738 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



J^ov. 25, 



Mr. Wilson — There is a class of bee-keepers around me 

 who are retailing extracted honey for 5 cents per pound. 

 C71 Mr. Arms — There is just as much damage done by large 

 bee-keepers as by small ones, by overrating their honey crop 

 too early in the season, and selling too cheap to get rid of it. The 

 majority of our members think it is not advisable to encour- 

 age our neighbors to keep bees. 



(;UEENS AND FOUL BROOD. 



'- QuES. — If there are 15 or more queen-cells in a colony, 

 are they all equally good? 



Mr. Evans thinks the ones that are sealed over first are 

 the best. 



Mr. Nice — I think they are all equally good. 



Mr. France — On buying queens, be sure there is no foul 

 brood near where they came from. I have found several cases 

 the past summer where foul brood originated by buying 

 queens. 



Mr. Green — Is foul brood increasing or diminishing in the 

 State ? 



Mr. France— If careful from now on I think we are in a 

 fair way of getting it stampt out. I have found out this sea- 

 son that several cases of foul brood started by foulness of 

 hives and combs, 



AGE OF COMBS. 



Some thought the comb was torn down and rebuilt when 

 the cells became too full of cocoons, and rebuilt by the bees. 

 Others said they had combs that had been in use for 20 years 

 without any change. 



QuEs. — In a season of good honey-flow which colony will 

 do the best for comb honey, the one hived on drawn comb or 

 the one on full sheets of foundation ? 



~ The general opinion was that they did the best on full 

 sheets of foundation. 



QuES. — What is the outlook for bee-keeping as a business 

 through this section of the country for the future ? 



Mr. Rice — Our outlook for a clover flow was never better. 

 Mr. Wilson — The outlook for basswood is not as good, as 

 the trees are getting mostly cut for lumber. 



Mr. Pickard — In our locality the basswood honey crop is 

 a matter of time, and not very long time, either, as it is get- 

 ting mostly cut off for lumber. 



The majority of the members thought the outlook for the 

 future is not as good as formerly. 



QuES. — What is the trouble when the brood dries up be- 

 fore the time for It to hatch ? 



Mr. France — It is most likely pickled brood, and is caused 

 by certain conditions of the weather. 



QuES. — How large a honey-house is needed for from 100 

 to 150 colonies, run for extracted honey ? 

 Mr. Wilson— l'2x 16 feet. 

 Mr. Evans — 16x20 feet, for comb honey. 

 Mr. Nice — 16x24 feet. 

 Mrs. Pickard — 12x36 feet. 



QuES. — How much honey will a good, strong colony of 

 bees produce per year with favorable circumstances ? 



Mr. France — 15y an experiment made in this State several 

 years ago, for a period of 10 years, it was found an average 

 of 90 pounds was produced of extracted honey. 



QuES. — Is honey as well flavored before It Is sealed as 

 after ? 



Mr. Rice — If we want prime honey we must have It sealed 

 over before extracted. 



Mr. Van Allen — I use a large tank when extracting, and 

 by leaving the honey there for some time, and then drawing 

 off from the bottom, the honey Is all right, if not all sealed 

 before extracting. 



Mrs. Pickard — By waiting until the honey Is one-half 

 sealed over there Is no danger In barreling it up as soon as 

 extracted. 



Mr. France — If honey is extracted when the weather is 

 too hot, in the middle of the day. It may sour. 



' Mr. H. Lathrop read the following essay, entitled, 



marketing tlic Iloncy €rop. 



Heretofore the greater effort has been put forth In trying 

 to devise methods by which to increase the yield of honey and 

 we have been trying through conventions and bee-papers to 

 educate as many people as possible in the art of increast pro- 

 duction, and all have bent their energies in that direction, 

 giving little heed to the question of scUlna the product for a 

 fair, living price. I am askt to write on marketing the honey 

 crop. How can I write about marketing when there is no 

 such thing — a market for honey? 



For almost every thing else that farmers produce there Is 

 an establlsht market, and you can deliver your produce any 



day, be it grain or livestock, and get the market price there- 

 of in cash. Can you do the same with honey? Not under the J 

 present arrangement. The only thing you can do Is to find ^ 

 out who wants honey, and when they want It, and get all you 

 can, and what you get will be less than what you got last year 

 — at least so it has been going for the past 25 years. 



