THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



281 



Mr. W. E. Clark of Oriskany con- 

 curred with Mr. Pettit. Mr. Peet and 

 Mr. Locke both referred to instances 

 where the foundation was not thinned 

 out properly and was an objection on 

 account of leaving a tliick base. 



Mr. Vandervort of Pennsylvania was 

 of the opinion that when thin founda- 

 tion was used no one could observe any 

 objectionable base, and indeed it was 

 hard to distinguish it from tliat having 

 a natural base. He and four of his 

 neiglibors sliipped a car-load of comb 

 honey to New York only one lot of 

 which was natural comb and this lot 

 was the least salable of them all. 



Mr. C. C. Van Deusen liad tested 

 foundation of various tliicknesses and 

 while some of the thiclver samples were 

 characterized by '• fishbone " the thin- 

 ner ones were free from it. 



Mr. L. C Root thought that much of 

 the oljjectiou to comb foundation came 

 from tlie fact that it was considered a 

 novelty. We certainly get more attrac- 

 tive and marketable honey by the use 

 of comb foundation, and it was in no 

 sense an adulteration since both nat- 

 ural comb and comb foundation were 

 made of beeswax. 



It was moved "that it is the sense of 

 this convention that it is detrimental 

 to our honey trade to use, in section 

 boxes, comb foundation less than 10 

 feet to the pound. 



Mr. Hall of Ontario could not en- 

 dorse the resolution, as his experience 

 was against it. He used none lighter 

 than 8 feet to the pound and his comb 

 honey was so nice that Dr. C. C. Miller 

 tliought it must have been produced 

 by the use of the separators. He wants 

 his foundation about 7 feet per pound, 

 thin base and tliick side walls for sur- 

 plus, and for brood nest 4 feet per 

 pound witli very little impression. Mr. 

 Loclie had seen Mr. Hall's honey for 

 several seasons and could pronounce it 

 first class. 



Mr. Ira Barber has furnished honey 

 by the ton for Boston ; has used lull 

 sheets of foundation, 8 feet to the 

 pound and never had any complaint on 

 account of "fishbone" excepting that 

 whicli came through journals and con- 

 ventions. Mr. Jones of Mt. Morris, 

 N.Y., attaches to the bottom of the sec- 

 tions a strip of comb foundation i inch 

 wide within ^ of an inch of tliesiiles of 

 tlie sections and cuts the top piece so 

 that when attaciiedit reaches to within 

 i of an inch of the lower strip foundation 

 9 feet to the pound. Tlie bees will fill 

 the section complete to sides and ends. 

 Mr. Benedict endorsed what he said. 



28 



The resolution was carried with only 

 two opposing votes ; a large number, 

 however, did not vote. 



Mr. W. E. Clark of Orislcany made a 

 motion seconded by S. S. Pettit " That 

 a committee of five be appointed by the 

 chair to consider what could be done 

 to bring about a more thorough organ- 

 ization of the North American Bee- 

 keepers' Association." 



Mr. W. F. Clarice of Ontario spoke at 

 some length on this resolution claim- 

 ing the indulgence of the convention as 

 he was the only member present who 

 was present at the organization of the 

 society. He stated that tlie tirst inten- 

 tion was to make it " national " but at 

 his request it was carried "North 

 American " so as to include Canada, so 

 that it is properly called "interna- 

 tional " and he hoped that it would con- 

 tinue so. 



At its commencement there was a 

 ring or clique among beekeepers which 

 the organization was the means of 

 breaking up and he boldly aflirmed that 

 there had never been a ring or clique 

 managing tlie society. There were 

 those who wished to break up or divide 

 tills association but he hoped that this 

 would not be done. He liad no doubt 

 that the society might be modified to 

 advantage and improved in various 

 ways but he would not like to see id 

 broken up. 



Other members of the convention 

 spoke upon this subject concurring 

 with the opinion that the association 

 should continue to represent the inter- 

 est of tlie beekeepers of the United 

 States and Canadas. 



The resolution was unanimously 

 passed and the ciinir appointed the fol- 

 lowing committee': Ira Barber, Wm. F. 

 Clarke, W. E. Clark, Arthur Todd and 

 J. Van Deusen. 



The meeting then adjourned for a 

 social chat.' 



FIFTH SESSION. • 



Convention called to order at 7.30 

 p. M., Oct. 21), Mr. L. C. Root in the 

 chair. A discussion on " Comb Foun- 

 dation" was first in order, and was 

 opened by a brief paper read by J. 

 Van Deusen as follows : 



The importance of comb foundation 

 is evident to the great majority of 

 beekeepers. Its early stages of ex- 

 periment have passed. The apiarist 

 of to-day can justly boast of the best 

 comb foundation in the world. Time 



1 We have omitted the report of the third 

 and fourth sessions to give ylace for other 

 matter. 



