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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Jan. 12, 190S. 



our list. As time goes on it becomes more apparent that 

 some of these experiments must be carried out by people 

 who have some say so, who have some authority, so that after 

 the experiments are made we have something to go by. For 

 instance, *vhen we went through this glucose and sugar feed- 

 ing mist that comes up every once in a while, if we had 

 some authority on this subject, someone that could tell 

 us just exactly all about it, it would help us out a whole 

 lot. Some of these things are exactly what we are go- 

 ing to do down at the Station. Last night I took some 

 notes on these very things, and we are going to try 

 those. It takes time and money to carry out accurate 

 experiments of this kind. I should say that work of this 

 kind should be carried out at every State station, and if 

 the bee-keepers only will, they can have such work done. 

 It was brought about by our bee-keepers down in Texas. 

 We had our first meeting at College Station in 1901. 

 While down there we made a request for an apiary at 

 the college, and an apiarist, where such work could be 

 carried on. I am glad to say it suceeded, although it 

 took lots of hard work. We secured only a very small 

 appropriation, $750, but it gave us a start, and now we 

 enjoy having the best equipped experimental apiary any- 

 where, and are going to try to keep ahead of any that 

 «ver comes up. 



One of the experiments we have under way is the 

 manufacture of honey-vinegar. In large apiaries there is 

 always a waste of honey, and if we could manufacture 

 that into honey-vinegar, and work up a market for it, 

 and sell it, we could save a whole lot of money for the 

 bee-keepers. Then we have a lot of cheap-grade honey 

 that should not be put on the market, and which, if put 

 on, lowers the price of good honey. We are trying to 

 find out if this, cannot be made into honey-vinegar to 

 more profit, and thus save the price of the better-grade 

 lioney. 



Another experiment we are going to start is along 

 the wax and foundation line. We are going to try to find 

 out the amount of honey consumed to produce wax. 

 While it would not perhaps be profitable to convert 

 the cheap honey into wax, perhaps we could take this 

 •cheap honey and have the bees convert it into wax and 

 put it on the market in the shape of wax instead of ofifer- 

 ing them the lower grades of honey at a' cheaper price, 

 thus lowering the price of the better grade. We are also 

 experimenting along the line of rendering the wax of old 

 combs, and along the line of such hives and accessories 

 and other things. At almost ever" convention I attended 

 last year, something like 14, the question came up as to 

 the best hive, and similar questions; there also comes up 

 the question as to the difference between the regular 

 Langstroth and some others, and the divisible brood- 

 chamber hive. Some of those things will never be settled 

 unless they are taken up by some scientific worker, or 

 somebody who will take accurate note of these things. 

 If a bee-keeper has a hobby of his own he will bring up 

 something, and he will claim his way is the best, and 

 always have a hive of his own that he carries about 

 with him. This is not the case with somebody that has 

 this work in charge somewhere else. He wants to get 

 ■down to the facts of the case; he does not care what the 

 results will be; what he is after is to get at the fact, 

 and prove it, and he will carry on the work until he is 

 through with it, and then come back and go over it, and 

 then when he gets through he has his results noted, 

 and they are to the point, This cannot be done by the 

 ■bee-keeper, for a good many reasons; he hasn't the time, 

 and he has hives of his own, and he is not accurate 

 enough. He cannot because he has too many other things 

 calhng for his attention. All these things should be 

 taken up by the Station. 



Honey-bottling is another one of our problems down 

 there, in other words, putting up honey and preventing 

 it from crystallization. It is quite an important problem, 

 and I don't know yet what we are going to do with it. 

 The majority of consumers prefer honey in a liquid state. 

 We have some honeys there that granulate in a few weeks 

 after being taken from the hive. Before we can put 

 that on the market we have to reliquefy it, and maybe it 

 will candy again. Sometimes we have honey on the 

 road and it is delayed, and when it reaches the consumer 

 it is candied, and he does not want "sugar-honey," and it 

 is returned to the bee-keeper. If we could find a way of 

 putting up this honey; especially of putting it up in a 

 fancy way, as some people put it up, and keeping it from 



granulating, it will be worth a whole lot. 



