454 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



June 30, 1904. 



neighbors* apiaries as we did our own, we should have 

 changed the breed of the bees from brown to yellow very 

 quickly. 



It is impossible to do away entirely with the production 

 of drones, but the man who takes pains can reduce it to the 

 minimum ; at the same time, by a contrary process, increas- 

 ing it to the maximum in the colonies which he considers as 

 the best for honey-production. Hancock Co., 111. 



The Standard Section— Under-Weight and 

 Over-Weight. 



BY A. C. F. BARTZ. 



ON page 182 appears a contribution by Mr. Allen Latham, 

 in which he takes issue against the under-weight sec- 

 tions, that is, against the sections weighing less than a 

 pound when filled with honey, and wishes every other bee- 

 keeper who opposes the same would send in his protest. 



Now, Mr. Latham, I wish to congratulate you very 

 much regarding the stand you are taking, and wish to go 

 on record with you on the same protest ; for, like yourself, 

 I have given considerable thought to what should be the 

 standard section, and have come to the conclusion, by a 

 number of extensive experiences, that the standard section 

 should be 4'4x4'4xl 1516, for several reasons. 



First of all, its dimensions as to height and length ; it 

 fits most of the supers of standard make, as it has been in 

 use so long that most beekeepers have adjusted themselves 

 accordingly. 



Secondly, its width admits of a pound of honey, the 

 nearest of any manufactured, providing the bees are 

 crowded to a finish, and separators 4 inches wide are used. 

 Right here I wish to ask what in the name of common-sense 

 caused the bee-keepers to use a 3 '^ inch wide separator, as 

 nearly every section of honey produced with them has a 

 bulge at the bottom, if the separator is put even with the 

 top of the section as it should be, else a brace-comb at the 

 top ? And what under the sun made some of them invent 

 the fad, or humbug, of the tall section with fence separa- 

 tors ? To my notion a greater nuisance than the fence 

 separator and the tall-section fad has not been imposed 

 upon bee-keepers for some time. I wish the bee-keepers 

 who keep bees for the dollars and cents there are in it would 

 pay no attention to such fads, nor would I advise any of 

 them to go to a great deal of expense to change their supers 

 to accommodate any other style section than they are now 

 using, because the honey-consuming public has been im- 

 posed on to such an extent by under-weight sections that 

 they are fast becoming aware of the fact that there are dif- 

 ferent weights on the market, and are insisting on having 

 their honey weighed, and every honest-thinking bee-keeper 

 ought to inform the public of the fact, and educate them so 

 they might know, when buying honey, to buy by weight 

 only, the same as the beekeeper gets paid in most of the 

 markets by the pound, regardless of what each section 

 weighs. Otherwise the bee-keeper sells by the pound and 

 theconsumer buys by the pound, but receives by the piece as 

 is now being practiced. And I think the reason my honey 

 is in such demand by some dealers is on account of its 

 plump weight. 



One dealer in Chicago has written repeatedly that some 

 of his customers didn't want any other honey than mine, 

 and would wait several days rather than buy any other (I 

 suppose light-weights). Now I don't stamp my name on ray 

 honey, either, so here it will be seen that it is not the name 

 the consumer is after — it is the quality and quantity he gets 

 for his money that he is after. 



Of course, I believe in strict rules of grading, and would 

 like to emphasize what Mr. Niver said about it on page 222, 

 at the Chicago-Northwestern eouvention ; but I do not 

 agree with him as to the trouble of figuring if selling by 

 the pound and having sections of difl'erent weights, as this 

 is easily overcome with our modern "computing scales;" 

