June 16, 1904. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



423 



and pendant, with little bunches of unopened flower-cups 

 with the dainty warted caps, all covered with a delicate 

 white bloom, and below flowers all a-bloom and radiating 

 about a chalice that glistens with nectar. When a flower 

 is ready to greet the sun, the little cap under which the 

 hair-like petals were done up with the greatest tonsorial 

 art, as it were, bursts and flies off. The latter literally 

 covers the earth beneath the tree like gravel, and may be 

 shoveled up under a big tree. 



In further explanation of the pictures, I will say that 

 the group of blue-gums shown in the circular picture {No. 4) 

 are growing on our family homestead on the bank of the 

 Temescal creek, near Oakland, Calif., and were planted by 

 the writer's father in the neighborhood of a quarter of a 

 century ago. The tall tree in the center is about four feet 

 in diameter, and is probably ISO feet tall. Mixed in with 

 the gum-trees on the right hand side of the cut is a clump 

 of California laurels, or bay-trees. On the left are Monte- 

 rey cypress ; and on the hill in the distance is shown some 

 trees of red-gums of a forest of mixed varieties of eucalypti. 

 A pear-tree in bloom is shown in the foreground on the 

 right. 



Something like 25 years ago the hill hidden by the 

 trees in the next picture (No. 2) was entirely nude of all 

 plant-life except grass, and possibly some little wild 

 flowers. It was formerly the property of my father. When 

 purchased by J. Ross Browne, then lately United States 

 Minister to China, he set the hill out in various kinds of 

 trees, the great majority being eucalypti, erected several 

 houses odd in architectural design, and called the place 

 "Pagoda Hill." There are several nice homes in the for- 

 est ; and oranges, lemons, foreign grapes, date-palms and 

 other plants of a tropical and semi-tropical nature, grow in 

 profusion at the several homes. The hill may be said to be 

 a veritable bee-garden. 



Picture No. 3 shows the wide-spreading trees that grow 

 on a hillside in San Francisco, and illustrates how the tree 

 will branch out every which way when the trunk or main 

 tree has been cut ofl^. Note how the fence was pushed out 

 of place by the branches in their endeavor to make a place 

 for themselves in the world. I saw one once that pushed a 

 house oS^ its foundation. 



I now come to the orchard scene (No. S). It is in front 

 of where the marguerites commented on as aforesaid, grew. 

 (See page 369.) The house is almost entirely hid by a row 

 of Bartlett pear-trees. Note how the cherry-tre-js bloom ! 

 A cherry orchard in blossom in California is a sight wejl 

 worth seeing. Such magnificent whiteness can hardly be 

 imagined. This is one of our orchards. Blue-gum trees 

 cover the hill in the background. There are several 

 eucalyptus forests near our home. 



Alameda Co., Calif. 



[ Convention Proceedings) 



Report of the Onondaga Co., N. Y.) Convention. 



(Continued from page 408.) 

 PRODUCING WHITEST COMB HONEY. 



" How may I produce the whitest comb honey ?" 



Mr. Hutchinson — If you hive a swarm on the old stand 

 and set the sections over on the new swarm you have them 

 finished over new combs. It is a mistake to take honey off 

 just as soon as it is sealed. If left with the bees a little 

 while they seem to varnish it over in a way that makes the 

 capping nearer air-tight, and the honey keeps better. 



Mr. Pettit — There is a tendency towards taking ofi^ sec- 

 tions too soon for the sake of extra whiteness. If left with 

 the bees a little it may lose some of the pearly whiteness, 

 but the flavor is improved. Then, if possible, a drying day 

 should be chosen for taking it off. 



Mr. House — The store-room has a great deal to do with 

 the nature of the honey. 



Mr. West — There is a great deal of candied honey '>n 

 the market of late years, and this injures the sale of all. 

 ' Mr. Holtermann — Storing sections in a cold pl.n e 

 cracks the capping and allows moisture to enter. The C' Id 

 also causes granulation. 

 _ Mr. Betsinger — Most comb-honey men use a larger lii^e 



.3 



than I. I have no honey in the brood-chamber. You have. 

