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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



tinct flavor? Is it not largely a 

 volatile oil V Do we not know it is 

 being distilled from e^'ery flower, as 

 we pass through a elover-lield in 

 blossom V and in evaporating and 

 otherwise coming in contact with the 

 air, we lose this. 



Many tuid that to extract honey 

 when one-third capped, answers well ; 

 the honey to be put into deep tanks 

 or barrels holding about GOO pounds 

 each, and left for a week. This causes 

 the light, thin honey to rise to the top 

 — generally it is not 10 per cent., and 

 this can be disposed of a little cheaper 

 —and the rich, ripe honey remains. 

 One week more of exposure is ample 

 for clover, and it becomes sweet 

 without the flavor ; basswood longer, 

 according to the taste. Thistle honey 

 has a very distinct odor and taste, but 

 it is very volatile, and requires but 

 little exposure. If we handled our 

 extracted honey thus, would it not 

 take the place of comb honey more V 



What is meant when consumers say 

 that they miss a peculiar richness in 

 extracted honey, whicli the comb will 

 give them V Is it all fancy V How 

 many bee-keepers have greeted you 

 ■with the remark, after tasting your 

 basswood lioney, " Ah, that is pure 

 honey." How many have thought, 

 after tasting the long-exposed clover 

 honey, " That is sugar syrup." Tlie 

 former losses its flavor less readily; 

 the latter more readily. 



Has our comb honey been handled 

 with proper care ? .Should it not 

 always be kept not only dry, but at a 

 temperature that the delicate scales 

 of wax— cell caps— never crack from 

 too low a temperature? Does honey 

 ferment in the cells and crack the 

 wax, or does the cell l)reak, permit 

 access to moisture and atmosphere, 

 and that cause the honey to ferment ? 



Mr. Boardman considered this mat- 

 ter of great importance. That honey 

 was often deteriorated by keeping 

 was undeniable, and he would like to 

 know how it haiipened so, that it 

 might be guarded against. 



Mr. .Tones said honey tliickened by 

 evaporation, and that it was liable to 

 be injured by evaporating too fast or 

 too slow. 



Prof. Cook explained the difference 

 between evaporation and crystalliza- 

 tion. Honey can only thicken by 

 evaporation, and to evaporate, it 

 must have air ; therefore the sealing 

 is not air-tight. Cryslallization is a 

 different affair, and is akin to forma- 

 tion of ice, resulting from the cooling 

 process. 



A member said tlial he thought that 

 honey thickened witli age. 



Mr. Doolittle gave an instance in 

 which honey was sjjoiled by moisture 

 swelling the honey, so that the cells 

 were broken, and the honey turned 

 sour in the course of a few nionths. 



Mr. Thomiison, of New York, said 

 that he liad been greatly troid)led 

 with the moth getting into comb 

 honey. He had tried suliihur fumi- 

 gation with them, but liad not suc- 

 ceeded as he could have wished. 



Mr. J. 15. Hall, of Ontario, on being 

 called upon, gave his experience and 

 practice. He said that the moth 



would give no trouble unless there 

 was bee-bread in th^ sections. He 

 was in the habit of fumigating a room 

 8x10 feet with a pound of sulphur, as 

 a precaution against the moth, and 

 then kept up an even temperature. 

 He had kept it 2 years as good as new. 



Mr. Heddon said that there was but 

 little danger of deterioration, if 

 honey was taken proper care of. It 

 should be kept in a temperature 

 higher than the common atmosphere, 

 else it would attract and absorlj mois- 

 ture, and thus be injured. He had no 

 trouble with the moth-worm, and did 

 not believe that the moth wo\dd live 

 on pure beeswax. There must be 

 some pollen — some nitrogenous mat- 

 ter in order to form animal tissue. 



Mr. C. P. Dadant would conflrm the 

 statement that the moth-worm could 

 not exist on pure beeswax. 



Mr. Jones asked if any had been 

 troubled with the moth in parcels of 

 wax forwarded for manufacture into 

 comb foundation. He had. 



jNIr. Heddon said that there was 

 always more or less pollen in such 

 beeswax. 



Prof. Cook said that there could not 

 be animal life without nitrogen, and 

 there could not be putrefaction with- 

 out nitrogen. 



Mr. Heddon said that we should 

 take such precautions as would keep 

 out flies, wasps and other insects. By 

 this means the moth-worms would be 

 effectually excluded. He had his 

 honey-house protected with wire- 

 screens, and the moth gave liim no 

 trouble. 



