286 



TUK AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



creased by reducing our prairies to 

 cultivation. 



Convention adjourned till 2 o'clock 

 p. m. 



SECOND DAY— AFTERNOON SESSION 



The secretary read an essay from 

 Dr. J. P. II. Brown, of Augusta, Ga., 

 on " Marketing honey." 



Dr. Howard read bis essay on 

 " Honey plants in Northern Texas." 



Judge Audrevi's read an essay on 

 the " Bee-moth," which excited con- 

 siderable attention and discussion, 

 and also some feeling. 



Dr. Howard read las essay on the 

 " Queen bee — her nature and habits." 



Judge Andrews, being called out, 

 stated how, by accident, a few years 

 ago, he made the discovery which led 

 to the fact mentioned in Dr. Howard's 

 essay that, " The queen must become 

 tranqualized with the bees instead of 

 the bees with the queen," and that 

 the workers will receive a dozen 

 queens as readily as one ; in other 

 words, if we cage a number of queens 

 in one colony at the same time, we 

 may liberate any one of them as 

 though she were the only one there, 

 the reigning queen being present up 

 to the time of the liberation. 



The election of officers for the next 

 year resulted in tlie election of W. H. 

 Andrews, of McKinney, President ; 

 W. K. Marshall, of Marshall, Vice- 

 President ; W. R. Howard, of King- 

 ston. Secretary ; E. M. Wise, of Wax- 

 ahachie, Treasurer. 



W. H. Andrews was elected to rep- 

 resent the Texas association in the 

 convention of the North American 

 Bee-Keepers' Society at Toronto, Can- 

 ada, next October. 



Tne committee on exhibits reported 

 a large number of all kinds of bee- 

 keepers' supplies, honey and bees. 



■Besolutions were passed, thanking 

 Dr. J. P. H. Brown, of Georgia, and 

 Mr. B. F. Carroll, of Dresden, Texas, 

 for their essays; and to Judge An- 

 drews and the citizens of McKinney, 

 for hospitality, etc. 



After which the convention ad- 

 journed to meet in McKinnev, Collin 

 county, on Thursday, April 24, 1SS4. 

 W. R. HowAKD, (Sec. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



The Standard Langstroth Frame. 



G. 31. ALVES. 



Mr. Heddon admits (page 224), that 

 the majority of hive makers, and 

 (page 272), that the largest of them 

 makefile Langstroth frame 17^8 inches 

 long, but at the same time denies 

 (page 272), that the majority of Langs- 

 troth frames in use is of that length. 

 Now in view of these facts, we must 

 conclude tliat Mr. Heddon is driven 

 to the position, that bee-keepers make 

 their own iiives and frames, and that 

 those made by our manufactories do 

 not represent tliose used by our bee- 

 keepers. Is such a position tenable V 



Mr. Heddon in substance makes 

 this declaration— tliat even though the 

 large majority of bee-keepers use a 

 frame 175g inches and call it the 

 standard Langstroth, that thougli the 



largest manufactories and the greatest 

 number of them make that size and 

 call it the standard Langstrotli — tliat 

 though our best authorities, the edi- 

 tors of our bee periodicals, and even 

 Mr. Langstroth himself, declare tliis 

 size to be the standard Langstroth — 

 tliat thougli all of these be facts, still 

 they have no weight in deciding the 

 question. 



Certainly, if there are any meanings 

 to words, tliey must be those attached 

 to them by the sovereignty of popular 

 and authoritative usage. 



Mr. Heddon objects to the fact of 

 a frame n^g inches in length, taking 

 eight standard one-pound sections, 

 being used as an argument for that 

 length as the standard. 



He surely should not object to this 

 length because it will do so, as by 

 reason of this fact, it will suit a large 

 number who prefer to take their honey 

 in broad frames— a fact which was 

 doubtless the chief reason for the 

 change to \T% inches as the standard. 



Mr. Heddon says Mr. Langstroth 

 wrote a book in which he gave 17?8, 

 and until he writes another and gives 

 17^8, he will insist on the former. Yet 

 he admits Mr. Langstroth has since 

 given his preference for tlie latter in 

 a prominent periodical. Does Mr. 