 This honey granulates through the winter, and one ounce 

 of it carried up will cause granulation in the sections. Now 

 with reference to watery cappings : Jarring will cause the 

 whitest cappings to look soppy by shaking the honey down 

 against them. Never use old sections that have had honey 

 granulated in them. A comb that has had candied honey 

 in once will cause the next year's honey to candy. 



" How is it best to get bee-keepers interested to produce 

 more comb honey 7" 



Mr. Betsinger added the word " g;ood," saying that he 

 knew a firm in Syracuse who wanted 100,000 pounds oi good 

 comb honey, but none second-grade 



CARBON BI-SULPHIDE FOR FUMIGATING COMBS. 



" How would you use carbon bi-sulphide to kill wax- 

 worms in combs 7" 



Mr. Morgan — Use an ounce of the drug to 13 cubic feet 

 of space in an air-tight box 



Charles Mills explodes the carbon bi-sulphide in the box 

 where the combs are placed. He sets fire to it with a match, 

 and considers this a quicker evaporation than the ordinary. 



Mr. West — We must be careful in using explosives. 



Mr. Betsinger — This has an advantage over the old way 

 of fumigating with sulphur. With it, crystals of sulphur 

 were deposited over everything in the room, and any prop- 

 olis was turned green. 



ORG.\NIZING FOR HANDLING BEE-SUPPLIES. 



" Will Mr. France suggest the best way to organize for 

 handling supplies 7" 



Mr. France — A national association must benefit all its 

 members, including the supply-dealers. 



Mr. House — When an organization can offer the bee-men 

 some financial gain, then we can win them to the organiza- 

 tion, and not till then. 



Mr. West — We have our own dealers, and are not all 

 using standard goods. There are difficulties in the way of 

 combined buying. 



Mr. House — As to sections, the best selling standard in 

 Syracuse is the 4>4^x4,'4 . 



Dr. C. L,. Parker — We must do something ; prices are 

 going heavens high. 



Mr, Holtermann said he was not interested in any sup- 

 ply business, but had had a great deal to do in that line, 

 and while he thought prices were getting pretty high, still 

 there were two sides to the question. A man with a buzz- 

 saw can get out goods cheaply because he does not count 

 his time worth anything. 



Mr. Hutchinson spoke of extra expenses of large con- 

 cerns, in the way of insurance, taxes, etc. 



Mr. Hershiser wished to know why the improved meth- 

 ods of producing foundation had not cheapened its price. 



Mr. Holtermann— There is a great deal in what Mr. 

 Hutchinson says about extra expenses of a large concerns. 

 Men going into a business do not count the cost. They sell 

 goods cheaper than they can afford to, and soon fail in busi- 

 ness. Other foolish ones take their place, and so it goes. 

 Only the firms that charge a paying price succeed in the 

 end. What an organization of bee-keepers can do is to 

 order early in large quantities and secure a handsome dis- 

 count. 



Mr. France — It is profits we are all after. If the manu- 

 facturers can combine, they have the right to do so. The 

 local organization must order as a unit. 



ELECTION OF OFFICERS. 



The election of officers resulted as follows : President, 

 S. D. House ; 1st vice-president, W. J. Morgan ; 2d vice- 

 president, W. H. Short ; 3d vice-president, Howard Mills ; 

 secretary-treasurer, John H. Cunningham ; moderator, 

 Irvan Kenyon. 



A vote of thanks was passed to Mr. Betsinger, the re- 

 tiring moderator. Delegates elected to the New York State 

 convention were Messrs. House and Morgan. 



At the evening session Prof. C. B. Thain, of Syracuse 

 University, spoke on 



LOCATION. 



We are in different and differing sections of country, 

 and so must always consider location. He was trying to 

 ascertain by experiment the effect of shelter in winter and 

 shade in summer. It is remarkable, he said, how much dif- 

 ference there is in the honey -yield of locations only a few 

 miles apart. We should study our location thoroughly to 

 know when the various sources of honey begin to yield, etc. 

 Doolittle says we want the hive full of bees only where 



