'THB MM^RICMIH; SBE( JOlTRIfSlU. 



681 



such a heavy cold that it will not be 

 safe for me to leave home. It oppres- 

 ses me so much that I cannot even 

 commit to paper the essay which I 

 have prepared. 



I am more disappointed than I can 

 well cxpre.ss, for I wiis looking forward 

 to a very happy time in seeing again 

 many of my old friends. 



Wishing you a pleasant and profit- 

 able meeting, and desiring to be kindly 

 remembered to you <ill, I remain very 

 sincerely your friend, 



L. L. Langstroth. 



Peoria, Ills., Oct. 3, 1888. 

 I regret exceedinglj' that I am not 

 meeting with you to-day. My poor 

 health would not justify the outlay of 

 strength necessary to travel all night 

 to reach Columbus. I hope that Father 

 Langstroth is there. I imagine I see 

 him now, with his hand upon his cane, 

 with his benignant face beaming upon 

 all. Mrs. L. Harbison. 



Forest City, Iowa, Oct. 1, 1888. 

 Travel, reading, observation and 

 conversation with bee-keepers in va- 

 rious parts of the State lead me to 

 think that the crop of honey is light 

 in Iowa this year. While the season 

 has been better than last as regards 

 the condition in which the bees will be 

 at the beginning of winter, and per- 

 haps also as to the quantity of surplus, 

 it is mostly fall honey and oft' color, 

 though the quality is good. 



The severe drouth of 1887 so killed 

 the white clover that it required all 

 this season to regain its foothold in 

 the pastures. I doubt if it is fully re- 

 established now. So we got no white 

 clover honey wortli speaking of. Bass- 

 wood (linden, if you like the word bet- 

 ter) blossomed very full in 1887. This 

 was its off year, and the yield light. 

 The fall flowers yielded fairly well. 

 Bees seem to be in good condition. 

 I have not heard of any foul brood. 



The Chapman honey-plant was tried 

 to some extent. There is no doubt 

 about the fondness of bees for it, but 

 whether it would pay to cultivate for 

 hone}-, is another question. A tine ex- 

 hibit of bees, honey and implements 

 was made at our State Fair, and at 

 some of the local fairs. The art of 

 bee-keeping seems to be keeping step 

 to the music of progress in other de- 

 partments of rural life. 



Eugene Secor. 



Upon taking a vote, it was decided 

 to hold the next meeting at Brantford, 

 Ont. 



The convention adjourned until 9:30 

 a.m. the ne.xt day 



.nORI>I]>[« SESSION. 



President Mason called the conven- 

 tion to order at 9:30 a.m. The first 

 topic discussed was, 



Tlie IVidtli of Sections. 



J. H. Smith made several widths of 

 sections, but sold ten thousand of the 

 inch and seven-eigths to one thousand 

 of any other width. 



E. R. Root saiil that their experience 

 was that of Mr. Smith's. 



Frank A. Eaton said that it all de- 

 pended upon whether separators were 

 used. One inch and seven-eighths was 

 the proper width with separators ; if 

 they are not used, the sections must be 

 narrower. 



Dr. Tinker preferred that the space 

 between the top-bars and between the 

 bottom-bars should be | of an inch, 

 instead of the usual } of an inch. 



The next topic was, 



When Sliall Hees be Put Out of 

 the Cellar? 



Dr. Besse — When there is something 

 for them to do. When they can gather 

 pollen. 



Dr. Miller — About two weeks after 

 the right time. [Laughter and cries 

 of " good ;" "that's it."] I suspect 

 that we put our bees in too late, and 

 take them out too early. I used to 

 take them out at the blossoming of the 

 soft maple, but it has several times 

 fooled me. Freezing weather came on 

 again after the maples had blossomed. 



Next came a discussion in regard to 

 the subject of 



Securing: Itlore Complete Organi- 

 zation Among: Uee-Kee|>er!!>. 



Dr. C. C. Miller — We have local so- 

 cieties. State societies, and the North 

 American Society ; and the latter is 

 largely local. Unless something is 

 done to make it more completely a 

 representative body, we might just as 

 well kill it and done with it. I would 

 suggest that the State and local socie- 

 ties send delegates, and pay their ex- 

 pen-ses. 



Prof. A. J. Cook— The State and 

 local societies will not do this, and 1 

 do not believe that this society is yet 

 ready to die. .Suppose that we do 

 have a large local attendance, we also 

 have a scattering attendance from 

 abroad. We could have the different 

 States represented by essays from their 

 best men. 



A. I. Root mentioned that religious 

 bodies send delegates to meetings and 

 conventions and pay their expenses. 

 Apicultural societies might do the 

 same. He would give more to see a 

 man and hear liini t:ilk than he would 

 to have an essay from him. 



Upon motion it was voted that all 

 State and local societies be invited to 

 send delegates to the North American 

 Society's conventions. 



Next came an interesting talk by 

 Prof. A. J. Cook, upon, 



ExperimentN in Apiculture. 



With one or two exceptions, the 

 Michigan Agricultural College is the 

 only one that has experimented in 

 apiculture. Until lately there has been 

 a lack of time in conducting the Col- 

 lege apiary. At last an able assistant 

 has been secured, and the passage of 

 the Hatch bill has provided the funds, 

 and the prospects are that much more 

 will be done. One line of work will 

 be that of crossing different varieties 

 of bees ; another, that of determining 

 the value of special planting for honey; 

 and the third will be in regard to the 

 adulteration of honej'. Rocky Moun- 

 tain bee-plant. Chapman honey-plant, 

 pleurisy-root, and perhaps others will 

 be tried. Considerable is hoped for 

 the Rocky Mountain bee-plant, as it 

 flourishes in a drouthy climate. At 

 present the bees at the College area 

 cross b(^tween the Syrians and the 

 Carniolans, and they seem to possess 

 the good qualities of both. 



Prof. Cook feels sure that bee-keep- 

 ers do not adulterate honey, neither 

 does he believe that it is done by 

 grocers. He considers them no more 

 honest than many other classes, but 

 adulteration does not paj'. He does 

 not believe that the chemist can tell 

 positively iu regard to adulteration, 

 and experiments are to be made to 

 determine, if possible, whether adul- 

 teration can l)e detected. 



A. I. Root asked how Prof. Cook 

 knew that their bees were a cross be- 

 tween the Syrians and Carniolans. 



Prof. Cook — We do not know posi- 

 tively. There are no bees nearer than 

 three miles. Besides, I have studied 

 the characteristics of each race, and I 

 cannot fail to recognize them. 



Mr. Thomas G. Newman then ad- 

 dressed the convention in substance as 

 follows upon the 



The Importance of Experiments 

 in Apiculture. 



Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen ■ 



The announcement just made by 

 Prof. Cook, that he intends to com- 

 mence the making of careful experi- 

 ments on the four important points 

 enumerated will give great delight to 

 the devotees of our pursuit, because 

 the promised experiments will cover 

 the "•round of not only the value of 

 tlie different varieties of bees, but also 

 the necessary pasturage to be pro- 

 vided, and the application of the most 

 successful methods to be employed in 



