Mar. 10, 1904. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



181 





Convention Proceedings 



in$s J 



THE COLOR ADO C ONVENTION. 



Report of the Proceedings of the Colorado State 

 Bee-Keepers' Convention, Held in Den- 

 ver, Nov. 23. 24, and 25, 1903. 



BY. H. C. MOREHOUSE, SEC. 



[Coatlnued from pa^e 168.) 

 A WESTERN HONEY-PRODUCERS' ASSOCIATION. 



H. Rauchfuss — Is it not feasible for us to have a West- 

 ern Honey-Producers' Association among the bee-keepers 

 of the West — Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, and 

 California ? The National organization is a little slow, and 

 the Eastern States are not ready. If we wait for all the 

 States, they never will get ready. 



QuES. — " What is the most hopeful line of action in 

 decreasing the cost of honey-production 7" 



Mr. Morehouse — One of the most hopeful fields is in in- 

 tensive bee-keeping, in getting more out of each colony of 

 bees. 



H. Rauchfuss — I think we now well know how to pro- 

 duce honey. It is a more serious question how to dispose of 

 honey than how to get it. Much is on the market now that 

 should have been sold long ago. Co-operation will help a 

 great deal to attain that point, and it will help in producing 

 the honey as well as in selling it. 



F. Rauchfuss — Which is the more profitable, intensive 

 bee-keeping, or running a large number of colonies ? 



Mr. Morehouse — I can not answer by experience, only 

 by analogy. In other lines of production, in farming and 

 the like, it is now pretty well demonstrated that working 

 over a small area is more profitable. I think the tim6 is 

 coming when 400 colonies will produce as much as a thou- 

 sand, and more. 



F. Rauchfuss — A Nevada man, who called at the store, 

 told me he had 780 colonies in two yards, and his brother 

 had 1200 colonies in a number of yards, and the proceeds 

 from his own bees far exceeds that from his brother's bees. 

 He produces comb honey while his brother produces ex- 

 tracted, but still he gets a low price for his comb honey. 



Mr. Aikin — When we are properly organized for distri- 

 bution, I think intensive bee-keeping pays better. Up to 

 the present I have lacked in distributing facilities, owing to 

 the long distance from a market, and so have branched out 

 more. With better distributing facilities there is more 

 profit to small producers, and intensive methods come into 

 play. I have for a number of years been endeavoring to 

 reach out so as to succeed in marketing by sending enough 

 at a time to reduce the freight-rates. There is a better 

 opportunity now for extension in both lines. 



H. Rauchfuss — I move the chairman be instructed to 

 appoint a committee to confer with other local organizations 

 of other States, and find out whether it is feasible for us to 

 form an organization of the Western States. [Carried.] 



Mr. Aikin — It is not out of place in this convention to 

 consider the business end of the question. One might say 

 the proper place for its consideration is with the Colorado 

 Honey-Producers' Association. But, after all, in one sense 

 the Honey-Producers' Association and the State Associa- 

 tion are not separated. Their distinctive features are, that 

 one is literary and one is for business. The proper channel, 

 of course, through which other organizations accept our 

 plans is through the business branch of our organizations. 

 The people of the Western Slope are to come in as a branch 

 of the Colorado Honey-Producers' Association. It is true, 

 there is a difference in the handling of bees there, but there 

 is no difference in the business handled. 



H. Rauchfuss — It is not my idea for the Colorado 

 Honey-Producers' Association to be the head and the others 

 merely branches, but that all should be together. This is 

 just to express our feelings, and get our members to take 

 an active part. 



The chair appointed as the committee, H. Rauchfuss, F. 

 H. Hunt, J. N. Pease, H. C. Morehouse, D. W. Working, 

 and F. L. Thompson. 



As a committee on the manufacture of supplies to re- 

 port at the next meeting, were appointed H. Rauchfuss, F. 

 H. Hunt, and H. C. Morehouse. 



STIMULATIVE FEEDIXG OF BEES. 



" What is the best method of stimulative feeding ?" 

