THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



105 



But, light here I wish to suggest 

 what I have never seen a hint ot in 

 print, or liearcl mentioned by any one, 

 viz. : That if the honey bee is not an 

 exception to all the rules of past ex- 

 perience, as applied to winged domes- 

 ticated animals— our domesticated 

 fowls— the continuous clipping off the 

 wings of the queens, thus depriv- 

 ing tliem of their natural use and 

 health-giving exercise, as well as the 

 interference with tlie circulating life- 

 giving fluids of the body, will as cer- 

 tainly, in process of time, enfeeble the 

 "wing power" of their progeny, as 

 the same process of treatment has 

 changed our domestic fowls from 

 " birds of the air " to their present 

 toddling condition. Mostlikely there 

 are some who will be ready to laugh 

 at such an idea, nevertheless, causes 

 will continue to produce their effects 

 all the same. 



Dr. Wm. M. Rogers, of Shelbyville, 

 Ky., from whose keen perception 

 nothing escapes, pointed out to me, 

 several years ago, unmistakable evi- 

 dence of clumsiness on the part of our 

 "carefully bred bees," seen in tlieir 



Eroueness to trip and tumble on their 

 acks, and their spasmodic struggles 

 to right themselves when rushing out 

 of the hives during a brisk honey flow. 

 Their lofty tumbles on the alighting- 

 board is not only amusing and ludi- 

 crous to behold, but is in striking con- 

 trast witli the little lithe iron-gray 

 bees that plied in and out of my box 

 hive 20 years ago. In every attempt 

 to breed for good points, " wing 

 power " should stand at the head. 

 Christiaiisburg, Ky. 



Mahoning Valley Convention. 



The annual meeting of the Mahon- 

 ing Valley Bee-Keepers' Association 

 was held at Berlin, on Jan. 19 and 20. 

 After the reading of the minutes of 

 the last meeting (which were ap- 

 proved), the president, Mr. L. Carson, 

 appointed the following committee 

 on bee fixtures : Mr. H. A. Simon, 

 Mr. Mattoon and Mr. Eadler. In the 

 absence of the secretary the chairman 

 appointed II. A. Simon, Sec, jno tern. 

 The president then announced the 

 meeting open for discussion, and the 

 first question was : What is the cause 

 of dysentery Y 



Mr. Simon inquired under what con- 

 dition they got it. 



Mr. Mattoon : I have noticed a good 

 many dead bees on the bottoms of my 

 hives, and a bad odor ; it may be that 

 they are too damp. 



Mr. Simon : I would use syrup from 

 good sugar ; I think it a good remedy. 



Mr. Carson : A few years ago my 

 bees became affected with the dysen- 

 tery. 1 carried the bees into the 

 house and fed them melted sugar, 

 warmed them up thoroughly, replaced 

 them on the stands, and did not lose 

 any. 



Mr. Mattoon : I give my bees a 

 flight once in the winter. I "place one 

 hive at a time in a large hot-bed, and 

 give them a good flight ; then cover 

 the glass all over, but a small place 

 just over tl>e hive, and they will all go 

 in and losses by this process are few. 



Mr. Newton applied sulphur in small 

 quantities, by raising the blanket and 

 scattering it over the bees. He has 

 used salt with good results. 



Mr. Simon thought dampness and 

 close confinement the cause of dysen- 

 tery. A remedy for this difliculty ^yas 

 proper ventilation and close attention 

 to the bees. 



Mr. Carson thought that the Ital- 

 ians were preferable to any other ; they 

 were strong, vigorous workers ; the 

 queens were prolific, and they are gen- 

 erally easy to handle. 



Mr. Newton thought one or two 

 hives enough for an amateur to com- 

 mence with. He should not put too 

 much money in a business he is not 

 familiar with. 



Mr. Simon considered five or six 

 none too many ; a man would have to 

 pav considerable attention to that 

 many, and would take better care of 

 them. 



Mr. Carson said, it will pay to 

 plant pasturage for bees ; sow sweet 

 clover (melilot); flg-wort has great 

 merit. 1 would advise the planting 

 of basswood and the golden willow 

 along the highways. 



January 20th, a short forenoon ses- 

 sion was held, discussing the manage- 

 ment of bees, in general. 



The inclemency of the weather kept 

 many from attending the afternoon 

 session ; the election of oflicers for 

 the following year resulted as fol- 

 lows : President, Leonidas Carson, 

 Milton ; Vice-President, H. A. Simon, 

 Lordstown ; Secretary, E. W. Turner, 

 Newton Falls ; Treasurer, Geo. Car- 

 son, Berlin, O. 



