THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



473 



and did not think nature should be 

 crossed. Judge Andrews said that 

 tlie foneliisioii of tlie National Hee- 

 Keepers' Association was against 

 clipping. lie thought there was no 

 donl)l that the bees like a (Hieeii with 

 perfect wings tlie best, and tl-at a 

 miitihited queen was not acceptable 

 to the bees. Hut did not think the 

 clipping would ever tell injuriously on 

 the progeny i)f the queen— the loss 

 from clipping was greater than from 

 the abscondingswarms— as the queens 

 not being able to fly, would crawl off 

 in the grass. 



On taking the sense of the Associa- 

 tion on the decision of the committee, 

 two members sustained it, the others 

 against it. 



2. •• Does it pay the better to run an 

 apiary for extracted or comb honey V 

 Answer by committee, "Extracted 

 honey." 



Report of committee unanimously 

 ndopted. 

 Adjourneii till 1 p. m. 



EVENING SESSION. 



3. " What is best to plant for honey 

 pasture ?" Answer, '• Horse-mint." 



Dr. Mai-shall thought black locust 

 a good forage. He thought lime might 

 succeed well here ; also recommended 

 the protection of honey-locust for the 

 benefit of bees. .J. S. Kerr said he 

 had made some experiments with 

 sweet clover. He thought it a good 

 honey forage, and not dangerous to 

 farms. Scott McKinney had ob- 

 served that china or scratch berry af- 

 forded a good How of honey, and also 

 motherwort. Mr. Carroll had tried 

 the blue thistle of Mrginia, and con- 

 sidered it about as good as anything. 

 Also pepper-wood is very excellent. 

 Judge Andrews said sweet clover did 

 yield honey, but not of such a quantity 

 as to attract bees if they had any- 

 thing else to go to. The Simpson 

 honey-plant was the best honey-pro- 

 ducer for the black land. He believed 

 the Canada thistle would grow here, 

 and in its native country was con- 

 sidered a most excellent honey plant. 

 That honey locust and black locust 

 shouki botl'i be encouraged and pro- 

 tected in their growth. Raspberry, 

 he said, made the best honey. Ratau 

 is a tiptop honey producer; also, red- 

 bud yields a good supply of honey. 



The special committee on foul 

 brood next reported tlie following 

 resolutions : 



Whereas, Foul brood has appeared 

 in our State, and is now found in 

 Dallas and in the surrounding coun- 

 try, and is now spreading into other 

 counties; and 



Whereas. It is spreading with won- 

 derful rapidity, and threatens to be 

 one of the most fearful evils with 

 which we have to contend ; and 



Whereas, It threatens, if not check- 

 ed, eventually to destroy the whole 

 industry of bee-keeping in the State, 

 therefore. 



Resolved, 1. That we urge all the 

 friends of bee-culture to use every 

 effort in their power to prevent its 

 spread. 



2. That we urge every beekeeper. 

 at its first appearance, to burn the 

 hive in which it appears, with all its 



contents, believing that lire is the 

 only suthcient remedy ; and 



M. That a coiniuiltee be appointed 

 to prepare a draft of a Bill in reference 

 to foul brood, to be presented to the 

 next Legislature, and that the mem- 

 bers of t"liis Convention present a copy 

 of this Bill to the member of the Leg- 

 islature from his county, and urge 

 him to use his influence to secure its 

 passage. 



Dr. Marshall held that foul brood 

 was the greatest evil that bee-men 

 had to contend with. It was im- 

 ported into the neighborhood of Dal- 

 las by Mr. Collin. It had spread as 

 for south of that city as Lancaster, 

 eight miles east, and as far west as 

 Arlington. He had never found a 

 remedy for it. It is never discovered 

 until after the larva is capped over, 

 then by the sinking of the cap. He 

 advocated legislation that would com- 

 pel its destruction as the only means 

 of getting rid of it. A swarm of bees 

 may run away and settle in a hollow 

 tree in the woods, and die from foul 

 brood, and the bees for several miles 

 each way may carry off the honey 

 they leave, and thus scatter the dis- 

 ease in all directiens. Judge Andrews 

 had seen foul brood eight years ago 

 in Mr. Collins" apiary at Dallas ; since 

 that time there has been no alarm, 

 but now it is spreading rapidly, and 

 he recommends that on first appear- 

 ance the hives be destroyed solidly 

 and effectually. 



As to its appearance, there will be 

 found a small hole in the centre of 

 the cap. There is a very foul odor 

 peculiar only to foul brood, and can 

 be smelt outside the hive. 



