus honey to the colony was re- 

 garded as a wonderful yield. Now, 

 from 100 to 300 lbs. per colony is often 

 realized, and we have instances where 

 •500 and 700 lbs. have been taken. Per- 

 mit me to predict that the time is not 

 far distant when under a combination 

 of the most favorable circumstances, 

 1,000 lbs. from a single colony will yet 

 be realized. And I will further state 

 that 1 believe most of the circum- 

 stances themselves will yet be under 

 the control of the ajiiarist. 



Twenty years ago, when the maxi- 

 mum yield was about 50 lbs., many 

 believed that the bee-keeping industry 

 had reached its meridian, and that 

 farther substantial advances were im- 

 possible. To-day multitudes hold the 

 same opinion regarding our present 

 status. As the former class did not 

 anticipate the scores of new methods 

 and appliances now in use, so the lat- 

 ter see nothing more in the womb of 

 the future to be brought out and de- 

 veloped. It is a well known fact by 

 practical ai)iarists that the great bulk 

 of honey taken in a season is gathered 

 by the bees in a comparatively brief 

 period, and that if the sources of sup- 

 ply would continue to yield as long as 

 the weather would permit the bees to 

 fly ; that the total amount of honey at 

 the close of tlie season would be moie 

 than trebled. 



Add to this the significant fact that 

 the cultivation of honey crops is yet 

 in its infancy, that very many plants 

 require for honey secretion very dif- 

 ferent conditions of the "atmosphere 

 and soil, and we have the conditions 



