THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



615 



parent colony will be reduced in num- 

 bers, and in all protiability the drones 

 will all be killed off l)efore the new 

 queen goes forth on her bridal tour, 

 and hence she will return to the liive 

 a virgin and worthless. The fate of 

 the colony is then inevitable— the bees 

 will dwindle to nothing before spring. 

 Bee-keei)crs should awake to the fact 

 that, in most cases, it is more profita- 

 ble to take proper care of a few colo- 

 nies, than endeavor to get a large in- 

 crease in bees, which is always at the 

 expense of the honey product. My 

 advice is, in no case to allow a colony 

 to cast more than one swarm. If a 

 second swarm comes out, put them 

 back as directed above. 

 Lafayette, Ind., Sept. 14, 1882. 



Balletln d'aplculteur. 



Swiss Bee-Kcepers' ConTcntion. 



Local Convention Directory. 



1882. Time and Place oj Meeting. 



eept.28— Norfolk, Ont., at Wftterford. Ont. 



EliasClouse, Sec. 



Oct. 3-6— North American, at Cincinnati, O. 



Dr. Ehrlcb Parinly, Sec, New York City. 

 5— Kentucky Union, at Shelbyville, Ky. 



G. W. Demuree, Sec, ('hristianaburg, Ky. 

 7— Marshall County, Iowa, at Marshalltown. 

 J. W. Sanders, Sec, LeGrand, Iowa. 

 10— Tuscarawas Valley, at Newcomer8town,0. 



J. A. Bucklew, Sec, Clarks, O. 

 10, 11— Northern Michigan, at Pewamo, Mich. 



O. R. Goodno, Sec, Carson City, Mich. 

 17, 18— Northwestern, atChicaeo, Ul. 



('. C. Coffinberry, Sec, Chicago, III, 

 IR, 19— Southern California, at Los Angeles. 

 J, E. Pleasants, Pres., Anaheim, Cal. 

 21— Northern Ohio, at Norwalk, O. 



S. F. Newmiin, Sec Norwalk, O. 

 Nov. 1 —New Jersey & Eastern, at New Brunswick. 

 J. lla»brouck. Sec, Bound Brook, N. J. 



|y In order to have this table complete. Secre- 

 taries are requested to forward full particulars of 

 time and place of future meetings.— Bd. 



Louisiana State Association. 



The bee-keepers of St. Mary, Iberia, 

 Vermillion, St. Landry, and St. Mar- 

 tin parishes met at Serrett's Ilall, New 

 Iberia, on Saturday, Sept. 2. 1882. AV. 

 R. Tliomiison, Esq., was elected Presi- 

 dent and .J. D, Bedell, Secretary, pro 

 tern. 



W. R. Thompson stated the object 

 of the meeting. Those present then 

 proceeded to the election of otlicers 

 with the following result : W. II. 

 Thompson, President ; Dr. Shaw, Vice 

 President : Geo. E. Sonnemann, Sec- 

 retary ; Henry Steckler, Treasurer ; 

 E. Delinouly, Vice President for J^a- 

 fayette Parish ; J, D. Bedell, for St. 

 Mary Parish ; Louis Ducbamp, for 

 St. Martin's Parish; J.W.Jackson, 

 for St. l^andry Parish. 



These Parishes embrace about 1,.500 

 colonies, of which 905 are in frame 

 hives, and the remainder are box 

 hives and nuclei. 



The next meeting will be held on 

 Saturday, Oct. 7th, at Serrett's Hall, 

 New Iberia. La. 



\V. R. Thompson, Pres. 