Besides this there are a great many other problems. 

 The work of managing outyards at long distances with 

 the least amount of labor and attention, and trying to 

 make the biggest amount of money out of our product. 

 We have another apiary at one of the sub-stations and 

 we have made arrangements for co-operative work. Texas 

 is so large, and has such varied conditions, that we have 

 to carry on our work in different sections, which makes it 

 harder for the apiarists at the station. The coming year 

 we will take up work along more scientific lines. We 

 have made a card catalog of almost all of the scientific 

 work that has been done, most of it taken from experi- 

 ment station records. We did this so that we could see 

 what had been done along these lines before we went 

 ahead. We want to prevent all the repetitions possible. 



At the College we have given instruction to the 

 students in apiculture. The College has not been able 

 to put on apiculture as a regular course because the time 

 is taken up by other studies. They have made an elective 

 study of it for senior class students, for the whole State; 

 in this way we have had some State students, but during the 

 spring-time of the College we have a short course in api- 

 culture, and in this way we had 18 short-course students 

 last year who took apiculture, and it prepared them 

 pretty well for the work after they left the College. Be- 

 sides this, we have students working in apiaries during 

 the season who work under the Student Labor Fund, 

 and in that way they get a good deal of information. 



There are many questions that come up that should 

 be taken up by experiment station people. I think an 

 experimental apiary ought to be established at each of the 

 experiment stations of the different States, especially 

 those in which apiculture is carried on to any great ex- 

 tent, and this can be done by bee-keepers if they only 

 go after it. We did it down there, and I think it can be 

 done in other States. Louis H. Scholl. 



The President called upon Mr. Moe, the repre- 

 sentative from Cuba, who was escorted to the platform 

 by Mr. Hyde, after which the President introduced him 

 to the convention. 



BEE-KEEPINQ IN CUBA. 



Mr. Moe — I did not come here with the idea of making 

 a speech, and you will have to excuse me along any such 

 lines. I came here to get what information I could 

 along those lines of bee-keeping that interest me. You 

 are aware, of course, that the conditions with us are very 

 different from what they are with you in many respects. 

 Your bee-keepers probably have different methods, so 

 do we, and it possibly would not be practicable or wise 

 to tell you all about our methods because you could not 

 take them back home and apply them. I do not read your 

 articles on winter bee-keeping, because they are of no 

 value to me, and possibly for me to go on and tell you 

 about what we do would be of no value to you. What in- 

 terests me most is how I can produce the mos^ honey, 

 rear the best queens, and sell my honey to the best advan- 

 tage. The question of wax cuts some figure with us. 

 We can produce that perhaps better than you can. When 

 I commenced bee-keeping there I wanted to do it per- 

 fectly, acording to what you call the right method. I 

 have got into it this far that I am cutting the corners 

 off and going across lots; I am not doing all the fancy 

 wiring and full-sheet foundation work; I found it didn't 

 pay; we get so little flow of honey we have to produce 

 it. I think if you give the matter study and thought you 

 will find that it is all in the location. That is all I 

 have to say, Mr. President. 



(Continued next week. ] 



Some Facts About Honey and Bees.— This is the 

 subject of an article written by Mr. J. E. Johnson, and pub- 

 lished on pages 581-82 of the American Bee Journal for 

 Aug-. 25, 1904. We have republished it in 4-page leaflet 

 form for general distribution, and furnish it, postpaid, at 

 35 cents per 100 copies. Send all orders to the oflSce of the 

 American Bee Journal. 



Amerikanlsche Blenenzucht, by Hans Buschbauer, is 

 a bee-keeper's handbook of 138 pages, which is just what 

 our German friends will want. It is fully illustrated, and 

 neatly bound in cloth. Price, postpaid, $1.00 ; or with the 

 American Bee Journal one year — both for fl.75. Address 

 all orders to this office. 



