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759 



TO RIPEN HONEY. 



The next question was, "It some- 

 times happens that some of our ex- 

 tracted honey is thin, unripe — yet 

 mostly sealed. Will you please inform 

 us how to ripen or thicken such honey. 

 We usually extract once in from 7 to 

 10 days, during the hone^-tlow. letting 

 the combs become nearly all sealed 

 first, and yet some days get thin 

 honey, especially in the combs that are 

 taken out after noon. 



C. P. Uadant was called upon for an 

 answer, and said that their method 

 was to keep adding more room, with- 

 out removing any of the honej', until 

 the crop was all in, except in extraor- 

 dinary rich seasons, when the honey 

 was ripened sooner than usual. He 

 thought that the faet of the honey 

 being sealed was not evidence of its 

 being ripe, as bees sometimes were in 

 such a hurry to cap their honey, that 

 they did not wait until it was all ripe ; 

 and that very often the cappings burst 

 in consequence of the fermentation 

 that would take place. If he had 

 honey that was unripe he would evap- 

 orate it slowly cm bain-marie, that is, 

 over hot water. In his opinion it was 

 'mainly the heat, together with a cur- 

 rent of air forced thi-ongh the hive, 

 that caused unripe honey to evaporate, 

 and the nearer we get to it unartili- 

 cially, the better. He knew that honey 

 could be preserved, of good flavor, by 

 evaporating it slowly by heat ; and he 

 preferred that method to the methods 

 advised by others, of allowing it to 

 stand for months in open vessels — 

 which method could not be practiced 

 by extensive bee-keepers. 



Dr. Jesse Oren said : W. S. Hart, of 

 Florida, extracts every day, and runs 

 his honey in a long trough that is ex- 

 posed to the sun. The honey goes in 

 at one end, and comes out thick at the 

 other. 



A. I. Root — Prevention is better 

 than cure ; but when jou have unripe 

 honey on your hands, it is better to 

 let it granulate and pour oft" the liquid 

 part of it. If you wish to evaporate it, 

 take the heads oft' the barrels and 

 cover them with strainer cloth. The 

 thick honey will settle to the bottom, 

 when it begins to granulate. 



R. McKnight described his appara- 

 tus for liquefj'ing granulated honey, 

 and to cure unripe honey. It was a 

 double-oan, to place upon a stove, with 

 water in the outside can, and a faucet 

 running through both cans, to draw 

 off the honey. Heat the honey in this 

 wa}', as Mr. Dadant suggested, then 

 seal it while hot. This not only cured 

 the honey, but prevented further gran- 

 idation. A Mason-jar-full was put 

 upon a wall out-of-doors, and allowed 

 to remain there during a whole severe 

 Canadian winter, without showing a 



trace of granulation. Honey could 

 also be cured satisfactorily by putting 

 it in a tin tank, in a hot room, the heat 

 of which helped the thick jjarts to sep- 

 arate from the watery portions, and to 

 settle to the bottom, while the water 

 remained at the top, so that there were 

 about three inches of sweet water in 

 one of these pans, that could be drawn 

 oft' and used for vinegar making. In 

 his opinion, however, the easiest and 

 best way to cure honey was by heating, 

 as stated by Mr, Dadant. 



REPORTS OF AFFILIATED ASSOCIATIONS. 



The condensed repoi-ts of Affiliated 

 Associations were then heard. They 

 showed that the honej' crop was very 

 much less than usual, and tlie prospect 

 rather poor. In many localities bees 

 had to be fed, in order to secure suffi- 

 cient winter stores. 



MORNING SESSION— OCT. 30. 



After the President called the Con- 

 vention to prder. Dr. Miller was re- 

 quested to sing the well-known ■■ busy- 

 bee" song, which he did in his usually 

 lively manner. After the song, which 

 was cheered by all, a resolution was 

 passed, upon the motion of Dr. Mason, 

 thanking C. C. Miller and Eugene 

 Secor, the authors of the bee-keepers' 

 songs, on behalf of the bee-keeping 

 fraternity. 



