THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



475 



show, was presented in the person of 

 the Rev. L. L. Langstroth, who held 

 a sort of extempore levee In the 

 building, and went through a some- 

 what fatiguing ordeal in the way of 

 shaking hands with the multitude of 

 bee keepers and others who were in- 

 troduced to him by President Jones 

 and Wra. F. Clarke. It became nec- 

 essary after awhile to withdraw the 

 venerable apiarist from tlie scene 

 that he might rest somewhat, and be 

 in tune for the public meeting. 

 Meantime, a general reunion of bee- 

 keepers went on in and around the 

 extensive exhibition building. Few 

 seemed to feel much interest in the 

 otlier departments to be found on the 

 grounds, and there was aoiple proof 

 of the correctness of a remark made 

 by Mr. Langstroth, that of all classes 

 he had met with none were so en- 

 thusiastic in the line of their calling 

 as bee-keepers. 



The convention was broken up into 

 a multitude of little conventions, and 

 all seemed to enjoy tlie opportunity of 

 social intercourse presented. Atten- 

 tion was iu)t confined to the interior 

 of the building, but extended to a 

 survey of the bee hives, colonies of 

 different races of bees, and the large 

 variety of bee requisites to be found 

 adjacent out-of-doors. To attempt a 

 specification of all the numerous arti- 

 cles on exhibition would extend this 

 report to a length that would be un- 

 suitable, and should anything be 

 undesignedly omiited, the inventor 

 or owner would feel himself slighted. 



AFTERNOON SESSION. 



The Association resumed in the 

 Cily Hall. Miscellaneous questions 

 were the first order of business. 



Dr. Thom asked if any one had ex- 

 perienced evil effects to the eye-sight 

 from the use bee-veils. This led to a 

 general discussion on the best ma- 

 terial for bee-veils ; several declaring 

 in favor of black, and some in favor 

 of white gauze. A few spoke in ap- 

 proval of wire netting, wnile others 

 urged objections against it. A. I. 

 Root said he had experimented, and 

 used many endeavors to obtain a wire 

 cloth that would have all the advan- 

 tages of wire cloth, without any of 

 its disadvantages, but had not suc- 

 ceeded. On the whole, he would 

 recommend bee-keepers not to use 

 veils unless obliged to do so. Mr. 

 Cornell did not think veils did any 

 particular injury to the eye-sight, 

 otherwise ladies would not wear them 

 so extensively. President Jones re- 

 commended the use of the finest 

 Brussels lace. Mr. Bowers thought 

 the veil might be made of any cheap 

 suitable material, with a window of 

 the very best silk bobbinet. 



Mr. C. W. Young brought up the 

 subject of collecting statistics. He 

 suggested that the local press should 

 be more generally utilized for the 

 purpose of conveying information 

 about apiculture. A general discus- 

 sion on the importance and yet diffi- 

 Ity of obtaining statistics ensued. 

 President Clarke, of the Northeastern 

 Association, said they had found it 

 impossible to get statistics even from 

 prominent men, in any year, when 



they happened to be unsuccessful. For 

 that reason the Northeastern Asso- 

 ciation had discontinued the publica- 

 tion of its reports. 



The question of the proper width 

 of sections was then resumed, and 

 talked over at some length, but noth- 

 ing particularly new was elicited. 



At this juncture. Rev. L. L. Lang- 

 stroth entered the convention, was 

 received with a rising expression of 

 welcome by the members, and con- 

 ducted by the President to the Mayor's 

 chair, as a token of respect, amid 

 loud and prolonged cheers. 



The President's address was then 

 delivered. It consisted mainly of 

 welcoming words in regard to the 

 tneeting of the Association, together 

 with a brief resume of the noney 

 season just past. Prof. Cook, Messrs. 

 Bacon, A. I. Root, Pierce, and Dr. 

 Miller made responses, gratefully 

 appreciating the welcome which had 

 been accorded to the Americans, and 

 the pleasure it had given them to 

 visitj Toronto, and attend this con- 

 vention. By special request of Presi- 

 dent Jones, Mr. Langsti'oth addressed 

 the meeting. He gave an interesting 

 account of the way he was led into 

 bee-keeping, and of his early mis- 

 takes and difficulties ; related the 

 manner in which he had been led to 

 invent the movable frame, and the 

 circumstances connected with its gen- 

 eral adoption ; and stated a number 

 of interesting facts bearing on the 

 history and progress of bee-keeping. 

 At the close of Mr. Langstroth's ad- 

 dress, the Association proceeded to 

 elect officers. 



