Msy, 1908. 



American See Journal 



endorsed vvhat Mr. Holtcrman had said 

 the previous evening, tliat some bee- 

 keepers were so situated that they could 

 make money rearing bees and selling 

 them, but not producing honev ; oth- 

 ers could do better not to allow their 

 bees to swarm, and buying increase if 

 wanted. He attributed his and his 

 neighbors' winter losses to aster honey 

 gathered late in the fall. During the 

 winter of 1903-4 he had rendered enough 

 wax out of old comb in the neighbor- 

 hood to make over $900 worth of bees- 

 wax. 



'He did not believe in specializing ; by 

 engaging in other occupations, he did 

 not have to charge all his time to the 

 bees. During the past season from 65 

 colonies he had now 91 colonies in win- 

 ter quarters, and sold over $500 worth 

 of honey. Mr. Manley made a very 

 happy speech. 



The addresses and discussions brought 

 out many valuable features which, it 

 was felt, only those who attended the 

 convention could appreciate. The indi- 

 vidual talks between conventions where 

 each one could take up what questions 

 specially interested him, and got his in- 

 formation from what he considered the 

 most reliable source, was worth much 

 to those present. 



Pres. Hutchinson refused to stand for 

 the presidency again. The election of 

 officers resulted as follows: President, 

 L. A. Aspinwall; Vice-President, E. D. 

 Townsend ; Secretary-Treasurer, E M 

 Hunt, of Redford. Mich. 



;\Ir. .-Xspinwall, in his address on "A 

 Year's Experiments," stated that it had 

 been a hard year for him to conduct 

 experiments. The season was bad, and 

 he had rheiimatism, and could not put 

 supers on his non-swarming hive when 

 he should. However, only one colony 

 swarmed out of 31, and this when thev 

 were so badly crowded that they built 

 brace and bur combs in every direction. 

 He had reduced the slots in 'the slotted 

 separators to J/^-inch thickness, giving 

 the bees great standing room between 

 the combs. He found a hive the near- 

 est square the most normal; this with 

 added comb-honey supers gave a cube. 

 He was providing strips between the 

 ends of the frames so as to make them 

 close-end frames in winter. He found 

 the bees wintered better in this way. 



Report of the Chicago-NoPthwest- 

 BPn Bee-Keepers' Convention. 



(Continued from page 116.) 

 Color of Honey. 



Dr. Miller— Dr. Bohrer savs that 

 heartsease honey is dark. I have al- 

 ways supposed that to be the case. A 

 few years ago I had some extra white 

 honey rather late in the season. I 

 had no idea what it was. I didn't know 

 for years afterward. I don't know 

 whether I know now. But last year and 

 this year I have had some very light 

 honey. I have serious doubts whether 

 I had anything from white clover. But 

 after the time for white clover I got 

 some white honey, and a good deal of 

 it. I don't know what it could be un- 

 less heartsease, for the bees were work- 

 ing very busily on heartsease. Has any- 

 body else had light honey from hearts- 



ease? It is decidedly whiter than white 

 clover. 



Pres. York. — How many had light 

 honey from heartsease? 



Mr. Wheeler— Not this year. 



Dr. Miller — Is it sometimes light and 

 sometimes dark? 



Mr. Wheeler — I believe that quite a 

 lot of that honey was white clover 

 honey. 



Dr. I\liller— I don't think so. 



Mr. Wheeler^In some seasons they 

 work on both white clover and hearts- 

 ease. 



Mr. Baldridge — I live in the same lo- 

 cality as Dr. Miller. When he got light 

 honey, zve didn't. We 'had immense 

 quantities of asters, and if we had had 

 good weather, we would have had a 

 great deal of light honey from asters. 

 The woods were filled with asters. 



Dr. Miller — We have plenty of asters, 

 but the bees did not work on asters 

 or goldenrod. 



Mr. Dadant — I don't care if everybody 

 here said that heartsease honey was 

 dark. I have my own eyes. I have 

 had 2$ barrels of heartsease honey, and 

 it was not as vi^hite as clover. It was 

 a sort of pinkish yellow — very much 

 lighter than all other fall honey. 

 Heartsease doesn't blossom at the same 

 time as asters. The petals remain, but 

 the seed is ripe. It still looks like a 

 a bloom. Heartsease blooms from the 

 beginning of August until the asters 

 come. Aster honey is just as white as 

 white clover. We had 4 or 5 barrels 

 of aster honey. I said to the men at 

 the end of the season, "We have made a 

 big crop, but the end is here. I don't 

 think we will get anything out of as- 

 ters." But we had a great deal of honey, 

 and it could not come from anything else 

 than asters. Heartsease honey is not 

 dark, and is the nicest selling honey that 

 you can find. It is not dark nor is it a 

 bright yellow. 



