Jan. 25. 1906 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



81 



supply of honey in packages of various sizes to suit their 

 class of trade. Do not press too large a quantity on them 

 at one time. No up-to-date grocer likes to see a quantity 

 of fly-spotted packages on the shelves, but would rather 

 buy in small quantities, and have them clean and fresh, 

 If you have more than enough honey to supply the local 

 demand, do not make the mistake of putting it up in what 

 1 have heard a wholesale grocer term "homespun pack- 

 ages." See that the sections are free from propolis, prop- 

 erly graded and cased, and the extracted honey put up in 

 well-made cans. Nothing disgusts the commission man 

 or dealer worse than to have a consignment of honey 

 shipped to him with the sections unclean and ungraded, 

 with perhaps both cases and cans leaking badly, to which 

 dust will adhere and spoil its appearance, making it so 

 much more difficult to obtain the best prices. 



By the accounts we read in the United States bee- 

 papers, many of the markets there for honey are very dull, 

 with slow sales and low prices. This is a discouraging 

 state of affairs when nearly every other article of food 

 has a good demand at higher prices, and this, too, at a 

 time when the demand for luxuries was never so great. It 

 is not that the people do not like or want honey, it is 

 mainly owing to many silly stories published in the news- 

 papers and magazines; they have, to some extent, lost con- 

 fidence in honey as an article of food. Lax enforcement 

 of the pure food laws is another cause for its decreased 

 consumption. Happily, in Canada, we have comparatively 

 little adulteration, and, although there is still room for 

 improvement, the demand and use of honey have 

 enormously increased during the past few years, and will 

 continue to increase as its value becomes better known. 

 R. H. Smith. 



G. A. Deadman — The market is limited in the country, 

 but farmers buy in large quantities when they do buy. 

 The best way to work up a retail market is to send out 

 samples. Druggists sell patent medicines in large quan- 

 tities that way. Distribute honey in small dishes and give 

 a circular with each dish. They will eat the honey and 

 read the circular. Then call next day for the dish and the 

 order. Be sure to ask the retail price, not the wholesale, 

 so the merchant will have a chance too. .Sampling a town 

 is in the end cheaper and more satisfactory than adver- 

 tising in the papers. Educate people as to the different 

 qualities of honey. 



J. W. Sparling thought honey never could become a 

 staple food like meat, because it is a sweet; and people 

 tire of it. 



R. H. Smith — It is very important to see that the 

 honey sold is always of the best quality, well ripened, etc. 

 Bee-keepers should watch the groceries in their home 

 towns all the time for adulterated honey. Send suspected 

 samples and have them analyzed. The dealers are always 

 glad to be informed when adulterated honey has been sold 

 them, and by this means bee-keepers can keep it out of 

 the market. Then we should teach people that honey is a 

 concentrated food, and should not be eaten in large 

 quantities. 



Mr. Pickett — Produce a good article, put your name 

 on it, and have an honest man to handle it. 



Experiments ox Honey Granulation and Flavors, and 

 Bleaching Wax. 



Prof. F. T. Shutt, of the Central Experimental Farm, 

 Ottawa, described experiments on the granulation of honey 

 and in clarifying wax. He had raised samples of honey 

 to temperatures of 122 degrees, F., and 158 degrees, F., and 

 found that in either case they had remained liquid since 

 Sept 1st, when the heating was done; while honey which 

 had not been so heated was granulated quite hard. He 

 found that keeping in light or darkness, or cold storage, 

 seemed to have no effect on the granulation of honey. 

 Also that agitation, or the addition of crystallization points 

 did not seem to affect the granulation. This in spite of 

 much evidence among practical bee-keepers to the con- 

 trary, The honey kept in the light, whether granulated 

 or liquid, was quite perceptibly bleached in color, and 

 seemed to have lost in flavor. 



With reference to flavor, Prof. Shutt had learned that 

 heating honey to a high temperature certainly injures the 

 flavor. lie explained this by the fact that neither the 

 levulose nor the glucose give honey its flavor, but certain 

 minute quantities of, undetermined volatile oils which can 

 and do at a high temperature escape. 



