670 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



wealth of the couiitiy, he is a bene- 

 factor who causes their introduction 

 and spread. They are more beautiful 

 inan May-weeil, neetles, or SQiart- 

 weed, and may well supersede these 

 cuioberers of the ground. It is well 

 worth while, too, lor our bee-keepers 

 to stimulate tlie growth of alsike clo- 

 ver. Let us sow itoLirselves, and fur- 

 nish it to our iieiglibors tluit they may 

 plant it. Let our bee-keepers see that 

 the ladies liave abundance of mignon- 

 ette in the garden ; and ever bear in 

 mind tiuit raspberries gives us a most 

 luscious fruit, which costs very little, 

 and more — furnishes the bees witti 

 nectar that equals that of the clovers 

 and bassvvood, when converted into 

 honey. To be sure, the raspberry, 

 white and alsike clover, and the tulip, 

 comes at about the same time. Yet, 

 who has not noticed that after the 

 clovers will utterly fail to attract the 

 bees, then the raspberry blossoms 

 will be ringing with the joyous lium of 

 our pets of the hive. I'lants, like in- 

 sects, are very susceptible to changes 

 in the weather, and vary in the degree, 

 which the weatlier elfects to modify 

 their functional activity. So success 

 will often vary exceedingly with the 

 greater or less number of honey plants, 

 even though all are in bloom at the 

 same time. In this connection, we 

 all sliould observe the plants in refer- 

 ence to the soil on which they grow. 

 I have found tliat while Rocky Moun- 

 tain bee plant and mignonette do well 

 on light sandy soil, figwortand spider 

 plant do very poorly. It is well to note 

 the natural soil of the plant, and if we 

 wish to change its habit, do it gradu- 

 ally, that the transition be not too vio- 

 lent. Figwort grows naturally on 

 rich, heavy, moist soils. To change 

 it at once to lightest land, is a very 

 abrupt transition. 



Th,"re are few topics, at present, in 

 which we Michigan bee-keepers are 

 more interested than in that of " foul 

 brood." Probably there is no State in 

 the country in which this fell maladv 

 has gained so large a foot-hold, i 

 have received specimens from Lena- 

 wee, .Jackson, Livingston, Wayne, 

 "Washtenaw, and Montcalm counties. 

 Surely, it behooves us all to become 

 thoroughly conversant with this ter- 

 rible plague, that we may be ready to 

 grapple with it at its flrst appearance, 

 should it come among us. The fact 

 that it has jumped the past season 

 from the soi'ith to the north part of 

 the State, shows that we are all in 

 danger. As Mr. Muth, who is the 

 advocate of salicylic acid as a cure, 

 and Mr. Jones, who has faith in, and 

 practices the starvation method of 

 treatment, are to ])e with us, I will 

 only venture the remark that very 

 likely the rank and tile can do no bet- 

 ter than to keep a very close watcli, 

 and at the very first appearance, prac- 

 tice the e.xterraination method. Ex- 

 perts may cure. The novice will pos- 

 sibly save money and patience if he 

 stamps it out, at the outset, by crema- 

 tion or burial. 



Michigan now has probably the most 

 active and influential State "organiza- 

 tion in the country. I think she has 

 the greatest number of local organi- 

 zations (she now has seven) of any 



State. We need not wonder then that 

 the editor of one of our largest and 

 most influential bee papers, one of the 

 very best, in fact, in tlie world, states 

 that he has more subscribers inMiclii- 

 gan tlian in any other State. Possibly 

 we now have enough local organiza- 

 tions, though it would seem that 

 there might Ije room for another 

 West of Battle Creek, on the Central. 

 There are now three along the Central 

 railroad, two on a line with Lansing, 

 and two on the 1). & G. H. railroad. 

 Besides the one in the southwest, yet 

 to be, there will soon be need of one 

 still fiu'ther north. 



It is certainly for our good, and the 

 general good of our craft, to keep these 

 associations alive and vigorous. As 

 a preventive of " foul brood," I would 

 rather have a wide-awake local so- 

 ciety, than all the other methods. It 

 would give the knowledge to diagnose 

 the evil, and would make known all 

 the remedies, and would give the wise 

 discretion in a choice and application 

 of them. Let ns see to it that these 

 associations are well sustained, and 

 are kept in close relation with this 

 our State society. 



It is a little late to speak of winter- 

 ing, yet it is always an interesting 

 theme to the apiarist. I will only say 

 that I believe that he who cared well 

 for his bees last autumn, gave them 

 sufficient stores, and lias them in a 

 proper cellar, has little to fear. Sugar 

 may be better for winter — surely is 

 better than some honey. That it is 

 better than most honey, I do not be- 

 lieve. Pollen may not, usually will 

 not do any harm. Yet I do not hesi- 

 tate to say that it is safer to have it 

 omitted in provisioning our bees for 

 winter. This conclusion I came to 

 after a trial of several years. I could 

 theorize as to the cause, but consider 

 the fact more important. 



