310 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



April 28, 1904. 



raising-. We have the soil, climate and water. Here, as 

 nowhere else on the North American Continent, are men 

 likely to continue to specialize along^ this line. In fruit- 

 growing the possibilities are unlimited. Alongside the 

 development of the fruit market we must work honey as well. 

 There is an unlimited market for first-class goods, not for 

 second-class. We should not produce second-class fruit nor 

 honey. There is only one way of keeping the market, that 

 is, keep the quality up. 



High railroad rates are at present a great hindrance. 

 The government will probably have a railroad commission 

 soon, and this Association should have a committee ready 

 prepared to meet it. 



A vote of thanks was tendered Prof. James for his ex- 

 cellent address. 



A railroad committee was appointed. 



OFFICERS FOR 1904. 



The officers for 1904 were elected as follows : 



President, J. W. Sparling; 1st vice-president, H. G. 

 Sibbald ; 2d vice-president, R. H. Smith ; directors : Dis- 

 trict No. 1, W. J. Brown ; No. 2, J. K. Darling ; No. 3, M. 

 B. Holmes ; No. 4, C. W. Post ; No. 5, J. W. Sparling ; No. 

 6, H. G. Sibbald ; No. 7, Geo. Wood ; No. 8, Jas. Armstrong ; 

 No. 9, R. H. Smith ; No. 10, G. A. Deadman ; No. 11, J. F. 

 Miller ; No. 12, Samuel Wood ; Ontario Agricultural Col- 

 lege, Prof. F. C. Harrison ; inspector of apiaries, Wm. 

 McEvoy ; and assistant inspector, F. A. Gemmill. 



It was decided to withdraw the grant and representa- 

 tives from London, Toronto, and Ottawa fairs. 



Committee to revise report : Messrs. Sibbald and 

 Pettit. 



Auditors : Messrs. Nolan and Byer. 



Next place of meeting, Toronto. 



Mr. Fixter, of the Ottawa Experimental Farm, described 

 a fancy trophy of Canadian honey to be put up at the 

 Louisiana Purchase Exposition at St. Louis in 1904. 



It was decided to offer every encouragement to the St. 

 Louis Exposition. 



The report of the committee to revise the Foul Brood 

 Act was then taken up. The report was adopted without a 

 dissenting voice, the main change being the appointing of 

 sub-inspectors in organized districts. 



The Secretary read a communication from Prof. Harri- 

 son, stating that he had not been supplied with specimens 

 of foul brood to continue his study of the disease. It was 

 moved by Messrs. Holtermann and Couse that this matter 

 be not neglected next year. 



The Transportation Committee appointed to meet the 

 Railroad Commission consists of Messrs. Lott and Couse. 



The convention then adjourned to meet at Toronto in 

 1904. 





Contributed Articles 



J 



More Colonies or More Manipulation— 

 Which? 



BY DR. C. C. MILI.br. 



MR. TOWNSEND thinks it better to increase the num- 

 ber of colonies and avoid extra manipulation. Mr. 

 Doolittle thinks it better to increase manipulation 

 rather than colonies— page 247. When two such successful 

 and experienced practitioners hold exactly opposite views 

 "the point is worth cosidering " a little farther. 



Is it not possible that both gentlemen are right, each 

 from his own standpoint ? Mr. Townsend, if I am not mis- 

 taken, is located where it is easy for him to increase the num- 

 ber of his colonies or his apiaries to a considerable extent 

 without any fear of overstocking, while in Mr. Doolittle's 

 locality the field has been for years prettv fully occupied. 



Suppose that Mr. Townsend has o'nly 100 colonies in- 

 stead of his present number, and suppose that by manipula- 

 tion (including in that term spreading of brood and stimu- 

 lative feeding) he can increase the crop stored by those 100 

 colotlies one-fourth. Please don't understand that one- 

 fourth is the amount of the increased harvest that manipu- 

 lation will secure ; I don't know what it is, but the argu- 

 ment will be the same whether it be one-fourth or one- 



fortieth. Mr. Townsend does not need to consider the ques- 

 tion of nectar — nectar will go to waste were there twice as 

 many bees ; so it seems clear that with one-fourth more 

 colonies he ought to get one-fourth more honey ; and the 

 only question for him is whether it is easier to care for 100 

 colonies with manipulation, or 125 without. Evidently he 

 takes the latter view. 



