1881. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



405 



one nucleus bom each colony, and i 

 do this bj taking three combs with 

 the adhering bees, and putting them 

 in a nucleus hive. At least one comb 

 should contain brood. As the weather 

 becomes wanner, the strongest of 

 these three-frame nuclei are divided. 



I consider it important to always 

 have on hand a large stock of queen 

 cells, even if I occasionally have to 

 destroy young queens. A breeder can- 

 not rear " dollar " queens at a profit, 

 if lie allows some of his nuclei to stand 

 queenless several days for lack of 

 queen cells. When honey is coming 

 in plentifully, I prefer to put a young 

 queen upon the combs of a nucleus at 

 the same time that I remove the lay- 

 ing queen, but when there is a scarcity 

 oflioney, this plan does not seem to 

 work so well, as many of the young 

 queens are killed by the bees. 



One other point I also consider im- 

 portant, and that is that no nucleus 

 should remain a single day without 

 unsealed brood. Attention to this 

 saves a world of trouble, and largely 

 increases the profits. 



But rearing queens is one thing, 

 and selling them is another. A man 

 may rear the best of queens, but un- 

 less he can sell them, his labor is lost. 

 Remember that it is only by the 

 strictest attention to business, that 

 the rearing and selling of queens, at 

 the present prices, can be made profit- 

 able, and, in my opinion, the selling is 

 of as much importance as the rearing. 



The breeder of untested queens 

 ought always to have orders on hand, 

 so that queens can be shipped the very 

 day that they are ready, as, after a 

 queen has tilled the combs of a nu- 

 cleus with eggs, she is kept only at a 

 loss. " But," says one, " how can this 

 state of affairs be brought about ? we 

 cannot compel people to send in orders 

 whenever we need them." Very true; 

 but did you never notice that there 

 seems to be a peculiar something 

 about some breeders, and the manner 

 in which they advertise, that capti- 

 vates the public heart at once ? The 

 orders come pouring in, and the 

 trouble is not in finding customers, 

 but in rearing queens fast enough to 

 supply the demand. But, you say, all 

 of us have not such a " taking way," 

 or business tact. Certainly not; and 

 for this reason, I would advise all those 

 who think of entering the ranks as 

 queen breeders, to not go into the bus- 

 iness very heavily at first. It is better 

 to spend $10 or $50 in discovering that 

 rearing and selling queens is not your 

 fort, than it is to spend five times 

 that amount in acquiring the same 

 knowledge. It is better to have more 

 orders than queens, because the money 

 can be more easily returned than pur- 

 chasers can be found for surplus 

 queens. And, by this way, if you wish 

 tor plenty of orders, then when a cus- 

 tomer says, " Send my queen by re- 

 turn mail, or else return the money," 

 do just exactly as he says ; do not wait 

 a week or two, thinking that you may 

 be able to "squeeze out" a queen for 

 him in a few days, and that it will be 

 all right in the end. Were I that cus- 

 tomer, it would be the last queen that 

 you could sell me. Don't advertise 

 until you have some queens on hand. 

 Let your advertisement be plain and 

 straightforward. If you must exagger- 

 ate, do it in filling orders. That is, do 

 a little more for your customers than 

 you have agreed to do. If you cannot 

 fill an order atonce, tell your customer 

 at once why you cannot, and when you 

 think you can fill it. If he does not 

 wish to wait so long, lie can order the 

 money returned. Answer every in- 

 quiry promptly, kindly and plainly. 

 After doing your very best, there may 

 arise some trouble or misunderstand- 

 ing. At such times, try and look at 

 the matterfrom your customer's stand- 

 point, as well as from your own, and 

 practice the golden rule. 



W. Z. Hutchinson. 



Rogersville, Mich. 



Mr. B. Walker had been successful 

 in using a nursery for cells made in 

 the top of a chaff hive, and kept warm 

 by the bees. 



