May 22, 1902. 



AMERICAN BEE JOUPNAL 



325 



Convention Proceedings. | 



The ChicaSo Convention. 



Report of the Semi-Annual Convention of the 



Chicago Bee-Keepers' Association, Held 



Dec. 5, 1901. 



I)V A SUOUTIIAND KEI'OKTKU. 

 iCoiitiuued from i>a(fe .W).) 



IIIVK 110TT0.M-]»)Al;l)S. 



" How many are satisfied with tin' Daiiz. iKittom-lmaid ■.' " 



Five votod favorably. 



" How many arc not satisfied witli it ? " 



About the same luiniber voted unfavorably. 



Mr. Swift — Wliy not? 



Ilr. MllliM- — liceause I do not thinii it is as i;ood as the 

 Milh'r liottcim-b(jard, after which it patterns. The Danz. is 

 simply an imitation, and it isn't as solid. The original Miller 

 boltom-bciard was made to be reversible, but I think it is bet- 

 ter not to be reversible. In the first place, I think the Danz. 

 is not strong enousih. I would rather have it made of good, 

 stron<; lumber. In the second place, I would rather have it 

 made not to reverse. Another point, the Danz. is not deep 

 enough. It is % and 9j. I want it two inches one side and 

 niithin^' on the other side ; and I want that depth of two inches 

 to l)e filled up in the summer-time with a false bottom thrust 

 in, and I can pull it out again with a great deal less labor 

 than I can reverse it : so that I much prefer the bottom-board 

 to stay with the hive winter and summer, in the same way, and 

 when I want a deep bottom I pull it out. 



Mr. Horstmann — My objection is like Dr. Miller's. His 

 idea of having the big entrance would be all right for any one 

 wintering the bees inside, unless he has some advantage in it 

 with the bees during the honey-flow ; but otherwise I think 

 the common bottom-board, the same as he uses, the every day 

 bottoiu-board, is the best. 



Dr. Miller — Did I understand Mr. Horsemann to say that 

 there is iio advantage in the deep bottom-board ? 



Mr. Horstmann — The way I winter my bees in the cellar I 

 raise the hives up and put a lath across the front and rear ; 

 that gives that width all around the hives. There is no pos- 

 siblity of a mouse getting into the repository, and it is usually 

 warm enough ; that is, the bees are warm enough to get at 

 them if there is a hole gnawed through. I don't see the ad- 

 vantage of the big entrance, because I think the rats or mice 

 will get in and have a good time, because the repository is apt 

 to get cold as well as the hive, unless undersround. and by 

 and by, having them higher, unless there is some kind of a 

 guard over it, I think it is a disadvantage. 



Dr. Miller — There is no law against having a guard at th'at 

 entrance, and that's just what I want. I want that two 

 inches under the hive in the winter-time more than any other 

 time. I need it more for the cellar than any other })laee, be- 

 cause then I don't need to separate it from the bottom-board. 

 The bottom-board is fastened to the hive with staples, and 

 when it coiues time to take the bees into the cellar the false 

 bottom is taken out, and there is a deep place for the bees to 

 fall down in. and much more easy for you to clean out a space 

 two inches deep than one one-half inch or one inch deep. And 

 when the hives are taken into the cellar a piece of wire-cloth, 

 three meshes to the inch, can be put at the front and there is no 

 possibility of any rat or mouse getting in there then. It is 

 much less work than raising by a lath or anything else. I 

 follow that because it saves me all the labor. .-^11 in the world 

 I have to do is to take out that false bottom and put in the 

 wire cloth at the entrance, then it is ready for the whole 

 winter. 



Mr. Horstmann — I believe I will have to take it back. I 

 believe Dr. Miller's method is the best, since he has explained 

 it. 



Mr. Mooney — Is that a reversible bottom-board ? 

 Dr. Miller — As made in the first place it would be a reversi- 

 ble bottom-board, because in the first place I used it with old 

 hives that had an entrance cut in the hive in front, and they 

 stood on the fiat bottom, but with the dovetailed it wouldn't 

 work unless I nailed strips around ; but I wouldn't have it to 

 reverse, for the reason I woiild rather have the deep space 

 there summer and winter. 



Mr. I'llunk— How far liack will that extend '.' 



Dr. Miller— Within one.half Inch of the back of thehlve— 

 enough so that the bees will not glue It to the hive. 



