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THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



23 



same quality in preference to thp comb honey ; many, many 

 families use it in preference, why should they not pay the 

 same price ? 



Mr. Chapman — I think it is merely a matter of choice ; 

 some people prefer to eat the extracted honey, and you could 

 not sell them comb honey; intrinsically they are worth the 

 same, but the extracted should be worth a little more. 



A Member — And the most of the consumers don't get a 

 pound when they buy the comb honey in sections, whereas 

 when they buy extracted honey, they got a full pound, and I 

 have a good many customers who are willing to pay equally 

 the same price for extracted honey that they do for comb 

 honey, and take it in preference. 



Mr. McKenzie — There are some exceptions to that rule. 



Dr. Mi4ler — If I wanted it for my own use, and I pay 2L! 

 cents for comb, if the grade is the same, the same quality as if 

 drained out of that section, 1 would be willing to pay 24- cents 

 for extracted honey ; but if for company, for appearances on 

 the table, and I wanted a small amount of it bought, I am 

 only willing to pay about 1.5 cents for the extracted. 



Mr. Baldridge — There is a good deal in the question, when 

 it Is fairly and fully analyzed. It is immaterial, for that mat- 

 ter, what it costs the bee-keeper to produce it ; the simple 

 question is, what can consumers afford to pay for it compared 

 tc the price of comb honey ? My experience is, as a dealer 

 with comsumers — and I have had about 30 years of it— that 

 the majority of consumers are willing to pay as much, if not 

 a little more, for the extracted honey than for the comb honey, 

 when it is properly presented to them : and my business has 

 been to carry that into practical operation, and I have been 

 able, by taking that view of the matter, all through this exper- 

 ience to get as mu2h for five pounds of extracted honey as I 

 could get for six pounds of comb honey, including of course the 

 wood ; one is sold at net weight and the other gross, and my 

 sales are all based upon that idea, that a pound of extracted of 

 honey is worth more to the consumer in general than a pound 

 of comb honey ; and that it is not his business to know what it 

 costs me to produce it, no more than it is the business of the 

 consumer of butler to know what it costs the farmer to pro- 

 duce his butter. If one farmer can produce his butter at 10 

 cents per pound, and it costs another 15 cents, it is none of 

 the consumer's business whether that farmer who produces it 

 at 10 cents asks 20 cents, the same as the other man ; it is 

 the producer's business to get a good price for what he has to 

 sell ; the result is, that I got right along, year after year, as 

 much for five pounds of extracted honey as I got for six 

 pounds of comb honey, including the wood. Now, I say it 

 should sell at least at the same price, that is, the consumers 

 should pay the same price. Ayear ago, I advocated that idea, 

 and the bee-keepers in the vicinity where I live thought it 

 could not be done, but I demonstrated to their entire satisfac- 

 tion that it could be done, by trying a small town down in 

 Kane county as an experiment. I canvast the town from 

 house to house with a sample of each — a sample of section 

 honey and a sample of extracted. I secured in that town in 

 three days time 70 orders — as my order-book would show if I had 

 it here — and out of that number — but to go back a trifle. I put 

 the price the same — five pounds each at an even dollar, which 

 was lower than my general price. I secured but three orders 

 in that little town out of 70 for comb honey — G7 were for ex- 

 tracted at one dollar, and three for comb; so I found the con- 

 sumer was willing to pay just as much for the extracted 

 honey, pound for pound, net weight, as for the comb honey. 



BI-SDLPHIDE OF CARBON FOR KILLING WORMS. 



QuES. 15 — Has any one had any experience in the use of 

 bi-sulphide of carbon, instead of sulphur for killing worms ? 



Mr. Chapman — It is one of the best methods of killing any 

 kind of moth-worms, or common house moth-worms, or any 

 kind of insects that might get in a closed room. It is very sim- 

 ply applied, and a pint bottle would fill a room full of the 

 fumes of the gas, which is always heavier than the air, so in a 

 room 20x20 feet a pint bottle would kill every moth or every 

 grub in the room. 



Dr. Miller — Would it kill those in the top of the room ? 



Mr. Chapman — Not unless the liquid is placed in the top 

 of the room, so that the fumes would reach that part. 



Dr. Miller — How would you apply it'? 



Mr. Chapman — It would have to be used carefully on ac- 

 count of its explosive qualities. It is suflicient merely to put 

 It on a sponge or a bunch of old rags, place it close to and 

 above what you wish to have fumigated — not below it. It does 

 no damage whatever to the appearance of any substance that 

 I used it on. It is merely a gas, and does not change or affect 

 the color of anything upon which it is used. You must not 

 have any fire near it, as it is a very dangerous explosive. 

