296 



's-mm m^mMmi^mm mmm j^vimmmi^. 



m»»^^mk^^tA 



able market value. The sample which 

 I send probably is not entirely free 

 from admixture with honey from some 

 other autumn flowers, yet it has 

 enough of the aster honey to make it 

 candy quickly. 

 Seymour, Wis. 



[The two one-pound sections of 

 honey came to hand in due time. The 

 capping was peculiarly white, and 

 made a very attractive appearance, 

 but the honey was granulated solid, 

 making it of no market value as comb 

 honey. 



The flavor is quite pleasant to the 

 taste, but honey which granulates 

 quickly should always be extracted as 

 soon as possible, to make it available 

 for manufacturing purposes ; for such 

 use the flavor is not taken into account, 

 and if any of its " spiciness " be lost in 

 granulating, it will not affect its mar- 

 ket value. 



This honey is evidently a mixture 

 from fall flowers, including the asters. 



Of all the honey gathered in the 

 fall, that from sweet clover (Melilotus 

 alba) is the most pleasant to the taste 

 and it yields plentifully until after the 

 ffosts come. — Ed.] 



OHIO. 



Report of the State Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Convention. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY MISS DEMA BENNETT. 



The afternoon session of the first day 

 was called to order by Pres. H. R. 

 Boardman, and opened by an enjoya- 

 ble song by Drs. Miller and Mason. 



BEVERSING THE COMBS. 



Mr. Chalon Fowls, of Oberlin, then 

 read an essay on "Reversing." He 

 had 2 illustrations showing the appear- 

 ance of the brood in the comb, before 

 and after reversing. 



Mr. E. R. Root exhibited a sample 

 of casting for the ends of the frames, 

 to be used in reversing the frames. 

 He said that he had but little expe- 

 rience in reversing, but would like to 

 have the matter discussed. Reversing 

 will cause the bees to build the combs 

 moi'e firmly in the frame, and do not 

 need wiring — some do not wire the 

 frames. 



F. A. Eaton — What is the use of re- 

 versing ? 



Mr. Fowls — It will, if rightly done, 

 enable the operator to secure the whole 

 crop of white honey in the sections. 



and the bees will also more readily 

 enter the sections. 



S. F. Newman — If reversing helps to 

 get honey, do it ; if not, then do not 

 practice it. It costs time and money. 



He could not see that reversing would 

 help any, and if the only object is to 

 get the bees into the sections, it would 

 not pay, as he never had any trouble 

 to get them into supers. If reversing 

 would get the bees ready for the har- 

 vest, it might pay. The main thing is 

 to get the colonies strong. During 

 fruit-bloom he puts 2 or 3 brood- 

 combs in each hive, from which he 

 extracts the honey just as white clover 

 comes into bloom. At this time, he 

 puts on the sections, and never has any 

 trouble to get the bees to go into the 

 sections in the old colonies, or to get 

 honey, if there is any in the blossoms 

 to gather. If, at this time, the bees 

 swarm, he hives the new swarm on 5 

 or 6 frames, using only emptj' frames 

 with a strip of foundation — just enough 

 to make the bees build straight combs. 



Daniel White, would not trouble to 

 revei'se the combs. 



Geo. Spitler asked Mr. Fowls if he 

 did not have too many bees by re- 

 versing ? 



Mr. Fowls — I do not think that it 

 prevents swarming, but I do think 

 that it discourages swarming. 



N. T. Phelps, has reversed combs 

 some. His experience is that he gets 

 no more brood, but gets it concentra- 

 ted, and he secures just as much honey 

 in the brood-nest, besides getting bet- 

 ter combs, than with the non-reversing 

 frames. 



Few of those present had practiced 

 reversing. 



EXTRACTING AND EXTRACTORS. 



The next essay was by Dr. A. B. 

 Mason — "Extracting; which are most 

 expeditious, reversing or non-reversing 

 machines?" He read extracts from re- 

 ports of those who had used the rever- 

 sible extractor, and who spoke in 

 praise of its merits. 



It was claimed that the reversible 

 extractor was easier on the combs, on 

 account of its larger circumference. 

 A. I. Root called it a "man-killer." 



Dr. Miller said that the reversible 

 machine must be large. I think that 

 the small one beats the large one " all 

 hollow." 



O. J. Post has one, but the poor 

 honey seasons of the last 2 or 3 years 

 have not given him the opportunity to 

 test it as he would like. 



A question was raised as to which 

 was the hardest to operate, but it was 

 not decided. 



Mr. Phelps — You have to turn harder 

 to get it started, but after it is started, 

 it does not take any more power to 

 turn it. 



Mr. J. F. Moore said that he thought 

 that most of the large honey-producers 

 in California used the reversible ex- 

 tractor. 



BASSWOOD — THE BEE-BUSINESS. 



A recess of 10 minutes was then 

 taken, which was followed by Pres. 

 H. R. Boardman's address, on "A brief 

 glance at past and future bee-keep- 

 ing." Pres. Boardman referred to the 

 great destruction of basswood, but Mr. 

 A. I. Root does not think that this is 

 all the reason why the hcxney crop 

 seems to be getting smaller and smaller 

 each year. There are, perhaps, many 

 reasons for the failure. He believes 

 that it would pay to plant basswood 

 trees for honey. He told of a man who 

 cut down his basswood, and sold it to 

 him for sections a few years ago, and 

 from the sprouts around the stumps, 

 timber is again large enough to make 

 into sections. 



Dr. Miller said that there is always 

 something to encourage the bee-keeper 

 — it is a hopeful business. In 1882 he 

 had 16,849 pounds of honey ; the years 

 following, he had less and less, until in 

 1887 he had to feed his bees 2,800 

 pounds of sugar to keep them alive. 

 In 1889, he had 12,000 pounds of 

 honey, and now perhaps it will be 

 getting better. There is no basswood 

 in his locality. 



Mr. C. A. Camp said that he was 

 present at a convention in Cleveland 

 19 years ago, when Capt. Hetherington 

 reported that he had sold honey so that 

 it yielded an enormous revenue, and 

 that had induced him, as well as many 

 others, to go into the bee-business, and 

 most of them failed. He advised young 

 men to be careful about going into the 

 business, and does not think it is best 

 for bee-keepers to speak only of their 

 success, at conventions, but they should 

 also recount their failures, so that we 

 should have both sides of the stor)-. 



S. F. Newman said that the bee-bus- 

 iness was a hopeful one. There was 

 not a ye.ar in the last 15 but that the 

 bees had paid their way. It is "hope- 

 ful," because he hopes for a good year 

 the coming summer. 



Several communications were read 

 by the Secretary, announcing the re- 

 sult of "Prang's National Flower" 

 campaign, which gave 70 per cent, of 

 all votes cast, for Golden-Rod ; words 

 of greeting from Prof. A. J. Cook, C. 

 P. Dadant, and R. F. Holtermann, the 

 two latter expressing the hope that we 

 would afliliate with the International; 

 also one from Anna L. Cowan, the 

 daughter of Rev. L. L. Langstroth, 

 saying that her father was in very 

 feeble health, but that she could not 

 relinquish the hope that there might 

 yet be days of health and enjoyment in 

 store for him. She said : 



