416 



May 16, 1907 



American Vae Journal 



winning because the other two stirred 

 bad blood and killed each other off. 

 And now an awful squabble seems 

 coming on between those who want to 

 keep the established genera about as 

 they are, and those who want to split 

 them up, and lug in a great lot of new 

 names. We bee-folks have a right to 

 speak feelingly (to pass from plants to 

 creatures higher), for our bee is called 

 both Apismelli/eraa.n& Apis mellifica; 

 and the great bee is called both Apis 

 dorsata and Megapis dorsata. Let us 

 wait with patience. Millennium will 

 get here finally. And meantime it does 

 help wme to use botanical names. 

 Page 299. 



Breeding for Non-Swarming Beks. 

 The San Antonio convention tried 

 to get its eye on the non-swarming bee. 

 Hardly had conspicuous success at it. 

 Sad to relate, the bee that swarms 

 more than usual is a great deal easier 

 to obtain than.the one that swarms less 

 than usual. And where certain bees 



seem to be non-swarming, it transpires 

 that it was all in the conditions, not in 

 the bees. Change the conditions and 

 directly the bees swarm as badly as 

 others. Still the rooster crows that 

 some time in the geological ages of the 

 future there will be a non swarming 

 bee. But complete control of drone- 

 parentage will come first, I think, to 

 help the thing along. I sometimes 

 suspect that Nature's present bee is 

 about as good at gathering honey as it 

 ever will be, or ever can be. But non- 

 swarming will give the breeders of the 

 future something valuable to breed for. 

 Page 309, 



Against Sulphuric Acid for Cleans- 

 ing Beeswax. 



Certainly C. P. Dadant is qualified 

 to protest against anything that in- 

 jures beeswax — has used beeswax 

 enough. We notice that he protests 

 against the use of sulphuric acid as a 

 dirt starter when rendering it. Page 

 306. 



(Convention 

 Proceeding's 



Report of the 37th Annual Conven- 

 tion of the National Bee-Keepers' 

 Association, held in San An- 

 tonio, Tex., Nov. 8-10, '06 



(Continued from page 398 ) 



Honey for Texas Producers. 



"What is the most profitable kind of 

 honey for Texas bee-keepers to pro- 

 duce, bulk comb, section honey, or ex- 

 tracted?" 



Mr. Hyde— Mr. President, I put that 

 question in there. I want to hear the 

 discussion of bulk comb honey before 

 the Northern bee-keepers, not that we 

 are expecting you to produce bulk comb 

 honey because you have a shorter honey- 

 flow, and it is quite different in this part 

 of the country. We have long seasons, 

 and the seasons are such that we don't 

 find it profitable to produce section- 

 honev. A few years ago, bulk 



comb honey was practically unknown. 

