THE AMERICAIS BEE JOURNAL. 



343 



otlier business, being a druggist. His 

 hives were hard to handle, although 

 tliey had movable frames, and they 

 were also too much shaded. Bees re- 

 quire some shade in this climate, in 

 tne middle of the day in summer; but 

 he had overdone the shade business, 

 and as a consequence lost. 



I believe bees handled there as we do 

 in the North, would pay well. The 

 climiite is healthy iind pleasant in 

 winter and not overly warm in sum- 

 mer. The people are intelligent and 

 courteous. 



An interesting letter was also read 

 by Mrs. ]5artow, from Mr. A. B. Sur- 

 ber, a bee-keeper of Southern Texas, 

 in reply to several questions asked 

 him in regard to bee-keeping in that 

 State. 



The following was passed: "iJe- 

 solved. That the thanks of this Asso- 

 ciation are due, and are hereby tender- 

 ed to ^Ir. Samuel Fish, for the able 

 manner in which he has presided over 

 this Association during the past two 

 years, and for the uniform kindness 

 which he has at all times exercised 

 toward its members." Mr. Fish 

 thanked the members for their cour- 

 tesy. 



A vote of thanks was given to the 

 City Council for the use of their room. 

 Also to S. F. JSTewman, for his past 

 services as Secretary of the Associa- 

 tion. 



Adjourned to meet at the call of the 

 Secretary' . 



H. R. BOARDMAN, Sec. 



S. F. Newman, Pres. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



The " Keystone " Convention. 



The Key stone Bee-keepers' Associa- 

 tion met lately at Scranton, Pa. 



After reading the minutes of previ- 

 ous meeting, the election of officers 

 was held and J. Vandervort, of Lacey- 

 ville, was elected President, D. J. 

 Peck, of Harford, Vice President, A. 

 A. Davis, of Clark's Green, Secretary, 

 and C. E. Miller, of Justice, Treas- 

 urer. 



After the transaction of business 

 the subject, " Do Bees Injure Fruit or 

 Crops?" was discussed; in which the 

 majority of the members participated. 

 The opinion expressed seemed to indi- 

 cate that instead of being injurious 

 they were a benefit in many respects. 



One gentleman said that he had no- 

 ticed that buckwheat always yielded 

 a better crop if frequented by large 

 numbers of bees, and so of other crops. 

 An idea existed that some farmers 

 paris-green their buckwheat and other 

 crops for the purpose of destroying 

 the bees, and a remonstrance was ex- 

 pressed against such a deplorable 

 measure. The President stated that 

 the English government has gone to 

 considerable expense to have the com- 

 mon bumble-bee introduced into Aus- 

 tralia for the purpose of fertilizing 

 red clover, and had met with but par- 

 tial success. Others who had experi- 

 mented in several ways claimed that 

 bees, to all classes of fruit, were bene- 

 ficial and should be encouraged. Ad- 

 journed. C. E. Miller, Sec. 



?\ii- thf Atnorieiin Hoc .loiirnnK 



Northern Georgia. 



L. K. DICKEY. 



On page 139, in calling the attention 

 of Northern bee-keepers to this coun- 

 try, I asked this question: " Why do 

 not enterprising bee-keepers in the 

 North, who are seeking a better field 

 for their business, come to Northwest 

 Georgia and help us develop out honey 

 resources'!"' 



On page 201 Mr. Leonidas Carson 

 says: '• The answer is plain. Enter- 

 prising men of all occupations in the 

 North are loth to settle in the South- 

 ern States so long as lawlessness is ex- 

 cused and goes unpunished;" and then 

 says he has reference to the trouble 

 at Danville, Miss. I do not know 

 whether he alludes to the riot at Dan- 

 ville, ^'a., or to the outrages in Copiah 

 County, Miss. I can not see why tlie 

 trouble ateither or both of these places 

 .500 or 600 miles distant should deter 

 enterprising men of any section from 

 coming to Northwest Georgia, unless 

 there is evidence that our people sym- 

 pathize with such lawlessness. 



In my opinion there is no such evi- 

 dence to be found outside the fertile 

 imagination of Mr. Carson. I am a 

 native of this State and county and an 

 ardent Republican in politics, and now 

 hold an honorable position to which I 

 was elected chiefly by Democratic 

 votes. No one can feel more keenly 

 than myself, the injustice and wrongs 

 perpetrated in some of the Southern 

 States for political purposes. 



