1881. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 





349 



this God-Riven sweet! How much 

 better to do this Ulan to teed our sweet 



babes and tender offspring upon vile 

 glucose in the fortnol syrups, candies 

 and condiments, and Urns send them 

 to an earlj grave or sow disease in 

 their little systems, by permitting 

 them to use the accursed stntl made 

 from old clothes, boot-heels and dirt, 

 which greedy and conscienceless men 

 have made solely for the purposes of 

 adulteration ! 



Yes; let us use every means to in- 

 troduce honey to our neighbors— to 

 tempt them with its beauty and be- 

 guile them with its sweetness. Let us 

 take possession of every State, County 

 and Local Fair, in the name of hu- 

 manity, and educate the people with 

 such magnificent exhibits of honey 

 that they never can forget it. Dis- 

 tribute to the admiring crowd the evi- 

 dence that honey is good, not only tor 

 FOOD— giving warmth to the system, 

 vigor to the vital functions, strength 

 tolhe body and force to the mind- 

 but that it is Rood for medicine, heal- 

 ing many forms of disease and pro- 



" Mr Newman remarked that he had 

 spent thousands of dollars to help 

 open up the markets of the Old World 

 to honey, and notwithstanding the 

 fact that he had been roundly abused 

 by short-sighted men for so doing, who 

 feared thaut would bean injury rather 

 than a benefit, yet he was glad to see 

 that the beneficial results were being 

 noticed. Europe is holding out her 

 hands to ns and demanding tons of 

 honey, when we have not a pound to 

 spare— our home markets taking all 

 we can produce with our limited num- 

 ber of bees ; but sweetness enough is 

 goiiiR to waste to produce billions ot 

 tons, and the speaker said that the 

 time was coming when a revenue o 

 millions of dollars would be received 

 annually from foreign lands for honey- 

 that was now not gathered. lie knew 

 that intelligence and energy, coupled 

 with improved implements and the 

 "coming bee," would overcome all 

 obstacles and contribute a supply of 

 superior honey to all the markets ot 

 the world. 



President Miller has used wires 

 stretched across instead ot tin. hut 

 found the wires would not only sag, 

 but were imbedded in the honey. 



Mr. Palmerston has used perforated 

 separators, which answered very 

 nicely, but he does not know that 

 they' were any belter than the full 

 sun face of tin. 



Mr. Newman thinks unless they are 

 better than the full surface ot tin. 

 they will prove impracticable, as they 

 cost at least 50 per cent. more. 



President Miller finds that in the 

 fall bees fill up the sections better 

 with separators nearly the full width 

 of the box. 



Mr. Scudder has found a great ad- 

 vantage in the use of separators in re- 

 moving sections as fast as finished; 

 he can remove a section at any time 

 without disturbing the remainder. 



Mr L. H. Scudder remarked that the 

 masses of people needed education m 

 the production and consumption ol 

 honey. Three years ago he, with a 

 neighbor, went to Canada to dispose 

 of their crop, but no one understood 

 the value or merits of honey for home 

 consumption ; their only sales of ex- 

 tracted honey were in drug stores in 

 very small lots for medicinal purposes. 

 Finally after two months spent m 

 Canada in a vain effort to sell this car 

 load of honev, they returned to the 

 United States, and disposed of it in 



job lots. 



The resolution was then unani- 

 mously adopted. 



Increase of Bees. 



Mr. Funk says it is best to increase 

 if the swarming fever gets full sway ; 

 but, otherwise, run colonies as strong 

 as possible. 



Mr Scudder thinks a moderate in- 

 crease is most practicable, then double 

 up when the honey harvest has ended. 



President Miller adopts the plan as 

 practiced by Mr. Doolittle to prevent 

 the increase of colonies ; by caging the 

 queen when the swarm comes out, 

 live days after destroy queen cells, re- 

 turn the queen, and generally they 

 work without interruption. 



Use of Separators. 



Mr McKown asked if any one had 

 nsed sections tilled with foundation, 

 and without separators ? 



Mr. Scudder said his bees would not 

 build straight combs without separa- 

 tors, even with full sheets of founda- 



President Miller would like to aban- 

 don the use of separators; but has 

 never been able to pack his crates 

 with sections built without. 



Mr. Funk has not been able to get 

 straight combs without separators. 



Mr Newman does not think straight 

 combs can be built without separa- 

 tors, to the extent of meeting the full 

 demands of the market. 



Side and Top-Storing. 

 President Miller thinks there is an 

 advantage in side-storing, inasmuch 

 as the bees will begin storing at the 

 side first in the spring. He does it in 

 this way : When the honey season 

 commences, he uses about 8 Langs- 

 troth frames, which gives him au ex- 

 tra space at one side ; he then raises a 

 brood frame from the brood chamber 

 to the super, putting down a division 

 board to take the place made vacant 

 by the removal of the frame ; he now 

 places two cases of sections in the su- 

 per, one on each side of the brood 

 frame ; in four days another case with 

 sections is placed each side of and 

 next to the frame containing brood, 

 and thiscourse is pursued till the super 

 is filled with sections, and the brood 

 frame returned to the brood-chamber. 

