GLEAXINGS IK BEE CULTURE 



fact that these rules, if adopted, would bar 

 out a large proportion of all the comb honej- 

 iroduced; that there ought to be some 

 means by which these lower grades could 

 be described and sold. 



Mr. G. F. Demuth, of the Bureau of En- 

 tomology, Washington, D. C, otfered an- 

 other set of gTading-rules that differed rad- 

 ically from those presented by Mr. Muth. 

 They were based on three definite points — 

 namely, weight, finish, and color. The old 

 Colorado grading-rules were based on a 

 ininimum weight of the case itself. The 

 new Colorado rules, on the otlier hand, are 

 based on a maximum and minimum weight 

 of the section. He believed that this latter 

 was the correct principle. His rules pro- 

 vided for three different weights, several 

 grades of finish, including a fancy, a No. 

 1, a No. 2, and several shades of color. 

 He recommended a scheme of colored cards 

 that would enable the purchaser and pro- 

 ducer to describe accurately the shade by 

 a certain designation of color. The objec- 

 tion to the new Colorado grading-rules, said 

 Mr. Demuth, is that they are not adapted 

 to our Eastern honey. He would have the 

 rules flexible enough so that they would 

 take in Eastern as well as Western honey. 

 He explained the system something as fol- 

 lows : In the matter of finish he would have 

 extra fancy, fancy. No. 1, and No. 2. In 

 the matter of weight he would have heavy, 

 medium, and light. The finish would be 

 designated by extra fancy, fancy, and No. 

 1 and No. 2. As for color, he would go by 

 the color-card system. The three grades of 

 weight, the four grades of finish, and the 

 several grades of color, would make a vari- 

 ety of gradings. Here, for example, would 

 be a section that he would grade as fancy, 

 medium, white; or, for short, he would 

 make it F. M. W., wliich would be marked 

 in plain letters on one end of the case. 

 Another case, for instance, would be marked 

 No. 1 light amber, or be designated No. 

 1 L. A. Another case might be designated 

 as No. 2, dark, heavy, or No. 2, D. H., and 

 so on. 



At the close of his general explanation 

 Mr. Muth wanted to know if Mr. Demuth 

 would hire a Philadelphia lawyer to make 

 these discriminations. Both he and Mr. 

 Weber expressed themselves decidedly as 

 believing that such a system would be too 

 complicated to be practicable — that with 

 even the simple grades that have been in 

 use, the a\erage producer did not begin to 

 grade in accordance with those simple rules. 

 He hoped the complicated system advocated 

 by Mr. Demuth would not be adopted. The 

 latter explained tliat. allliough he was fi'om 



Philadelphia, his system was not as com- 

 plicated as might appear at first sight. He 

 wished to make it plain that the grading 

 he i^roiJosed would take in anj^ kind of comb 

 honey — good, bad, or indifferent; that it 

 would enable the producer to describe ac- 

 curately what he had to sell, even though 

 it were an off grade, and the buyer, on the 

 other hand, to know just what he buys. He 

 argued that one of the difficulties that arise 

 between the producer and the buyer is the 

 lack of some scheme to describe accurately 

 the product under consideration. Both Mr. 

 Weber and Mr. Muth expressed themselves 

 as believing that such a scheme would be 

 too awfully complicated to be of any use 

 whatever. The rules were, however, adopt- 

 ed by the Association substantial!}'' as they 

 were presented, except that the term 

 " Standard " or " Choice " was substituted 

 for the term " No. 2." 



At the last session, after all the business 

 had been transacted, and while the commit- 

 tee were out preparing a report, there was 

 Cjuite an extended discussion, covering the 

 general subject of foul brood, over which 

 Dr. Phillips presided. There being several 

 foul-brood inspectors i3resent, a rei:)ort was 

 rendered bj^ each. The first was by Mr. 

 Wesley Foster, of Fort Collins, Col., fol- 

 lowed by Dr. B. N. Gates, of Massachusetts ; 

 Mr. Erbaugh, of Indiana; Dr. Ward, of 

 Tennessee; Mr. Demuth, of Washington, D, 

 C. and Mr. Cavanagh, of Indiana. The 

 latter, while he is not a foul-brood inspec- 

 tor, has had a wide experience with Euro- 

 pean foul brood. 



The discussion on this disease was inter- 

 esting and valuable, because it showed the 

 great importance of having vigorous Ital- 

 ian stock. But it seemed to be difficult to 

 effect a complete cure with the ordinary 

 black bees, in the ease of European foul 

 brood. The reports of all the men indicated 

 that they were getting foul brood well under 

 control. Not the least important thing in 

 this inspection work was the information 

 that the inspectors are able to impart, not 

 only to those who have foul brood, but to 

 those who have not. 



An election of officers for the ensuing- 

 year resulted as follows: 



President, Dr. B. N. Gates, of Massachu- 

 setts; Vice-president, Prof. H. A. Surface, 

 of Pennsylvania; Secretary, E. B. Tyi-rell. 

 of Michigan. 



The following were elected as Board of 

 Directors : 



E. D. Townsend, of Michigan; Wilmon 

 Newell, of Texas; Wesley Foster, of Colo- 

 rado; F. B. Cavanagh, of Indiana; J. M. 

 Buchanan, of Tennessee. 



