34 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Jail. 21, 



minute or two, because the members of the Bee-Keepers' Union 

 are scattered all over the United States. 



Mr. York — Before we pass to the second part of the ques- 

 tion about the Union, I would lilie to read Mrs. Harrison's 

 letter, to which I referred this forenoon. It is as follows: 



SWEET CLOVER— MELILOTUS OFFICINALIS. 



This is well known, and gaining in reputation as a forage- 

 plant, and for bee-pasture. Jonathan Periam clast sweet 

 clover as one of the noxious weeds of Illinois, and it has taken 

 time to redeem its character. 



When D. A.Jones, of Canada, attended the sessions of the 

 North American Bee-Keepers Association, he advocated the 

 merits of what he called " Bokhara clover," first, last and all 

 time. Prof. Cook took a plant in his hand, that Mr. Jones 

 brought with him, and, standing up, smilingly said: "Look 

 at its root; its only sweet clover." So it was, but it was 

 "melilotus officinalis"— the yellow variety. Mr. Jones had 

 the care of nine miles of railroad, within three miles of his ap- 

 iaries, and gave the seed to all of the workmen, with instruc- 

 tion to sow the seed wherever the soil was broken or a brush- 

 pile was burned. 



While at a sea-side resort in Connecticut, one of our party 

 returned from a ramble with a branch of this plant in his 

 hand, saying, " While I was away, I went through a Held of 

 this so thick that I could scarcely get through it, and I never 

 saw so many bees in my life, upon any plant." I gathered some 

 seed from plants growing upon the borders of a salt marsh, 

 and brought them home, and scattered them, but they did not 

 grow. I gathered the seed as it ripened, and put it into a little 

 sack and it must have heated. I gathered the seed of the 

 white variety in the same way, and it failed to grow. I infer 

 that this seed should be well diied to germinate. 



I've been watching this yellow variety of sweet clover with 

 much interest, where it flourishes on a dumping ground in this 

 city, Peoria, III. While the white variety attains the height of 

 three to six feet, the yellow is only from two to three. It blos- 

 soms a month earlier than the white, and is more profuse, 

 looking like a yellow sea. The stalks are Hner, the leaflets 

 more blunt, and it makes much finer hay than the white, and 

 is a greater favorite with the bees. Mrs. L. Harkison. 



Mr. Baldridge — The bee-keepers in Wisconsin dare not 

 sow sweet clover because afraid of being prosecuted. Sup- 

 pose a man wants to sow five or ten acres, he does not need to 

 commence an action in order to obtain a decision through the 

 courts. He can go on and sow that clover. He thinks he has 

 a right to, and a constitutional right, too, and the authorities 

 say, "Here, you shall not do that; if you do, we will prosecute 

 you !" That is the state of affairs there today. Now the ques- 

 tion is, shall the Bee Keeper's Union defend him, or shall he 

 defend himself alone ? 



Mr. Ellis — It seems to me that this should be lookt on as 

 the life insurance companies are. In such company, it a man 

 dies they pay. his beneficiary so many thousand dollars. Now, 

 It seems to me, that is co-operation. This is a general ques- 

 tion, that is, that whatever is of general interest the rest 

 should rally to that point, and defend or prosecute as the case 

 may be. It seems to me, this comes right in line with those 

 general duties which the bee-keepers owe to each other. 



Mr. York — Of course, this State association can only rec- 

 ommend to the Bee-Keeper's Union. Only members of the 

 Union can claim assistance from it. It may be that only one- 

 fourth of our members are now members of the Bee-Keeper's 

 Union, so all that we can do is to simply recommend that the 

 Union defend such cases whenever brought before it. I cer- 

 tainly think it is a legitimate work for the Union. It is a mat- 

 ter that all are interested in, and I find from the correspon- 

 dents of the Bee Journal, that sweet clover is becoming more 

 and more useful as a forage-plant. In fact, in the next num- 

 ber will be an article on this subject. It interests bee-keep- 

 ers especially, as it is such a grand honey-plant, and from 

 what I know, it is not noxious, but the legislatures that pass 

 such laws are, thi-mselves, pretty " noxious," methinks. 

 cn It was decided that the Bee-Keepars' Union be recom- 

 mended to defend any of its members who are prosecuted for 

 violating the law by sowing sweet clover. 



LIGHT OK FULL-WKIQUT SECTI0S8 OP HONEY — WHICH ? 



(JuES. 18— Should wo encourage the production of light 

 or full-welirht sections of honey ? 



Dr. Miller— How many think we should encourage the pro 

 ductlon of pound sections weighing less than a pound? 



Mr. Green — I object to that. Why should we call It a 

 pound section if It weighs less than a pound '? 



