July 3, 1902. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



421 



Convention Proceedings, i 



The Chicago Convention. 



Report of the Semi-Annual Convention of the 



Chicago Bee-Keepers' Association, Held 



Dec. 5, 1901. 



BY A SUOKTIIANI) HKl'DHTKIl. 



iContidued from pa(?e 405.) 



PRODUCING UNIFORM QIIAIJTV AND KLAVOR. 



"Can a bee-keeper be certain that from season to sea- 

 .son his bees will produce honey of uniform quality and 

 ilavor ?" 



A Member — No, sir. 



Mr. Burnett — That is one of the reasons why it is not 

 required to have your name on sections of honey. People 

 get accustomed to a certain Ilavor. and if they don't get 

 that again, '■ Oh, well," they say, "this man's honey used 

 to be good, but it isn't any more." It is one of the strong 

 arguments against putting your name on honey. 



Mr. Dadant— We have had bees in apiaries (and have 

 now) three or four miles apart; we used to have six; we 

 have four at present. It is hardly ever that the honey from 

 one apiary is an exact sample of the honey in another at 

 the same date. In some parts the honey will be white 

 clover ; further on there is basswood next to the honey- 

 field, and this will all affect the taste of the honey. Each 

 apiary will have a special brand of its own. A person who 

 is not accustomed to honey will call it not good, if it tastes 

 different from that he has been accustomed to. There is a 

 difference in honey according to the location of the apiary. 



Mr. Moore — Not only would Mr. Dadant find that his 

 two apiaries are not alike, but he will find, if it is as it is up 

 by my house, that the honey this year will not be exactly 

 the same as next year. Another thing you will find is. that 

 the weight will be diff'erent from year to year ; and that is 

 one of the reasons why some people will ask what size the 

 sections are. If you find a locailty will produce exactly a 

 pound section of honey this year it may not produce exactly 

 a pound next year ; that is one of the reasons why it is not 

 the right thing to sell honey by the case. One case will be 

 plump full and heavy, and another case will be lean, and if 

 you sell by the case they will come in and be placed on the 

 market at the same price, and there is no fairness about it. 

 It is not quite the right thing io sell sections by the piece, 

 so long as you can't get the bees to make them of equal 

 weight, and the time has not come when you can get them 

 to do this. 



Mr. Spring — Is it not a fact that the quality and flavor 

 of honey from different colonies, even in the same apiary, 

 will differ quite materially, and at the same time? 



Mr. Dadant — Yes. A gentleman right by my side called 

 my attention to that fact, which I know to be the case. I 

 knew of a most interesting case of this kind, when bees 

 stored from honey-dew, which is produced on the trees early 

 in the morning or at night. The bees gather it late in the 

 evening or early morning. I remember some colonies of 

 bees being a little earlier than others, and they would go 

 out and get it every morning, while a lot of the colonies 

 . near by didn't get any of it, because they got out too late ; 

 and some hives had hone3' almost like molasses, while 

 others had white clover — black and white, side by side. 



Mr. Moore — I remember years ago I had an apiary that 

 was working on buckwheat ; two colonies stored white 

 honey and the rest buckwheat. 



Mr. Blunk — I had one colony this season right the re- 

 verse ; I had dark honey right through on white clover. 



GETTING COLONIES READY FOR THE HONEY-FLOW. 



"Will a good queen starting to lay April 15 have her 

 colony in good condition for the honey-flow June 10 ?" 



Dr. Miller — That depends upon the strength of the 

 colony April 15. 



AMOUNT OF STORES FOR WINTER — BEST SIZE OF HIVE. 



" Is 45 pounds, gross weight, enough to winter a colony 

 of bees ?" 



Mr. Dadant — Our hives weigh SO pounds, empty. 



Dr. Miller -That depends again upon the weight of the 

 hive and the age of the combs ; upon the amount of pollen 

 present. A lot of old black combs will weigh very much 

 heavier than fresh, new combs. Taking the average col- 

 ony, I should say 45 |)Ounds Is rather light. 



" What is the best size of hive to use in producing comb 

 honey '! Is a lOframe hive too large for comb-honey pro- 

 duction ?" 



Pres. York — Limiting it to Chicago locality, how many 

 think the lO-frame hive is the best size of hive to produce 

 comb honey ? 



Ten favored. 



Pres. York — How many think the 8-frame hive is the 

 best? 



One favored. 



Pres. York — Is a 10-franie hive too large for comb-honey 

 production ? 



Mr. Ilorstmann — I don't think any hive is too large. 

 The question is. Can you produce coml) honey to better ad- 

 vantage in a large hive than a small one ? I will use an 8- 

 frame hive until I can prove that the 10-frame hive is better. 



Mr. Dean — In regard to the production of comb honey, 

 I don't think it makes very much difference onlj- in this re- 

 spect : A lO-frame hive leaves the bees in better condition 

 after winter: they will have more ripe sealed honey in the 

 lower story than in an Sframe hive; consequently I think 

 the 10-frame hive the better. 



A Member— How about the 12-frame hive, Mr. Dunn? 



Mr. Dunn — I have not tried it long enough to tell. 



MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS. 



" Is the tall section of any advantage in the Chicago 

 market ?" 



Mr. Burnett — No. 



" Does the clipping of the queens lead to supersedure ? 



Dr. Miller— No. 



"What has been the average winter loss in Cook 

 County ?" 



Pres. York — Pretty hard to tell ; I guess not as heavy 

 as in some other places. 



" What is the best temperature for a bee-repository ?" 



Dr. Miller — About 45 degrees. Judge by your own 

 thermometer ; find out where they keep the most quiet ; find 

 out for yourself. 



Pres. York — In other words,attend to your own business. 

 [Laughter.] 



" How close can apiaries be located ? and how many 

 colonies should an apiary consist of?" 



Dr. Miller— That depends. 



A Member — Depends upon the flowers. 



Pres. York — Suppose the bee-pasturage is pretty good, 

 how near ? 



A Member — Say within two miles. 



Dr. Miller— Three miles. 



" How many colonies should be in each apiary, or can 

 be ?" 



Mr. Hintz — Not over 50. 



Mr. Dadant— 80 or 100. 



Dr. Miller — There is no rule about it. You have to 

 study up your locality ; 40 or 50 will overstock some places ; 

 you have to find out by experience. After you have had an 

 experience of 15 years in that place then you can make a 

 guess on it. 



" Is it advisable to leave the ;'s-inch hive-entrance open 

 when wintering bees out-doors ?" 



Dr. Miller— Yes. 



"With the 10-frame hive for comb honey, can you suc- 

 cessfully contract to six or eight frames at the beginning of 

 the honey-flow ? 



Dr. Miller — I don't know. 



"While being very fond of honey I have not bought 

 any for years, because all that I did buy tasted like syrup. 

 How do you account for this taste ?" 



Pres. York — It would be pretty hard to account for some 

 peoples' tastes ! 



Mr. Burnett — There is considerable in that question, 

 although I didn't ask it. The facts are, that if you supply 

 people with honej- that they are not acquainted with, they 

 will stop using it. Buckwheat honey is preferred by some 

 (of course, they are in the minorit)', nowadaj's), but if that 

 has been the honey they are accustomed to, no other will 

 do. Some prefer mild, white clover, some honey from 

 Illinois, others from Wisconsin, and Minnesota and Iowa, 

 and nothing else satisfies them. If you give them Utah, 

 Colorado or California white lioney, and the_y are not accus- 

 tomed to using it, they at once say, " Oh. that is manu- 

 factured honey ; it has no taste," etc., and they stop using 



