664 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



AFTERNOON SESSION. 



President Jones described his man- 

 ner of dipping, in order to obtain the 

 sheets of wax all of one thickness, by 

 using a dipping-board abont two feet 

 long and alike at both ends. After 

 dipping once, he dips it again with 

 the other end down, and in this way 

 he obtains a long sheet of even thick- 

 ness. 



Mr. J M. Hicks, Battle Ground, 

 Ind., gave the following address : 



It affords me mucli pleasure, as well 

 as satisfaction to meet with the mem- 

 bers of this great Society, now holding 

 its 13th Annual Session. We see a few 

 of those who met with us in our first 

 organized meeting, and yet we see 

 with regret some vacant seats, made 

 so by the hand of death. The old vet- 

 erans in apiculture, Quinby, Hamlin, 

 Otis, and also more recently the la- 

 mented A. F. Moon, all of whom were 

 members of this Society, actively en- 

 gaged and much interested in the sci- 

 ence of apiculture. 



Time will not permit me to go into 

 detail concerning all the good and 

 noble traits of character of those who 

 once met and occupied their seats with 

 us and took part in the free discussions 

 of this Society, composed as it was for 

 years of some of the brightest intel- 

 lects of the North American conti- 

 nent. Here it is that we have a free 

 discussion of all important questions, 

 as well as an interchange of views, 

 thoughts and best plans tor the proper 

 management of our little pets, the 

 bees ; yet we often find ourselves differ- 

 ing in some of the appliances to be 

 used. But one universal opinion pre- 

 vails among all practical bee-keepers, 

 that is, all who can expect to succeed, 

 must adopt and use a good movable 

 frame hive — one in which bees can be 

 easily handled, causing as little irrita- 

 tion as possible to the bees. 



We shall not discuss the merits or 

 demerits of any particular hive, well 

 knowing this is not the proper place. 



We now come to the subject that 

 should interest all who attempt to 

 keep bees for protit — that of houey- 

 gatiiering and the proper management 

 of bees, tor breeding queens of un- 

 doubted purity. It is a well known 

 fact, that pasturage has a great deal 

 to do with the success of an apiary. 

 All of these lessons are of vast impor- 

 tance to the bee-keeper who expects 

 to become master of his or her profes- 

 sion, and succeed in this, one of Na- 

 ture's most beautiful departments 

 of labor. 



We have been for many years a 

 student around the bee hive, among 

 the bees, tor the purpose of learning 

 all we could of their wonderful work- 

 ings and yet we tind a rich reward for 

 all pains taken in lliier behalf, as well 

 as our own knowledge much advanced 

 in the science of apiculture. 



Let me now say a few words by way 

 of advice to those who may be think- 

 ing of this particular branch of busi- 

 ness as a calling or occupation, in 

 future years. I especially address 

 myself to the mere novice. There 

 are many locations yet unoccupied 

 that would well repay all dilligent 



and industrious workers in this occu- 

 pation. It is now estimated that we 

 have at present 250,000 bee-keepers 

 engaged in this branch of business in 

 the United States, and yet there is 

 (on Uncle Sam's farm) plenty of room 

 for as many more, yielding millions 

 of revenue, making ourselves more 

 happy and prosperous, and we should 

 have'the satisfaction of knowing that 

 we could save many million pounds 

 of honey that is now being lost every 

 year, for the want of more bees to 

 gather the rich stores contained in 

 the bloom of Nature's fields, thereby 

 supplying our tables, as well as many 

 of the tables of our rich cousins, 

 across the briny deep, who are just 

 beginning to realize the fact of the 

 magnitude of this braneh of agricul- 

 ture as now carried on in the tjnited 

 States. 



In this, as well as many other coun- 

 tries, bees seem to be stirring up quite 

 a lively iiiterest, causing the people 

 to meet in State and National bee 

 meetings in almost every part of the 

 civilized world, in order to advise, 

 counsel and plan fOr more successful 

 methods in the management of the 

 honey bee, for the good of man. 



Mr. .T. S. Terrill, of Ridgeville, O., 

 explained how he obtained the statis- 

 tics of his County : He mailed letters, 

 each containing a postal card address- 

 ed to himself, to every postmaster in 

 the county, and requested him to 

 write on it the names of all the bee- 

 keepers getting their mail at his 

 office, and mail the card back to him. 

