112 



TWELFTH ANNUAL REPORT OP THE 



using the Hershiser press. Give me 

 the Hatch press every time. 



Mr. Bull — We have one of the Root, 

 Hatch presses; bought it six years ago 

 and have had nothing else since. 



Mr. Dittmer — They have the same 

 thing in Wisconsin — one of our best 

 bee-keepers in Wisconsin runs a Hatch 

 press. 



Mr. Dadant — I have never used the 

 Hatch press; but we melt up with our 

 Hershiser the slum gum and stuff we 

 get from beeswax, settlings, dirt and 

 all that, and our experience has been 

 different from Mr. Dittmer, in the fact 

 that Tve render up I don't know how 

 many thousands of pounds of old 

 combs 'for bee-keepers during the year. 

 We did not want to do it, but we got 

 started, and we now work on shares. 

 We take a s'hare of the wax and pay 

 the man sending it for his share. We 

 have rendered one or two thousand 

 pounds of beeswax out of old combs 

 during the last season. We do not like 

 to do it, but when some one sends old 

 comTas, we don't want to send them 

 back. 



I might say in this connection that 

 we have the Hershiser press attached 

 to our steam plant, by running a pipe 

 into the press, we can bring it to a 

 boiling point very quickly, and stop 

 it as quickly, and it is an easy matter 

 for us to get wax out of the old combs; 

 and there is nothing left in the combs 

 after the Hershiser has done its work, 

 but there is some objection to the qual- 

 ity of the wax; it is sometimes a little 

 i3ark. 



Mr. Bull — I can melt the oldest, 

 blackest brood combs and get clean 

 wax; two meltings of the wax. 



Mr. Cavanagh — In regard to melting 

 wax: I want to ask Mr. Dadant 

 whether or not it is practical to have 

 a larger vat for a great many combs:- 

 you take the ordinary stock tank, 2x2 

 x 4 — ^^having a steam pipe running in 

 there to heat the water, and put those 

 comibs in with the frames. Then fill 

 the steam heated vat with combs, and 

 give them a little time to soak up, 

 to get the wax thoroughly loosened — 



Could not a practical arrangement 

 "be 'made in that way to handle five 

 times the capacity of the Hershiser 

 press? 



Mr. Dadant — It deipends on the in- 

 genuity of the fellow who got it up 

 and worked it, how practical it would 

 be. We loaned the Hershiser press 



several times to people who had fout 

 'brood and they operated it and got 

 lots of wax, but I said to them' — "Let 

 ■me have that slum gum and I will take 

 it home and see what I can do with 

 it." We got enoug^h out of the slum 

 gum to make the wages of the man 

 working it, three or four times over, 

 with the Hershiser press; it depends 

 on the operation, largely. 



"A quart of honey costs a butcher 

 45 cents. How much should he sell 

 it for?" 



Mr. Cavanagh — 46 cents. 



Feeding Bees Candied Sugar? 



"Has any one had any experience 

 in feeding the bees candied sugar?" 



Mr. Dadant — We have British Bee 

 Journals, and several other Journals 

 from England, and in those Journals 

 it is advertised heavily by Bee Supply 

 dealers that they feed soft sugar can- 

 died; it is advertised by probably a 

 dozen people; evidently they must use 

 it in England in large quantities or 

 there would not be so many advertising 

 it. ' 



Pres. Huffman — I believe the last 

 Gleanings, but one, advocated the feed- 

 ing of candied sugar; Mr. Boyden may- 

 be could tell us something about this. 



Mr. Boyden — I have not had time to 

 read the last Gleanings; I have it hree. 



Mr. Dadant — That was for spring 

 feeding, was it not? An article 'by A. 

 C. Miller. 



Pres. Huffman — You will find it on 

 page 7 of Gleanings. 



Mr. Pyles — I believe it would be well 

 to adjourn until tomorrow. I move 

 that we adjourn. 



Motion seconded and carried, that 

 Convention adjourn until 9:30 o'clock 

 Thursday morning, October 31st, 1912. 



THURSDAY MORNING, OCTOBER 31. 



Meeting called to order by the Presi- 

 dent, Mr. Huffman, at 10 o'clock. 



Pres. Huffman — It has been urged that 

 w6 ask more questions. This conven- 

 tion is a convention of ques'tions. The 

 papers have not materialized very well, 

 so that we would like to have you ask 

 questions; probably you can bring out 

 as much, for discussion, in that way as 

 thougth we had written papers. This is 

 your meeting; what is your pleasure? 



I have a paper here from Mr. E. D. 

 Townsend. The secretary will read it 



Mr. Dadant — I asked Mr. Townsend 