 He has found, however, that some 

 times they bulge the sections a little 

 before the super is entirely completed. 

 It was suggested by a member that 

 perforated separators would obviate 

 this trouble. 



President Miller explained that he 

 utilizes the space at the side of the 10- 

 frame Langstroth hive by putting 

 down a division board, and can use it 

 in the spring for stimulative feeding, 

 or fall for winter feeding. He leaves 

 the space unoccupied in summer, and 

 finds it convenient as a pocket to set 

 frames in when looking through the 

 brood chamber. He has had some 

 trouble with the queens going into the 

 sections and depositing eggs. 

 Adjourned till 9 a. m. 



Mr. Wemple inquired if it would 

 pay to transplant sweet clover? 



Several staled if would, if taken up 



before the roots have penetrated. 

 Mr. Lucas has planted ten acres. 



lie saw bees storing honey in boxes 



from it two weeks ago, after every- 

 thing else had failed. . 



Dr. Haskin has had no trouble in 

 exterminating sweet clover when he 

 has not wanted it to remain. 



Mr. Newman thinks this a most im- 

 portant topic. If it Will pay to gather 

 honey from white clover and bass- 

 wood, it will certainly pay to keep 

 sweet clover for them. 



J. Lee Anderson has had trouble in 

 his cornfield from sweet clover. He 

 has been trying to exterminate it for 

 two years, but as yet has not suc- 

 ceeded. .. 



Mr. Thompson suggested that it 

 mowed in June, it would bloom much 

 later, and more profusely. 



Mr. Scudder called attention to the 



WEDNESDAY— morning session. 



Convention opened at 9 o'clock, 

 President Miller in the. chair. 



Pasturage for Bees-Over-Stocking. 

 President Miller stated that al- 

 though many might not feel an inter- 

 est in this subject, he thought all 

 would sooner or later be compelled to 

 give it attention. 



Mr. Scudder being called upon, sta- 

 ted he had kept over 200 colonies in 

 one location. Some seasons he thought 

 all had done as well as alesser number 

 would ; in other seasons he thought 

 the locality was over-stocked. _ 



Mr. Hull has kept over 200 colonies 

 in one location. He thinks, in a good 

 season, it is impossible to over-stock a 

 good location. ,, 



Mr. Chapman thinks with Mr. Bull. 

 He has kept 225 colonies in one local- 

 ity and does not think he was over- 

 stocked. He will only run about 100 

 in one locality hereafter, because he 

 cares for no more than he can take 

 care of alone. 



Mr. Cofflnberry called for informa- 

 tion • How many colonies can subsist 

 in a good locality, with a good honey 

 flow ? . , . , 



Mr. Thompson thinks in his location 

 1,000 colonies would not have over- 

 stocked the past season. 



President Miller has felt at times 

 that his location has been over- 

 stocked. 



Mr. Thompson thinks bee-keepers 

 will, sooner or later, plant for bees, as 

 for cattle and sheep. He spoke highly 

 of sweet clover. 



Mr. Bull has no difficulty in eradi- 

 cating sweet clover from his orchard. 

 He thinks it no more difficult to de- 

 stroy than ordinary weeds. 



Simpson honey plant (ligwort). It is 

 Rood for honey, but is difficult to de- 

 velop to anv extent. It is, however, a 

 splendid honey plant, when properly 

 developed. 



The Secretary read a paper from 

 Rev. A. Salisbury, Camargo, 111., en- 

 titled 



Can it be Accomplished t 

 There should be a uniform market 

 price for graded honey of the. same 

 quality, and all the proceeds of the 

 apiary, corresponding in value with 

 all other lucrative avocations, in pro- 

 portion to the amount of capital in- 

 vested and labor expended to make it 

 a success. However scientific and at- 

 tractive any business may be of itself 

 if it does not remunerate capital and 

 labor corresponding with other pro- 

 fessions and pursuits, it loses its posi- 

 tion of honor in the eyes of all the 

 world, and at once becomes enfeebled, 

 and time is the only arbitrator of its 

 sad destiny. This has been accom- 

 plished in other pursuits— for exam- 

 ple : The manufacture of gum boots 

 and shoes. The several producing es- 

 tablishments of the country agree, and 

 bind themselves in a penal bond ol 

 $20,000, to produce the same quality 

 of Roods, and sell these goods at cor- 

 responding prices. The only cutting 

 on prices is done in the hands of the 

 retail merchant. 



Can we not leanra lesson here, and 

 pause but for a moment to think ol 

 the omnipotence of co-operation. Are 

 those who jointly work in the apiarian 

 business, whether in the person of an 

 editor of a bee paper, or a producer ol 

 honey or supplies for the apiary, men 

 and women of inferior ability? the 

 response is in the negative. 



