AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



225 



The State law, as it now reads, affords 

 very little protection to the bee-men, or 

 as regards its enforcement, as it is op- 

 tional with the County Supervisors to 

 appoint bee-inspectors to look after the 

 law's enforcement. 



To remedy this C. N. Wilson reported 

 a bill to the association that will ma- 

 terially alter the existing defects of the 

 present law, and it is the purpose of the 

 association to appeal to the present Leg- 

 islature to effect a change. 



The annual dues were fixed at $1.00, 

 and the meetings of the Association to 

 be semi-annual. 



The evening session was devoted al- 

 most exclusively to the display of apicul- 

 tural implements. J. G. Cory, of Santa 

 Paula, C. W. Abbott, of Pasadena, and 

 T. H. Hunt, of Redlands, exhibited hives 

 and supers. The modus operandi of the 

 above implements were readily explained 

 to all present, and demonstrated beyond 

 question that the California honey in- 

 dustry is being developed on scientific 

 principles. 



The meeting was a successful one, and 

 as interesting and instructive as any 

 ever before held on the Coast. — Exch. 



Bees iDjnrins Fioiers— Cloyer Crop, 



DR. C. C. MILLER. 



In reply to your call on page 16(, I 

 may say that the only cases that have 

 come under my own observation, in 

 which bees did any harm to flowers, was 

 at the time of great scarcity. I had 

 some out-door roses, and before they had 

 time to open, the bees would tear them 

 open, so that very few were perfect. Do 

 not understand that this is a common 

 occurrence. I have thousands of roses 

 every year, and only once or twice have 

 the bees troubled them. 



One of the first flowers to bloom in the 

 Spring is the crocus. I have seen them 

 literally crowded with bees, and I think 

 I have seen them slightly damaged. 



I can readily imagine that bees in a 

 greenhouse, with practically nothing to 

 gather, might treat the flowers as they 

 did my roses. Under ordinary circum- 

 stances, a bee will never touch a culti- 

 vated rose. I suppose the yield does not 

 pay. The death of bees in the green- 

 house, probably, was not caused by the 

 flowers, but was simply due to the fact 

 that they could not get out. I suppose 

 that was the idea Mr. Lincoln meant to 

 convey. 



On page 116, Mr. Eugene Secor asks: 

 " Will you not admit that we had as 



good a time at Keokuk ivith essays, as at 

 Columbus, in 1888, without them?' 

 Yes, only we had 2 or 3 essays at Colum- 

 bus. Aside from that we had a good 

 convention at Columbus. Look here, 

 friend Secor, if every essay were just the 

 kind you want, just the kind to open a 

 discussion, I would not have a word to 

 say. But they are not — more's the pity. 

 See if you can get them all of that kind 

 at Albany. I wish with all my heart 

 you might. 



FORECASTIXG THE CLOVER CROP. 



On page 124, Mr. A. N. Draper dis- 

 cusses the conditions necessary to secure 

 a crop from white clover. It is evident 

 he has been doing some good thinking 

 about it. He makes the point that if we 

 know beforehand what is to be the yield 

 from clover, we can get ready for it, 

 knowing "how many sections to provide, 

 how much foundation to get, what other 

 supplies we need, and to. what apiaries 

 to take our supplies." I do not know 

 how it may be with others, but after 

 being caught one or two years without 

 sufficient supplies, I have never felt safe 

 since without making sure to be very 

 safe. So I always want to have as many 

 sections ready to put on the hives as I 

 can possibly need in the very best sea- 

 son. Then, I am all right, no matter 

 what the season may be. To be sure, 

 if I knew beforehand that the season 

 would be a failure, I would not need to 

 get any fresh supplies, but I would only 

 save by that the interest on the outlay, 

 for those same supplies will be all right 

 for the succeeding season. I do not need 

 to know beforehand to which apiaries to 

 take the stuff, for I do not care to take 

 it until it is needed, and then I have no 

 trouble, without making an extra trip, 

 to take to each out-apiary supers filled 

 with sections all ready to put on the 

 hives. So what great difference would 

 it make, Brother Draper, if I could fore- 

 cast the clover crop, especially as it 

 would not be a very exact forecast in any 

 case ? 



You say that knowing beforehand the 

 condition of the clover, you can make 

 your plans accordingly, take few colo- 

 nies to a place, and "start more out- 

 apiaries." Look here. Brother Draper, 

 you have got me — no use in trying to 

 squirm. If you can tell in December 

 (and you can tell then if you can tell at 

 all) what clover will do, it would be, in 

 many cases, a big advantage. It might 

 help to decide whether to sell off some 

 of our bees, and, indeed, in some cases, 

 to move the whole business to a distant 

 field, and such things cannot be decided 

 after it is time to put on sections. It 



