132 



SIXTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



Mr. Wheeler — Who, on South Water 

 Street, is offering eleven cents, I would 

 like to know? 



Mr. Bull — I wonder how many bee- 

 keepers present know what it costs to 

 put a pound of honey on the consum- 

 ers' table; go out and work it a while 

 and see. I will say this much before 

 you start, you have got the biggest 

 surprise you ever had in your life or 

 ever will have. 



President Miller — It costs money to 

 sell honey; might cost more to sell it 

 than to produce it in some cases. 



Mr. Bull — It does in all cases when 

 you come right down to it. 



Question — What is the effect of 

 honey dew on honey and how can it 

 be kept out? 



Mr. Muth — Honey dew is just a low 

 grade of the sap gathered from the 

 leaves of the tree by the bees and the 

 only thing that it does to the honey 

 is to lower the grade of honey, and I 

 know of no way of keeping the bees 

 from gathering ' that sap from the 

 leaves of the trees unless you cut down 

 the trees or move out of that section 

 of the country. 



A member — Honey dew is primarily 

 an excretion of the plant lice; the only 

 way to keep it out is to get rid of 

 the plant lice. 



A member — The American Bee Jour- 

 nal has an article along that line of 

 honey dew; it is the product of plant 

 lice. 



There is no question but what that 

 is true. Just how much the bees 

 gather it is difficult for us to deter- 

 mine but we generally know by the 

 taste; it has a very disagreeable taste, 

 in my locality. Look out and not try 

 to winter bees on that. In many cases 

 it is sure death; better get rid of it 

 and feed them on something else. 



President Miller — I think the gentle- 

 man is correct in stating that honey 

 dew comes both from plant lice and 

 sap. In regard to getting rid of it. 

 One year I had a wagon load of some 

 of the finest looking comb honey dew 

 you ever saw. It looked all right. 



What did I do with it? I saved it 

 until next spring and fed it to my bees 

 when they were raising young brood. 

 I have not had any honey dew since — 

 until this year; there was a very little 

 this year. That was seven or eight 

 years ago. Some years honey dew will 



occur and the next year in the same 

 yard you will not get any. 



I might tell you a little story: A 

 gentleman came to my place to buy 

 some comb honey this summer; he was 

 from Virginia. 



Telling what fine honey they had in 

 Virginia, he was sorry he could not 

 get so good here. We asked him what 

 kind of honey it was and he said it 

 was leaf honey. We fitted him out 

 with leaf honey and he went away 

 happy. 



Our honey dew came in June; that 

 was used up in brood rearing before 

 the fall flow. 



Mr. Stewart — I had 140 colonies in 

 the fall and had fourteen in the spring 

 feeding with honey dew. 



President Miller — I believe this is 

 the end of the questions. Any one else 

 any questions to ask before we ad- 

 journ? There was a question asked 

 at a convention the other day: We 

 might have it stated and give you a 

 chance to think about it. 



Question — ^What is a drone comb 

 worth ? 



What is the value of comb drawn 

 out from foundation including frame 

 and wax without any honey with the 

 bees on? 



There are two or three ways of 

 figuring that out; we might bring that 

 up tonight if we do not forget it; then 

 follow that up — how much is it worth, 

 filled? How much are ten of them 

 worth? How much is a hive of bees 

 worth with forty pounds of honey? 



What should it sell for now, and 

 what in the spring? 



We read of a hive of bees being sold 

 as low as $4.00, and then as much as 

 $12. 



Mr. Stewart — It depends upon 

 whether you are buying or selling. 



President Miller — Now we have a 

 good session for this evening — a paper 

 by Mr. Bruner, and have a Question 

 Box and two or three other papers, 

 and we will be glad to see every one 

 present. 



If tjiere is nothing more before the 

 meeting at this session we will enter- 

 tain a motion to adjourn — the time as 

 given on the program is 7 : 30 o'clock. 



The convention will stand adjourned 

 until 7:30 this evening. 