Light was never brought out or dark- 

 ness, or order from chaos, to reign al 

 once in perfection, but by one in whom 

 imperfection never existed. So we 

 may expect our co-operative work, al- 

 ter years of labor only, to bear the 

 semblance of perfection. We cannot 

 expect men and women who keep bees 

 and raise honev for the market, at 

 once to see the importance of a Na- 

 tional Society, supported by auxiliary 

 Stitte and County Societies, and the 

 greater composed of delegates from 

 the lesser, with duties not only to ex- 

 press the wishes of the producer, but 

 to carry all statistical information to 

 the highest authority, and clothed with 

 power to cast a vote for the good ot 

 the whole. Can it be accomplished V 



freely and fullv meet the requirements 

 of the trade. In this way only can he 

 become a successful apiarist. 



The progressive producer of this 



God-given sweet is never surprised to 

 And that the methods of preparing 

 honey for the market, winch were ac- 

 ceptable one year, are behind the 

 times for the next season. 



It should never be forgotten, while 

 marketing honey, that good quality 

 and attractive packages will command 

 the highest price, and be in constant 

 demand. These tempt the purchaser, 

 and cause a steady demand. 



A producer who is "behind the 

 times," brings his comb honey to mar- 

 ket in f . ti, 8, or 10 lb. boxes, as be did 

 years ago. and wonders why he is of- 

 fered 4 or S cents per pound less for it 

 than his neighbor, who obtained his 

 honey in single sections. But he finds, 

 to his sorrow, that he is not only " be- 

 hind the times" in producing the 

 honey, but also sadly behind in obtain- 

 ing a market for it, even at a discount 

 of one-quarter of its entire value. 



Again, a buyer of honey said in our 

 hearing but a few days ago. that it was 

 tun to him to find a man who was not 

 " up to the times " in being posted on 

 the value of his crop. He went down 

 to Water Street and found a nice lot 

 of basswood honey in the hands of a 

 commission merchant who had not 

 taken the trouble to post himself on 

 the value of the honey, and was will- 

 ing to take an offer some 3 cents per 

 pound less than the real market value. 

 Those who think they cannot afford 

 to take a paper devoted to the interests 

 of honey producers, often sacrifice 50 

 times its cost in the sale of their crop 

 of honev— and does it not serve them 

 right? ' Surely it does I But the inno- 

 cent sufferers are those who find the 

 market price weakened, if not abso- 

 lutely broken by such reckless and 

 unprogressive persons. Here, let me 

 say to those bee-keepers who object 

 to have their neighbors take the bee 

 papers, least they may " tread on their 

 corns," that thev are not only stand- 

 ing in their own light, but are using 

 an argument which comes home to 

 them with double force, when they find 

 the unsophisticated ones cutting the, 

 prices, by their ignorance of what they 

 could and should learn from the papers 

 devoted to bee-culture. 



Extracted honey is gaining ground 

 daily, and is destined to become the 

 staple product, while comb honey, 

 ever delicious and enticing, will hold 

 its own as a fancy article. 



Extracted honev should be put up 

 in small packages— jars, cans, pails 

 etc.. for retail, and in small kegs for 

 wholesale. It is a sad blunder to use 

 barrels holding from SOU to 500 pounds 

 —they are too large to be desirable for 

 the trade, too bulky to be handled 

 with care in transportation, and too 

 dear to be lucrative to the producer, 

 for honey put up in such large barrels 

 is subject to a discount of one cent 

 per pound, because of the difficulty in 

 disposing of it without repacking and 

 dividing into smaller lots. 



If a" word to the wise is sufficient, 

 [ hope that "the wise will under- 

 stand." and profit by these brief sug- 

 gestions of their friend. 



Mr. Newman addressed the Con- 

 vention, on the above subject, giving 



A Few Thoughts on Marketing Honey. 



The Arabs, it is stated, obtained 

 their knowledge of Astronomy while 

 crossing the trackless desert, being 

 compelled to observe very closely the 

 position of the stars to guide them in 

 their journey. Just so should the bee- 

 keeper closely watch the continual and 

 varied changes that occur in the de- 

 mands of the public concerning the 

 preparation of honey for the market. 

 Instead of settling down to the con- 

 clusion that, in reference to marketing 

 honey he knows it all, he should be 

 careful to observe what dealers and 

 consumers demand, and then at once, 



Hereupon sprung up a discussion as 

 to the relative value of comb and ex- 

 tracted honey in market. 



Mr. Anderson inquired what yield 

 of comb honey is proportionate to a 

 yield of extracted ? 



Mr. Hull thinks about one-half. 



Mr. Niehaus run this season 17 col- 

 onies for comb honey, and realized a 

 little over 3.000 lbs. ; he also run 8 col- 

 onies for extracted, and took about 

 the same number of pounds. 



Mr. Thompson can get 300 lbs. ot 

 extracted as easily as 100 lbs. of comb 

 honey. 



Caii one person take care of more 

 bees running for comb honey than he 

 can for extracted? 



Mr Niehaus would rather take care 

 of fifty colonies running for extracted 

 than the same number for comb 

 honey ; in fact, he would rather take 

 care of 75 of the former than .50 ot the 

 latter. 



Adjourned till 1 p. m, 