 Now, by mailing similar cards to all 

 the bee men, with a printed request 

 and blanks to fill out, he obtained 

 nearly a fuil report of all the bees in 

 his county, as well as of the honey 

 produced. This list of names he says 

 is worth all it has cost him, and may 

 be used to advantage for calling con- 

 ventions, or any other purpose for 

 which it may be desired, pertaining to 

 beekeeping. 



The committee on exhibits then 

 made its report : 



The most important of these exhibits 

 were the honey extractor of Mr. C. F. 

 Muth, and the comb foundation ma- 

 chines of Messrs. Vandervort, A. I. 

 Root, Wm. C. Pelham and C. C. Van 

 Deusen ; the honey knives of Messrs. 

 Bingham & Hetherington, and Jones; 

 the smokers of Messrs. A. I. Root, 

 Bingham & Hetherington, Scovell & 

 Anderson ; the cages for shipping 

 queens by mail by Messrs. A. I. Root 

 and I. R. Good ; the bee tent and ob- 

 servatory hive of Mr. A. I. Root ; the 

 straw mat of Mr. C. F. Muth ; the 

 beautiful honev labels for packages 

 by Mr. D. A. Jones; the "ABC of 

 Bee-Culture," by A. I. Root ; " Man- 

 ual of the Apiary." by Prof. A. J. 

 Cook ; the American Bee Journal 

 and Gleanings in Bee-Culture were 

 warmly indorsed. The rare and beau- 

 tiful packages of honey, both in comb 

 and extracted, were as follows : From 

 Florida, Tennessee, Nebraska and 

 Mississippi; G. F. Muth, of Cincin- 

 nati ; Dr. J. E. Lay, Texas, and Dr. 

 Bessie, of Delaware. O.; the micro- 

 scopic observations of dry feces, and 



of pollen, exhibited by Prof. Cook, and 

 plants by Dr. Brown, of Georgia, were 

 especially mentioned. Especial atten- 

 tion was called to the bee tent of Mr. 

 Root, for preventing robbing; the 

 honey sent from Vohisia County, Fla., 

 and the displays of Mr. L. Tester, of 

 Nebraska, and Judge Andrews, of 

 Texas. 



The committee on statistics submit- 

 ted the following report from 53 of tlie 

 members present, a recapitulation of 

 which is as follows : 



Total No. of colonies last fall 3,4S9 



Average No. of colonies to each 



member 66 



Colonies lost in winter 66 



Colonies lost in spring 144 



Colonies beginning the season 3.087 



Colonies devoted to other pur- 

 poses than honey 636 



Colonies at present working 4,748 



Production— Pounds. 



Total comb honey 47,451 



Average for each owner 895 



Average for each colony 15i 



Total extracted honey .' 99,808 



Average for each owner 1,883 



Average for each colony 32* 



Total production both kinds. .147.259 



Average per owner 2,778 



Average per colony 48 



The Convention then passed resolu- 

 tions of thanks to the proprietors of 

 the hall for its free use. and to Mr. C. 

 F. Muth, for his great kindness in en- 

 tertainment. Also to the Railroads, 

 the exhibitors, and to the retiring 

 president. Prof, A. J. Cook, for the 

 faithful dischai'ge of the many duties 

 devolving upon him, during the past 

 year. 



The Convention adjourned to meet 

 in Toronto, Canada, next October. 



^"The Union Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation of Maryland, Virginia and 

 West Virginia, will meet at Ilagers- 

 town, in the room of the County Com- 

 missioners, at the Court House, on 

 Wednesday, Oct. 18, 1882, at 1 o'clock, 

 p. m., the session to last two days. 

 The Washington County Fair will 

 then be in progress, which will give 

 persons an opportunity to attend the 

 exhibition. All persons intending to 



fp will please drop me a card, so that 

 may secure for them half-fare rates. 

 J. Luther Bowers, <Sec. 



^"The Iowa Central Bee-Keepers' 

 Association will hold its annual meet- 

 ing at the office of Graham & Steel, 

 Winterset, Iowa, on Friday Nov. 3, 

 1882, at 10 a. m. All interested in bee 

 culture are invited. 



Henry Wallace. 



1^ The fall meeting of the North- 

 ern Ohio Bee-Keepers' Association 

 will be held in Whittlesey Hall, Nor- 

 walk, O., Saturday, Oct. 21, com- 

 mencing at 9 a. m. A full attendance 

 is solicited, as it will be a meeting of 

 more tlian usual interest. Principal 

 subject for discussion : "How shall 

 we winter our bees without loss V" 

 S. F. Newman, Sec. 