Mr. Heddon then addressed the Con- 

 vention on " Comb Foundation," as 



printed in last week's Bee JOURNAL, 

 on page 895. 



Mr. Knot believed that the Given 



press will supersede other machines. 



Mr. Heddon uses strong lye for a 



lubricator. 



EVENING SESSION. 



The evening session was opened by 

 Prof. Cook, with his address on 

 "Crumbs Swept up from the National 

 Convention." 



Mr Jones believed that in many 

 cases one-third of the crop of honey 

 was lost by being eaten by drones. 



Dr. Kellogg addressed the meeting 

 on "Adulteration of Food and Honey." 

 Honey is the first sweet known, and 

 is composed partly of natural grape 

 sugar, contains some pollen, and is 

 stored by the bees with but little, if 

 any alteration. The value of sugar as 

 an article of food is very great ; it as- 

 sists in the production of heat and fat, 

 but does not enter into the solids of the 

 body. When starch is taken into the 

 body, it is largely converted into 

 sugar. Sugar is very digestible. The 

 odoriferous qualities of honey are an 

 important element in it ; they are gen- 

 erally valuable, though sometimes in- 

 jurious ; such cases are generally due 

 to an idiosyncrasy in the person. Cane 

 sugar is the purest form of sugar. 

 Honey is very valuable in some cases 

 of sickness. 'If honey is adulterated 

 with glucose, the fraud may be detec- 

 ted by the use of a warm solution of 

 barium, which, if mixed with it, will 

 cause a milky appearance. The honey 

 should be thinned with water, which 

 should he perfectly pure ; if there is 

 lime in it, the effect will be the same, 

 although the honey may be pure. The 

 speaker said that it had never been 

 demonstrated that glucose contained 

 any nourishment, and he believed that 

 the opposite was the case. He thought 

 its value for food shouldbedetermined 

 by practical tests, rather than chemi- 

 cal analysis. Glucose is made by the 

 action of sulphuric acid upon starch 

 or woody fibre, and the acid is, of 

 course, injurious, if not all extracted. 

 He cited an instance where it had 

 eaten the cork in a jug of golden drip 

 syrup. Such action on the stomach is 

 dangerous. 



It was essentially innutritions and 

 unwholesome. All the syrups now 

 offered in the stores are adulterated 

 with liquid glucose, and all the sugars 

 except confectioners' A, with dry. 



Mr. T. G. Newman then asked Dr. 

 Kellogg to explain the difference be- 

 tween the articles known to commerce 

 as glucose and grape sugar. He re- 

 plied that there was no difference, ex- 

 cept that the liquid was called glucose 

 and the solid was named grape sugar, 

 to distinguish them commercially. 

 Both were manufactured from the 

 same material and alike, with the 

 single exception of the addition of 

 other chemicals to solidify that de- 

 signated as grape sugar. 



Dr. Ashley had noticed many cases 

 of sickness and stomach disturbances 

 produced from this cause. Confec- 

 tioners' A sugar is always pure, and 

 any other that has coarse-crystals. It 

 had been found that bees will starve 

 on glucose. 



A. I. Boot thanked the Doctor for 

 his able and instructive address. It 

 had more than paid him for his trip 

 from Ohio. 



Dr. Southwick said he had visited 

 the glucose factory in Buffalo, N. Y., 

 and was told that they used from 8,000 

 to 10,000 bushels of corn per day, and 

 were enlarging their works. A com- 

 mercial traveler called on them to 

 solicit advertising. They said "they 

 did not advertise." 



Mr. Heddon : The first I heard of 

 glucose I thought it, perhaps, worse 

 than others— so white, and as clear as 

 water, very thick, and a dangerous 

 article, as it could be so readily used 

 in adulteration. 



Prof. Cook : I am glad to hear the 

 remarks of Dr. Kellogg. I teach, in 

 the college, that the grape sugar of 

 commerce and the grape sugar of honey 

 are not the same. Our friend Mr. 

