1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



739 



be required and approved by the Board of Directors, for the 

 faithful performance of his duties, and perform such other ser- 

 vices as may be required of him by the Board of Directors, or 

 by this Constitution. 



Sec. 5. — At the time of sending the bailots to the mem- 

 bers for the annual election of the Board of Directors, he shall 

 also send to each member a statement of the financial condi- 

 tion of the Union, and a report of the work done by said Board 

 of Directors. 



Sec. 6. — The Board of Directors shall pay the General 

 Manager such sura for his services as said Board may deem 

 proper, but not to exceed 20 per cent, of the receipts of the 

 Union. Said Board shall meet at such time and place as it 

 may decide upon. 



Sec. 7. — Board of Directors — The Board of Directors shall 

 determine what course shall be taken by the Union upon 

 any matter presented to it for consideration, that does not 

 conflict with this Constitution ; and cause such extra, but 

 equal, assessments to be made on each member as may be- 

 come necessary, giving the reason to each member why such 

 assessment is required ; provided that not more than one as- 

 sessment shall be made in any one year, and not to an amount 

 exceeding the annual membership fee, without a majority vote 

 of all the members of the Union. 



Sec. S. — Any member refusing, or neglecting, to pay said 

 assessment as required by the Board of Directors shall forfeit 

 his membership, and his right to become a member of the 

 Union for one year after said assessment becomes due. 



ARTICLE VII.— Funds. 



Sec. 1. — The funds of this Union may be used for any pur- 

 pose that the Board of Directors may consider for the interest 

 of its members, and for the advancement of the pursuit of 

 bee-culture. 



ARTICLE VIII.— Vacancies. 



Any vacancy occurring In the Board of Directors may be 

 filled by the Executive Committee ; and any vacancy occurring 

 in the Executive Committee shall be tilled by the Board of 

 Directors. 



ARTICLE IX.— Meetings. 



This Union shall hold annual meetings at such time and 

 place as shall be agreed upon by the Executive Committee, 

 who shall give at least 60 days' notice in the bee-periodicals, 

 of the time and place of meeting. 



ARTICLE X. — Amendments. 



This Constitution may be altered or amended by a ma- 

 jority fote of all the members, provided notice of said altera- 

 tion or amendment has been given at a previous annual 

 meeting. 



Dr. Mason — Mr. President, I move that we request ihe 

 Board of Managers of the National Bee-Keepers' Union to put 

 this Constitution to a vote of the members of that Union at 

 their next annual election, for their adoption or rejection. 

 Carried. 



Dr. Miller — Inasmuch as E. R. Root is not to be present 

 at the evening session, I ask that we now take up the topic 

 assigned to him. 



Pres. Root — If there is no objection we will listen to Mr. 

 Root. 



Improvements in Bee-Cultiire. 



I have divided my subject into two parts — namely, recent 

 improvements that have been adopted; second, the improve- 

 ments not yet adopted, but which give promise of being of 

 great value. Owing to lack of time I will merely allude to the 

 first named. Among these I would mention self-spacing 

 frames, formerly used by comparatively few bee-keepers, but 

 now being generally adopted. Reversing honey-extractors, 

 improved workmanship in bee-hives, and especially in sec- 

 tions. Sections of two years ago look very crude compared 

 with the perfect products of to-day. Then we have now a 

 tougher and better comb foundation, which is called the new 

 Weed process. 



Turning to the second half of my subject. What devices 

 or ideas give promise of value for the future ? The use of 

 drawn, or partly-drawn, combs in the production of honey 

 comes to my mind. You will remember that our late friend, 

 Mr. B. Taylor, of Porestville, Minn., has been a strong advo- 

 cate of the use of drawn combs in sections, leveled down by 

 the comb-leveler. You will remember he made the statement 

 that unfinished sections he considered were his " best stock in 

 trade" — the more of these the better. Those that contained 

 honey were sometimes extracted, but generally placed out in 



the yard for the bees to clean out. Where great numbers of 

 these sections were scattered out at a time, the usual excite- 

 ment incident to ordinary robbing did not appear. These 

 combs emptied were then leveled down by means of a little 

 device illustrated and described in the bee-papers. They 

 were then set aside, ready for the next season. When the 

 honey-flow came on, the bees would enter into these sections 

 immediately, and commence storing honey. 