Some other observations were made 

 on the subject, when the convention 

 adjourned until 9 a.m. of the follow- 

 ing day. 



SECOND DAY— WEDNESDAY. 



MORNING SESSION. 



The Convention was called to order 

 at 9:30 a.m., by Pres. L. C. Root, who 

 announced the following as a com- 

 mittee to answer any questions that 

 might be placed in the question-box : 

 S.F. Newman, S. T. Pettit and II. 

 E. Boardman. 



Miscellaneous discussions being 

 next in order, considerable disappro- 

 bation was manifested by many mem- 

 bers, over the report of Prof. II. W. 

 Wiley, of the Department of Agricul- 

 ture at Washington, giving liis anal- 

 ysis of different samples of honey 

 furnished him by bee-keepers. In his 

 annual report he put down many 

 samples as " apparently pure," and 

 many as " probably impure." It was 

 the general opinion that if he could 

 not analyze such products to a cer 

 tainty, lie should say so in his report. 



The friends of Mr. A. I. Root, liav- 

 ing learned that his 4Gth birthday 

 occurred on the second day of the 

 Convention, it was suggested that 

 those who desired to do so sliould, 

 during the intermission, contriliute 10 

 cents each, to Mr. Muth, with which 

 to purchase a birthday present for 

 Mr. A. I. Root. A copy of " Milton's 

 Paradise Lost," beautifully printed, 

 bound, and illustrated, was purchased 

 and the Rev. W. F. Clarke was select 

 ed to present it to Mr. A. I. Root 



dnring the morning session, whicli he 

 did in a very pleasant way. Some 

 other friends also presented him with 

 a bouquet of flowers. Mr. Root re- 

 plied briefly by thanking those who 

 had been so thouglitful. He valued 

 the kind thoughts much more than 

 the gift, though tlint was beautiful. 

 He felt that such kindness was un- 

 deserved. 



Mr. C. F. Muth, of Cincinnati, O., 

 then gave an address on " Marketing 

 Honey." He referred to the low 

 price of honey, which was caused by 

 the cheapness of other sweets, adul- 

 teration of honey, and ignorance of 

 the many uses of honey. To secure 

 the best price, we must practice the 

 most scrupulous cleanliness in every 

 manipulation. Extracted honey is 

 often damaged by being put into 

 whisky-barrels. There is charcoal on 

 the inside edges of the staves, and 

 specks of it get into the honey, spoil- 

 ing its appearance. Clean barrels 

 should always be used. Comb honey 

 must be white, well-capped, and put 

 up in a neat, attractive manner. Only 

 thus need the top figure of the market 

 be expected. 



A discussion arose as to the most 

 salable size of sections. There was a 

 very full expression of opinion, which 

 was strongly in favor of one-pound 

 sections. It was not deemed advis- 

 able to make any size exclusively, as 

 there was a limited demand for other 

 sizes, particularly in certain markets. 



All address was then delivered by 

 Thos. G. Newman, on 



PASTURAGE FOR BEES. 



A carefully-prepared estimate re- 

 veals the fact that in North America 

 (the territory covered by this Society) 

 there are 300,000 persons who keep 

 bees. The annual product of honey 

 amounts to over one hundred millions 

 of pounds, the value of which is about 

 fifteen millions of dollars ! 



May not these figures give us a full 

 comprehension of the dignity of our 

 mission, the magnitude of the work 

 before us, and the exalted possibilities 

 which may inspire us to fresh zeal and 

 grander achievements in our pursuit ? 



In passing— let us contemplate, for 

 a moment, how invention, art and 

 science, have followed every " pro- 

 gressive step" in apiculture! Just 

 think of the crude methods of our 

 fathers, and then contemplate the 

 wonderful improvements of to day 1 

 Instead of the tubs and pails of yore, 

 containing broken combs of honey, 

 bee-bread and dead bees, taken from 

 the breeding apartment of tlie hives, 

 the result of murdering the bees by 

 fumes of sulphur, and then robbing 

 their homes of the " stores " laid up 

 for winter— see the beautiful little 

 sectional-boxes in which we have 

 educated the bees to build virgin' 

 combs, and then to lill them with 

 lioney from Nature's laboratory— at 

 man's behoof and for man's nourish- 

 ment ! This is but one item in the 

 long catalogue of accomplishments, 

 but it illustrates the apicultural de- 

 velopment of the scientific progress 

 and art of this ever-advancing age ! 



Surely, these are grand achieve- 

 ments ! but shall we with them rest 



