Feb. 20, 1902. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



117 



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Convention Proceedings. 



Report of the Colorado Bee-Keepers' Convention 

 held in Denver, Nov. 18, 19 and 20, 1901. 



BY D. W. WORKING, SECY. 



In iliakiiig lliis report of the proceedings of the aiiiuKil 

 meeting of ihc Colorado State Bee-Keepers' Association, I 

 assume tliat the readers of the American Bee Journal are not 

 inlcrcstcd in many of the business matters that were of 

 iniporlance to the members at the time; also, that much of 

 the discussion would be of interest to so few Journal readers 

 that it is better to omit at least those parts that seem to have 

 only a local application. So, while the Journal will have 

 opportunity to publish all the papers, the editor will not 

 be required to use his blue pencil to any great extent in 

 marking out profitless matter. 



The first paper of the session was on grading honey ; 

 and as it was written with the Colorado grading rules as 

 a text, it seems well to print those rules in connection with 

 the paper. They follow : 



COMB HONEY RULES. 



No. I — Sections to be well tilled and capped, honey white or 

 slightly amber, comb white and not projecting beyond the wood, wood 

 to be well cleaned; cases of separatored honey to average 21 pounds 

 net per case of 24 sections, with a minimum weight of not less than 

 20 pounds for any single case; cases of half-separatored honey to 

 average not less than 21^ pounds net per case of 24 sections, with 

 a minimum weight of 20^ pounds for any single case; cases of unsep- 

 aratored honey to average not less than 22j^ pounds net per case of 

 24 sections, with a minimum weight of 2iJ^ pounds for any single 

 case. 



No. 2 — Includes all amber honey of a pronounced tinge, and 

 all white and amber honey not included in No. i ; to be fairly well 

 sealed, uncapped cells not to exceed fifty in number exclusive of 

 the outside row, wood to be well cleaned; cases of separatored honey 

 to ai'erage not less than iS pounds net per case of 24 sections; cases 

 of half-separatored honey to average not less than 19 pounds net per 

 case of 24 sections; cases of unseparatored honey to average not less 

 than 20 pounds net per case of 24 sections. 



EXTRACTED HONEY RULES. 



Extracted honey shall be classified as white and amber, shall 

 weigh twelve pounds per gallon, shall be perfectly free from particles 

 of wax, and shall always be marketed in new cans. .\11 rendered 

 honey, whether obtained by solar heat or otherwise, shall be classed as 

 strained honey and not as extracted. 



RECOMMENDATIONS. 



It is recommended to sell all cull honey around home as much 

 as possible; to grade only in daylight, near a window; to use the 

 standard 4j4x4j-ixi^S inch section and the 24-pound double-tier ship- 

 ping-case, in order to have uniformity in loading cars; to stamp all 

 cases of No. i honey with the owner's name above the handholes; 

 to mark all cases of No. 2 honey with two dashes in the handholes 

 at each end of the case, and with no other marks whatsoever; to use 

 no second-hand cases for No. 1 and No. 2 honey; to pack all sections 

 with paper below and above, and in double-tier cases to put a sheet 

 of paper between the tiers; to store comb honey in a warm, dry 

 place, protected from flies and dust; and to haul carefully, well pro- 

 tected from dust and rain. 



Grading Honey. 



The subject assigned me by your committee is so im- 

 portant that I had hoped it would be handled by older mem- 

 bers with more practical experience. I shall speak of comb 

 honey only. 



The grading of comb honey is so closely related to the 

 entire field of production that I shall not attempt to write 

 a comprehensive article. Assuming that we have a first- 

 class article in the house, the question is grading for color, 

 beauty of build, and weight, so as to get the best returns 

 for the product. 



The first essential of grading I believe to be honesty of 

 purpose ; but an attempt to grade by any of the established 

 rules has always brought me many difficulties. I believe 

 we, on the Western Slope, have grades of amber honey that are 

 not found on the east side, and the term "slightly amber" in 

 the Colorado grading rules was a constant source of trouble 

 to me in attempting to follow those rules. We have a 

 decided amber grade of honey that always has clean white 

 cappings, and all buyers have taken it as No. i honey when 

 buying by weight; and vet I fear our rules would make it 

 No. 2. 