Suppose Mr. Doolittle has 100 colonies where manipula- 

 tion will make that 100 colonies exhaust all the nectar 

 within reach ; in such a case he has shown quite clearly 

 (page 247) that more colonies mean less money Jor him ; and 

 Mr. Doolittle has done good service in calling attention to 

 the importance of a factor too little considered — the amount 

 of honey consumed by the bees themselves. Observations 

 at the Swiss experiment stations, if I remember correctly, 

 put the annual consumption of honey by a colony of bees at 

 70 pounds, which, although, much smaller than the estimate 

 of Mr. Getaz and Mr. Doolittle, is probably much larger 

 than the amount the generality of bee-keepers have thought 

 of, if indeed they have given it any thought at all. 



For each bee-keeper, then, in considering whether he 

 stands with Mr. Townsend or Mr. Doolittle, comes first the 

 question, " Is there plenty of nectar available so that after 

 increasing there will still be more than the bees can gather 

 for both themselves and me ?" With the majority of bee- 

 keepers the danger-point has not yet been approached, 

 probably ; and with a great many the increase of colonies 

 may be carried to such a point as to make the increase of 

 harvest much beyond what manipulation could bring with- 

 out such increase. 



In some cases there might be both increase of colonies 

 and all the added stores to be secured from extra manipula- 

 tion. With some, who have an unlimited field and limited 

 time to care for colonies, the most profitable way would be 

 to have the full number of colonies that could be cared for 

 without extra manipulation. Mr. Doolittle's friend who 

 proposed to double his number of colonies and lessen the 

 amount of labor with each, was probably right in thinking 

 this would give him more honey, i/ after the doubling of 

 colonies there was still more nectar than the bees could 

 gather. 



In making a case, Mr. Doolittle makes it a little too 

 strong in one point. He calls attention to the increased 

 amount of honey that an inceased number of colonies would 

 need for their own consumption, but ignores the increased 

 amount needed for the increase of bees secured by extra 

 manipulation. It must not be forgotten that in each case 

 there is an increase of bees, and if there be the same increase 

 of bees by one method as by the other, then there will be 

 exactly the same increase of consumption. Although that 

 argument is thus ruled out, there is still an advantage left 

 Mr. Doolittle in the fact that stronger colonies store more 

 honey in proportion to the number of bees. A colony of 

 50,000 bees will give more surplus than the same number of 

 bees in two colonies, because a smaller number of bees will 

 be needed to do the homework of the larger proportion of 

 gatherers in the large colony. 



After all this has been said, there still remains an im- 

 poriant point that is " worth considering." Are we always 

 sure of increased stores from the extra manipulation ? In 

 this locality, at the time such manipulation would be effec- 

 tive, there is already in the hive all the brood the bees can 

 cover in most colonies, in which case spreading brood can 

 only mean chilled brood. Spreading brood and stimulative 

 feeding are two pretty safe things for beginners to let alone, 

 at least in most localities. McHenry Co., 111. 



No. 5.— Comb or Extracted Honey— Which? 



BY C. P. D.\DANT. 



THE greatest disadvantage, I might say the only disad- 

 vantage, in producing extracted honey is in the selling 

 of it. " Strained " honey in this country originally ac- 

 quired an unenviable reputation, at first, from its having 

 been produced by squeezing the honey out of the combs of 

 colonies caught in the woods, from bee-trees. This honey 

 was often mixed with pollen and residue, and more or less 

 cloudy, therefore inferior. Then with the discovery of the 

 extractor and the production of clean liquid honey on a 

 large scale, the temptation to imitate it by adulterating it or 

 even by selling pure glucose under the name of honey by 

 unprincipled dealers gave another warning against it to the 

 consumer. On the other hand, very few people knew that 

 honey in the liquid state granulates in cold weather, and a 

 very great prejudice formed immediatel3' against honey 



