164 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



March 12, 1903. 



Chicago-Northwestern Convention. 



Report of the Chicago-Northwestern Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Convention, held in Chicago, 

 Dec. 3 and 4, 1902. 



BY OUR OWN SHORTHAND REPORTBR. 



(Continued from papre 149.) 

 JOINING THE NATIONAL IN A BODY. 



Pres. York — While the tellers are counting- the ballots 

 we may as well proceed. What about joining the National 

 in a body ? 



Dr. Miller — I move that this Association as a body 

 unite with the National. 



The motion was seconded, put, and carried. 



Pres. York— The secretary tells me that this is Dr. 

 Miller's time for an address. I don't knowr whether he 

 brought it with him or not. I know he brought his wife 1 



Dr. Miller — I made my address several times this after- 

 noon, and probably will repeat it before night. 



Pres. York — We will take up the next question. 



SQUARE OR TALL SECTIONS — WHICH ? 



" Which is preferable, square or tall sections ?" 

 Pres. Yor'k — I think Mr. Huber Root could answer that 

 pretty well, judging from what he knows about them. 



Mr. Root — I don't know ; it is a hard question to decide 

 at all. I should prefer to let each one decide that for him- 

 self. I don't think that one man or one company of men 

 could decide that for anybody. I think half would want 

 square and half would want tall. It doesn't seem to me 

 that we can decide that without an actual test. 



Pres. York— How about Missouri, Mr. Leahy ? Do they 

 care anything about it down there ? 



Mr. Leahy — Unfortunately for Missouri we haven't had 

 any honey this year. We sell more of the square sections 

 than any other kind, but I attribute that largely to the 

 hives. In the different States surrounding us they are fitted 

 already for the square sections. I favor the taller sections 

 myself, providing that they hold about the same as the 

 4'4x4'4Xl's sections. The Baldwins, in Missouri, have 

 been large producers of comb honey. They use a section 

 4'4;x5. They get a little more for it, because people who 

 buy it think they are getting a little more for their money. 

 It is a larger section. I believe that we are drifting toward 

 the tall section. My ideal section is the 4x5. I would rec- 

 ommend that size. 4x5x1 ;'s is my idea of the ideal section. 

 Then there are many that won't like to change their supers 

 for the benefit that will come from a tall section. I do not 

 like a real narrow, tall section. I never heard of anyone 

 that liked the 3=8x5, although some buy them. 



Mr. Clarke— I would like to get an idea from some of 

 those who have been using 4x5 sections in this locality, as 

 to how their sections have been filled this season. This 

 was a season that they can be tested. How many unfin- 

 ished sections have they had this year ? I mean in a 

 locality where there has been a poor honey crop. It has 

 been a wet season, and a good testing season for that. 



Mr. Root — I just wish to say that I agree with every- 

 thing that Mr. Leahy has said, and I think the 4x5 sections 

 are coming up, although we sell more 4 '4 square sections. 

 Every man to whom we sent 4x5 sections sends in more 

 orders, and I don't know of any one who ever used the 4x5 

 section who ever went back to the square, and that's taking 

 the voice of the whole people, and not only a few. 



Mr. Whitney — I have used both kinds. Two years ago 

 I had an equal number of each, 4x5 and 4'+ square. The 

 grocerymen liked the 4x5, but when I get out a section of 

 honey and put it on a plate, and submit it to the ladies, they 

 say, "Give us the square section.' They thought it looked 

 better on the table than the 4x5. They weighed substan- 

 tially alike. Of course, the 4x5 looks more like a window- 

 pane. From all we see, it looks as if there was more honey 

 in it, and the grocerymen like it better because they think 

 the tall sections sell easier, perhaps, and they can make a 



fraction of a cent per pound more. I think they fill just 

 about as the 4'4 square, no better I think. 



