TENNESSEE AGRICULTURE 285 



TENNESSEE BEEKEEPERS' ASSOCIATION, 

 NASHVII,I<E, JANUARY 30. 



BY J. M. BUCHANAN, SECRETARY. 



A most interesting and instructive meeting of the Tennessee Bee- 

 keepers' Association was held at Nashville on January. 30, with per- 

 haps the best attendance in the history of the association. Papers and 

 addresses on vital topics, together with lively discussions, took up the 

 entire day. 



The opening address was by the President, Mr. J. M. Davis, of 

 Spring Hill, whose subject was "The Bee as Man's Coworker." He 

 gave an outline of the history of beekeeping, and showed the value of 

 the work of the bees, both in the production of honey and wax, and 

 in their aid in the fertilization of fruit-bloom. He pointed out the fact 

 that the apricot is the only stone fruit that is not dependent on the 

 bees or other insects for the proper pollination of its blossoms. 



"Fancy Comb Honey in Spite of Foul Brood" was the subject of 

 a talk by L. F. Watkins, of Nashville. Mr. Watkins told how, in addi- 

 tion to managing a farm of 200 acres, he "had cleaned up an apiary of 

 nearly 100 colonies badly affected with American foul brood, and at 

 the same time had produced a good crop of fancy comb honey. 



In a discussion on marketing honey a number of good points were 

 brought out, and emphasis was given to the need of proper grading 

 and packing, and also to the advantage of holding up the price. It 

 was shown that it is folly to spend time and labor producing a crop of 

 nice honey and then selling for whatever the merchant offers. There 

 is a demand for all our products in the local markets, and at good 

 prices. 



Another discussion was in regard to controlling swarming. It 

 seems that most of the members just "let 'em swarm," as that seems 

 to be the easiest way to "control" swarming. It was pointed out that, 

 in the production of comb honey, with prolonged and intermittent 

 flows such as we have, there is no satisfactory method of prevention 

 of swarming. It is, perhaps, as well to allow them to swarm once, and 

 then throw the strength of the colony to the swarm. When workmg 

 for extracted honey it is a much easier matter, as was stated by B. G. 

 Davis, as the use of young queens, plenty of storage room, particularly 

 of drawn combs, and good ventilation, would go a long way toward 

 solving the problem. 



Mrs. Mira Tandy, of Nashville, gave an address on "Beekeeping as 

 a Supplemental Course in the Public Schools." She favored the or- 