With reference to bleaching wax, Prof. Shutt had 



made exhaustive experiments, and found that 1 pei 



nitric acid gave best results. To bleach without chemicals, 

 melt the wax in warm water, pour off the water, and repeat 

 the operation several times. Then shred the wax and 

 expose to a damp atmosphere and sunlight. Sulphuric 

 acid should not be used more than 5 percent. St 

 Hydrogen peroxidi gives wax a good color. The texture 

 can be brought back to wax by heating and cooling slowly. 

 It should nr\ er boil. 



Prof. Shutt gave two sources of honey-dew: 1. It 

 exudes in drops from the leaves of trees in a moist 

 atmosphere. 2. Aphides extract sweet from leaves, and it 

 exudes from their bodies. 



.Mr. Holtermann— Granulation may be hastened by 



agitat n we stir the honey after it begins to granulate 



slightly. 



J. B. Hall— Honey taken to the exhibition and back 

 granulates more quickly than that which was left at home. 



Production and Care of Comb Honey. 



Mr. R. Lowey read a paper on "Production and Care 

 of Comb Honey." 



In opening the discussion, Morley Pettit said he found 

 it a great advantage to hive on frames with foundation 

 starters instead of drawn combs, for comb honey, for with 

 the latter the colony was sure to swarm again in a short 

 time. He found the principal danger from moths was 

 caused by the presence of pollen in the sections. He had 

 had experience in producing and handling comb honey 

 covering IS years, and had never fumigated nor had any 

 complaint from buyers on account of moths. This was 

 due to care in excluding pollen from the sections. Any 

 odd cells of exposed pollen were always daubed with fresh 

 honey on the end of a match. 



W. Z. Hutchinson had experimented by hiving first a 

 swarm on drawn combs, another on full sheets of founda- 

 tion, and another on starters. The result was always in 

 favor of hiving on starters. 



O. L. Hershiser always puts the new super on top of 

 the one already on, and when the first is filled he takes 

 it off. 



Mr. Hutchinson — When the bees in their building 

 comb in the brood-chamber get ahead of the queen in her 

 laying, they immediately start to build drone-comb. So 

 if young, energetic queens are used, 80 percent, of the 

 comb built from starters will be worker-comb 



Mr. Holtermann— Making the bees uncomfortable by 

 contracting the brood-chamber induces the building of 

 drone-comb. 



Best Smoker and Fuel. 



Ques. — What is the best smoker and fuel? 



W. J. Brown — The Corneil smoker. 



Mr. Holtermann — The R. H. Smith smoker gives best 

 satisfaction. Have it made with extra-length barrel. 



Mr. Lowey— The best fuel is thin bark from second- 

 growth pine, broken up. It makes very little ash. 



Mr. Pettit — Cedar-bark from the largest cedar-logs 

 you can find. The bark is very thick and full of resin. 



Mr. Holtermann— Dampen the bark slightly. It will 

 hold fire better, and not blaze up and burn out so quickly. 



Second Day — Thursday Morning. 



On the subject, "Are Amendments Needed to the Foul 

 Brood Act?" Mr. F. J. Miller read the following: 



AnENDHENTS TO THE FOUL BROOD ACT. 



I fully hope that each one present will not expect 

 much convincing proof from this short paper, and this 

 will save disappointment. 



The subject, "Amendments to the Foul Brood Act," is 

 one that has received considerable discussion at different 

 times, and, generally speaking, I believe the meaning of 

 the Act not to be far astray. 



As to one inspector being able to carry out the work 

 to the best satisfaction of this Association, I am not so 

 certain. It appears to me there should be three good 

 men under the direction of this Association, each respon- 

 sible for a given district, from which he would not be too 

 far distant, so that the traveling expenses might be re- 

 duced as much as possible; also this would enable more 

 work to be done during the short period of our honey- 

 flows. These are matters in which we are all interested, 

 but each having somewhat different views on the subject. 



Some have advocated County inspection. This I be- 

 lieve to be jumping to the extreme, and not to he in the 