Dr. Miller— The reason Is, that the iH^^-iH section is 

 called a pound section. 



Mr. Green — I object to the wording of the question. 



Dr. Miller — Let the question be. Shall we encourage the 

 production of 4'4X'4,'-4 sections of honey weighing less than a 

 pound ? Does that suit you any better ? 



Mr. Green — That is better. 



Mr. Baldridge — Would it not be well enough to under- 

 stand what is the object ? If sections are to be sold by weight, 

 should not we encourage them to be full weight ? But I find 

 that grocers prefer, generally, to sell by the section than by 

 weight ; but if it is fo be sold by weight, then it would not 

 make any difference. 



Mr. Grabbe — I think that nine-tenths of the grocers will 

 pay one cent a pound more for light sections. If the sections 

 are heavy-weight they will pay less for them than the light- 

 weight sections. I don't know of a grocer in the city who 

 sells by weight. They all sell for so much per section. 



Mr. Mead — How would it do to change the question and 

 ask. Is it for our interest as bee-keepers to produce sections 

 weighing less than a pound ? 



Mr. Stone — I believe that there is the possibility of one of 

 the greatest kinds of evils from bee-keepers allowing anything 

 short of a pound to go on the market. Just as has been said 

 here, everybody has found that to be the case that the grocers 

 grab at the light sections, and they want to pay you by the 

 pound, and the more sections there are in tbe case, the better 

 they like it. It is doing the very thing that we are trying to 

 avoid, that is, putting the finest apples on the top. If the gro- 

 cers are disposed that way, they will get to be more disposed 

 that way, and the bee-keepers had just as well start the thing 

 right and keep it that way, as to allow it to get into all the 

 other evils. 



Mr. Kennedy — I beg to endorse that statement. 



Mr. Green — I don't look at the matter altogether in that 

 light. I have had considerable experience in selling honey, 

 and I have always found, just as Mr. Grabbe has said, that the 

 grocers prefer to sell them by the piece. 



Mr. Stone — What hurts us is, that they sell them for 

 " pound" sections. 



Mr. Green— I think not in all cases. In agreat many cases 

 they state distinctly they are not pounds. I will tell you why 

 I want them light-weight sections: Because the 4J^x4Ji we 

 know is a very convenient size for the bee-hive we have in use. 

 The only way we can increase the weight is by increasing the 

 width of the sections, and I am convinced that I cannot get as 

 nice, or as good honey, and I cannot get sections as uniform 

 in weight by increasing the width. The 'fi inch section I can 

 get to run almost uniform, but you increase the width of the 

 section and they will vary very considerably. 



Dr. Miller — There is that point now that brother Green 

 makes, that has some bearing on the case, that the lighter 

 sections can be more uniform in weight. That is a point 

 worth considering. Now, Mr. Stone wants sections to weigh 

 a full pound. I am in favor of very light sections. I want 

 them to weigh very much less than a pound, and I want it for 

 the same reason that he wants them to weigh a full pound. 

 What I produce I sell by weight and grocers sell it by the sec- 

 tion. They want it to weigh less than a pound, so they can 

 get the price of a pound. 



Mr. Stone — That is deception. 



Dr. Miller — You and I are trying to come at it in different 

 ways. You want them always to weigh an even pound, so 

 they cannot deceive, but you cannot get them. I want them 

 to weigh so light that it will bo Impossible for the customers to 

 suppose that they are getting a full pound. If I get thorn 

 down light enough they cannot palm them off for a pound. I 

 formerly felt as Mr. Stone does, but if I can get them down 

 light enough then they cannot be sold for a pound. I am in- 

 clined to tiiiiik that we get just as much honey by making sec- 

 tions narrower. 



Mr. Green — I think wc can get more. 



Dr. Miller — It is a good point that you can more nearly 

 get uniform weight with a narrow than a wide section. 



Mr. Grabbe— I was in a fancy grocery here, day before 

 yesterday, when a customer came in, and said, " How much a 

 pound is that honey ?" and the grocer replied, " 18 cents a sec- 

 tion." They don't sell it by tbe pound. 



Mr. Affolter — What size sections would you use to make 

 the sections so small that they would not take them for a 

 pound ? 



Dr. Miller — I would have 4K. and as to width, I don't 

 know just what. I use them about seven to the foot. I don't 

 believe they can keep on selling seven to the foot for a pound. 



Mr. Green — The seven to the foot section of honey gener- 

 ally weighs % of a pound. 



Mr. Stone — Would the bees work as readily with such nar- 

 row sections with separators '? Did you ever try to put separa- 

 tors alternately '! 