 Mr. Hagen — I looked around here last spring for the 

 best hive, and I got it. [Mr. Hagen exhibited the " Acme " 

 hive and its parts.] It has the best cover, and the nicest 

 arrangement for taking off honey by using the inner cover 

 as a bee-escape, and the two covers, in connection with 

 wooden lard-dishes, make the best device for stimulative 

 feeding. I set the lard-dishes on top of the inner cover, 

 and the bees come up through the hole in the center and 

 get the feed. When the outer cover is set on it holds the 

 dishes in place. Another little kink I might speak of is in 

 moistening sections. I always use a spring-bottom oil-can 

 to squirt the water in the right place. 



Mr. Hagen also exhibited a Mason jar of strawberries 

 that had been put up in cold honey. These were sampled 

 by the convention, and found to retain the flavor of the 

 fresh strawberry to a remarkable degree. 



SINGLE-TIER VS. DOUBLE-TIER CASES. 



F. Rauchfuss — I have been requested by several to com- 

 pare the relative merits of single-tier and double-tier ship- 

 ping-cases. We have had a good deal of experience in re- 

 ceiving shipments of honey in single-tier cases. It always 

 ships poorly, and especially so in local shipments. The 

 freight classification rules require that the glass be covered. 

 On account of the shape of the case the average freight 

 handler does not know what is in it, and as he always has a 

 stick in his back, he drops the case to the floor instead of 

 stooping to set it down. The efi'ect on the section combs 

 may be imagined. He is likely to know what is in the 

 double-tier case, and on account of its shape, if he does drop 

 it, it does not drop so far. He frequently steps on a case to 

 reach up to something. If it is a single-tier case the cover 

 gives to such an extent as to cause his weight to come down 

 with but little diminished force on the tops of the sections, 

 causing them to give in turn, so that the combs are slightly 

 squeezed, and the honey oozes out. If it is a double-tier 

 case the cover does not give near so much, and some part of 

 his weight is likely to come over the edges of the case any- 

 how, and thus be supported without doing harm. When 

 transported on express and transfer wagons, the single-tier 

 case is much more likely to be set on its side edgewise to 

 fill up some convenient space in the wagon, which is the 

 worst possible position for the combs within, when the load 

 is being bumped over the streets. On the grocery shelves 

 the single-tier case occupies more space and displays less 

 honey. The double-tier case meets grocery requirements 

 the best. As to the objection of two tiers, there should be 

 paper between the two tiers, and no leaky honey should be 

 put in. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. We 

 have had inquiries for car-load lots of double-tier cases. 

 When I was East visiting the honey-buyers in all the large 

 cities of the middle West, I made it a point to inquire if 

 tliere were any trade objections to the double-tier cases, and 

 found none. 



Mr. Aikin — I have had bad luck in shipping in single- 

 tier cases. One reason was that they were so often stood 

 on one side. But the others, being more nearly in the shape 

 of a cube, were rarely set that way. 



H. Rauchfuss — The double-tier case has a small surface, 

 and twists easily when forces are applied at different 

 points. When that happens the sections inside are twisted, 

 too, and the combs slightly fractured. 



GRADING HONEY. 



Mr. Hagen — I have always been careful about grading 

 honey. I notice the Denver commission houses sell a good 

 deal of cheap honey at 25 or 30 cents a case less than a first- 

 class article. I have sold a number of car-loads, and would 

 always guarantee every section in a case to be No. 1 that 

 was sold as such. I made it a rule to put in the second 

 grade anything that was under 14 ounces, or off color. I 

 had another grade for 12 and 13 ounce honey, and anything 

 less than 12 ounces was sold after melting it up. From 80 

 pounds of cull honey I would get in the neighborhood of 6 

 pounds of wax. I aimed to have bait-combs. Bee-keepers 

 ought to be educated to have two grades. 



H. Rauchfuss — If you have three or four sections in a 

 case that are not quite up to the standard, leave them out 

 and put them in a separate case. You may get 10 cents a 

 case more for the sections that are left. And that is not 