Mr. Baldridge — In my locality we 

 have no heartsease to mention. The 

 honey I had at the time asters were in 

 bloom was very white. I believe it 

 was gathered from asters. 



Dr. Miller — Another reason that 

 makes me think it was heartsease hon- 

 ey, besides the fact that we didn't see 

 the bees working on asters, was the 

 fact that the pollen carried in was ex- 

 actly like the pollen that I saw them 

 gather from heartsease. Mr. Dadant 

 says that heartsease honey is light. 

 Others say it is dark. He is so positive 

 about it. (I don't want to put any more 

 confidence in him than he deserves!) 

 His honey is lighter than that of oth- 

 ers. If there can be that much differ- 

 ence in heartsease, I believe that my 

 honey can be lighter than Mr. Dadant's. 

 There was so much difference in time 

 between the bloom of clover and hearts- 

 ease. The pollen was exactly like hearts- 

 ease. 



Mr. Dadant — There are some 20 dif- 

 ferent kinds of heartsease. Is it not pos- 

 sible that some kinds yield darker honey 

 than others? Prob.ibly the kind that 

 Dr. Miller has is ditTerent from what 

 we have in Central Illinois, and they 

 can be still different from those in Kan- 

 sas. This explains the difference. 



Dr. Miller — Until within a year or two 

 heartsease has been very scarce. Prac- 



tically none. This year a great deal of 

 it was to be seen. 



Mr. Taylor— What is the color of 

 basswood honey? 



Mr. Wilcox— Nearest white of any 

 honey that we produce in Wisconsin. 

 It is nearer a milk white. I produced 

 heartsease for a good manv vears. 

 I never yet produced any that was 'light- 

 colored. This evening is the first time 

 I ever heard or read of it . We have 

 a plant that blooms on old worn-out 

 fields. It is a species of the horse- 

 mint. You will know when the bees are 

 working on it. Their backs are cov- 

 ered with a silver-gray dust. That hon- 

 ey is very light, almost white. It grows 

 at the same time heartsease does, just 

 before the basswood. or at the com- 

 mencement of the basswood flow. The 

 bees might have been getting that when 

 you thought they were getting a clear 

 crop of heartsease. Otherwise, I should 

 say that heartsease honey is dark, but 

 has a lighter color than basswood. 



Pres. York — Does soil have an influ- 

 ence on the color of honey? I under- 

 stand that the color of alfalfa honey is 

 different in Arizona and Utah than in 

 New Mexico. I understand that soil 

 is resposible. How many agree that 

 basswood honey is lighter than clover 

 honey. 5. How many do not agree ? About 

 the same number. 



Mr. Taylor— Why couldn't it be just 

 so with heartsease honey? Take the 

 clovers — every different kind of clover 

 produces a different kind of honey. If 

 dififerent clovers vary, why not different 

 varieties of heartsease? 



Mr. Wilco.x— I like that. There are 

 two species of basswood in my locality. 

 The two kinds of wood don't put out 

 leaves in the spring at the same time. 

 There is a difference of about 2 weeks 

 in the time. 

 Pure Food Laws and Honev Demand. 



"Have the pure food laws enacted by 

 Congress and the different States caused 

 a greater demand for honey?" 



Mr. Taylor — No. 



Mr, Wilcox — Yes. I have always been 

 a strong advocate of the pure food law. 

 I am very pleased with it. We have 

 what we asked for, and should be glad. 

 The pure food law enables the ciusto- 

 mer to have some confidence that the 

 thing he buys is what he calls for. I 

 cannot buy enough honey to supply my 

 customers. I am getting more orders, 

 and am confident that some of it comes 

 from the confidence in the goods. 



Mr. Taylor — I think we are fooling 

 ourselves. I have always thought so. I 

 don't think that the pure food law ha» 

 the least effect here in Chicago. It 

 doesn't apply to honey here in Chicago. 

 It applies only to interstate commerce. 

 .•\ man can make all the adulterated 

 honey he wants to, and sell it in Chi- 

 cago. If the State law is enforced you 

 will get less of it. If you don't en- 

 force the law you will get the same as 

 before. It is foolish to attribute the in- 

 crease in the demiuid for honey to the 

 pure food law. It is due to the fact 

 \r)u haven't got honey. People want it 

 when you haven't got it. That accounts 

 for all the advance we have so far. 



Mr. Arnd — The pure food law has 

 driven a number of concerns in Chicago 

 out of the honey-business. A great 



