December, 1908. 



Amarican Hee Journal 



I.NCKEASING UsE OF HoNEV. 



"To whaf extent can the use of honey 

 be increased, and by what means?" 



Abundant openings for increase in use 

 — produce a good article — develop home 

 trade— exhibit honey at fairs more free- 

 ly, and see that more liberal prizes are 

 given at exhibitions. 



Buckwheat Honey. 



"Can the people in the Western Prov- 

 inces be educated to eat buckwheat 

 honey ?" 



Various opinions expressed, and the 

 need of developing, if possible, rhat 

 taste, was agreed to by all, as more 

 buckwheat honey is being produced eac'i 

 year. 



Mr. Holmes— Thousands of men get 

 used to tobacco, yet none liked it at 

 first. 



Mr. Hershiser — Compare it with some- 

 thing good to eat, such as celery, toma- 

 toes, etc. 



Honey Adulteratiox. 



Prof. McGill, Chief Analyst for the 

 Dominion gave a lengthy and instructive 

 address on the adulteration of honey. 

 He conducted several chemical experi- 

 ments, showing how to detect the vari- 

 ous adulterants in use, and lamented the 

 fact that at present we had no definite 

 understanding as to what constituted a 

 legal honey. Now it is quite possible to 

 make an artificial honey that would pass 

 the chemists' tests, and this should not 

 be possible. At the conclusion of a very 

 able address Prof. McGill asked that 

 the Association put itself on record as 

 desiring a legal definition of honey, and 

 present resolution to the proper authori- 

 ties. At a later stage of the convention 

 the following resolution was unani- 

 mously carried : 



"Recognizing the importance of a legal 

 definition of honey, this Association re- 

 spectfully recommends the adoption of 

 the following description as embodying 

 the present state of our knowledge re- 

 garding Canadian honey : 'Honey is en- 

 tirely the product of the work of bees 

 (Apis mellifica;, operating on the nectar 

 of flowers and other saccharine exuda- 

 tions of plants, and contains not more 

 than 30 percent of water, or more than 

 8 percent of sucrose (cane-sugar), and 

 no less than 00 percent of invert sugar. 

 It does not give a blue color with iodine 

 (absence of starch-sugar), nor a red 

 color with aniline acetate (absence of 

 artificial invert sugar), nor a dark color 

 with Ley's reagent, ammonical silver, 

 nor a marked precipitate of dextrine on 

 adding large excess of alcohol (absence 

 of glucose syrup).'" 



Queens to Prevent Swarming. 



O. L. Hershiser read one of the best 

 papers of the Convention, entitled, "Re- 

 queening of All Strong Colonies with 

 Queens of the Current Year's Rearing 

 as a Measure to Prevent Swarming." 



Every year there are a number of 

 strong colonies during fruit-bloom; these 

 can be profitably used to rear the queens 

 desired. Use all the old, vigorous queens 

 in nuclei, and take brood from them to 

 strengthen the full colonies with young 

 queens. No spe.cial hives are required 

 for this system, and every move was 

 along Nature's ways. 



Mr. Pettit objected to breaking up 

 these very strong colonics into nuclei, 

 and would prefer to buy the queens. 



Messrs. Mcl£voy, House, Anguish and 

 others pointed out that it paid to breed 

 from these extra-strong colonies, the im- 

 provement in bees more than counter- 

 balancing any direct loss in honey-pro- 

 duction. 



Several members doubted if young 

 queens would aliuays prevent swarming, 

 and A. C. Miller thought queens could 

 be given much cheaper in the fall than in 

 the spring. 



Mr. House said that a queen intro- 

 duced the previous fall would swarm 

 just as soon as a 3-year-old, so nothing 

 would be gained by way of preventing 

 swarming. 



Imported Honey. 



Mr. Holtermann read a paper on the 

 "Importation of Foreign Honey into 

 Canada." It was shown that these im- 

 portations are increasing very rapidly, 

 and as much of this honey came from 

 Great Britain at a price so low as to ex- 

 cite suspicion, it was recommended that 

 investigations be made. It is thought 

 that much of this honey is shipped to 

 England first, and then to Canada, so as 

 to come under the Preferential Tariff. 



