June 6, 1907 



487 



American l^ee Journal 



Report of the Connecticut Con- 

 vention 



The 16th annual convention of the 

 Connecticut Bee-Keepers' Association 

 was held in the Capitol at Hartford, 

 April 6, 1907. That the Association 

 has g'rown during the past year was 

 evidenced by the fact that the room in 

 which the meetings have been held for 

 more than IS years was too small on 

 this occasion, and an adjournment was 

 taken to the Supreme Court room. 



Officers for the ensuing year were 

 elected as follows : Allen Latham, of 

 Norwich, President ; Rev. D. D. Marsh, 

 of West Hartford, Vice-President ; and 

 J. Arthur Smith, of Hartford, Secre- 

 tary and Treasurer. Executive Com- 

 mittee, Edwin D. Barton, Stephen J. 

 Griffen, and George W. Smith. 



Dr. E. F. Phillips, of Washington, D. 

 C, spoke in the morning concerning 

 American and European foul brood, 

 and referred to the enormous losses 

 caused throughout the United States, 

 and some of the good work done by in- 

 spectors. He said that either disease 

 can be handled easily if one knows 

 how to do it ; that if you teach a man 

 and treat the disease you don't have to 

 visit him again. 



In the afternoon he took for his sub- 

 ject the inspector, and stated that the 

 bee-disease inspectors throughout the 

 country are doing fine work ; that they 

 are reliable, hard-working and a much 

 maligned class. A high tribute was 

 paid to Charles Stewart, of New York 

 State, as an inspector, whose tact in 

 handling bee-keepers is remarkable. 

 A. G. Edmondson was referred to as 

 one who knows bee-diseases, who 

 makes no mistake in a diagnosis, »nd 

 who, when sued, has taken honey into 

 court to prove that the disease actually 

 existed. Dr. Phillips said it is harder 

 to handle the bee-keeper than the dis- 

 ease, and although there is no opposi- 

 tion from honest bee-keepers, yet it is 

 necessary that the inspector have a 

 strong law back of him ; that although 

 there is only one case in SCO that the 

 inspector has to call in his power as a 

 police officer, nevertheless he should 

 be given a weapon that is strong. 



Dr. Phillips strongly favors legisla- 

 tion, and said that if Connecticut gets 

 a law passed, and the right man for an 

 inspector, all will be right. He be- 

 lieves that the honey industry has de- 

 creased in the State in the last 25 

 years because of the prevalence of 

 foul brood. 



On May 2 the Committee on Agricul- 

 ture of the Connecticut Legislature re- 

 ported favorably on the Foul Brood 

 Bill. It is hoped that it will finally be- 

 come a law. 



Dr. E. H.Jenkins, of the Connecticu 

 Agricultural Experiment Station, New 

 Haven, was present and extended a 

 cordial invitation to the Association to 

 hold a meeting at the Station. It was 

 voted to accept the invitation, and a 

 field-meeting is to be held there the 

 coming summer. 



A list of questions was taken up for 

 discussion, which had been suggested 

 by members. 



The question, " What is the best out- 

 fit and methods for a beginner," was 

 answered by Mr. Latham, "A hive of 

 bees, a smoker, spunk, brains and 

 time." 



The best way to teach the box-hive 

 bee-keeper to use a frame-hive was, 

 " Let him alone." 



The question as to why bees stop 

 gathering nectar and build drone-comb 

 received two answers: "Bees build 

 drone-comb when the honey-flow ceases 

 and the wax supply doesn't." " Some- 

 times bees build drone-comb for no ap- 

 parent reason." 



No one present had experimented 

 with Caucasian bees except Dr. Phil- 

 lips. He said that they hardly proved 

 themselves equal to the Italians and 

 Carniolans, yet they capped their 

 honey all right. Since they had been 

 under observation they had not ex- 

 hibited swarming tendencies, but 

 might later on. Their extreme gen- 

 tleness was emphasized. 