Mr. G. A. Newton, of North Ben- 

 ton, O., exhibited and explained the 

 working of his drone trap, for catch- 

 ing black or hybrid drones. 



Mr. Eadler exhibited some of Gray's 

 bee feeders. 



Mr. Frank King showed some of 

 his improved wired frames for ex- 

 tracting. 



Mr. Simon said, if honey is to be 

 shipped it is necessary to use sep- 

 arators. 



Mr. Carson : I would advise all bee- 

 keepers to try and sell all their honey 

 at home, even if you sell for 2 cts. per 

 pound less. 1 consider it one of the 

 healthiest sweets, and excellent for 

 canning fruits. We use it in our 

 family, and never have any fruit spoil. 



Mr. Simon suggested that we create 

 a market for extracted honey at home. 



Mr. Simon said, I moved some 30 

 colonies of bees last spring, about the 

 first of May. I removed the cap, 

 covered with wire cloth, and moved 

 them on a spring wagon. Box hives 

 I invfvt, and cover the same way. 



Mr. Simon said, I use the Peet cage 

 for introducing queens. I sometimes 

 coat the queen with honey and in- 

 troduce at the top of the frames. I 

 generally have good success, either 

 way. I always feed the bees when I 

 introduce a queen, if there is not a 

 good flow of honey. 



The question of our future meeting 

 came up for discussion. It was sug- 

 gested that we have a picnic dinner, 

 bring our wives and children, and 

 have a good social time, and that we 



have a general display of bee-keepers' 

 supplies. 



Adjourned to the first Saturday of 

 May, 1883, at the Center of Berlin. 

 E. W. Turner, Sec. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Best Bees— Reply to Mr. Demaree. 



JAMES HEDDON. 



The discussion of the question of 

 which are " the best bees," has been 

 before the general bee-keeping public 

 for some time. They have, no doubt, 

 heard about all they desire to hear on 

 that subject, at least from Mr. De- 

 maree and myself, who seem to be 

 the chief disputants. My last article 

 was an endeavor to sum up as clearly 

 as possible, not only what I believed 

 to be vital trnths connected with the 

 subject, but what I believed were gen- 

 erally accepted as facts. 



I was incorrectly reported to have 

 said, at our State Convention, that 

 light Italians were more gentle than 

 the dark ones. Like a drowning man 

 catching at a straw, Mr. Demaree 

 used this " phantom " with wliich to 

 open controversy on a worn-out sub- 

 ject. That it is worn out with him, is 

 evinced by the fact that his article on 

 page 82, says nothing about it; the 

 afterpart of it being, " how it market 

 honey," while the forepart consists of 

 a series of assertions regarding my in- 

 ability, etc. These points should be 

 left with the readers to judge for 

 themselves ; should they not V This 

 acting as chief disputant and judge, 

 is again repeated by Mr. D. Is he 

 afraid to leave it to the readers V Is 

 he disheartened by the statement of 

 Dr. Baker, in his article on page 74, 

 6th paragraph V Mr. Demaree must 

 know that I am not the author of the 

 term, "long leather-colored Italians." 

 He says it is an " egregious blunder" 

 for me to confine the term long, to the 

 darker Italians. I will try to show 

 why it is not. I have never seen 

 any Italians of the light hue as long 

 as the average of the darker ones. I 

 have always heard leading breeders, 

 that I have met with, speak as though 

 they never had. Never having seen, 

 heard or read of such lengths and 

 colors combined, as Mr. D. mentions 

 in his second paragraph, where does 

 the blunder come in y If Mr. D. has 

 seen such, we are both consistent, and 

 no one has blundered. 



Mr. D. asks, "Is life a great tread 

 wheel V" to which 1 reT)ly, too much 

 so with many of us. He infers that I 

 am a "bread and butter writer." 

 Good. If I have written anything 

 which has even helped to lessen the 

 struggle for bread and butter, that is, 

 to make the getting of it more simple 

 and easy, be it ever solittle, I shall be 

 at any time proud to compare my 

 record with his, as an apicultural 

 writer. About his ability as a honey 

 vender, I will not imitate him, but 

 leave each reader to judge for him- 

 self. In the remainder and forepart 

 of his article, he says, that I am not 

 only a " blunderer," but a " confus- 

 ser-" that my articles " are replete 

 witii errors," " marvelously superfi- 



