Feb. 19, 1903. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



117 



Chicago-Northwestern Convention. 



Report of the Chieag-o-Northwestern Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Convention, held in Chicag-o, 

 Dec. 3 and 4, 1902. 



BY OUR OWN SHORTHAND REPORTER. 



(Continued from pape 102.) 

 1:NFINISHED sections of HONEi'. 



" If one is unable to have all the honey removed from 

 sections until too late in the season, will those sections be 

 fit for use the summer following' ?" 



Dr. Nussle — They will be good next summer, if you 

 have them emptied, of course. 



Pres. York — The question is. If one is unable to have 

 all the honey removed from the sections until too late in the 

 season, will those sections be tit for use the summer follow- 

 ing ? The question implies that the honey is still in the 

 sections. 



Mr. Gerbracht — My experience in this has been that the 

 honey is apt to candy over winter, but the natural heat of 

 the bees will reliquefy this ; but such sections can be built 

 at the same time. 



Mr. Wilcox — I rather expect some of the others here 

 will entertain different views from me on that subject, but 

 it has been my practice to use them if I fail to get them 

 emptied in the fall. In the spring I uncap them, place them 

 in the super and turn them over to the bees, and let them 

 empty out the honey ; immediately before the honey har- 

 vest commences clean them out, and when I can get them 

 on they will refill them, and they will be all right. I can't 

 see the difl^erence. It may be possible that such honey 

 would be more liable to granulate in the comb, but they go 

 on the market so early that I never know that any of them 

 are granulating. I am inclined to the opinion that they are 

 just as good, but I understand some eminent writers say 

 not. 



Pres. York — Yes, Dr. Miller says so, I believe. 



Mr. Cady — I use them right along without taking the 

 honey, and I see no difference in the sections ; no trouble 

 from granulation or anything of the kind. 



Mr. Watts — I agree with that. I have done the same 

 thing. I have had lots of combs that were not filled. All 

 that it is possible to keep over I keep over, and put on my 

 bees in the spring, and I see no difference ; they go right on 

 and fill up the combs. 



Mr. Whitney — It would seem to me that if one had an 

 extractor it would be better to draw the honey out in the 

 fall and save the sections for refilling, than to allow the 

 honey to remain in over winter. 



Mr. Wilcox — Perhaps I misunderstood the question. If 

 they have remained over winter, of course that settles the 

 point. 



Mr. Baldridge — In ray section of the country if they 

 left honey in the comb over winter it would be granulated 

 solid. Do these gentlemen claim that they put the granu- 

 lated honey on the hive, and that the natural heat of the 

 bees will reliquefy it ? 



Mr. Gerbracht — I put on the sections that were gran u- 

 lated solid. I put them on as bait-sections, the best 1 had. 

 My intention at the time was to have them fill out the same, 

 but when it came to take these off there was no difference 

 whatever between these and those unfinished at the time. 

 There was no difference, all the granulation was gone, and 

 everybody knows that the longer honey is left with the 

 bees the better it gets. It was reliquefied by the bees. 



Mr. Wilcox — I thought I made it as plain as I could. I 

 I never put honey back on the hives in the spring that was 

 taken off in the fall, and I don't want to be understood as 

 saying that. I said I uncapped them and placed them out- 

 side two or three weeks before the honey harvest to be 

 cleaned by the bees, and at the opening of the harvest place 

 the empty combs in the hives. If you put the fall honey 

 back on the hives in the spring accidentally or any other 

 way, they will fill around it. It would be unsalable. Of 



course, I would not put honey back in the hives that re- 

 mained over winter. Have it cleaned in the spring before 

 putting back in ths hives. 



Mr. Niver— I would like to discuss this subject a little 

 further. What kind of honey was it ? 



Mr. Gerbracht— This honey was, of course, late in the 

 season granulated honey. As it happened, what we had 

 this year was the same. We had very little white honey 

 this year. It was mixed. 



Mr. Niver— I know honey will not do it in our country. 

 It might stay there from July to Eternity without relique- 

 fying. I don't know what kind of honey he has. 



Mr. Pickard — Basswood honey won't liquefy. 



Mr. Niver— Are you sure that is the same honey in 

 there after the season is over? Isn't it possible that the 

 bees took that honey out and then filled it up with other 

 honey ? 



Mr. Gerbracht— I don't question that at all. This honey 

 was sealed, and never was unsealed. 



Mr. Niver— How ? 



Mr. Gerbracht — Because they cleaned out all the un- 

 sealed, and almost immediately afterward honey begins to 

 come in and they begin to fill it. 



Mr. Niver — You feel positive that they don't take it out 

 and seal it up again ? 



Dr. Nussle — They will carry the granulated honey right 

 out of the sections and fill again, you know, with clear 

 honey. 



Mr. Cady — I have had the same experience with the 

 gentleman who has the floor. 



Mr. Pettit — Am I mistaken in saying that Mr. Doolittle 

 says that candied honey put into the hive early in the sum- 

 mer will be reliquefied before the close of the season ? 



Mr. Baldridge — That's the experience I have. 



Mr. Pettit — I have no experience. Those sections of 

 honey would be travel-stained ; they would be second- 

 grade. I wouldn't like them for myself, but still I think 

 that's what Mr. Doolittle says. 



Mr. Baldridge — Those sections are put on to fill up 

 supers the best way possible. I wouldn't advise it as a gen- 

 eral practice. I had the sections partly filled, and the best 

 I could do was to set them back. This honey was entirely 

 reliquefied, and there was no way of telling that they had 

 been refinished. 



Pres. York — Anything else on this question ? If we 

 only had Dr. Miller here now we would have some fun. 



Mr. Simon — We put on sections partly filled that had 

 been sealed in the fall — we put them on in the spring. 

 They brought them out sealed, and what was granulated 

 will remain granulated, and what balance is filled out full 

 will form a given part, but it has been our experience that 

 what we put on in the spring will be fresh honey, and the 

 other will be old honey, and I would not put it on the market. 



Mr. Baldridge — Supposing that the honey is granulated 

 and you don't want to take any risk. One way is to uncap 

 that honey, dip the sections in water, set them in a box and 

 put that under the hive and let the bees take it all out, and 

 not run any risk. That's the way I do. No trouble to get 

 rid of good, rich granulated honey in the comb. 



Pres. York — How does the water aft'ect the wood of the 

 sections ? 



Mr. Baldridge — Not at all. 



Mr. Green — On the question of whether granulated 

 honey will reliquefy, Mr. Doolittle expresses himself very 

 strongly in the papers, saying that it would be reliquefied 

 on the hive, and that was within three months, I think. 



Mr. Pickard — Our experience is it will not in Wiscon- 

 sin. They will clean it out, but it won't reliquefy. 



Mr. Moore — For me, there is only one practice : Any 

 section to be emptied with the extractor, put the empty sec- 

 tion on the hive, and clean up dry, then in the spring you 

 have it where you want it. 



Mr. Pettit — I don't wish to be understood that I would 

 recommend this practice of putting back old honey, because 

 I am sure you would have second and third grade honey 

 where you might easily have fancy honey in those sections. 

 I notice this season that from drawn sections we have sec- 

 tions not so well filled as sections filled with foundation at 

 the beginning of the season. 



AFTERNOON SESSION. 



The meeting was called to order at 1:30 p.m. 



Pres. York — Dr. Miller is here. [Applause.] Mrs. 

 Miller is here, too, but I won't point her out to you. 



Dr. Miller— She is right there— the one with the green 

 waist on. 