G. E. Sonnemann, tfec;. 



The spring meeting of the " Societe 

 Romande d'apiculture" was held at 

 Friboiirg. in (irenette hall on June 

 27tb ; SO members were present; the 

 President elect. M. A. de Dardel, con- 

 gratulated the members on their hav- 

 ing met this year in the rich center of 

 Fribonrg, already so far advanced in 

 the culture of bees, that it has two 

 more societies besides their own, one 

 French and the other German, all 

 three emulating each other in devis- 

 ing and adopting good methods ; and, 

 moreover, that among their own 268 

 members, 15 were foreigners, who 

 showed, by joining them, the interest 

 tliey feel bv their work, not the least 

 part of which is to regulate and facili- 

 tate the sale of honev ; to find new 

 markets, and throw all the light they 

 can upon the frauds in the trade ; he 

 felt thankful with them that notwith- 

 standing an unfavorable season of 

 cold spells, northerly winds and rough 

 weather of every kind, as many of 

 them as had colonies on the plain, 

 ready in time, had succeeded, during 

 the few fine days at the last moment, 

 the 11 days froni the 27th of May to 

 the 7th of June, in gathering at least 

 an average crop ; he also urged them 

 so to co-operate with the promoters of 

 the Swiss Exposition of apiculture at 

 Zurich, that their own society should 

 be well represented there in the two 

 expositions, one of which would be 

 permanent with "two empty speci- 

 mens of each of the hives used by us, 

 viz. : our summer hive for a colony in 

 its highest development, and our win- 

 ter hive for a colony in its most 

 straightened condition, with all the 

 instruments and tools used in both 

 periods, and samples of honey and 

 wax, classified by cartons, altitudes, 

 times of gathering, and the plants on 

 which the bees had fed. The other 

 exposition, he continued, would be 

 temporary, in September, and would 

 receive colonies of bees of various 

 races with hives, instruments, etc. 



He was followed by Mr. L S. Fusay, 

 who, undaunted, as he said he was, by 

 the ghost of the tax gatherer, pro- 

 posed that the following questions 

 should be printed and sent by mail to 

 every one of their members and oth- 

 ers engaged in bee-keeping, to be an- 

 swered in September: 



1. How many hives have you, 

 movable or permanent? 



2. How many kilogrammes of 

 honey have you gathered 'i* 



3. What "proportion of clover land 

 do yon cultivate, and what is your 

 estimate of the proportion of same 

 laud is there in your country as com- 

 pared with other cultures ? 



4. Same question for natural 

 meadows ':* 



5. What is the proportion in oak 

 land ? 



6. Have you linden trees and 

 chestnut trees V 



7. Have yon many fruit trees, 

 and of what kind mostly '( 



8. What is the prevailing wind 

 with you in the spring, and what kind 

 of wind is it V 



9. What is your altitude above sea 

 level (in metres) '? 



10. What is your harvest time for 

 honey ':* 



11. Is your country flat, hilly or 

 mountajnoiis V 



12. If mountainous, which way does 

 it incline V 



13. What is the character of the 

 soilV 



Information he said, thus collected, 

 differed, and intelligently acted upon 

 would not only increase the i)roduc- 

 tion of lioney,'bnt improve its quality, 

 and so enlarge the sale of it that he 

 would not be any more afraid of the 

 tax gatherer than he is now of his 

 competitors all around him. By teach- 

 ing his neighbor he has added water 

 and power to his own mill-race. 



Mr. President Horner promised the 

 co-operation of the Iribourg Society 

 in answering these questions, and sug- 

 gested the addition of a few other 

 questions like these : To what cause 

 do vou attribute your success or your 

 failure"? What influence has the 

 climate on your section of country ? 



After a prolonged discussion on the 

 most efficient ways and means to have 

 the questions reach their destination, 

 be intelligently answered, and the 

 answer conveyed safely, a committee 

 was appointed to carry out the meas- 

 ure in tull. 



Mr. Ed. Bertrand, editor of the 

 Bulletin d' Apicultexir read a paper on 

 the yield of honey. For a few years 

 back he said, by means of hives per- 

 manently fastened upon scales, I have 

 taken notes of the progress of my 

 various crops in aiflerent locations, 

 and I desire to communicate to you 

 the results I have obtained, and the 

 information to be derived from them. 

 I have two of such colonies at some 

 distance from my residence, and there 

 I can take observations only when I 

 go to visit them from time to time. At 

 Nyon, my home, I frequently take 

 notes every day. He said that almost 

 invariablv'his "crop of honey depends 

 for weight upon the state of the 

 weather during the 15 days preceeding 

 May harvest. This year, at the end 

 of jilarch and beginning of April, the 

 hive on the scales kept up its weight 

 pretty evenly, the cherry trees were 

 in blossom, then the plum trees, a few 

 species of ^villows and the dandelion 

 —after the 22d of April till the 10th of 

 May, the weight decreased constantly, 

 and yet the cliestnut trees were bloom- 

 ing, the pear trees also, etc.; but the 

 weather was rough, rainy, cold, from 

 the north. The Uth, 12th and 13th 

 of May show in my notes a daily in- 

 crease of .'550, 375 and 200 giammes 

 corresponding to fine days and to the 

 first rtowering of the clover and the 

 i)lue sage ; our soil is gravelly and 

 light. Again, from the Uth to the 

 20th of May, the diminution is con- 

 stant, except on the 19th when the 

 blow from the north gave place on the 

 20th to a southwest wind, the entire 

 diminution from the 14th to the 20th 

 in the evening was kilog. 1-775 {5% 

 pounds)! and thus on till the 16th of 

 .June when he ceasedhis observations 

 to gather in bis honey. I can tell that 

 all mv crop was the work of 11 days, 

 during two of which nothing vi-as 