Scott McKinney gave an account of 

 what was thought to be foul brood in 

 Mr. Biuckley's apiary at Sherman, 

 but did not know whether it proved 

 to be foul brood or not. Mr. West, 

 who, it was thought, had foul brood 

 in his apiary in Tarrant county, now 

 gave his views. He did not know 

 whether he had foul brood or not. 

 About the first of February he noticed 

 cells with caps upen in the centre, 

 thought it was chill brood. He then 

 then found there were 12 colonies 

 affected with it, and sent these off 

 several miles. Thought his entire 

 apiary was affected with it. Had 

 cheeked it to a great extent. His 

 colonies had sent out swarms. Had 

 seen bees hatching in the hive beside 

 it. Did not think it affected the 

 drone or queen-cells. He burns the 

 combs and boils tlie hives as aremedy. 

 Mr. Horn advocated the boiling pro- 

 cess with red pepper added to the 

 water. 



After prolonged discussion the reso- 

 lutions were adopted. The Associa- 

 tion then proceeded with a further 

 discussion of the questions handed to 

 the committee. 



4. " Will it pay to rear young queens 

 to introduce into new colonies V" 

 Answer, " Yes." Sustained by the 

 Association. 



•5. " Can more than one race of bees 

 be kept successfully in the same 

 apiary V" Judge Andrews held that 

 more than one race would mix, and 

 recommended that only one race be 

 kept in the same apiary. 



6. " Are artificial better than nat- 

 ural swarms V" Answer by the com- 

 mittee, " For increase, yes." " For 

 honey, no." Report of cuminiltee 

 adopted unanimously. 



7. " Can a bee-keeper make a suc- 

 cess of a one-story hive without an 

 extractor?" "Yes," by committee. 

 Judge Andrews thought tliat for the 

 use of an extractor anything but a 

 one-story hive would be best. Mr. 

 Carroll thought tliat when there was 

 a good flow of honey two, three and 

 four stories were best. Mr. Cooper 

 held that a two-stoiy hive was best, 

 as it gave the honey time to ripen. 

 Judge Andrews did not believe it 

 necessary that honey should be al- 

 lowed to remain in the comb to ripen, 

 but should be thrown out as soon as 

 possible and ripen in open-mouthed 

 vessels. Mr. West was opposed to 

 two story hives. Mr. Carroll held 

 that to throw honey out before it had 

 ripened, was a good way to make vine- 

 gar or metheglin ; aiid that honey 

 evaporated in barrels did not have 

 the same flavor as that ripened in the 

 comb. Dr. Marshall thought it 

 would require an expert to throw out 

 the honey and then ripen it ; and he 

 thought a two story hive the best, as 

 the brood would be disturbed in one- 

 story hives by extracting. Judge An- 

 drews' plan is to store honey first in 

 open stone jars and cover with thin 

 cloth— -the temperature for ripening 

 the honey is from SO- to 00". Mr. 

 Horn said he had ripened honey in 

 10-gallon kegs. Answer of commit- 

 tee sustained. 



8. "Are drones from an Italian 

 queen that has mated with a black 

 drone,pure Italians V" Bycommittee, 

 " Yes." Mr. Carroll thought they 

 would be pure. Judge Andrews 

 thought not. Also, Dr. Marshall 

 thought not. and that the progeny of 

 the queen, both male and female, 

 were affected by the mating. Dr. 

 Howard thought the offspring a mon- 

 grel of no certain degree. Report of 

 committee not sustained. 



9. "How can one or more weak 

 colonies be combined in the beginning' 

 of the season so as to make a strong 

 oiieV" Mr. Carroll recommended 

 placing the hives one upon the other, 

 or make the new colony by taking 

 frames alternately from the old ones 

 and place tliem in the new hive. Dr. 

 Howard recommended placing one 

 hive on the other, and give both a 

 thon)ugh smoking, and lean a board 

 against the front of the hive to aid 

 the bees in marking their new locality. 

 Mr. Wilson's plan was to put in one 

 colony with half the frarnes, then a 

 division- board ; at night take out the 

 board and smoke the Dees thoroughly. 

 Judge Andrews did not approve of . 

 removals, but if necessary, would 

 move the hive the whole distance at 

 once, and keep the bees in for two 

 nights and one day. 



10. " Does the amalgamation of bees 

 produce good results V" Answer of 

 committee," No." Mr. Carroll thought 

 it might possibly do so, but said we 

 could not know it. Referred to Mr. 

 Ileddon as authority, but thinks pure 

 stock the best. Judge Andrews held 

 that nothing could possibly be gained 



