686 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



flight from the hive. He recommended 

 cfpening the hive and ascertaining be- 

 yond a doubt. He said that the pollen 

 theory was not a safe conclusion. 



Mr. Conser said that you would find 

 the bees hunting outside the hive, and 

 pulling at dead bees. 



E. R. Garrett — To straighten combs 

 that are crooked, cut the combs and 

 reverse the ends. 



Iiaying Workers. 



Mrs. Null wanted to know how to 

 detect laying workers. 



G. P. Morton said that a colony with 

 laying workers is one which has been 

 deprived of the queen, and the means of 

 rearing a queen. To detect it you will 

 find a little scattered brood having 

 raised caps, or shot heads, containing 

 drone brood; and sometimes butts of 

 queen-cells, or even a fully developed , 

 queen-cell with a drone larva in it. 



E. R. Garrett said to get rid of a lay- 

 ing worker, remove the hive some dis- 

 tance from the old stand, shake the bees 

 off in the grass, and set the empty comb 

 and hive back with a queen in, and when 

 the bees return they will accept her. 



G. H. Ashworth recommended to un- 

 cap the drone brood, and give them a 

 queen. 



Miscellaneous. 



Uniting bees was discussed freely. 



Missouri as compared with other 

 States for honey production, was to have 

 been an essay by A, A. Weaver, but was 

 not ready on account of the statistics 

 not being complete. 



The subject was discussed to some 

 extent by Messrs. Banning, Conser and 

 Morton. 



Upon the subject of ascertaining the 

 number of colonies of bees in each 

 county, by conferring with the asses- 

 sors, it was advised that members make 

 an effort in this direction. 



Carniolans Compared with Italians. 



BY E. F. QUIGLEY. 



In comparing the two races, Carnio- 

 lans and Italians, they were kept in the 

 same yard for three years. "With a 

 steady honey-flow, Carniolans stored 

 more surplus honey than the Italians, 

 with about same per cent, of swarms. 



In a poor honey season the Italians 

 came out ahead. Italians are as prolific 

 up to the commencement of the honey- 

 flow, but then check brood-rearing, and 

 fill a part of their combs with honey; 

 while the Carniolans keep up brood- 

 rearing until late in the Fall, using up 



their stores, and in many cases require 

 feeding for Winter. 



Carniolans swarm many times when 

 no honey is being gathered. 



It is claimed they are very gentle. 

 They may be in their native country, 

 but I did not find them as gentle as 

 Italians. My queens were from the best 

 breeders in this country. 



In keeping the two races for three* 

 seasons, the Italians gave more honey 

 with less labor and stings. — E. F. 



QUIGLEY. 



This matter was discussed at length. 

 Albino bees were also included. 



Italians were considered preferable 

 to all other races. 



At 4 p.m. a recess of 30 minutes was 

 taken. 



At 4:30 p.m. a question-box was pro- 

 vided. 



EVENING SESSION. 



The convention was called to order at 

 7 p.m. 



The question-box was opened by a 

 committee appointed to answer the 

 questions, viz. : G. H. Ashworth, J. S. 

 Atkins, and J. W. Clark. 



Will inverting frames cause the bees 

 to tear down queen-cells ? We think it 

 would. 



What encouragement should bee-keep- 

 ers hold out to farmers to sow honey- 

 producing plants ? No inducement un- 

 less they are profitable to farmers also. 



What are the most certain indications 

 of bees swarming ? To see them coming 

 out. 



Will bees swarm without drones? 

 Yes. 



Has any one tried alfalfa in this 

 country, and with what success ? Yes. 

 With varied success. 



What is the greatest mistake you have 

 made in bee-keeping this season ? Mak- 

 ing too big calculations on the honey 

 crop ; allowing bees to swarm too much; 

 extracted too late in the season. 



Are bees ever a nuisance ? No. They 

 are useful in fertilizing all kinds of 

 fruit, besides storing honey. 



Bee-Keeping and Other Pursuits. 



Can bee-keeping be made profitable in 

 connection with other business, and 

 what other business ? was to have been 

 an essay by R. L. Moore. As no essay 

 appeared, the subject was taken up and 

 discussed to some extent. Other pur- 

 suits were recommended as follows : 



Small fruit, poultry, blacksmithing, 

 country store, hotel, etc. 