Two or three years ago we used lo look across the conti- 

 nent with a feeling of pity for the Californiaus, because they 

 had to sell for ten cents ; we thought It a very low price — we 

 were getting then about 14 cents for fancy comb honey in 

 lots. How is it now ? I think some of our bee-keepers hnow 

 what it is to sell their best white comb honey for 10 cents, and 

 the Califorians are getting 7 and 8 cents. Why should this 

 be, when everything else is advancing ? Because production 

 is growing faster than demand. 



I might paint this question in glowing colors, but what 

 we want is the truth. What price does extracted In large lots 

 command to-day ? I doubt if it can be sold for any thing like 

 former prices, except In limited quantities. 



Last year a plan was propo^^ed in this convention where- 

 by an agent appointed by the Association was to sell the pro- 

 duct of the members by samples to be be sent to him by each 

 member. I remember that I timidly suggested that the honey 

 should all be sent to a central warehouse, and there properly 

 graded, packt and labeled before selling ; each member to re- 

 ceive credit for honey contributed, and returns be made to 

 members pro rata as sales were made. My plan did not meet 

 with any favor, but I am here to assert more boldly than ever 

 my belief that It is the only plan that will work. 



I want to ask, how much honey has been sold by the ap- 

 pointed agent? How many members sent samples to Mr. 

 France, as they agreed to do? Well, here we are; if you 

 know where that honey market Is where we can get a uniform 

 and fair piice, we would like to know the place. My plan is 

 to sell whenever I can, wherever I can, large lots or small, 

 and for the best price I can get. 



Commission men have helpt me and have always dealt 

 fairly with me, but I never ship to any but good, straight 

 men. We have been advised over and over again to sell in 

 our home market, ff I had done that this year I would not 

 have received even a California price. Sxall bee-keepers who 

 produced asmall amount of honey ruined tde home market by 

 selling for less than the honey was worth, Where did I sell ? 

 I will tell you where my market is ; it is where I can do the 

 best — sometimes one place, and sometimes another. 



It is not so much a question of low prices in the future, 

 but a question whether we can sell at all or not. Much de- 

 pends upon the cultivation of the sweet tooth in the " genus 

 homo." H. Lathbop. 



EVENING SESSION. 



First were songs and music by Pres. France and resident 

 ladies, after which Mr. France read the following : 



Observations tlirougli tiie State. 



If you and I were to travel together, not likely we would 

 notice the same objects. So in my travels the past summer, 

 of over 3,800 miles in Wisconsin, I will briefly call attention 

 to some things that imprest me as a bee-keeper. 



The careful and generally the most successful bee-keepers 

 were early examining their bees, and if anything was needed 

 it was soon furnisht. Not so, as a rule, where I found weak 

 colonies, with little honey, and more or less chilled or starved 

 brood. The season is past and the first-named class In gene- 

 ral have been sweetly paid. Again, have all supplies on hand 

 before busy season. 



As to foul brood, I have seen whole apiaries of empty 

 hives piled in a yard, bees all dead. Also diseased hives con- 

 taining all the old combs, unprotected, bees working on them 

 from the surrounding country; diseased combs thrown in a 

 pile out of doors, also refuse from solar extractors ; loaning 

 old hives and combs ; even to the selling whole di- 

 seased apiaries, and honey from diseased hives. I have also, 

 this fall, seen bee-yards of many colonies, that last spring 

 were so bad as to smell many yards away, but by very care- 

 fully following my directions they are now free from the dread- 

 ed disease. 



So few beekeepers take a bee-paper (1 out of 16) that I 

 was a stranger to nearly all I met, who had queer notions. 

 All kinds of receptions and accommodations, some very pleasant 

 and others not. 



Fai.sk Rki'OIIT.s. — So often has some bee-keeper told me 

 that his bees were all right, so far as foul brood was con- 

 cerned, but his neighbor's bees were very badly diseased. Up- 

 on a little questioning I found he was envious, and lackt a 

 true brotherly love. This has caused mo many long and un- 