Now let me say to Mr. Carson and 

 others in the North, whose " eyes are 

 turned southward," to the land he so 

 beautifully describes, that our people 

 are, in the main, plain, clever people, 

 and are as law-abiding as those of any 

 section of the union; and before 

 becoming prejudiced against this sec- 

 tion on account of those troubles 

 which occurred in other States, and at 

 great distances from us, to come, see, 

 and investigate for yourselves. These 

 unfortunate occurrences should no 

 more deter you from coming here than 

 the recent riot in Cincinnati, or the 

 recent outrage on Mr. McDevitt in 

 Ohio, should deter me from going to 

 Grundy County, la. 



For further information concerning 

 our people let me refer you to an article 

 published on page 171, Bee Journal 

 for 1881, written by Mr. Moon of 

 Rome, Ga., who, I believe, was a 

 Northern man. 



This is a broken, hilly, mountainous 

 country, with fertile valleys interven- 

 ing. These hills are generally poor, 

 though surtioientlv fertile to grow fruit 

 and vegetables, and moderate crops of 

 grain. In the valleys it is reasonably 

 productive, growing corn, wheat, oats, 

 clover, fruit and vegetables. There is 

 generally an abundance of running 

 water. As a bee-country it is good, 

 though our honey flow is not so pro- 

 fuse as it is in some sections of the 

 North. 



As I said in my letter, our honey 

 resources are not developed. The 

 largest yield that I have heard of is 

 160 lbs. extracted honey, per colony. 



I think Mr. Good's advice on page 

 217 IS timely and wise; though I tuink 

 he has been in quite a poor country. I 

 would much prefer a location reason- 

 ably near to Chattanooga which is a 

 fast-growing city of about 20,000 in- 

 habitants, and is of much importance 

 as a manufacturing and railroad cen- 

 ter. 



High Point, Ga. 



Kor the AraerlcaB Bee Journal. 



What the Bees Think of it. 



MRS. DR. E. MASON. 



" Why SO much uncertainty about 

 wintering, ventilation, and spring 

 dwindling V" I am thinking these 

 much abused bees must often say, 

 '■ what fools these mortals be. One 

 stows us in a dark, damp, moldy and 

 foul - aired cellar ; restrains "us of 

 liberty, fresh air, and the bright sun- 

 shine, which is so essential to life and 

 healtli, even in the coldest weather ; 

 another stows us in a room or dry cel- 

 lar, but robs us of our liberty, prevents 

 our flight also, until we crawl about 

 the floor and die; another hills us up 

 like cabbage and turnips, and almost 

 all, more or less, shake us up, liaul 

 us away from our summer stands, fret 

 and scare us until we are half crazy, 

 every spring and fall. Then they talk 

 of ' safe wintering ' and ' spring dwind- 

 ling.' Is it any wonder that, in our 

 fright and anger at such treatment, 

 we die, or, that our honey tastes strong 

 and gives the cramps, and injures the 

 sale of it ? Give us gentle, loving 

 hands to attend us, and our honey is 

 sweet and healthful at all times. 

 Good mortals, please let us rest from 

 that kind of treatment. It is labor, 

 fatigue, and loss to you, and disease, 

 craze, and death to us. Please let us 

 have thick, double- walled, chaff-lined 

 hives, well painted to preserve the hive 

 and keep the dampness out. Lay 2 or 

 3 bars or sticks, one-half inch thick, 

 acrosss the top-bars, that we may pass 

 freely over and cluster on the top-bars. 

 Lay over us a new cotton or burlap 

 honey-cloth, covering every crevice ; 

 for ventilation, in the shape of crev- 

 ices, hardens the combs and honey, 

 and is death to us. Then lay a pillow 

 smoothly over the honey-cloth, and 

 shut the box cover closely, leaving no 

 part of the honey-cloth or cushions 

 caught between the cover and the hive 

 to absorb dampness." 



There is no other cushion-material 

 equal to feathers ; for they retain the 

 heat— are always dry and light, and 

 the space between the cushion and the 

 top of the box-cover, is a hot-air 

 chamber. Cotton batting,covered with 

 unbleached muslin, is "the next best 

 cushion as a substitute for feathers. 

 Raise the back of the hive 2 or 3 inches 

 higher than the entrance, so as to 

 carry otf all water, dead bees, etc. 



I have kept from 50 to 100 colonies 

 of Italian bees for 10 years, and I have 

 never had any trouble in wintering 

 them ; nor hacl sickness of any kind 

 among them ; nor " spring dwindling," 

 which can be prevented by commenc- 

 ing in January, to place rye flour in 

 sunnv places about the hives, and on 



