

^S^Mjec^nrn^^^^^ 



October. 1916. 



American Hee Jonrnal 



Beekeepers in Attendance at the Tri-State Field Neet Held at thtDidant Home Apiary at Hamilton, Illinois, September 7, 1915 



thing new, and much interest was 

 manifested in every stage of the work. 

 When the dinner hour arrived the 

 guests were seated at long tables where 

 they were served with a bounteous 

 spread. The ladies of the Presbyterian 

 church had the dinner in charge, and 

 seldom has the writer seen such a 

 crowd served so promptly and well. 

 The hungry crowd, many of whom had 

 been traveling for 24 hours, did ample 

 justice to the meal. 



Seats were provided under the big 

 trees where for many years the late 

 Charles Dadant had delighted in car- 

 ing for his bees. No set program had 

 been announced for the day, but sev- 

 eral prominent men were called upon 

 for short talks. N. E. France, State 

 Inspector of Wisconsin, E. R. Root, 

 editor of Gleanings in Bee Culture, Dr. 

 E, F. Phillips, of the United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture, Dr. L. H. 

 Pammel, Botanist of the Iowa Agricul- 

 tural College, Frank Coverdale of 

 sweet clover fame, and others gave in- 

 teresting addresses. During a short 

 recess in the program the crowd posed 

 for the picture shown in this issue. 



Late in the afternoon the automo- 

 biles were again called into service to 

 convey the visitors to the big dam 

 across the Mississippi river. A special 

 guide was provided to conduct the 

 party through the power house and to 

 explain the wonderful machinery by 

 which the electric current is generated. 

 The street cars of St. Louis are run by 

 power from this plant, and her streets 

 are lighted from its electricity also. 



The visitors were invited to the 

 home of C. P. Dadant to spend the 

 evening. A most pleasant hour was 



spent in listening to personal recollec- 

 tions of prominent beekeepers who 

 have passed on. Mr. E. J. Baxter told 

 of Charles Dadant, E. R. Root men- 

 tioned interesting visits with Lang- 

 stroth, N. E. France gave an account 

 of his acquaintance with Adam Grimm, 

 and both Root and France were called 

 on to tell something of their impres- 

 sions of W. Z. Hutchinson. 



So much regret was expressed be- 

 cause Dr. C. C. Miller was unable to 

 be present that Dr. E. F. Phillips was 

 asked to give his impressions of the 

 most popular living writer on bee- 

 keeping. 



The following morning the automo- 

 biles were ready to convey the guests 

 to the historic town of Nauvoo. Many 

 interesting things were seen on this 

 trip, among which may be mentioned 

 the former homes of the Mormon lead- 

 ers, Joseph Smith and Brigham Young. 

 The party also visited the home and 

 apiary of E. J. Baxter, president of the 

 Illinois State Beekeepers' Association. 

 The pressure for time in order to get 

 back to Keokuk for the second days' 

 meeting made it necessary to forego 

 visiting some interesting points. 



The forenoon session at Keokuk was 

 given over to the study of honey-pro- 

 ducing plants. Dr. L. H. Pammell gave 

 an address on " Place of Botany in the 

 Beekeepers' Education," which will be 

 reproduced in the Bee Journal, after 

 which he identified a large number of 

 flowers and plants brought in by Miss 

 Mitchell, of Keokuk, and answered 

 questions concerning the honey-pro- 

 ducing flora. 



The afternoon session was given 

 over to the conference of bee inspec- 



tors and problems of inspection and 

 control of disease were discussed. N. 

 E. France proposed joint action of 

 the inspectors of the various States 

 through the United States Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. Since there is 

 always difficulty in controlling disease 

 along the borders of a State because 

 of its presence just across the line, Mr. 

 France's suggestion seemed very timely 

 and he was appointed to represent the 

 inspectors and Dr. Phillips to repre- 

 sent the Government in formulating a 

 plan of action. 



A paper by Mr. J. E. Crane, of Ver- 

 mont, was read, as Mr. Crane was un- 

 able to be present. 



Dr. Phillips outlined some important 

 work in connection with the inspec- 

 tor's official duties. He especially 

 called attention to the importance of 

 the educational work which an inspec- 

 tor is in position to do. Several in- 

 spectors were present and it is be- 

 lieved that important results will come 

 from this conference. The discussions 

 brought out the need of information 

 as to how European foulbrood is 

 spread. At present there is no definite 

 information on the subject. There are 

 plenty of guesses but no positive 

 knowledge. 



Nothing was overlooked to add to 

 the comfort or convenience of the visi- 

 tors. A few were missed at the trains 

 because the drivers did not recognize 

 them, but as soon as they were located 

 they were well cared for. 



Arrangements were made for an- 

 other interstate meeting next year, the 

 time and place to be settled by a com- 

 mittee composed of N. E. France ana 

 the presidents of the Iowa and Illinois 



associations. Some city along the 

 Mississippi river will probably be se- 

 lected. 

 Atlantic, Iowa. 



Selling Honey by Nail 



BY DB. A. F. BONNEY. 



I HAVE made several adventures into 

 the domain of advertising to sell 

 honey by mail, and find one serious 

 handicap, the breaking of containers 

 by careless mail clerks and others who 

 handle the sacks. These men, or many 

 of them, seem to have an inherent 

 hatred of parcel post packages that are 

 at all heavy, and a "fragile" tag is 

 little or no protection. 



In this connection let me suggest 

 that it is unfortunate that the laity can- 

 not be educated to know that candied 

 or granulated honey is certain to be 

 free from glucose, in other words, 

 that it is pure, for once the consumers 

 are aware of it, honey producers 

 could let their honey solidify in the 

 containers and thus insure safe ship- 

 ment. 



One man at least is on the right 

 track, for in a catalog of labels re- 

 cently received I find the following: 



"Take Notice. — As manufactured 

 adulterated honey cannot be made to 

 imitate the granulation or 'candying' 

 01 pure honey, granulation has been 

 lound to be the only ready test of pure 

 honey. I, therefore, do not ship ex- 

 •racted honey before it is thoroughly 

 granulated by cold weather; I u^arrant 

 every pound put up and shipped by me 

 '0 be absolutely pure honey as collected 



from the blossoms by the bees. To 

 restore to the original form and retain 

 the original honey flavor, set the can in 

 warm water and remove cover, but do 

 not heat honey to the boiling point. 

 Let cool before using." 



I am seriously inclined to begin 

 using a label similar to the above and 

 send out only solidified honey up to 



and including (iOpound pails, instruct- 

 ing them regarding the reliquefying of 

 the honey, but urging the customer to 

 first try eating the candied honey. Per- 

 sonally I prefer it to either the liquid 

 e.xtracted or comb honey. 



I am now going to suggest that bee- 

 keepers begin circulating the fact that 

 candied or granulated honey is pure. 



E. R. ROOT. L, H, I'AMMEL. F. C. PELLETT. E. F. PHILLIPS, C. P. DADANT 

 AND N. E, FRANCE-Six of the speakers at the TriState Field Meet 