 Wheu you pour It on the sponge, shut up the room and travel 



away as fast as you can. It also will kill ground squirrels and 

 moles, by just placing a small cloth or rag near the hole, and 

 because it is close to the place where the animal is it necesa- 

 rily kills. This drug has been known for a long time, and it 

 can profitably take the place of sulphur ; I would say it is very 

 reasonable in price; it is as low as 15 cents for a pint, and a 

 pint would be sufficient for a room 20x20 feet. 



Mr. Perlam — Ui-sulphide of carbon will kill anything that 

 has life that you want to kill ; it will kill a man ; we don't 

 want to kill men or animals, but all insects or vermin, rats, 

 mice, gophers, or anything that burrows into the ground, and 

 there is only one thing against it, and that is, that you must 

 not bring a light near the fumes — it is explosive. Now in a 

 room, or between the walls you have to saturate the whole 

 place, or else you can't kill mice above ground ; under ground 

 it is very easy to kill them. If the house is shut up entirely, it 

 will kill every mouse in the house, if it is shut up carefully and 

 there is enough of it used. Every bee-keeper raises more or 

 less grain, and now if you have weevil of any kind, any little 

 thing that works in grain — if you take the bin that the weevil 

 is in, and saturate the top of that bin of grain, or the ware- 

 house, I don't care how extensive it is, it will kill every weevil 

 or insect in that grain, and it has this peculiar effect, that it 

 does not injure any substance that it touches, no more than 

 gasoline, for instance 



Mr. Stone — Its use was recommended in our Second An- 

 nual Report, and it was taken from some one's recommenda- 

 tion. I believe in Nebraska it was used for the extermination 

 of prairie-dogs. 



HONEY-PRODUCTION IN THE PECOS VALLEY. 



QuES.16 — What do the members know of honey-production 

 in the Pecos River Valley, New Mexico? 



Mr. Baldridge — I don't know very much about the Pecos 

 Valley, except this : I know it is a very good honey locality, 

 the same as I know Salt River Valley, Arizona, is a first-class 

 honey locality ; they have the same seasons in the Pecos Val- 

 ley that they have in the Salt River; it is near a market, 

 which is quite a consideration. Pecos Valley is a tract 100 

 miles in length along the Pecos River, where they have a great 

 abundance of water ; it is 15 to 20 miles wide, and an im- 

 mense amount of alfalfa is grown there, probably as fine an 

 alfalfa country as there is in the United States, if not superior 

 to any other locality. 



A CHICAGO POLITICIAN AS A BEB-KEEPEB. 



Mr. York — We have with us one of our County Commis- 

 sioners—Mr. Cunning. He is a bee-keeper— I suppose he is a 

 very " Cunning " bee-keeper. I don't know how much honey 

 he produces, but I think we would like to hear from him. 



Mr. Cunning — As one of the County oi3ficers, I am glad to wel- 

 come you to Chicago. So far as being a practical bee-keeper or 

 a great producer of honey, I will have to say I am in the bee- 

 business for pleasure. For years, I have wanted to make a 

 study of the bee. When I was a boy, I was very much inter- 

 ested in the bee. I have four colonies in my back yard, which 

 is only about 25x30 feet, so you see I have a very small space 

 for the bees. I had two colonies to start with, last spring : 

 now I have four. I lost one swarm — it got away. I hived it 

 all right twice, and finally it left. The others I had no trou- 

 ble with. Last year I had four swarms from two colonies, 

 and I had no trouble with them at all. I have this year about 

 100 pounds of honey ; some I have not taken out yet — I don't 

 need it. I judge this honey comes from the prairies west of 

 Douglas Park and Western avenue. I know there is a great 

 deal of sweet clover around there ; it is very fine honey. 1 

 find a great deal ot pleasure right here in Chicago in taking 

 care of these bees, tho of course I have a very poor place for 

 them. When they swarm, they generally go over into an alley, 

 or alight on the wagons, or up on the roofs of the houses, or 

 on a board sticking out, or something of the kind. Of course, 

 I am a little of a politician, and it makes quite a good deal 

 amusement for the neighborhood. They all come out when 

 they hear my bees are swarming. I don't know whether they 

 think I have any scheme in keeping bees, or not. There was 

 a city newspaper reporter that came to my house a few months 

 ago. He had heard all about my bees and wanted to write 

 them up. He wrote an article, tho he never saw a bee be- 

 fore in his life— and he made a very good story. After that, I 

 heard of people coming to the County Board, wanting to go in- 

 to the bee-business. Quite a few people canne who thought 

 they could keep bees in their backyard, and make a little 

 money out of it. People came from the South Side, North 

 Side, and different portions of the West Side, but at just that 

 time we were having politics pretty lively here, and I was en- 

 gaged in the campaign, and I did not have time to answer all 

 of those people ; I told them I would write them, and tell them 

 all about it ! [Laughter.] (Confimted 7iext weefc.) 