Short Cuts in Apiary. 



A. C. Miller addressed the conven- 

 tion on "Short Cuts in the Apiary"— 

 short cuts necessary to produce honey 

 as cheaply as possible. 



He found it paid him to use a special 

 suit while at work among the bees, 

 made of cotton and bright in color. Re- 

 move all annoying features, as bees sting 

 because they cannot help it— are reflex 

 machines. Use the best smokers, knives, 

 hive-tools, etc. Uncapping-knives are 

 made of cheap steel ; get your blacksmith 

 to make one out of an old file. Steam- 

 heated knives were tried lO years ago, 

 and they were proven to be no good. 



vVhcn uncapping thick honey, dip the 

 knife in a bath of hot wax. Water is an 

 absolute necessity in an apiary — have it 

 handy to your work. 



Learn to diagnose the condition of the 

 hive by outside appearance. Use the ear 

 and learn the meaning of different bee- 

 sounds. Avoid shaking combs much — 

 many eggs are destroyed by shaking: 



Honey Uncapping Machine. 



Mr. Bayless, of" Brantford, gave a 

 practical demonstration of his uncapping 

 machine, and Mr. James Armstrong, who 

 had used it in his apiary, reported the 

 machine an entire success. The knives 

 worked freely, and the combs were left 

 as smooth and even as a planed board. 

 The members of the association express- 

 ed theinselves as satisfied that an uncap- 

 ping machine was a necessity, and it 

 would soon be a common implement in 

 the apiary. 



A resolution of condolence was pre- 

 sented in connection with the death of 

 Samuel Wood, who had been a Director 

 of the Association for a number of years. 



Reports of the Secretary, Treasurer, 

 Honey Exchange, and Transportation 

 and other Committees were received. 

 The usual votes of thanks were given, 

 and the Convention adjourned to meet 

 in Toronto again at the call of the Ex- 

 ecutive committee. Officers for next 

 year are as follows : 



President, W. Crouse, of Streetsville, 

 Ont. ; 1st Vice-Pres., W. J. Craig, of 

 Brantford, Ont.; 2nd Vice-Pres., Den- 

 nis Nolan, of Newton Robinson ; Secre- 

 tary, P. W. Hodgetts, Parliament Build- 

 ing's, Toronto, Ont. Directors: Dis- 

 trict No. I, A. Dickson; No. 2, Alex. Mc- 

 Laughlin; No. 3, J. C. Eyre; No. 4, R. 

 Lowey; No. 5, J. L. Storer; No. 6, W. 

 Couse ; No. 7, J- M. Curtzer ; No. 8, W.H. 

 Bowen; No. 9, W. J. Craig; No. 10, D. 

 Chalmers; and No. 11, W. .\. Chrysler. 



bnfribufccr 



Bee-Keeping in Colorado 



BY R. C. AIKIN. 



The past few years "locality" has 

 been a word much used by apicultural 

 writers and speakers. Indeed it has 

 become common to account for differ- 

 ences by saying it was "because of lo- 

 cality." One says his bees do so and 

 so, another takes issue and says they 

 do not do that way in his locality. In 

 fact, we as writers have been making 

 a rather too free use of that word to 

 cover or excuse our ignorance of bee- 

 nature — to ease down from an argu- 

 ment when we have reached the limit 

 of our knowledge and do not know 

 what to say next. 



To master the science of bee-culture 

 is a big job, so big that when this gen- 

 eration shall have passed the com- 

 ing one will still be WTestling with the 

 problem after having absorbed all our 

 knowledge handled down, plus their own 

 findings. I am not making fun ; "local- 

 ity" does play an important part both 

 in what bees will do and what they will 

 accomplish. And while I am discuss- 

 ing "bee-keeping in Colorado" it is to 

 throw light on the subject and show 

 wherein and how locality does affect. 



Fields in a like climate differ greatly 

 because of difference in flora, such as 

 blooming in one season at one place 

 and elsewhere in another, though but 

 short distances apart. It makes quite a 

 difference whether your house being on 



