210 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. In, 



men and fruit-dryers and bee-men. City ordi- 

 nances against producers selling their own pro- 

 ducts were pronounced unconstitutional. 



A paper upon California bee-keeping was 

 read by J. H. Martin, after which there was a 

 social half-hour. The convention was favored 

 with the presence of the Hon. J. M. Hambaugh, 

 of Illinois, and Mr. Jacob Alpaugh, of Canada. 

 Wednesday morning the swarm of bee-keep- 

 ers were a little tardy about convening. Mr. 

 Mellen read a paper— Money vs. Honey. Mr. 

 Mellen touched upon financial things generally, 

 and thought that a better financial policy for 

 the nation would res^ult in financial accumula- 

 tions of the bee- keeper. 



The use and abuse of smoke in handling bees 

 was next treated by Mr. Mendleson. This call- 

 ed out quite a lengthy discussion, all tending 

 toward careful handling, clean hives, with a 

 clean apiary. 



The fact was also noted that bees, while 

 gathering honey, are more vindictive than un- 

 der the same conditions in the East. 



The discussion led into the feeding of bees. 

 The past season had been one in which the bee- 

 keeper could experiment to the extent of his 

 ambition. Honey, diluted honey, sugar (refin- 

 ed and raw), beet sugar, and Chinese sugar, 

 had all been used with success. A few gave 

 preference to diluted honey. 



The methods of feeding were as various as 

 the kinds of feed. The most rapid way to get 

 over a large number of hives was to pour the 

 feed into empty combs and place them in the 

 hive after dark. 



Capt. J. M Wood next brought in an old 

 red weather-beaten hive, and lectured upon 

 the advantages of his method of management. 

 His frame was about the size of the Gallup. 

 His tools to manipulate the hive were of his 

 own invention and manufacture. A scraper, 

 something like an intensified putty-knife, seem- 

 ed to be a very handy tool. His smoker was 

 the old-style Root Simplicity, improved ac- 

 cording to Wood, and in which he used a ball 

 of sacking for fuel. His honey-knife was also 

 constructed with an abundance of metal that 

 would hold heat, when warmed, for uncapping 

 combs. For heating the knife a copper boiler 

 of unique construction was used. Upon an ex- 

 pression of the meeting being taken, Messrs. 

 Wood and Levering favored the Wood system, 

 while all of the rest of the bee-keepers favored 

 some other way. 



The Bingham honey-knife was also indorsed 

 as the standard knife. 



Mr. Cory exhibited a knife invented by him- 

 self. This was also a heavy knife, and a trifle 

 curved at the point, long enough to uncap a L. 

 comb at one stroke. The method of cutting 

 down and then up was illustrated. 



The question-box was at this point introduc- 

 ed; and in answer to the question as to the best 

 average of honey in the best season, Mr. Mcln- 



tyre said his opinion was that the average for a 

 number of seasons in the best apiaries was 75 

 lbs. per colony. 



The afternoon session was devoted to the 

 election of officers. Prof. Cook was unani- 

 mously ret'iected President. 



J. H. Martin was reelected Secretary; H. E. 



Wilder, Treasurer. 



Mr. McKinney, Vice-pres. for San Bernardino Co. 



Mr. Brodbeck, " " Los Angeles 



Mr. Flory, " " Kings " 



Mr. Taylor, " " Riverside 



Mr. Touchton, " " Ventura 



Dr. Gallup, " " Orange '* 



Mr. Stubblefleld, *' " San Diego " 



Reports of committees followed. 



It was voted to pay the secretary $25 for ser- 

 vices. 



Also voted to pay from the treasury the sum 

 of ten dollars to the Langstroth fund. This 

 was further increased to $10.60 by a collection. 

 Dr. Gallup, an old-time bee-keeper, and now 

 living in Santa Ana, then made a few stirring 

 remarks, proving that, though out of the busi- 

 ness for years, the bee still could arouse his en- 

 thusiasm. 



Upon motion of Mr. Brodbeck, the Central 

 California Bee-keepers' Association was recog- 

 nized as co-workers with us: and their action 

 in sending such an able representative as Mr. 

 J. F. Flory was commended. 



The Association then adjourned to meet at 

 Los Angeles at the call of the executive com- 

 mittee. Prof. A. J. Cook, Pres. 



J. H. Martin, Sec, Bloomington, Cal. 



SEFABATGRS. 



the advantages in the use of narrow 

 sections; cleated separators. 



By B. Taylor . 



Editor Olea) I liujs: — I send you to-day one of 

 the separators 1 have been using for four sea- 

 sons. In looking over your price list I noticed 

 that you mention a cleated separator in which 

 the entire bee-space is in the separator, thus 

 leaving the honey in the section two bee-spaces 

 thicker. You will notice that my separator has 



TAYLOR'S SEPARATOR. 



only a half bee-space in it; and the reason for 

 this I will tell further on. I have often put my- 

 self on record as having no use for separators, 

 always having the combs straight enough to 

 crate conveniently without them; and I always 

 viewed cutting a super up into a little separate 

 room for each section (which the separators in 

 use did) as discommoding the bees, and I still 



