1910 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



am 



Dr. Burton N. Gates, E. B. Tyrrell, Louis 

 H. Scholl; for Directors, H. A. Surface, 

 James A. Stone, Robt. A. Holecamp, Orel 

 L. Hershiser, F. Wilcox. 



Mr. S. D. House read a paper on the sub- 

 ject, ' ' Comb Honey from Nectar to Market. ' ' 

 Among a good many things he said: Strong 

 colonies, good appliances, and contentment 

 of bees are necessary. Keep the colonies 

 large. Give the fourth super, taking away 

 the third when putting on the fourth. Fu- 

 migate with carbon bisulphide. Mr. House 

 also explained his plan of using the wire 

 separators. 



The next was an address given by F. H. 

 Cyrenius, on "The Comforts and Conven- 

 iences of an Apiary." Mr. Cyrenius showed 

 a number of little kinks of his own get-up, 

 one being a bell that would ring when a 60- 

 Ib. can was filled with honey. He also dem- 

 onstrated how to overcome robber bees by 

 working under an umbrella tent. He has a 

 large 5-ft. wagon-umbrella with mosquito 

 netting all around, which he carries with 

 him and sticks into the ground when he 

 wants to work over a hive. He suggested 

 painting all tools white so that they may be 

 easily found when mislaid. 



Geo. B. Howe read a paper on the subject, 

 " Selection in Breeding to Increase the Hon- 

 ey Crop." Drop the question of beauty and 

 breed for honey-gathering qualities only. 

 Italian bees are the best. The varying vig- 

 or of the bees in the honey-flow makes a 

 difference of many hundred dollars in a 

 large apiary. Some will fly in the rain, and 

 when it is cool, while others will not. The 

 size of the wing is also an important factor. 

 Many bees do not fly half as far as others. 

 Stick to the dark Italians. (I considered 

 this paper among the best read.) 



THURSDAY MOENING. 



F. J. Root read a paper entitled "Adver- 

 tising to C'reate a Larger Demand for Hon- 

 ey." The output could be increased sixfold 

 if properly advertised. Five thousand mem- 

 bers might pay three cents per day, and 

 this amount used for advertising each year. 

 Show-windows should be filled with attrac- 

 tive glass and comb-honey packages. Hon- 

 ey should be sold from a wagon in the 

 streets. This subject was discussed by Mr. 

 L. C. Root, James A. Stone, P. H. Elwood, 

 and others. 



A paper, "Co-operation Among Bee-keep- 

 ers," sent by Mr. F. Rauchfuss, of Denver, 

 Colo., was read by N. E. France. Mr. 

 Rauchfuss compared the jirice of honey with 

 bee-supplies 23 years ago. He said that in 

 1887 sections were $4.00 per 1000 and ship- 

 ping-cases 16.00, while in 1910 sections were 

 $5.50 and shipping-cases $9.00. He thought 

 that, since bee-keepers got twenty per cent 

 less for honey than the price 23 years ago, 

 the members should not be compelled to 

 buy or sell supplies unless some advantage 

 could be shown by it. I replied to this pa- 

 per by stating that there was surely a mis- 

 understanding somewhere, as it was not true 

 that supplies had increased while honey had 



decreased. I stated three examples. Fifteen 

 or twenty years ago I bought a car of buck- 

 wheat honey at 3% cts., while to-day two 

 cars sold at 7 cts. At the same time, I 

 bought in Wisconsin fancy white-clover (ex- 

 tracted honey in barrels at 5)4 cts., and at 

 the same price contracted for several cars. 

 The bee-keepers at that time had not been 

 getting over 4% to 5 cts. for the same hon- 

 ey; to-day that same honey brings 8 to 8)4 

 cts. I remember buying good comb honey 

 some fifteen years ago at 12>^ and 13 cts., 

 that same honey to-day bringing 16>^ cts. 

 Mr. Hershiser replied to my statement by 

 saying that, years ago, he could buy a horse 

 for $40.00 and wheat for 43 cts. a bushel. 

 Now, while farmers and bee-keepers still 

 need horses and wheat, they have to pay 

 several hundred dollars for one horse, and 

 over $1.00 a bushel for wheat. Relatively, 

 honey does not bring nearly as much as it 

 did, because a pound of honey does not buy 

 as much for the bee-keeper. jNIr. Weber 

 supported my remarks, and then asked the 

 president to call on Mr. Segelken, who had 

 come in about an hour before. Mr. Segel- 

 ken also endorsed and emphasized my re- 

 marks. 



Mr. Orel L. Hershiser made quite a report 

 on the president's address, the practical out- 

 come being that it was referred to the Board 

 of Directors for action. 



Dr. Burton N. Gates spoke of the disinte- 

 gration of the National Association, and 

 said that we should make it more educa- 

 tional in its nature. This created some dis- 

 cussion, Mr. Hershiser saying that the As- 

 sociation had made many rapid strides in 

 the last few years. 



Mr. James A. Stone described the best 

 foundation for a bee-hive. 



Charles Stewart was called on to give the 

 best treatment for foul brood. He said that, 

 sooner or later, this disease would reach ev- 

 ery apiary in the land, and he claimed that 

 keeping the colonies strong and using the 

 dark Italians was the best advice he knew 

 of in a general way to give to bee-keepers. 

 He did not mean that, in this way, foul 

 brood would be eradicated, but that it would 

 be a large factor in keeping it in check. 

 He explained by saying that foul brood first 

 starts in an apiary by the bees becoming 

 weak in vitality as well as in numbers. 

 The weak colonies should be united, and 

 thus got rid of. Black bees are poor care- 

 takers. Mr. McEvoy also said that Italian- 

 izing is the best single remedy he knew of. 

 Mr. West advocated giving a colony a new 

 Italian queen when treating disease. 



THURSDAY AFTERNOON. 



Mr. Hershiser's former report on the pres- 

 ident's address was supplemented by anoth- 

 er report at the opening of this session. It 

 was recommended that the Board of Direc- 

 tors use the funds of the Association in or- 

 ganizing county and State associations; 

 that the directors take immediate measures 

 to carry out the various recommendations 

 in the president's address. It was also rec- 



