1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



971 



X>ENVBR TURNED DOWN BY THE RAILROAD 

 COMPANIES. 



It looks now as if the railroad companies 

 had turned down Denver in that they have re- 

 fused to accept the proposition of the G. A. R. 

 people to hold their encampment in that city 

 providing that a certain rate could be secured. 

 I notice that a very strong effort is being 

 made to pull it to Cleveland. This matter 

 would be of no particular interest to bee-keep- 

 ers except that the National Bee keepers' As- 

 sociation has a custom of holding its meetings 

 at the same time and place as the G. A. R. 

 The matter rests with the Executive Board, 

 and announcements will be made, probably, 

 as soon as the G. A. R. decides definitely 

 where it will meet. But even then it is not 

 absolutely a foregone conclusion that the Na- 

 tional will meet at the same time and place. 



DOES SLOW COOLING LIGHTEN THE COLOR 

 OF WAX? 



There has been a little controversy be- 

 tween the editor of the Ai)ierican Bee-keeper 

 and the editor of the American Bee Journal, 

 on the question as to whether slow cooling of 

 melted wax will make a dull-colored article a 

 bright yellow. Without desiring to mix up 

 in the fray I will simply say that I rather take 

 the position of Mr. Hill. Slow cooling can 

 have no other effect than to allow certain par- 

 ticles of dirt to settle ; and after these are sep- 

 arated out, the difference in color of the wax 

 will be too slight to cut much of a figure. The 

 only way I know of to make a dull-colored or 

 dark-colored wax yellow is to use a little sul- 

 phuric acid — -a very little — when the color will 

 be brought to a bright lemon yellow. We ren- 

 der anywhere from forty to fifty tons every 

 season. And we rely on the acid almost ex- 

 clusively to get the color. 



THE ONTARIO CONVENTION AND THE BAN- 

 QUET. 



The Ontario Bee-keepers' Convention of 

 Canada was held at Niagara Falls, as sched- 

 uled. While the attendance was not as large 

 as usual, owing, probably, to the poor season, 

 the spirit of the meeting and the character of 

 the discussions were of the best. At the close 

 of the stereopticon work on the evening of the 

 second day, a banquet in honor of the ex-presi- 

 dents of the Association was held at Hotel 

 Savoy. We sat down to the board at about 10 

 p M. After we had partaken of the things 

 that delight the inner man the tables were 

 cleared, and then began the feast that feeds 

 the intellectual man. We drank (water) to 

 the health of "our good Oueen," and then all 

 joined in the familiar song of " God Save the 

 Queen." The first toast was offered by Presi- 

 dent Newton. This was followed by one to 

 the Americans, by W. F. McKnight. It gave 

 him pleasure, he said, to see the increasing at- 

 tachment between the two great nations, Eng- 

 land and America. He spoke feelingly of the 

 Union Jack and of the Stars and Sttipes, and 

 he hoped that the day would soon come when 

 they would float side by side, and would kiss 

 each other in each other's fond embrace. He 



was greeted by frequent rounds of applause, 

 both during and at the close of his eloquent 

 speech. Responses were then called for from 

 the two Americans who were present — Mr W. 

 L. Coggshall and E. R. Root. These uere 

 offered, and then we drank to the health of 

 the ex-presidents, of whom a large number 

 were present. Another national anthem was 

 sung, after which we listened to some delight- 

 ful speeches from the aforesaid ex-presidents. 



The theme of the evening, started by Mr. 

 McKnight, of " England and America," seem- 

 ed to run all through the speeches, although 

 there was occasional reference to the effect 

 that the English flag should be " on top." 

 We listened to an eloquent speech from the 

 ma5-or, who was an honored guest, and to 

 members of the press The meeting finally 

 broke up at 2 o'clock in the morning, after a 

 most delightful evening of speech and song. 



I shall endeavor to give other snap shots of 

 the convention from time to time. 



A VISIT FROM F. E. BROWN, OF CALIFORNIA; 



AN UNCAPPING-MACHINE. 



Last week we were favored with a short call 

 from Mr. F. E. Brown, of Hanford, Cal. Mr. 

 Brown is secretary of the Central California 

 Bee-keepers' Association, and is manager of 

 some 700 colonies, of which number he owns 

 150. He has had a very large experience in 

 extracting honey, and during his short stay 

 here he gave us a number of pointers on ex- 

 tractors and uncapping-cans. He said that 

 the thing we needed now is a good uncapping- 

 machine ; that if we had that, it would pay to 

 run extractors by some sort of motor. He was 

 much pleased when I told him that we had 

 such a machine, and had sent it to Colorado 

 to be tested, and that, if the same proved to be 

 satisfactory, we would put it on the market. 

 But of this, details will be given later. 



Mr. Brown prefers an uncapping-box to an 

 uncapping-can. It should be made of wood, 

 he thinks, so that the uncapping-knife can be 

 cleaned by scraping on the wood next to the 

 box. A metal can or box is objectionable on 

 this account. He preferred to have the box 

 oblong so that combs, as fast as they are un- 

 capped, can be stood on end at one end of the 

 box, ready for the extractor. Combs that 

 have been uncapped must either go directly 

 into the extractor or into some receptacle to 

 catch the drip, and he knew of nothing better 

 than the uncapping-box itself. 



Perhaps I might state that the uncapping- 

 machine that we are testing is the invention of 

 Arthur C. Miller, of Providence, R. I., who is 

 also the inventor of the first practical hot- 

 plate foundation- fastener. He has tested the 

 uncapper carefully, and is very much pleased 

 with its workings. The machine is now 

 in the hands of R. C. Aikin, president of the 

 Colorado State Bee-keepers' Association, and 

 who is also a vice-president of the National 

 Bee-keepers' Association. Mr. Aikin has very 

 thick honey, and does a large extracting busi- 

 ness. If the machine will work satisfactorily 

 for him under his exacting conditions it will 

 work anywhere. 