INCORPORATION. 



The committee appointed to con- 

 sider the points involved in the Presi- 

 dent's address, recommende<l the 

 appointment of a committee of three 

 members, to perfect the organization 

 of this Association, and to incorporate 

 it under the law. 



W. F. Clarke saw the wisdom of a 

 State or Provincial organization, but 

 objected to the Incorporation of this 

 Association, on the plea that it would 

 affect its International character, as 

 he could not see that it could be made 

 legal with the two Governments. 



Thomas G. Newman said that it was 

 very <lesirable to incorporate the Asso- 

 ciation. He thought that it was the 

 lack of organization that had kept the 

 A.ssociation from growing, as it should 

 grow. If it was well organized, the 

 membership would be continuous, and 

 the annual fees would be paid by all. 

 Now, owing to the general failure of 

 support from non-attending bee-keep- 

 ers, the annual meetings were mostly 

 local. He saw no difliculty in incor- 

 porating the Societj' in any one State 

 or Province. He said that he belonged 

 to another organization v/hich was in- 

 corporated in the State of Massachu- 

 setts, and it now had a membership of 

 63,000, which included every State in 

 the United States, and Province in 

 Canada; the Sandwich Islands and 



Mexico. It hatl sub-organizations in 

 nearly every State in the Union, and 

 the Provinces of Canada. He thought 

 that the incoiporation would makt; the 

 Association legal, and wouhl greatly 

 help it, without hindering it in any 

 manner. Nearlj- all the members, in- 

 stead of being transient, w<ndd be 

 permanent, from year to year; but, of 

 cour.se, many annual members would 

 join only for the single year, as now. 



A committee was finally appointed 

 for this purpose, composed of Messrs. 

 Mason, Newman and Secor. 



Dr. C. C. Miller then read his essay, 

 •■What I Don't Know about Bee- 

 Keeping," which elicited much laugh- 

 ter ; and the words so often repeated 

 by him in his essay, ■• I don't know," 

 became by-words during the remainder 

 of the session. 



What I don't Know about Bee- 

 Keeping'. 



I don't know why the secretary should 

 single me out to make an open display 

 of my ignorance about bee-keeping — 

 uidi'ss it be from natural spitefulness on 

 Ids part. 



I don't know that I can tell all that I 

 don't know. It would take all the time 

 of the Conv<'iition. I'll just mention a 

 few iioints. 



I don't know how far apart bees nat- 

 urally space their combs. The only 

 chanci^ I have lately had to measure, 

 gave eight spaces in eleven inches, right 

 through the brood-nest, the spaces vary- 

 ing from 1 '4 inches to lli inches. 

 As the combs apiu'oacliod the outer 

 edges tliey spread farther apart, reach- 

 ing in one case 1% inches. One man, 

 in wliom I have confidence, says IJi is 

 tlie average, wliile another says 19s. I 

 don't linow. 



I don't know whether the greater loss 

 in wintering out-doors, in a climate lilfe 

 mine, may not be made up by greater 

 vigor as compared witli tliose wintered 

 in a cellar. 



I don't know whether successive poor 

 years are to be considered a permanent 

 tiling, or whether we may again expect 

 crojis as of old. 



I don't know why prices, this year, 

 don't ris(.' to correspond with scarcity. 



I don't know whether it will be a good 

 thing to hold our annual meetings any- 

 where, or at any time, when we cannot 

 get reduced rates, as the result of some 

 other undertaking at the same time. 



I don't know that there is need of any 

 more bee periodicals. 



I don't know whether it is best to 

 rcplai-c queens of a certain age, or leave 

 it all to the bees. 



I don't know how a bee-keeper, with 

 plenty of bees to stock his field, can 

 prevent some one else from planting an 

 ajjiary right beside him — tlius spoiling 

 the field for both. 



I don't know, for certain, how to pre- 

 vent brace-combs. 



I don't know of anything that will pay 

 to plant for honey alone. 



I don't know whether new develop- 

 ments may not oblige me to go back to 