On motion of Prof. Cook, Eev. L. 

 L. Langstroth was chosen President. 

 The motioa was carried by a standing 

 vote. L. C. Root, of New York, was 

 appointed First Vice-President ; Dr. 

 C. C. Miller, of Illinois, Secretary, and 

 C. F. Muth, of Ohio, was re-appointed 

 Treasurer. A list of Vice-Presidents 

 for the several States and Provinces 

 was also made up. 



The question of the next place of 

 meeting was then taken up. Presi- 

 dent Clarke, of the Northeastern 

 Bee-Keepers' Association, on behalf 

 of New York, invited the members to 

 Rochester next year. Dr. Miller con- 

 veyed the request of the Northwes- 

 tern Bee-Keepers' Association to 

 appoint the next annual meeting at 

 Chicago. On motion of Prof. Cook, 

 Rochester was chosen as the next 

 place of meeting. The date was left 

 to be fixed by the executive com- 

 mittee. 



EVENING SESSION. 



Business resumed, Vice-President 

 Cook in the Chair. The discussion of 

 miscellaneous questions was made the 

 first order of the evening. Two en- 

 qui) ies concerning foul brood were 

 laid on the table. 



" Is it advisable to clip the wings of 

 queen bees V" was next asked. A 

 lively discussion arose, proving the 

 liouse to be considerably divided on 

 the point. One member announced 

 himself " a clipper." Another said 

 he might be a clip, but he was not a 

 clipper. The reasons for and against 

 were pretty fully stated. 



" At what age should a queen be 

 superseded ':"' was the next question. 

 Mr. Hall thought no age could be 

 fixed. Bees were like human beings, 

 some were young when they were 

 old, and others were old when they 

 were young. Queens should be 

 watched, and superseded when not 

 working satisfactorily. Mr. Lang- 

 stroth would not fix any unvarying 

 time, but he had found two seasons, 

 on an average, the term of a queen's 

 greatest prolificacy. After that, they 

 would show signs of failure. It was 

 a remarkable feature in the Italians, 

 that they were quick to notice signs 

 of failure in a queen, and took early 

 measures to supersede her. That 

 alone was sufficient to recommend 

 them. 



The best method of feeding in the 

 fall was next considered. Mr. Jones, 

 on being called up, advised the use of 

 the best granulated sugar, in the pro- 

 portion or two pounds of sugar to one 

 of water. The discussion soon 

 branclied off so as to take in the topic 

 of feeders. Mr. Langstrotli and others 

 discouraged the use of fancy feeders. 

 Mr. Jones tilts the front of the hive a 

 little, and pours the syrup on to the 

 bottom board, from which the bees 

 take it up very ouickly. Mr. Locke 

 suggested that all bee-keepers could 

 not tilt their hives, and hence, some 

 kind of a feeder became necessary. 

 He recommended the use of a Mason 

 fruit jar furnished with a tin cover 

 perforated with a number of holes. 

 Filled with syrup and inverted, this 

 made a good feeder. 



The treatment of wax then occupied 

 the attention of the meeting. Boiled 

 down, the discussion amounted to 

 this : that great pains ought to be 

 taken to purify wax ; that to secure 

 this it was necessary to keep wax in a 

 melted condition for several hours, 

 long enough indeed to allow all sedi- 

 ment to settle to the bottom. A. I. 

 Root said he had worked up 12 or 14 

 tons of wax this season, and pursued 

 substantially this plan. He made 

 three qualities of foundation. Wax 

 from the top of the tanks was used 

 for section foundation, being the 

 whitest ; the second and third quali- 

 ties being darker, were sold at less 

 price for brood comb foundation. 



At the instance of Prof. Cook, it 

 was decided that the rest of the even- 

 ing be given to Rev. L. L. Langstroth 

 for a talk on old bee books. This was 

 very interesting. Beginning with 

 Aristotle, Virgil, Columella, and 

 Pliny, on each of whose knowledge of 

 bees remarks were made. The speaker 

 came down to books that appeared in 

 the days of the Stuarts and the Com- 

 monwealth, the former entitled " The 

 Monarchy of Bees," and the latter, 

 " The Reformed Commonwealth of 

 Bees ;" indicating the different politi- 

 cal circumstances of the times in 

 which they were written. Some ex- 

 tracts were given from these books, 

 and Mr. Langstroth expressed the 

 hope that he might yet be able to pub- 

 lish a work embodying these and 

 other observations on old bee books, 

 which would show modern bee-keep- 

 ers that ancient apiarists knew a 

 great deal more about bees than they 