Mr. .Mooney— Is that fals('-l)i, Horn supposed to be drawn 

 out anv time In the winter to take out any dead bees that may 

 lie thr'rc, or is it substantially ■stationary? 



Dr. Miller— It Is made of thin material— a shallow box 

 with one i.nd openi'd — and when I first made it I Intended to 

 have it put in. 



Mr. .Mooney — As a draw? 



Dr. Miller— Yes ; but I concluded afterwards It wsi< loss 

 trouble to draw it out and scrape. I believe I would rather 

 havi' it taken out entirely. 



CO.MB HONEY SMD TO BK HOOUS. 



Pres. York — Prof. Eaton has with him a sample of comb 

 honey from Springfield, 111., which he has analyzed, and I 

 would liki' him to explain it. 



I'rof. Eaton— The public in general have rather (jueer ideas 

 of the adulteration of food products, and I don't know that 

 there is any one product that they have more misleading ideas 

 about than the adulteration of, "and the price of, the pure 

 article of honey. A lady came to me with a sample of 

 honey which was granulated. It was reported that it looked 

 as if it was adulterated. It was rather white in appearance ; 

 being solid site was sure that it must be adulterated. I 

 had hard work to make her understand that, if anything, the 

 granulation was a sign of purity rather than of adulteration. 

 Of course, all granulated honey is not pure, but glucose 

 does not granulate. A great many people have the idea that 

 honev must be adulterated if it solidifies, and the newspapers 

 have lately given the public the idea that all white comb honey 

 must be adulterated. You know that is a fallacy. That false 

 statement has brought us a number of samples. This sample 

 is vouched for as being artificial by one of the State officials of 

 Springfield, and. consequently, I made a more than usually care- 

 ful examination of it, as it was sent up to me with almost an 

 affidavit that it was manufacturi'd, comb and all. I telephoned 

 for Mr. Y'ork and had him examine the honey. I knew he was 

 an expert along that line, and he said it showed every appear- 

 ance of being manufactured by the bees. I have examined 

 quite a number of samples of comb honey, but I have never 

 yet found a sample in which I did not liave every evidence to 

 lead me to believe that it was made at least in part by the 

 houey-bee. This sample is granulated in part and is quite 

 white, but under the microscope I find evidence of pollen, 

 which of course indicates its natural origin : and you will 

 notice many other indications which would lead one to be- 

 lieve that it is made entirely or partly by the honey-bee. It 

 apparently has comb fouiulation in it, which I suppose a 

 great deal of the honey put on thi' market nowadays has. I 

 examined the honey extracted from it. and find it to be 

 pure honey ; the comb has also been examined, and up to the 

 present time I have found nothing in the examination of the 

 comb that would lead me to believe that it is a.iything else 

 but pure beeswax. There is one little anomaly in the composi- 

 tion. It doesn't have the same composition as some beeswax. 

 Mr. Dadant — Was the comb cut, or open, or sealed ? 

 Prof. Eaton — .Tust as it is now. It came as you see it 

 here, with something on the top and bottom. 

 Dr. Miller — The capping is there now. 

 Prof. Eaton — Knowing both the honey in the inside to be 

 pure honey, and the comb to be what I believe is pure beeswax 

 (although"! have not definitely decided that yet), and as I find 

 evidences of pollen, I cannot help but conclude that that sam- 

 ple is pure honey, in which conclusion I am aided by Mr. York, 

 who says that it has every external evidence of being pure 

 honey. If any of you can see anything to the contrary from 

 the examination of the sample I wish you would tell me. I 

 don't want to make a mistake. 



Mr. Dunn — It was sent as a bogus article? 

 Prof. Eaton — Yes, sir. The statement was made that 

 there is a lot of adulterated comb honey sold at Springfield. 



Mr. Purple— In that sample, what percent of foreign sub- 

 stance did you find ? (Referring to a sample of adulterated 

 extracted honey.) 



Prof. Eaton — I wotildn't like to state the exact amount of 

 adulteration of any sample of honey. I don't know the com- 

 position of the original honey, nor the glucose, because they 

 vary. As Mr. Dadant says, every bee manufactures a differ- 

 ent product. If I knew the composition of the original honey 

 and glucose in a given mixture, I could tell the exact propor- 

 tions. 



Mr. Dadant — I think that I must have said that the differ- 

 ent blossoms give different results: because I don't think that 

 the bees would make very much difference in the result. 



Prof. Eaton — Perhaps tlia' was what you intended, and 