Mr. Niver — I have been having quite an experience in 

 that line in the last two months, buying honey up in Wis- 

 consin. There is a transition state up there as to what was 

 the preferred section, how they are going to change their 

 supers. I talked it over with a good many bee-keepers, and 

 tried to figure out some kind of a way. How are you going 

 to do it ? 4x5 sections will not fit their supers ; 3J8x5 will, 

 five rows of them ; four rows of 324x4^4x1 '2 is what we use 

 in New York. They only fill a fancy section, weigh just 

 about '4 of a pound. That's what our idea is to get. The 

 reason for that was, that it made an even 15 cents at the 

 price it was then at retail We were trying to work for the 

 groceryman. We believed that he was our best friend, and 

 we should work to get him suited in the best way to retail. 

 We sold these sections for 12 cents, and he retailed them at 

 15 cents each. We never sold by the pound. I don't be- 

 lieve in that kind of work. That made our old supers so 

 that we could use them. If you use any other size than 4x5 

 you have to put in blocks or wedges at the end, because it 

 won't fit your supers, and it is a little difficult to figure and 

 get them just right to suit everybody ; but I think that 

 4 '4x4 '4 are away back, especially if bee-keepers want to get 

 to the tall sections, because it seems the fashion is running 

 that way. 



Mr. Wilcox — There is just one thing in Mr. Niver's re- 

 marks that I would notice. I have not had enough experi- 

 ence with the two in comparison to know which is the bet- 

 ter, but the suggestion that he produces a '4 -pound section, 

 one well filled for the general market, is something worth 

 knowing. If any great number do that it is quite possible 

 the groceryman will seek it, and in time there will be a 

 greater demand for that than there will be for an honest 

 pound section, because they can sell that for a pound sec- 

 tion. I am afaid if they do that they will either force those 

 who produce honest pounds to come to the "4 section, and 

 the public will understand the facts, and the advantage 

 gained will be lost. The price will be adjusted accordingly. 

 At the present time we have the 434^, and it has been the 

 standard. When it was first brought forward by A. I. Root 

 it was an honest pound, and, properly filled, it was. It has 

 stood better than any other could, and I really believe that 

 it is entirely satisfactory to the honest trade to-day, and if I 

 should attempt to sell a 14-ounce section, or a 12-ounce sec- 

 tion, and have it called a pound, I am afraid I would lose 

 customers. I know there is somewhat of a demand among 

 grocerymen for something that is a fraction short, and they 

 want to buy by the pound and sell by the piece. It is rarely 

 that they find fault with 15 ounces to the pound — 15 ounces 

 to the piece, if you please. 



Mr. Niver — We once had a two-pound section, and 

 everybody used it, and there was quite a kick when we got 

 it down to one pound. I don't know but an honest '4 is just 

 as honest as an honest pound. It is all the same. There is 

 no pretension mada in any section. When you come to the 

 retailer he says, " Take your choice." He don't say, " Take 

 a pound." It is just as honest to sell the man's '4 -pound 

 section, and the grocers think they can make more money 

 out of their pieces. This question of dishonestj' doesn't 

 " cut any ice " when selling by the piece. If a man says 

 they are all one pound, and they are '4 of a pound, that 

 is deception. Anybody can find it out. That old cry for 

 an honest pound is like the political cry for an honest 

 dollar. 



Dr. Miller — Why is it that the general trade, the 

 grocers, etc., prefer to have honey average just a little less 

 than a pound ? 



Mr. Leahy — A 4x5 section, to my notion, fits on the 

 super better than any other to put them crosswise. There 

 isn't so much sagging to the holder of the section, and one 

 thing that I like about a 4x5 section is, that where the super 

 is not deep enough it is very easy to add a piece of wood 

 around it. Dr. Miller has asked the question why it is that 

 retailers, grocerymen, wish to have a section weigh a little 

 light. Any one who has handled comb honey in large 

 quantities knows that a case of 24 sections that weigh 20 

 pounds net will sell quicker, and that the merchants will in 

 some way or another get pay for 24 pounds, or he will 

 charge just as much for a section that weighs 15 ounces as 

 he would get for one that would weigh 16, only in the 

 smaller way of selling a pound there is not much thought 

 of an ounce. We make a great many cabbage crates, and 

 if we can't make them up to weigh 23 pounds they don't 

 want them, and I have asked them why they wanted them 

 that way. " Well," they said, " we just make three pounds 

 on the crate, and the cabbage is worth more than the 



