1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



103 



Mr. Baldridge — Alsike clover will be a good plant to push. 

 I would scatter it along the roadsides. 



President — I would try to educate the farmers that sweet 

 clover is not a noxious weed. 



Mr. Draper — Mr. Quinby recommended catnip 25 years 

 ago. Some years ago I sowed considerable of it, and have lots 

 of it growing every year, and bees work on it well. 



REMOVING BEES FROM THE WINTER REPOSITORY. 



Question — " When is the best time in the spring to remove 

 bees from the winter repository?" 



Mr. Thompson — Localities differ. Bee-keepers must be 

 guided by the season. We, on the Fox river, put them out as 

 early as possible. A little frost after they are out will not 

 hurt them any after they have had a good flight. 



Mr. Baldridge — I put my bees in late, and bring them out 

 early, and give them a good flight. I believe I secure young 

 bees, brood and swarms earlier by so doing. 



Mr. Wheeler — I get brood in the cellar, and keep my bees 

 in as long as I can keep them quiet. 



President — Some of you feel sure that there is advantage 

 in taking bees out early. Others think bees would be better 

 off as long as they can be kept quiet in the cellar. Those who 

 advocate out early seem to lay great stress on the flight. I 

 am going to try a few next spring, and compare them with 

 those taken out late. 



Mr. Finch — Bees kept in the cellar late become uneasy. 

 If they get out, the flight quiets them, and then they keep 

 quiet, even if they go out-doors. 



President — I keep bees quiet by opening the cellar-doors 

 at night. If it is cold, I start a fire and thus start the circu- 

 lation of air. Either way will quiet the bees. 



The convention then adjourned to meet at 1:30 p.m. 



First Day— Afternoon Session. 



HONET ADULTERATION. 



Question — "flow can we stop adulterating honey?" 



Pres. Miller — Why, just stop. 



Mr. Finch — If you stop, it does not stop any one else. In 

 central Illinois we find honey put up in glass jars. These jars 

 hold a pound of some sort of mixture containing a little comb. 

 The storekeeper pays 6}^ cents per jar, and retails it for 10 

 cents. It does not taste like honey. If a suitable law can be 

 drafted, I feel pretty sure it can be passed. The honey that 

 I just spoke of is labeled simply "Honey." 



Mr. Wheeler — I can beat that story all to pieces. I know 

 where those jars in boxes of two dozen have been bought for 

 90 cents, or a little less than 4 cents each, you see. 



President — It was wrong to overcharge [laughter]. But, 

 Mr. Finch, can you prove that what you speak of was not 

 honey ? You propose a law against selling such stuff ; but 

 how are you going to prove it is not pure ? 



Mr. Finch — By analysis, and by tasting; besides, pure 

 honey cannot be put up at that price. 



Mr. York — In a walk of five minutes, I understand there 

 are plenty places where they are adulterating. 



Mr. Draper — I will tell you how you can knock 'em out. 

 Raise honey nice enough, and you will run 'em out. The poor 

 won't sell alongside of the good honey. 



President — Mr. Finch has tried that, and failed. I don't 

 mean he has adulterated, but has put a nice honey on the 

 market. I should like to know whether there is a law already 

 in this State against selling anything but pure honey. If there 

 is not, ought we to have such a law ? 



Mr. York — There are lots of firms in this town, I under- 

 stand, who are adulterating. A friend of mine Investigated, 

 and there is no doubt they can double the amount of honey (?) 

 in that way. 



Mr. Finch — Prof. Wiley's report shows that honey is 

 adulterated. 



A Member — But how do we know that this analysis was 

 correct ? 



E. R. Root — You will remember that, some time ago. 

 Prof. Cook, for the purpose of testing Prof. Wiley's skill, sent 

 him various samples of honey. Some were adulterated 50 

 per cent., some 25, some 10, and still others were not adul- 

 terated at all, but a queer, twangy kind of pure honey. Prof. 

