184 



THE BEE-KEEPERS REVlEVb , 



keepers that he had ever attended. Chicago 

 is the railroad center of one of the greatest 

 honey producing areas in the world. Not 

 only this, but in October or November there 

 are almost always very low rates on account 

 of some exposition or fat stock show, or 

 something of this sort. All these things 

 combine to bring together a crowd of prac- 

 tical bee-keepers. Several years ago, in a 

 thonghtless moment, the North Western was 

 merged into the Illinois State. I was out 

 of the hall at the time that the amalgama- 

 tion was effected, and don't know the line of 

 argument or thought that was used in sup- 

 port of this plan, but the result was that the 

 North Western was killed without doing the 

 Illinois State a particle of good. It is one 

 of those examples showing "what's in a 

 name." But very few bee-keepers outside 

 of Michigan will attend a meeting of the 

 Michigan State convention, even though it 

 be held in Detroit. It's the same way in 

 Illinois, even though the convention be held 

 in Chicago. It's the name that does it. 

 There is a feeling that if it is a meeting of 

 Illinois bee-keepers very few outside of Illi- 

 nois will be there. People outside of the 

 State don't feel as though it was their con- 

 vention. Call it the North Western, and 

 everybody within reach is ready to go. All 

 this may seem silly, but it is a fact just the 

 same. 



A writer in the last issue of the American 

 Bee Journal urges that the North Western 

 be revived, using practically the same argu- 

 ments that I have done, and is most heartily 

 seconded by the editor. The editor also re- 

 quests all who are interested to drop him a 

 postal, and if sufficient interest is manifest- 

 ed he will issue a call for a convention to 

 be held in November during the fat stock 

 show, when we can get to Chicago for almost 

 nothing. This comes at the time of the 

 year when we can get away from home, and 

 the weather is the most delightful in the 

 year. If you are in favor of a revival of the 

 North Western, an association of bee-keep- 

 ers that can be about as useful as any on 

 this continent, then write to Geo. W. York, 

 118 Michigan street, Chicago, and tell him 

 to go ahead and issue a call. 



BTJIiES FOB THE GBADING OF HONEY. 



This subject is coming to the front again. 

 It is a very difficult if not an impossible 

 thing to formulate a set of rules that will 



suit everybody. The first set was gotten up 

 by the North Western. Then the North 

 American took them up at Albany and 

 changed them over completely. Not only 

 this, but our Eastern friends exhibited a 

 sort of disgust or contempt for our Western 

 rules, and I must admit that I had a similar 

 feeling when I saw what the Eastern breth- 

 ren set forth. The next year the rules were 

 again hauled over the coals at W'ashing^on, 

 and I must admit that, in my opinion, the 

 Washington code is as good as we will get. 

 L%t's examine it a little. Here is the fancy 

 grade: — 



" All sections to be well filled, combs 

 straight, of even thickness, firmly attached 

 to all four sides; both wood and comb un- 

 soiled by travel stain or otherwise; all cells 

 sealed except the rows of cells next the 

 wood." 



I have raised thousands of pounds of 

 comb honey, and three- fourths of it would 

 meet all of these requirements. There is 

 no trouble in raising honey in which the 

 sections are well filled. Fill the sections 

 with sheets of foundation and the bees will 

 attach the combs all around to all four sides. 

 Nearly all of the honey that I have ever seen 

 will meet this requirement. There is no 

 trouble in getting straight combs. If sepa- 

 rators are used the combs must be straight. 

 They can't be otherwise if the sections are 

 filled with foundation and the hives set 

 level. These same factors will result in 

 combs of even thickness. Neither is there 

 any trouble in getting all of the cells capped 

 over except the row next the wood, and this 

 row will be capped if it contains any honey. 

 If the sections were tilled inside of wide 

 frames there can be no propolis or travel 

 stain except on the edges of the wood, and 

 these traces can be scraped off, and when 

 they are scraped off they are not there. By 

 using a sharp knife, or a piece of glass, even 

 the suspicion of a stain can be removed from 

 the wood. As Bro. Crane says in Gleanings, 

 "let us be accurate." The combs will not 

 be travel stained if not left on the hive too 

 long. The principal "kick" seems to be 

 against this fancy grade, that the require- 

 ments are too strict. I would feel like say- 

 ing, if you can't produce honey that will 

 come up to this grade, why object to it if 

 others can? But the objections come from 

 men who, I feel sure, produce as fancy 

 honey as anyone. It is possible that I dc 

 not look at things as some others do; in fact, 

 it is evident that I don't, but it does seem 



