August, IQ08. 



[Amc»rican ^ac Joarnai]^g^ 



lilt known laws of hcaltli. and for a 

 time sustain no apparent injury. But, as 

 a rule, in tiinc it will bring about disas- 

 trous results. Men use intoxicants to 

 excess through a long life, while verj- 

 many others fall victims to their ef- 

 fects in a very brief period of time. 

 And so it is with beeswax. It may be, 

 and no doubt often is, eaten without any 



apparent evil consequences, but the tend- 

 ency is in the opposite direction. Hut if 

 it is known to be beneficial in obstinale 

 constipation, one good-sized pill will an- 

 swer for use in a whole family for a 

 lifetime, for the digestive organs will 

 not in any manner disqualify it for fu- 

 ture and perpetual use. 

 L\'ons, Kans. 



y^' 



onvention 

 [proceed in^s 



Report of tbe Chic^go-N rfiwest- 

 epti Bee-KeepeTb' uuiivenilon. 



I Continued from page I'll'. 1 

 Uses of Propolis and Pollen. 



"Of what use are propolis and pollen 

 to the bee-keeper?"' 



Mr. Taylor — Xo use except through 

 the bees. -Bees must have pollen. Pro- 

 polis fills up cracks, and smooths the 

 surface. 



Dr. Miller— In Europe propolis is used 

 as a matter of commerce, as a sort of 

 salve. Also a varnish. Pollen is of no 

 value whatever except as a food to bees, 

 it thus has more value than the aver- 

 age bee-keeper thinks, A pound of pol- 

 len in soine circumstances would he 

 wiirlh 10 pounds of honey. 



Dr. Bohrer — Propolis as to medicinal 

 property is very unreliable. It is not 

 used at all extensively. I don't think 

 it is of any use, but a great pest. Pro- 

 polis partakes of the nature of the flow- 

 er from which it is gathered. 



Mr. Lyman — It has seemed to me that 

 both propolis and pollen have a bearing 

 on the flavor of honey, provided it is 

 left on the hive long enough. 



Mr. Burnett — Would a few cells of 

 pollen in a comb of honey hurt the sale? 

 I never have been able to answer the 

 question as to the efifect it would have. 

 Docs it affect the taste of the honey 

 in the comb, or just in the cell? 



Dr. Miller — The pollen has no cflfect 

 • 111 tlie honey in the comb except that 

 one cell. If you cut out that cell the 

 rest of that piece of honey will be just 

 as good as if there had been no pollen. 

 'Mr. McCain — Is it true that if a sec- 

 tion has one cell on a comb full of pol- 

 len, that the rest of the cells would 

 have jiollen distributed through tliem. 

 Dr. MilUr--I think not. 

 Mr. Dadant — I think the statnicnt was 

 tliat wdicn pollen is mixed with the 

 honey in any large quantity. A bee can 

 sift out the pollen from honey in the 

 honey-sac. The worst feature is when 

 the pollen is in the bottom of the cell. 

 I believe that in most cases it will 

 be found to be so, although there are 

 instances when the honey contains a 

 great deal of pollen. White clover 

 contains no pollen, or so little that it is_ 

 imperceptible. It makes a dark spot, 

 but is not objectionable. 



^Ir. Liuniell — It luis mure importance 

 commercially than we perhaps think. 

 Many people think that it is some form 

 of so-called "dead matter." The venders 

 will not buy anything that is likely to 

 be objected to. Is there any possibility 

 of any bad effect on the stomach? 



Dr. ]\Iiller — No. How many like oc- 

 casionally to taste the pollen? One. 



Mr. Moore — The greatest objection to 

 comb honey with pollen is that it is a 

 breeding-place for the moth. I have had 

 several cases. Keep pollen out of comb 

 honey. 



Dr. Miller— Mr. Burnett, do you find 

 honey and pollen also in the cell. 



Mr. Burnett — No, no honey; just pol- 

 len. 



Dr. Miller — The chief objection is be- 

 cause moths w'ill start in the pollen and 

 work over the comb. The section that 

 has unsealed pollen in it is likely to be 

 a wormy section. 



Mr. Taylor — The fact that moths seek 

 the pollen and flourish there in prefer- 

 ence to honey, shows the comparative 

 value of pollen as food. A colony with- 

 out pollen can not rear brood. The 

 same is true with the moth. It could 

 not live on honey. It must have pollen. 