 Wiley successfully Identified each sample, and told the 

 amount of adulteration in each kind by analysis ; and the 

 pure honeys were pronounced pure by him. As he had no 

 knowledge in the first place of what these samples were, they 

 being submitted to hira by number, he had to rely solely on 

 his skill and that of his associates. Well, then, if he had skill 

 enough to name accurately each sample, and its amount of 

 adulteration, we can assume that he is probably correct in his 



analysis of the samples found in the open market, to which 

 Mr. Finch refers. 



A motion was made by Mr. York, to the effect that the 

 Executive Committee be instructed to draft a suitable law to 

 present at the next session of the Illinois legislature. Carried. 



SWARMING IN SMALL AND IN LARGE HIVES. 



Question — "Do bees swarm more in small than in large 

 hives, generally ?" 



The President called for an expression. The general con- 

 sensus of opinion seemed to be that the small hives would give 

 more swarms. A few thought there would be no difference. 



Mr. Draper — If you want to force bees to swarm, keep 

 ventilation away ; but If you don't want them to swarm, just 

 give them plenty of ventilation. 



Mr. Lyman — Colonies in large hives will swarm later, and 

 those in small ones earlier. 



Mr. Stewart — I practiced ventilation as suggested by Mr. 

 Draper. It did rot seem to make a particle of difference. 

 They swarmed just the same. 



Mr. Finch — I do not believe very much in ventilation to 

 prevent swarming. I had a hive once that was warped so 

 badly that It was open all around. They wintered well, and 

 swarmed when the rest did. I do not know why I left them 

 in that way. 



Mr. Draper — Mr. Hutchinson claims that replacing queens 

 every season will stop swarming. Regarding Mr. Finch's 

 hive, open all round, perhaps it was a small one, and the bees 

 just ?iacZ to swarm. In running for extracted honey we use 

 the large Quinby hives, and, besides that, give them a large 

 amount of empty combs above. I keep no queens over two 

 years old. Taking all these things into consideration, I man- 

 age to keep swarming down. 



Mr. Stewart — The size of entrance cuts quite a figure in 

 the prevention of swarming. 



President — Heat does have something to do with it. I do 

 know when that window is open it is cooler. [It was very 

 warm in the room.] 



Mr. Stewart — I tested 75 hives, raising them up on four 

 bricks, and it made no difference with swarming. 



Mr. Draper — I think you did not raise the hives soon 

 enough. 



Mr. Stewart — That was not the fact. They were raised 

 before honey came in. 



PREVENTION OF SWARMING. 



Question — "Is there any other means of preventing 

 swarming, other than to raise the hive from the bottom?" 



Mr. Thompson — Keep the honey away from them, and 

 they will not swarm. 



Mr. Baldridge — Go into a poor region where there is no 

 honey, and they won't swarm. 



[Continued next week.] 



From the Oxford Bee-Keepers' Meeting'. 



Having some time to spare, the question-box was opened 

 with : Will brood-combs color honey stored in them ? If so, 

 how shall we prevent bees storing temporarily in the brood- 

 nest? 



The idea intended by the question was that when a flow 

 suddenly begins, bees fill the spare room In the brood-nest and 

 then remove it to the super. Will this honey be dark ? Every- 

 one had noticed that brood-combs soaked in water would color 

 it, and that honey, though coming from clover and basswood, 

 if stored first in the brood-nest and then removed to the super, 

 would be dark. To prevent the bees storing first in the brood- 

 nest, it was necessary to have the super filled with clean 

 combs before a flow from white clover, or any white honey- 

 flow, began. 



In extracting, what method do you follow In removing the 

 combs ? The best method was to remove half the combs at a 

 time from the super, put the remaining half in the center and 

 fill the outsides with empty combs. 



Would you have the same number of combs in the extract- 

 ing-super as in the brood-nest ? S. T. Pettit preferred the 

 same number; others preferred one comb less In the super. 



In lifting combs from the super would you commence at 

 once to brush off the bees ? The general experience was that 

 combs should remain a half minute or so. The bees are not 

 so apt to resent the brushing as when done at once in lifting 

 from the hive. — Canadian Bee Journal. 



Every Present Subscriber of the Bee Journal 

 should be an agent for it, and get all others possible to sub- 

 scribe for it. 



