my', 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



421 



I am aware that the argument is abroad that while comb 

 honey is always a luxury, used only by the few, that the 

 low price of extracted honey enables the poor man to indulge 

 in a sweet that he would otherwise be deprived of ; but how 

 much pure extracted honey does the poor laboring man get 

 when the product is put up by packing houses in our cities? 

 Right here let me mal£e a statement that maybe surprising, 

 but nevertheless true, viz.: that our wonderful honey-extractor 

 has been of more benefit to the manufacturers of glucose than 

 to bee-keepers. In the absence of the extractor there would 

 have been no glucosed honey. There would not have been 

 such a great amount produced, while the price would have 

 been held within the lines of supply and demand, and prices 

 would have been better. 



However, we have the extractor and millions of pounds of 

 extracted honey, and what are we going to do about it? Now 

 the only way I see out of the trouble is through legislation, in 

 the improvement of our packages, and in the organization of 

 exchanges— for only through organization can anything be 

 accomplisht. 



In the matter of improvement of honey-packages, if we 

 trace the comb-honey business a little further we find the next 

 improvement was the introduction of the ]-pound section. 

 Now a great many claim that bees will store more honey in a 

 li-pound section than in a 1-pouud, tho the statement seems 

 to be largely a matter of opinion. We do know, however, 

 that it will not pay to use a smaller section, hence it may be 

 said that we have arrived at perfection in comb-honey pack- 

 ages. 



If we now turn to our extracted product we find that we 

 have no uniform or special package in which to place our 

 honey. I regard the Muth jar as coming the nearest to it. 

 but even that is used to a limited extent, while upon our mar- 

 kets the fruit-jars are largely used. The great bulk of our 

 honey is sold in 6U-pound cans, to be repackt as already 

 stated, or to be used for manufacturing purposes. I claim 

 that we shall need for the successful sale of our extracted 

 honey just as uniform and popular a package as the 1-pound 

 section is for comb honey, and that all of our best grade 

 should so be put up. The producer can hardly be trusted to 

 put his honey up in a uniform shape; it should therefore be 

 done at some central point by an association of bee-keepers. 

 The benefits to be derived from such a uniform putting up of 

 honey would be that we would open up an entirely new mar- 

 ket, and at the same time avoid the conflict with the local or 

 commission dealers, as we inevitably do when selling in bulk. 



An important point in selling honey is fixing the selling 

 price in the Eastern markets, and notably in Chicago. If the 

 commission-men were all reliable, the bee-keepers would have 

 no cause of complaint, but when irresponsible parties are per- 

 mitted to handle big amounts of honey demoralization of 

 prices will ensue. I think that we can safely say that the 

 commission business, as largely conducted in Los Angeles and 

 elsewhere, has its " peculiarities," and that is not the worst 

 feature of it — we producers are in a measure responsible, be- 

 cause of the support we give it. 



F'inally, can we through organization overcome these 

 many evils ? I think we can — in fact, I know we can ; but 

 there is a big " if " in the problem. If bee-keepers will hold 

 together in an organization for the furtherance of their own 

 interests ; and i/ they do, a few years will see a vast improve- 

 ment in the honey industry, and better prices. The only 

 remedy is organization and marketing our produce in uniform 

 and popular packages. — Rural Californian. 



Los Angeles Co., Calif. 



^ 





Report of the North American Convention Held 

 at St. Joseph, Mo., Oct. 10-12, 1894. 



REPORTED BY LOUI.S R. LIGHTON. 



Every Present Subscritoer of the Bee Journal 

 should be an agent for it, and get all others possible to sub- 

 scribe for it. See offers on page 417. 



[Continued from patfe 407.1 

 The report of the Auditing Committee was read and ac- 

 cepted. 



QDEEN-REARING. 



The paper, "The Most Economic Way to Breed Queens 

 Consistent with Prolificness and Longevity," by Dr. J. P. H. 

 Brown, of Georgia, was read by Dr. Miller. [This paper is 

 still in Mr. Benton's hands. — Ed.] 



Mr. Holtermann — I will confess that I have gone to a 

 great many conventions, and hoped to hear a thorough paper 

 on queen-rearing, and altho valuable points may have been 

 opened up I have failed to hear a thorough paper on queen- 

 rearing, and I hope that in the no distant future we shall 

 hear a thorough paper on this subject, one that will go into 

 the details as to how todo these things. I must confess I would 

 like information in that direction. There is a little point that 

 came to ray attention this season. Of course I don't know 

 everything that is written about bee-keeping, and I think 

 sometimes I have just read a thing that I have not read be- 

 fore. Perhaps I have. I think there is,a fixt time given after 

 making the colony queenless to give it the larvae. I have 

 made up my mind that that is a mistake, and that when the 

 bees get that " queenless hum," that is the time to give them 

 the larva; for queen-rearing, no matter whether it is in two 

 hours or three days. That is a new point to me. 



Dr. Miller — I do sincerely hope that Mr. Holtermann's 

 wish will never be granted, that we will have a full and com- 

 plete paper before this convention in regard to queen-rearing. 

 But if he knows any one in this country, or any other country, 

 that he thinks will do it better than any one else, I should be 

 glad to have him get the paper and then publish it in the bee- 

 periodicals, and then if there is anything left for discussion it 

 can be discust in print ; but don't let it rest until we have it 

 here for discussion. I think it is a mistake to make a colony 

 queenless, and then in just so mauy hours give a queen to 

 them. Sometimes a colony will notice at a very early stage 

 that it is queenless, and I do not think the right way is to fix 

 the hour, but when the colony commences to build queen-cells, 

 that is the proper time, and the flxt time. 



Mr. Holtermann — I don't think we will ever have the 

 exhaustive paper on queen-rearing before this convention. If 

 we did, we would all go home and rear queens ourselves, and 

 then where would the queen-rearers be ? 



Dr. Miller — As to the point Mr. Holtermann makes there 

 Is something in it. After a good deal of experience in queen- 

 rearing — and, by the way, I don't believe it is correct that the 

 queen-rearers want to keep their secrets to themselves — I am 

 inclined to the opinion that I am safe in not paying any atten- 

 tion whatever to the time when bees are ready for their larvae ; 

 and yet I don't quite agree with the views exprest by Mr. 

 Holtermann. If a colony is made queenless, and they have 

 brood in all stages, I have found it an almost universal rule 

 that in about 12 days from that time they would have a queen 

 batcht out, showing-that they select a young enough larva. 



Dr. Miller — I move you, Mr. President, that the National 