 Mr. Lyman — What causes the so-called 

 honey-flavor in honey? 



Dr. Miller — The oil that comes in 

 from the flower. 



Mr. Wilcox— And Ihe smell from the 

 volatile oil. 



Mr. Chapman — That is a good ques- 

 tion. Tliese volatile oils are subject to 

 ciintamination by whatever is put with 

 tlu-ni. '1 liat is the way perfume is 

 made. 



Mr. Lyman — If you have honey from 

 a certain flower, will the pollen effect 

 the flavor? 



Mr. Dadant — In the blossom there are 

 3 smells — the smell of the petal, tlie 

 smell of the pollen, and the smell of the 

 honey. Perfume is made from the pet- 

 als. Pollen has a very faint smell. The 

 way the pollen in the hive gives flavor 

 to honey is of very little importance, 

 because the pollen is separate from the 

 honey. The Italian bees put honey in 

 more compact shape, and fill every cell 

 wherever they can. A few grains of 

 jiolk-n in a section, I imagine, can not 

 ha\i- aii> .cflfect worth mentioning upon 

 ilir liiiiKV. especially as the honey is not 



ill the dust shape, but is in a paste. You 

 will see bees pass by a rose which gives 

 its smell from the petals, because there 

 is no honey. Bees will go after honey 

 in flowers that have no odor. Bees 

 will go into blossoms only when there 

 is honey. Bees will pass white clover 

 if no nectar is in it. There are very 

 distinct smells in a flower. A bee will 

 find the flowers that have the smell of 

 honey, although there is no smell of 

 petals. The blossoms that you and I 

 like because of their smell are disregard- 

 ed by the bees. 



Mr. Wheeler — That is a nice story. 

 It sounds good, but I have seen bees 

 .dight on white clover without attempt- 

 ing to gather honey. 



Mr. McCain — In regard to the pollen 

 giving a taste to honey, I would say 

 that I have honey now that was gath- 

 ered by the bees last season, and a few- 

 days ago, on trying it, I hit some of it 

 that had a strong pollen taste. I looked 

 to see where that pollen w-as and could 

 not find it. There were no pollen cells, 

 cither sealed or unsealed. There were 

 no pollen-grains. The pollen taste was 

 very decided. I believe that the pres- 

 ence of pollen in the hive in some way 

 gave that honey a very strong flavor. 



Mr. Moore — I absolutely condemn any 

 pollen in comb honey for the market, 

 on account of the looks, and the possi- 

 bility of the moth breeding in it. 



Dr. Miller — To one of the moth-Iar- 

 vas the idea of going through honey 

 would be nastiness in the extreme. I 

 don't believe they would go into honey. 



Mrs. Holmes — The egg is carried in 

 with the pollen. I don't think the worm 

 lays its egg in the honey. 



L.\RGE vs. Small Hives. 



"Some prominent bee-keepers state 

 that an 8-frame Langstroth hive is as 

 profitable as a larger one, and that such 

 hives give as good results per comb as 

 large hives, say 12 to 15 or more frames. 

 What resuUs have any present had with 

 large vs. small hives?" 



Dr. Bohrer — One of the first movable- 

 frame hives I ever used was either 16 or 

 18 frames. I got more honey from them 

 than from any other colony I ever had. 

 That was in Indiana, and right beside 

 others in 8 and 10 frame hives. In Kan- 

 sas I have had none larger than the 10- 

 frame until the past season, and this 

 season was none to compare by. I am 

 of the impression that if you have the 

 best kind of a queen, that you will get 

 better results from a 14-frame standard 

 Langstroth than from one smaller. 



Mr. .■\nderson — I have kept both side 

 by side for nearly 40 years. I have 

 about 40 colonies in lo-frame hives and 

 about the same in 8-frame hives. I am 

 increasing iny 10- frame hives. They will 

 fill 28 sections as quickly as the colonies 

 in 8- frame hives will fill 24 sections. 

 The only objection is the weight. 



Growing Sweet Clover. 



"Will sweet clover grow in any kind 

 of soil, and in any part of the United 

 States? If not, why not? Is there any 

 practical way to make it grow as indi- 

 cated ?" 



Mr. Wilcox — I have tried to grow it 

 repeatedly, and have never made a suc- 

 cess of making a good stand. I have 



