1891 



GLEAXING8 IX BEE CULTURE. 



171 



not afford to lose. After we had had a pleasant 

 little chat, Dr. Mason called the convention to 

 order. We then listened to a spicily written 

 paper by E. E. Hasty. I am unable to give the 

 gist of it. because a summary would very in- 

 adequately give a glimi)se of Hasty: but he 

 showed very conclusively, from many instances, 

 taken both from ancient and modern times, 

 that honey is conducive to longevity. 



In the afternoon we listened to an address by 

 President Mason. After welcoming the bee- 

 keepers to the city of Toledo he called attention 

 to the fact that Ohio bee-keepers should take 

 some action in reference to the Columbian Fair 

 at Chicago. He alluded to the scheme that ho 

 had already made public, and published on 

 page 58 of our issue for Jan. 15. He read a let- 

 ter from J. W. Buchanan, chief of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture at Chicago, in which the 

 following questions were asked: 



1. How many State associations will be rep- 

 resented? 



:.'. To what extent will Canada be represented'.' 



3. Should the entire exhibit in all its branches 

 be installed in one deitartment? 



4. If so, how many square feet of space will 

 be I'equired? 



To which Dr. iSIason rei)lied in substance, by 

 number: 



1. From l:i to 15: p<'rhaps 20. 



2. Largely. 



3. Most certainly. 



I. From :.'5.0()() to 30,000 square feet. 



A committee was appointed to investigate 

 the matter, and make recommendations, and 

 this committee leported. later. adoi)tiiig the 

 suggestions of the i)resident, and recommended 

 Miss Dema Bennett as State superintendent, 

 undei' the advice of Dr. A. B. Mason. 



A paper from Dr. C. C. ^Miller was next read, 

 in regard to bee-laws. He called attention to 

 the need of a few laws for bee-keepiMS, and re- 

 ferred to some that had ah'eady been enacted 

 in Germany, in the interest of bee-keepers, and 

 suggested the wisdom of our having something 

 similar. 



In the evening we listened to a paper on the 

 subject of "How can honey-producers I'eacli 

 the trade? or. do we need a Union ti'ade- 

 mark?" by Miss Dema Bennett. The writer 

 called attention to the importance of putting 

 honey up in attractive packages, and exiiibited 

 some neat flint-glass screw-top jelly-cans. She 

 did not recommend extracting iioney from old 

 combs, as it discolors the honi-y. Conil) honey 

 should be sorted in three lots. It should be ap- 

 propriately labeled, and i)ut in caitons. Put 

 extracted up in tin iniils. Every woman has a 

 use for them. For groceries, a variety of glass 

 packages should b(> used. Don"t let glassed 

 honey candy w hile on their hands, or somebody 

 will call it castor oil: and don't allow the hon- 

 ey to get to leaking. Furnish groci'rymen with 

 photographs of your apiary, to show thein that 

 the product is" produced honestly. As to a 

 trade-mai'k, we do not need it. Some bee- 

 keepei's would abuse its use. She recommend- 

 ed an individual ti'ade-mark. Mr. Hains uses 

 some fancy printed cards, and on these cards is 

 an engraving of his home apiary. Consumers al- 

 ways know that this honey is all O. K. 



In convention, thi' discussion that followed 

 showed that there was a diclded feeling 

 against a Union trade-mark. It would be of 

 no advantage to the honest bee-keeper, and 

 might work injury to bee-keepers as a class. 



J. B. Hains read an essay on spacing brood- 

 frames, in relation to swarming. Mr. H. is the 

 owner of from 5(X) to (i(K) colonies. He has them 

 divided among some 13 dift'ei-ent out-apiaries. 

 His experience favored closer spacing. It re- 

 sulted In more surplus honey and brood. Wide 



spacing gave more honey in the brood-nest, but 

 very little in surplus. 



THE ADVAXTAiiKS OF rSIXG FOUNDATION 



was the subject of a paper by W. Z. Hutchin- 

 son. It presented fairly both sides of the case, 

 and certainly no one can say that Mr. H. was 

 prejudiced in favor of the non or unlimited use 

 of foundation. With foundation, he said we 

 secure perfect combs: and if the securing of 

 perfect combs is not the first and chief advan- 

 tage, it is the next thing to it. If such combs 

 could not bf^ secured otherwise, it would pay to 

 buy foundation at considerable expense rather 

 than go without it. When he first wrote his 

 little book he used empty frames of full Lang- 

 stroth size in depth. The combs all grew at 

 once, and he got good worker comb. In the 

 Heddon hive, the i)lan does not work as well. 



At the conclusion of the paper J. B. Hains 

 and others insisted on full sheets of foundation 

 for brood combs. Mr. Hasty argued for the 

 non or limited use. 



The subject of perforated zinc was discussed 

 by volunteers. The opinion seemed to prevail 

 that it was necessai-y in the production of ex- 

 tracted honey, and some even urged it for comb 

 honey; and this brought up the subject of 



UEK-ESCAPES. 



Dr. Mason used the Dibbern style, and con- 

 sidered it a great boon to extracted-honey men. 

 It did awav with brushing combs, and made 

 extracting innch easier. In regard to perforat- 

 ed zinc, he must have it, because he did not 

 want brood in the upper story. He wanted to 

 have his extracting combs full. 



In regaid to wooden queen-excluding boards. 

 Mr. Hutchinson i-enuirked that he was probably 

 the pioneer in theii' use. He said he had not 

 discaided them because of the shrinkage of the 

 wood, but because the bees would plug them 

 full of wax. We was not of the opinion that 

 those recently inti'oduced by the G. B. Lewis 

 Co. would prov(» to b(^ a success, for that reason. 



Near the close of the convention we listened 

 to the I'eport of the committee on statistics. It 

 was ascertained that the average amount of 

 honey secured by Ohio bee-keepers was ^'5 lbs. 

 per colony. . 



Just before the close of the convention. J. \. 

 Detwiler. foi'merlv of New Smyrna, Fla.. beg- 

 ged leave to give the president of the conven- 

 tion a rough stick of black mangrove wood 

 fi'om Florida, and suggested that a good cane 

 could be made of it. The remarkable thing 

 about this wood was. that it was very heavy— 

 so heavv. indeed, that it would not float on 

 water. "iNIr. Detwiler requested that sonu^body 

 be called ui)on to duly present the same to Dr. 

 Mason. Some one called for Hasty. "What."" 

 said he. '-right on the spot?" "Yes. y(>s.'" they 

 said. Ml'. Hasty stepped back, secured the 

 cane, came forward, and then stood before the 

 president. I wish I could give you his exact 

 words, for he seemed to speak almost as if by 

 inspiration, although it was evident that he 

 had not had time for preparation. Said he. as 

 nearly as I can recollect. " I hold in my hand, 

 doctor, a piec(i of wood. Like yourself, it is a 

 diamond in the rough. It can be made useful 

 and ornamental. I see some blemishes in it. 

 We all have our blemishes. I observe that it 

 is very heavy— a quality that is indicative of 

 its solidity of character, and a quality that is 

 not altogether lacking in our president." 



At the suggestion of Mr. Detwiler, that we 

 take up a collection to finish up the cane. Mr. 

 Hasty took out half a dollar, and several others 

 did the same, and Mr. Eaton passed the hat to 

 secure further collections. 



Dr. Mason then responded in a very neat lit- 

 tle speech. He had been president of a great 