The bee-moth was discussed, and Mr. 

 Latham said he thought it was present 

 in all colonies, strong and weak, but 

 that the former kept it in subjection. 

 Mr. Griffen believed that there were 

 none in his hives. The method of 

 placing a moth-infected colony over a 

 strong colony, which would rid the 

 former of moths and grubs, was advo- 

 cated. 



It was the opinion of Henry L. Jef- 

 frey that alsike clover yields poor 

 honey. 



The best way of feeding in the fall 

 was said to be the Townsend method, 

 which Mr. Latham explained. 



The question as to the best method 

 of producing wax annually without 

 sacrifice of the honey "rop, seemed to 

 be best answered by the remark that 

 every bit of wax should be carefully 

 saved. One member said that in that 

 way he was able to make all his own 

 comb foundatiou. 



The question of stimulating bees in 

 the spring by feeding, led Dr. Phillips 

 to say that honey from any locality 

 where disease is known to exist should 

 not be fed. 



To prevent honey granulation the 

 rule was given lo heat to 140 degrees. 



E. D. BartO!. aaid that snow should 



be cleaned away from the entrance of 

 the hive in 5 weeks. 



It was the general verdict that bees 

 had wintered well under all methods. 

 J. Arthur Smith, Sec. 



Report of the Chicago-Northwestern 



Bee-Keepers' Association, held In 



Chicago, Wednesday and 



Thursday, Dec. 5 



and 6, 1906 



(Continued from page 4<.S.) 



Charging Different Prices for Same 

 Kind of Honey. 



"Is it policy to charge different prices 

 to different parties for honey that is 

 alike?" 



Mr. Hutchinson — Same quality ol 

 honey? 



Mr. Meredith — The meaning of the 

 question is this: Is it policy to sell 

 honey of the same kind to 3 different 

 parties, charging one say 10 cents, an- 

 other 12 and another 15. I asked that 

 question for the reason that I found 

 there were some customers that con- 

 cluded that they wanted honey that cost 

 more than a shilling a pound, because 

 somebody else had honey that was sell- 

 ing for IS cents a pound while my price 

 might have been 13 or 14 cents. I asked 

 if it was policy to sell honey in that 

 way. 



Pres. York — That reminds me of 

 something I heard about an Evanston 

 family — you have all heard of Evanston, 

 I suppose! They discharged their cook 

 because she did not run up big enough 

 grocery bills. Their neighbors spent a 

 good deal more money on their table 

 than she had been doing, so they dis- 

 charged her— to keep the grocery bills 

 up to the same height as their neighbors. 

 They thought they ought to pay more. 

 Some people think that unless they pay 

 a large price they are not getting a good 

 article. They feel better when they pay 

 more. I don't think that applies to bee- 

 keepers, though ! 



Mr. Taylor — It might turn out to be 

 a bad policy, if they found out it was 

 the same honey. 



Mr. Moore — I have sold honey for 20 

 years. I think it is really an individual 

 matter in which the customer is not 

 very much interested. The customer 

 wants to buy fine honey, and he wants 

 to pay the price agreed upon ; but you, 

 as an honest man, must treat them all 

 alike. You may sell the same grade ol 

 honey at different prices. A man who 

 buys one pound pays 25 cents. A man 

 wfio buys a 60-pound can — you will 

 make more money by selling at a lower 

 figure ; and a man who buys a ton, you 

 will make money by selling at a still 

 lower figure. The only thing that 

 grieves me in- my honey-trade — mostly 

 a family trade — is that the millionaires 

 can not be charged enough so that they 

 will feel that they are getting something. 

 I would like to see the poor man that 

 has to look after the pennies charged the 

 small price ; but I would like to charge 

 the millionaires enough to make them 

 feel they were getting something good. 



Mr. Baldridge — I have sold some 

 hone}-, but I never had but one price to 

 white or black, rich or poor. 