 and I have found many dealers of late insisting on weigh- 

 ing the sections on account of their being so extremely 

 light that even they themselves did not feel just right when 

 selling to a customer asking for a pound of honey. For 

 it was really the case, in this county, and I believe in most 

 of the smaller towns, the people think a section of honey is 

 a pound. As I am keeping a grocery store myself, I have a 

 good chance to know what the people ask for, and what they 

 are expecting to get, and I, too, must say that 99 out of 100 

 are under the impression they are buying a pound of honey 

 instead of a section. The argument that they should think 



an orange or lemon has to be a certain weight is not paral- 

 lel, for it is generally known that oranges, lemons, and 

 eggs, are not weighed but are sold b3' count, but it is not so 

 generally known that honey in the sections is sold that 

 way. Of course, if the public were educated up to there be- 

 ing a half-dozen or more different grades and weights on 

 the market — as they know there are oranges and lemons — 

 they would not feel deceived if they bought the light-weight 

 ones; but that is just where the "shoe pinches" — they 

 don't know, and are either deceived or else pay a big price 

 for an education they will finally obtain if they buy honey 

 long enough to discover the difference. 



And for the aboved-named reasons I am in favor of a 

 section of honey weighing a pound, and if a case of 24 sec- 

 tions overruns I do not charge the wholesale house, nor the 

 retailer with the overrun, but make every case 24 pounds if 

 it weighs that or more; but if it weighs under 24 pounds, 

 the exact net weight is put on the case. In this way it will 

 be seen that the consumer is not cheated. When he buys a 

 section of honey supposed to weigh 16 ounces, and it weighs 

 17 ounces, I am the loser of that. So you see this is a new 

 scheme, and, take my word for it, if you practice this last- 

 mentioned scheme — that is, have your honey rather over- 

 weight than under-weight — you will have many satisfied 

 customers, and no trouble in satisfying customers and no 

 trouble in selling your honey even if your name is not on 

 every section, nor even on the case. The wholesale dealer 

 and commission man will take care of your name. I want 

 them to be in business any way, and I like to see them pros- 

 per. They are the bee-keepers' best friends, providing they 

 are honest, and if some are found to be dishonest discard 

 them and try another. 



I have sold thousands of dollars worth of honey, and so 

 far have found only one crook, and 1 sold to him only once. 

 I warn every bee-keeper, or probable shipper of other pro- 

 duce, to beware of him. I have advertised him wherever I 

 have gone, and so should everybody who has any produce 

 to ship, be it honey, butter, eggs, or anything else. If a 

 commission man or jobber is found to be crooked, nail him 

 to the cross and keep him there ; but if he is honest and up- 

 right, treat him kindly. We need him. 



Chippewa Co., Wis. 



[ Convention Proceedings J 



Report of the CouveutioH of the New York State 

 Bee-Keepers' Association. 



REPORTED BY MORLKY PKTTIT. 



(Continued from paffe 440 ) 

 AFTERNOON SESSION. 



The following paper was read by Mr. N. D. West, one 

 of the New York State bee-inspectors : 



FOUL BROOD AND BLACK BROOD. 



It is a great pleasure for me to meet with you at a bee- 

 convention like this. It makes me think of family re- 

 unions. We come together as friends for a great, jolly 

 time, and a profitable one, too, and we expect to have it, 

 although one day is too short a time to hold a bee-conven- 

 tion. Some business must be done, and then we want time 

 to shake hands and talk with everybody. If we are not 

 acquainted we expect to get acquainted, and tell each other 

 how little or how much we know about things pertaining 

 to the bee-business. I suppose that you expect me to tell 

 you something about black brood. Well, I must say it's a 

 terror. It has ruined many whole apiaries. In fact, all of 

 the apiaries in some localities. There has been a time 

 when you could hardly find colonies of bees that were not 

 more or less affected with some kind of brood-disease, in 

 what we term diseased localities. 



However, things are improving. Apiarists are learning 

 what to do. Those who have lost their bees — many of them 

 — are now holding their own in numbers, and are securing 

 good crops of surplus honey again, .uid it is almost impos- 

 sible for them to keep their apiaries entirely free from the 

 disease; but the disease is beconiing^ less and less each 

 favorable year in those localities. 