 Heddon hold that it is necessary to 

 write a book in order to maintain or 

 establish a preference ? ' 



By reference to Mr. Langstroth's 

 work (page 331 of last edition), it will 

 be seen that he "prefers" a given 

 size hive, and adds: "Mr. Quinby 

 prefers to make my frames longerand 

 deeper." It will thus be seen in his 

 book that he was not particular as to 

 the precise and exact shape, but in 

 general, undoubtedly thought best of 

 frames or hives that approximated 

 his ; and hence when a frame was af- 

 terwards submitted to him '4 of an 

 inch longer, and which would afford 

 advantages not given by his, he cheer- 

 fully and unhesitatingly gave it his 

 preference. 



If Mr. Heddon will call his frame 

 the old Langstroth, or the twenty- 

 years-ago Langstroth, or the obsolete 

 Langstroth, we will acquiesce, buc we 

 cannot submit to its being called the 

 present Langstroth, or the standard 

 Langstrotli. 



We maintain that the standard 

 Langstroth is I4 inch longer. That 

 it is so taken and accepted by Mr. 

 Langstroth ; by the editors of the 

 prominent bee papers ; by the large 

 majority of bee-keepers, and by the 

 largest inanufacturies, and the great- 

 est number of them. We also main- 

 tain that the addition of the I4' of an 

 inch is a decided advantage, as it sub- 

 serves an important use that the 

 obsolete frame does not. 



I am unable to see that I can make 

 our case any stronger than I have 

 done in this and my previous article, 

 and submit the subject to the candid 

 and informed readers of the Bee 

 Journal. In dropping the subject, 

 I wish to say to Mr. Heddon, that I 

 am always interested in and instructed 

 by his articles, and regret to lind him 

 " off " on so important a subject as 

 the " Standard Langstroth Frame." 



Henderson, Ky., May 31, 1883. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



The Weather in Illinois. 



s. a. shuck. 



Mr. Doolittle says (May 17), " It 

 freezes nearly every night," and Mr. 

 Heddon .says (May 22), " It snows yet, 

 but still it is not winter." 



Although we are situated much 

 south of Messrs. Heddon and Doolit- 

 tle, we have but little if any better 

 weather than they have. On the 

 morning of the 22(1, we had a very 

 heavy frost, and codsiderable ice. 

 Corn, potatoes, and, in fact, every- 

 thing green showed the effects of 

 Jack Frost ; and this is not all, the 

 weather continues cloudy, wet and 

 cool ; on the 27th it was partly clear, 

 but cool ; on the 28th it rained all day ; 

 on the 29th it was mostly clear ; tem- 

 perature 70^. It was a pleasant day. 

 To-day it rained hard from 5:30 a. m. 

 to 1 p. m. 



Mr. Heddon says, " Bees were never 

 so weak and poor in stores, at this 

 date, in my apiary." He will please 

 remember the reply he gave my re- 

 port, last fall. As I judge, from his 

 present report, that his bees are in a 

 very similar condition to that of mine 

 a year ago ; however, I sympathize 

 with him, and it is most discouraging, 

 indeed, to have all our bees in such a 

 deplorable condition just at the time 

 when we want them in the best con- 

 dition. 



My bees are as honeyless as they 

 were a year ago to-day, but they are 

 very strong in numbers. I shall feed 

 some 30 pounds of sugar this evening. 

 White clover is blooming sufficiently 

 to support the bees, if tliey could get 

 out. The prospects from white clover 

 and basswood are equally as good, if 

 not better, than at this time in 1882. 

 Red clover, which, on account of 

 being winter-killed, did not bloom in 

 the forepart of last season, promises 

 finely at present. Our bees have al- 

 ways worked on the first crop. 



Bryant, 111., May 30, 1883. 



For tbe Ajnertcan Bee JoumaL 



Southern vs. Northern-Bred Queens. 



A. B. WEED. 



The subject of Southern vs. North- 

 ern-bred queens, which is just now 

 receiving the attention, is an impor- 

 tant one, or, at least, it will become 

 so if there is shown to be foundation 

 for controversy. It is commonly held 

 that an animal succeeds best in the 

 exercise of its powers, if kept in the 

 locality where it was bred, because it 

 is combated by no adverse climatic 

 influence. This theory seems to be a 

 very reasonable one, but it would be 

 well to look at such facts as we may 

 have which bear on the case. 



In late numbers of the Bee Jour- 

 nal, we have had reports of some 

 Southern-bred queens which com- 

 in the North. These latter state- 

 pared unfavorably with those reared 

 ments can hardly be said to prove 

 anything, as the queens in question 

 died before their lirst winter in their 