I hope and trust that this will be one 

 of the most interesting and valuable 

 meetings we liave ever held. I hope 

 that in our selection of a place for our 

 next meeting, we will go where we are 

 wanted, that proper pains may be 

 taken to thoroughly advertise our 

 meeting, secure a hall, and arrange all 

 the necessary local details. 



A. J. Cook. 



The election of officers resulted as 

 foUows : President, W. Z. Hutchin- 

 son ; Vice-Presidents, R. L. Taylor, 

 •James Ileddon and B. Salisbury ;"Sec- 

 retary. H. D. Cutting; Treasurer, T. 

 M. Cobb. 



]Mr. Langstrotli then remarked that 

 he had been so kindly received that 

 he felt some embarrassment in speak- 

 ing. He had made nothing by liis 

 invention, but he would rather have 

 the good will of his fellow-men than 

 to be the possessor of untold thou- 

 sands, made at the expense of others. 

 He spoke of his passionate love tor 

 insects in his boyhood, giving many 

 amusing illustrations. He had brought 

 flies back to life that were apparently 

 dead from drowning; had attempted 

 to start ant hills; and was piuiished 

 for wearing out the knees of his pants 

 in examining ant hills, etc. The read- 

 ing of Virgil only made him the more 

 cautious, and led liim to examine 

 tilings for himself. Had he possessed 



books, it might have been the worse 

 for him, as he might not have inves- 

 tigated so closely He then gave a 

 history of the invention of the mov- 

 able frame hive, spoke of the honored 

 dead, of his sickness, etc. 



At the close of I^Ir. Langstroth's 

 address, the building fairly rang witli 

 applause. 



The following was then passed : 

 Resolved, That tlie editors of the sev- 

 eral bee periodicals, and writers on 

 apieultural subjects, be requested to 

 use tlie word Langs troth in reference 

 to this hive of every style of frame ; 

 to say, for instance,"" The Simplicity 

 Langstroth," and not the Langstroth. 



■' iloney-Producing Plants ' were 

 discussed, and the outlook was quite 

 favorable. 



Dr. Mason : Sweet clover is my 

 favorite honey-plant. There are acres 

 and acres of it in Toledo, even in the 

 busy streets, and one who has never 

 seen it, has but little idea how luxuri- 

 antly it grows. The wagon wheels 

 run against it, and scatter the seed. 

 A neighbor of mine obtained 1,000 

 pounds of surplus honey from sweet 

 clover, and it was gathered quite late 

 in the season. 



T. F. Bingham : Sweet clover may 

 be very fragrant when in bloom, but 

 it is no ornament to the streets of a 

 city. Look, for instance, at the streets 

 of "Chicago. 



I'rof. Cook : It is not an ornament 

 in the fall, but neither are other 

 noxious weeds that furnish no honey ; 

 if we must have weeds, let them fur- 

 nish honey. 



The question was asked — " Do 

 queens mate more than once ?" 



Dr. L. C. Whiting: I have watched 

 queens and seen them fly and return 

 with the evidence of having met the 

 thone. and in a few minutes fly and 

 mate again. I had one queen that 

 flew anct mated five times before com- 

 mencing to lay. 



Rev. L. 1.1. J.,aiigstroth : I, too, have 

 seen the same thing, but have always 

 thought that such queens were not 

 really and fully fertilized until the 

 last time they flew. 



The next subject was '"Wintering." 



Mr. Gillett : I think that early prep- 

 arations for winter is important. I 

 lose the most bees among those that 

 are packed late in the season. 



A. Keoppen : My hives are double- 

 walled, and lilled with tow. The bot- 

 tom-board is made in the same man- 

 ner. 



R. L. Taylor : I have wintered my 

 bees successfully two winters, in the 

 cellar. They occupy a separate apart- 

 ment, and a furnace gives an abund- 

 ance of ventilation. The tempera- 

 ture is kept at about 40^. Those 

 heavily packed out-of-doors, suffer 

 from dampness. Strong colonies are 

 more apt to breed, and thus bring on 

 dysentery. 



Prof. Cook winters bees success- 

 fully in a cellar where the water often 

 stands 8 inches deep. 



Mr. Benham : I prefer cellar win- 

 tering ; but taking them out too early 

 in the spring is detrimental. 



T. C. Pollock : I prefer cellar win- 

 tering. I leave the cellar open until 

 apples freeze near the door, then 



