156 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAU 



The new races — Carniolans, and later 

 the Funics — had not been tried suffi- 

 ciently for a statement of their value. 



Mr. F. H. Hunt raised the question of 

 the vindictive nature of California bees, 

 claiming that they were harder to con- 

 trol than the Eastern bees. He was 

 sustained in this opinion by Mr. Corey, 

 but opposed by Mr. Mclntyre and others. 

 It was claimed that a touch of Cyprian 

 blood, or a too rapid and rough handling 

 produced the vindictiveness. 



Foul-Brood Among. Bees. 



The question of foul-brood— a disease 

 dreaded by bee-keepers — was taken up. 



Prof. Cook gave much interesting in- 

 formation. The bee-keeper was warned 

 to be very careful in exposing any honey 

 from a colony having foul-brood, as the 

 spores were thus cai'ried from hive to 

 hive whenever the bees, from any rea- 

 son, had access to it. It had been 

 known to be given to apiaries from leak- 

 ing packages on freight cars. 



To cure a colony having foul-brood, 

 the bees should be run into an empty 

 hive, or a hive having only foundation, 

 the tainted hive being thoroughly boiled 

 in water for 5 or 10 minutes. 



EVENING SESSION. 



The convention opened with Mr. 

 Abbott in the chair. 



Comb-Honey vs. Extracted-Honey. 



Mr. Romley suggested for discussion 

 the relative profits or merits in the pro- 

 duction of comb or extracted-honey. 



Mr. Mellen — Extracted-honey, if off 

 color or taste, can be sold for many pur- 

 poses ; while comb-honey is much more 

 attractive, oft' color and taste cannot be 

 produced cheap enough to sell at a low 

 price. If of good flavor, amber honey 

 can be sold readily in the comb. One of 

 his colonies produced over 400 pounds 

 of comb-honey. His apiary is in Acton, 

 Soledad Canyon. He was in favor of 

 comb-honey production every time. 



Mr. Mclntyre tiered up supers as far 

 as possible in running for extracted- 

 honey, or preferred to extract often. He 

 extracted as often as every eight days, 

 and even as often as every five days, or 

 as often as the bees would fill the combs. 

 He preferred extracted-honey on account 

 of the ease in shipping it to market. 



Mr. Corey produc(;d comb-honey for 

 four years, and had produced 100 

 pounds of extracted-honey to 40 pounds 

 of comb-honey. This comb-honey was 

 stored in Harbison boxes, but he pre- 



ferred to produce extracted-honey. He 

 advised a mixed production. 



Mr. Mellen had made a hive to suit 

 himself, about square. Another gen- 

 tleman had made the same kind of hive. 



Size of Sections Preferred. 



" What sized sections do you prefer ?" 

 was next asked. 



Mr. Root said he was the first to in- 

 troduce the 1-pound section, and was 

 denounced by New York bee-keepers, 

 but afterward they apologized to him 

 and adopted the 1-pound section — 4Ji- 

 x434'x2 inches. 



The point brought out was that comb- 

 honey sold in retail by the section. 



To make combs straight, separators 

 are now used. 



Mr. Mellen thinks that the 1%-inch 

 wide section sells better than the 7 to 

 the foot section, because it weighs a full 

 pound, while a smaller section is short 

 weight. 



Mr. Root said that Mr. Heddon origi- 

 nated the light weight section. 



Mr. Hart sells his honey in 7 to foot 

 sections, and when used without separa- 

 tors, they weigh a pound each. 



Mr. Hunt used 7 to foot, used without 

 separators, and thinks that honey 

 should be sold by the section. 



Mr. Root said they sold honey in 

 Denver in sections at 15, 20, 25 and 30 

 cents per pound, and sold many tons 

 from wagons which run as regular as a 

 milk wagon. 



Mr. Hillier uses 7 to foot sections, and 

 gets a pound in each. He stamps his 

 name on the packages, and sells his 

 honey before it is taken from the hive. 



Removing Supers in the Fall. 



The next question was, "Is it-desii'- 

 able to remove supers in the Fall ?" 



" Not in California," was the reply by 

 several. 



Mr. Romley believed it best to take 

 them off, and keep the , bees in the lower 

 part of the hive, as the bees breed up 

 faster in the Spring. 



Mr. Mclntyre preferred to keep the 

 supers on to prevent the ravages of the 

 moth, which destroy combs in this 

 climate if not protected. 



Mr. Corey fumigated the super combs 

 to prevent destruction by moth. 



Building up Colonies in Spring. 



" What is the best way to build up 

 colonies in the Spring to secure a honey 

 crop ?" was next asked. 