Up to the past season I have been making a case of 

 honey of even color and allowing buyers to grade it ; and 



after convincing them of honest, careful packing, I have 

 been very much pleased witli their liberality in grading 

 cases. The past summer I trierl to grade by the Colorado 

 rules, and sold by the case for the first time, getting a sub- 

 stantial advance in price over former sales. And I will say- 

 that careful work in producing, care in cleaning and pack- 

 ing, with or without rules for Xo. i and No. 2, will bring 

 good rewards for the labor expended. But I was especially- 

 impressed with the value of weighing cases, being able to 

 guarantee weights and sell by the case. J. S. Bruce. 



F. L. Thompson — In regard to the uncertainty of includ- 

 ing the amber comb honey of the Western Slope, those 

 grading rules were worded for the very purpose of includ- 

 mg the first part of their second flow in No. I. The only 

 honey of theirs which would be excluded from No. I, accord- 

 ing to its color, is that capped in the latter part of August 

 and in September. 



T. Lytic — Every man is his own grader. He should have 

 absolute uniformity in any one case, and face it with fair and 

 honorable samples of that case. I don't see how we can 

 make rules that will be observed. He should use well-made 

 shipping-cases, uniformly packed, and, above all, should have 

 his comb honey well ripened. We had a tilt here last year 

 on that last item ; hence I wish to say that this year again 

 I received 25 to 40 cents more for my cases than did my 

 neighbors. Of course, there is a great deal in always sell- 

 ing in the same city for some period. 



V. Devinny — What's the use of making rules for me? 

 I have to call in my wife to decide the color of the combs. 

 and many times she can not come. Many are color-blind, 

 and do not wish to acknowledge it. 



Summary of the Recent Discussions on Breeding, 



In one of the recent articles on breeding the following 

 quotation from Darwin was made : 



"If selection consisted merely in separating some very 

 distinct variety, and breeding from it, the principle would be 

 so obvious as hardly to be worth notice ; but its importance 

 consists in the great effect produced by the accumulation 

 in one direction, during successive generations, of differences 

 absolutely inappreciable by the uneducated eye — differences 

 which I for one have vainly attempted to appreciate. Not 

 one man in a thousand has accuracy of eye and judgment 

 sufficient to become an eminent breeder. If gifted with these 

 qualities, and he studies his subject for years, and devotes 

 his lifetime to it with indomitable perseverance, he wll suc- 

 ceed, and may make great improvements ; if he wants any 

 of these qualities, he will assuredly fail." 



Under these circumstances, some will doubtless inquire 

 why the common bee-keeper should pay any attention to this 

 subject at all. I answer, for the same reason that every 

 person who buys hay should know what good hay is, and 

 where to get it, though he may not be competent to raise 

 it himself. If I have 150 colonies, and re-queen them with 

 such superior stock that they average five pouiids apiece 

 more than they otherwise would, that is a gain af 750 

 pounds, and I have the same stock for next year. That 

 result is worth a good deal of study and thought to secure^ 

 whether one selects his own queens or selects the man that 

 sells him the queens. Our queen-rearers, moreover, depend 

 largely on the bee-papers and conventions for suggestive 

 ideas, and we should see to it that they get them by pro- 

 viding for the continuance of this discussion, though it may 

 not aft'ect our personal bee-work. 



The starting-point of the present discussion on breeding 

 in the Eastern papers was the following vigorous language 

 by Mr. A. C. Miller, in the Bee-Keepers' Review for last 

 March : 



"The authors of our text-book.s, and the editors of our 

 journals [look out], appear to be grievously ignorant of the 

 laws of heredity, and of such authors as Darwin, Huxley, 

 Hajckel. Spencer, and a host of other biological authors. 

 Now, if our instructors are thus ignorant, what wonder 

 that the rank and file do not advance in scientific queen- 

 breeding? ... Is it any wonder we do not get ahead? 

 Ball! Scientific queen-breeding, forsooth; 'breeding queens,' 

 'golden breeders,' etc. Rot." 



In the same article he also said : "Crossing tends to cause 

 variation. The male varies more than the female. The male is 

 the stronger element in begetting offspring. . . . Under 

 such conditions it is little less than marvelous that we have 

 made the progress which we have. As I view it, the only 

 thing we have done, actually accomplished, is to cause the 

 bee to vary. Variation, once started, seems to run riot unless 

 fixed by scientific breeding-in. For example of this, look 