A number of years prior to Mr. Taylor's advocacy of 

 drawu combs, it seems that Mr. Samuel Simmins, of England, 

 had been advocating something similar; but at the time, bee- 

 keepers seemed to take very little stock in thpse drawn combs ; 

 but within the last year or so they have begun to discover 

 something of merit in them. I must confess, myself, that I 

 could see very little advantage in them ; but when Mr. Weed, 

 of foundation fame, showed me in the apiary how much more 

 readily bees accepted the drawn combs, or, rather, partly- 

 drawn combs, than foundation, I became convinced, and have 

 been an advocate of them ever since. I saw that, not in one 

 case, but in numerous cases, the bees would commence upon 

 the drawn combs at once, store honey in them, and cap them 

 over before they would even touch foundation in sections next 

 to them. 



It is generally admitted that more extracted honey can be 

 produced than of comb. Just how much more, no one seems 

 to know definitely. Some say twice as much, some say a half 

 more, some only a fourth more. Well, then, if more extracted 

 honey can be produced than comb, why is it? The ex- 

 planation is easy. In running for extracted honey, extracting- 

 combs are given. These the bees store with their first honey, 

 and keep on storing until they are full. They do not even 

 have to stop to draw out foundation, much less loaf around a 

 few days before attempting to draw it out. How is it in the 

 case of comb honey ? A super containing sections, said sec- 

 tions containing full sheets of foundation, is given. But be- 

 fore the bees enter that super they will crowd every available 

 cell in the brood-nest, even building the combs before they 

 will commence work on the foundation above. In the mean- 

 time the loafing habit is started, and swarming is likely to 

 follow. The fact of the matter is, the bees seem much to pre- 

 fer to store nectar in cells already drawn out ; and it takes 

 pressure, a great deal of it, to force them into supers. When 

 they once commence drawing out the foundation, then the 

 storing and the work on the other sections begins. 



Now, then, suppose that, instead of those full sheets, we 

 give them sections containing drawn comb, or, preferably, 

 comb partly drawn out. What is the effect ? The bees com- 

 mence storing honey immediately. The loafing of three or 

 four days preparatory to giving it sections, and occasional 

 swarming that is induced by this loafing, will be largely 

 avoided. 



" But," you say, "your theory is all good enough, but how 

 are you going to get the comb?" In the first place, I would 

 save all unfinished sections, and level them down by the B. 

 Taylor plan. In the second place, the future may give us an 

 artificially made comb as light and as thin in cell-wall and 

 base as the product made by the bees. It should not be 

 heavier, because then we should have the fishbone — a thing 

 that cannot be tolerated in first-class comb honey. As to the 

 expense, it should not be very much above foundation per 

 square inch. 



But suppose inventive genius does not supply us with 

 such an article ? I believe it is possible to have the bees make 

 it for us out of season, ready for the flow of honey when it 

 does come. Mr. Otis and Mr. Baldridge, of Illinois, have already 

 been doing something in this line ; and I understand their crops 

 of honey are larger than those of their neighbors who work on 

 the old plan with simply foundation in the sections. Under 

 certain conditions foundation can be drawn out, or partly 

 drawn out, at least, in 48 hours. If this drawing out is done 

 out of season, feeding might have to be resorted to; but I 

 must confess I feel that we need an Invention that will pro- 

 duce this partly-drawn-out comb, without the intervention of 

 bees. If we can create a demand, inventive genius will be 

 likely to commence work. The thought is father of the deed. 



Now, then, turning from the subject of drawn combs to 

 possibilities along the line of being able to produce comb 

 honey without the necessity of scraping sections. Mr. Dan- 

 zenbaker has hit upon a plan that so far seems to promise 

 success. He places a sheet of paraflined paper on top of his 

 super of sections. This is crowded down so as to fit snugly, 

 by means of layers of newspapers. Over all is placed a cover. 

 Bees dislike paraffine ; and, moreover, as Mr. Danzenbaker 

 argues, this paper, being impervious, retains the heat of the 

 super. If there is an opportunity for circulating currents of 

 air, the bees, he explains, commence propolizing until these 

 cracks through which the heat escapes are sealed. 



