'THEL JCMBMICIEK BEEB JOUTRI^SlLr. 



367 



and then it should be placed in a nice, 

 clean shipping-crate. I prefer the 

 single tier, as tliere is no drip from 

 the upper to the lower sections. Have 

 glass in one side, and do not let it go 

 to market in such a sliape that you 

 cannot see through it. for it is there to 

 look through. 



Some of the grocers send back the 

 shipping-crates in a very bad condi- 

 tion, and I have noticed that they are 

 the ones who sell the least honey (t. e., 

 where they show it in the cases), and 

 the cases ought to be nice enough to 

 show the honey in. 



In some instances when I have fur- 

 nished private families, and afterwards 

 called for the crates, they would go to 

 the cellar for them. In such cases, 

 they seldom give the second order. 

 The probabilities are that the honey 

 lasted longer than it was good. People 

 must learn that warmth and dryness 

 are requisite to the good of honey — 

 not a cellar. Some of the productions 

 of man keep best in the cellar, but that 

 is not the proper place to keep comb 

 honey. Jas. A. Stone. 



Mr. Robbins — Are your bees all 

 Italians ? 



Mr. Stone — No; some of them are not. 



Mr. Robbins — What is your sign of 

 purity ? 



Mr. Stone — Three yellow bands. 



Mr. Robbins — That is not a sure 

 sign. I have had bees that had three 

 yellow bands, and were Italians so far 

 as looks were concerned, but their dis- 

 position proved them to be hybrids. 

 The finest looking bees are not always 

 the best. I once got some bees from 

 a bee-keeper that were black ; I wrote 

 to him about it, and he replied that the 

 color had nothing to do with it. They 

 proved to be good bees. 



D. D. Cooper judges by temper, and 

 clinging to the combs, rather than by 

 yellow bands. He also had some bees 

 from the same bee-keeper mentioned 

 by Mr. Robbins, that were black, but 

 good bees. 



Mr. Draper— I had queens in 1870 

 that wei'e better than any I ever had, 

 or could find, since. Has anybody 

 ever seen black or German bees that 

 stuck to the combs while being manip- 

 ulated ? 



Mr. Stone bad not. neither had he 

 ever seen Italians that were well 

 marked, that did not stick to the 

 combs. 



Mr. Kennedy judges the purity of 

 bees by their actions. 



Mr. Becker does not bother about 

 bands. He feeds his bees sugar for 

 winter stores, and is successful, while 

 his neighbors, who feed honey, fail in 

 wintering. Last winter was a bad 

 winter for bees to consume their 

 stores. 



The convention then adjourned till 

 1:15 p.m. 



AFTERNOON SESSION. 



The convention was called to order 

 at 1:15 p.m., with President England 

 in the chair. 



KINDS OF HIVES DSED. 



This subject was brought up, and 

 the Simplicity, Improved Langstroth 

 Simplicity, and the old style Heddon 

 were mentioned. 



Mr. Cooper uses the latter, and likes 

 them best, although the Improved 

 Langstroth Simplicity, as now made, 

 are better than they used to be. 



Mr. Stone — Wherein is your hive 

 better than the Improved Langstroth 

 Simplicity ? 



Mr. Cooper — The honey-boards pre- 

 vent brace-combs, and sections can be 

 taken out easier than from the Im- 

 proved Langstroth Simplicity. 



Mr. Stone uses the Improved Lang- 

 stroth Simplicitj-, and has no trouble 

 in getting the sections out of the 

 super. The Secretary also uses the 

 same, and experiences no difficulty in 

 removing the sections. At one time 

 he was so well pleased with the appear- 

 ance of tlie old style Heddon hive, 

 that he made one for trial, but as it 

 was late in the season, and the 

 weather cool, he had trouble in getting 

 the sections out without spoiling them. 

 This hive is used for only comb honej", 

 while the Improved Langstroth Sim- 

 plicity is a general-purpose hive. 



Mr. Geo. F. Robbins, of Mechanics- 

 brug, Ills., then read an essay on 



Creatins: a Home Market. 



One day last summer I chanced to 

 stand for a few moments on the pave- 

 ment near the Farmers' National Bank, 

 when a group of four newsboys and 

 boot-blacks came round the corner, 

 and proceeded to besiege me for a job. 

 A silent shake of the head repelled all 

 attacks, but the assault was in turn 

 renewed upon several other pedes- 

 trians witli like success. At length, 

 one of them said: "Come, let's go 

 over to the other side of the square," 

 and for the other side they started. I 

 will follow them prettj- soon. 



When I began to cogitate as to what 

 I should say upon this subject.I thought 

 to urge, as usual, for it is one of my 

 hobbies : Work up your home market. 

 Sell to your neighbors. Sell all you 

 can at and near home. Then I re- 

 membered what one of Springfield's 

 leading grocers said to me in 1886, 

 " that honey cut into the sj'rnp trade 

 like everjthiug ;" and I thought, when 

 I urge honey upon a neighbor, do I 

 not work against the business of some- 

 one else ? Do I not press the honey- 

 trade at the expense of some other 

 commodity that may have a prior 



Claim ? As I crowd myself and mine 

 in, do I not crowd others and theirs 

 out ? And then I thought about these 

 boot-blacks. 



Now let us not say right here that 

 humanitarianism has no place in the 

 business world — we do not think or 

 feel that way. Though the selfish in 

 their nature may seek to crowd it out, 

 or the cj'nical to disown it, yet busi- 

 ness men are at heart interested in the 

 welfare of their fellow men. Here 

 were four shiners, each one working 

 for himself, in a sense, in opposition 

 to the rest, yet each one saying to his 

 fellows, "Come, go with me." I say 

 opposition, in a sense, for he is only 

 seeking his own, not another's. Let 

 me, not hivi, shine your boots ;" but if 

 his competitor gets the job, it is fairly 

 won — it is his. 



It fitly illustrates the state of things 

 in this business world ; a hundred 

 boot-blacks, a hundred merchants, a 

 hundred farmers, may be all in com- 

 petition, all grasping for the same 

 prize to the exclusion of the others, 

 yet each saying to all, "Come, go with 

 me ;" and what is true of persons is 

 true of occupations and commodities. 

 A thousand articles on the merchant's 

 shelves, all striving together for the 

 patronage of the consumer ; and the 

 advent of a new boot-black, or a new 

 article, or industry upon tlie arena, 

 has only the ultimate effect to produce 

 a more persistent striving. The one 

 elbowed out here, must only push in 

 jonder. The suppl}' will seek a de- 

 mand. 



A trade or business will strive, so to 

 speak, to find its level. It is this 

 striving that constitues the very life of 

 business. Why do the waters in their 

 streams flow on with such restless 

 energy ? What is the secret of their 

 wonderful power — a power so great 

 that it requires a breakwater of almost 

 adamantine strength to ai'rest their 

 progress for a moment ? Why is it 

 that though when damned in their 

 channel they may present a smooth, 

 quiet surface, the moment they reach 

 the edge of the precipice they charge 

 over and on with a force and fury aug- 

 mented in proportion to the resistance 

 which they have met? Wh}-, the 

 waters are simply seeking their level. 

 So it is in the business world. Trades 

 and industries will find their level, and 

 when turned from one channel, they 

 will seek another. Honey is itself no 

 exception to the rule. It is compara- 

 tivelj- a new article — the world of 

 commerce is working its way ; but 

 though honey may crowd out some 

 other commodity to-daj', some other 

 will strive with it to-morrow. 



A 3'oung m.in was once employed to 

 sell a certain article to the trade. A 

 few days after he started, he wrote to 