 But today there is scarcely a bee-keep- 

 er in the United States that has not 

 heard of it and how it is produced. It 

 is now the principal product of South- 

 west Texas, and is gaining foothold 

 further North. The demand of the 

 consumer for this article is rapidly 

 growing, and is keeping far ahead of 

 the production. There are many rea- 

 sons why it is rapidly growing. The 

 buyer feels sure that he is getting just 

 as pure honey as if he were buying 

 section honey ; and that he is getting 

 full weight; a'lso that he has bought 

 it at a less price than he could section 

 honey. Then, he has it in a nice ves- 

 sel where there is no waste nor leak- 



age, and, when the honey is used up, 

 he has a nice pail left that is handy 

 in any kitchen. The above will apply 

 to the majority of buyers. Of course, 

 there are some that will always buy 

 section honey because it looks nicer to 

 them. The most delightful sight to 

 nine-tenths of the buyers, is a nice 

 pail of bulk comb honey, with just 

 enough clear, sweet, extracted honey 

 poured over it to cover it and to make 

 it juicy. Bulk comb honey is mostly 

 produced in the Ideal super. There are 

 some bee-keepers that still use the full 

 bodies for bulk comb, but we feel sure 

 it is because they have never used the 

 Ideal, which is lighter to handle; near- 

 er the right amount of room to give 

 a colony at one time; and last, but not 

 least, easier to get rid of the bees. Take 

 off the cover, give them a few puffs of 

 smoke, pry up the super, bounce it on 

 the hive lightly, and most of the bees 

 will fall off. Then pile them up in 

 a pile, smoke them at the bottom, and 

 in a few minutes all of the remaining 

 bees will leave. In that way you have 

 no handling nor brushing of bees. The 

 Ideal frames are handier for extracted, 

 and if vou will use a No. 17 Cowan 

 Extractor, you can extract 4 frames 

 at once. W'e pack bulk comb honey by 

 cutting it out of the frame; then place 

 it nicely in cans and fill the can full. 

 Then pour in extracted honey to fill 

 the crevices. In this way about one- 

 third is extracted honey. Now as to 

 the relative cost of bulk and comb 

 honey. You buy supers and frames for 

 bulk comb once for all time to come. 

 When you buy supers for sections, the 



sections are sold with the honey, and 

 you have more to buy each year, and 

 new separators every 2 or 3 years. And 

 the shipping-cases cost more than for 

 bulk comb. It is much more trouble 

 and time to pack it than to pack bulk 

 comb, and much more apt to get broken 

 up in shipping than bulk comb. And 

 it takes double first-class freight-rate. 

 Bulk comb honey takes fourth-class 

 rate, less than one-half what it takes 

 to ship section honey. Another great 

 advantage in producing bulk comb 

 honey is that we can get the bees to 

 work in the supers much earlier than 

 we can in sections, and they can get 

 in larger clusters to get up heat suf- 

 ficient to produce wax much better and 

 faster than when they are cut up into 

 so many departments. All bee-keep- 

 ers that have tried both kinds will 

 readily testify that they can produce 

 from one-half to twice as much bulk 

 comb as they can section honey. 



The convention then adjourned to 

 meet again at i -.30 p. m. 

 THIRD DAY— Afternoon Session. 

 Pres. Dadant— As the Resolutions 

 Committee are not yet ready, we will 

 proceed with the Question-Box. 



Wages of Apiarian Hired Help. 



"What should we pay experienced 

 hired help in the apiary?" 



Dr. Bohrer— Let Dr. Philhps answer 

 that question. . 



Dr. Phillips— We never hire help ex- 

 cept by the year, and the work is en- 

 tirely different from ordinary apiaries. 

 Mr. Jones— In our district it is hard 

 to get competent help, and we pay all 

 the way from $15 to $30 and $35 per 

 month, but it is mostly at these prices; 

 but we don't get experienced labor. 



Mr. Hyde— I think the part of the 

 country in which we live has a good deal 

 to do with that. I could not tell you 

 what you should pay in Colorado or 

 any State in the North, but I hire from 

 2 to 4 men each year during the sum- 

 mer season, and I have generally paid 

 about $30 down to $iS for the best ex- 

 perienced men ; but this would not apply 

 in North Texas, as labor is worth twice 

 as much as it is in this part of the 

 State; but since I have been down here 

 I have been paying $30 for the best labor 

 I get. 



Mr. 'Victor- 1 have paid as high as 

 $40 per month for some of my help, and 

 I don't know but that the $40 help paid 

 me as much as 2 men that did not know 

 much about it. The balance of my help, 

 I had rather they did not know much 

 about it; but I want one experienced 

 man, and I would like to have one man 

 in charge of each apiary that knows 

 what is to be done, and pay from 75 

 cents to $1.00 a day for the labor, and 

 from $30 to $40 for a man that knows 

 how to do something. 



Mr. Hyde— I aimed to make that ex- 

 planation. The others I call helpers, and 

 the apiaries are under the charge of that 

 man. 



Mr. France — I am a good ways from 

 home, but experienced bee-keepers, I 

 would infer from that; and it is a hard 

 question, indeed, in our part of the coun- 

 try to get men that will work for some 