 Root (and I don't believe he is to 

 blame) has talked with the factories, 



and they call one grape sugar and the 

 other glucose. 



Xr. Newman: I admit thai the 

 phrase " Chicago honey " is a by-word. 

 The jars are all adulterated, yet pure 

 honey is sold there by hundreds of 

 tons.' Respecting adulteration, I have 

 ever opposed it. and shall always con- 

 tinue so to do. Honey is but in its 

 infancy. The demand will soon be 

 3uch that all the bee-keepers of 

 America cannot supply it. The fact 

 is America has the flowers which 

 make the best grades. In regard to 

 the use of that trash, called glucose, 

 for any purpose in the apiary,! would 

 say, now and forever, "Taste not, 

 touch not, handle not." 



A. C. Balch. The odor of honey 

 may be kept indefinitely, by putting it 

 in cans and hermetically sealing it. 



Mr. Heddon. Bee-keepers do not 

 adulterate honey ; it costs too much. 

 It is a nice trick to adulterate it ; the 

 mixing is a trade by itself. We do not 

 want jars for honey; they cost too 

 much. Honey will sell in cheap paper 

 or other packages. 



Dr. Whiting. To liquefy honey set 

 the jars on a board in the stove-oven, 

 and let them heat slowly. The jars 

 remain clean and the labels bright. 



Prof. Cook hoped all our people 

 would act and speak against adultera- 

 tion all the time. Mr. Newman, of 

 Chicago, and Mr. Muth, of Cincinnati, 

 had done much to build up a fine sta- 

 ple trade in extracted honey. 



Mr. Haikes. Let us form ourselves 

 into a committee of the whole, and 

 sell only pure honey. 



Dr. Ashley. Medical men are find- 

 ing new diseases of the stomach which 

 they cannot explain. They are found 

 especially among people using cheap 

 sugars. 



Prof. Cook offered the following : 



Resolved, That we urge the editors 

 and publishers of our bee papers to 

 speak and act against the use of glu- 

 cose or grape sugar, and the adultera- 

 tion of honey. Adopted unanimously. 



Mr. Newman made a few pleasant 

 remarks, which were well received ; 

 he said Solomon's advice was right 

 when he said : " My son, eat thou 

 honey, for it is good." 



A resolution of thanks to Dr. Kel- 

 logg for his address was adopted, with 

 a requust that he furnish a copy for 

 publication. Adjourned. 



FRIDAY MORNING SESSION. 



The session opened with a discuss- 

 ion about bee-publications. The fact 

 was brought out that they are con- 

 sidered necessary, and many of those 

 present were willing to pay any price 

 necessary for them. One gentleman 

 had saved 8-0 by watching the market 

 reports. 



Mr. T. G. Newman gave an address 

 on " The Future of the Honey Mar- 

 ket." He said he had given the sub- 

 ject a great deal of thought, and be- 

 lieved the market, to be developed, 

 should be kept constantly supplied. 

 He thought that extracted honey is to 

 become the staple for the masses, and 

 that comb honey, being higher priced, 

 would be used more by the rich, al- 

 though it was but little, if any better. 

 The market may be extended almost 

 indefinitely, if properly managed. A 

 few years ago the bee-keepers of Cal- 

 ifornia were producing more than 

 could be sold at home, and the price 

 became very low. By sending sam- 

 ples over the country, the demand be- 

 came so great as to leave no honey for 

 the use of the producers themselves. 

 California honey is now in demand 

 everywhere. A proper working-up of 

 the market had accomplished this. 

 He expected to see the time when 

 honey would be sold at the door of 

 apiaries, instead of going through the 

 hands of dealers. He strongly advised 

 every honey producer to develop his 

 home market, and cited instances 

 where great good had been done it. 

 Our foreign market for honey is de- 

 veloping fast, and was destined to be 

 very large. Wherever honey is intro- 

 duced, it sells afterwards on its merits. 

 Honey must be put in marketable 

 shape, and this is rapidly growing to 



be the case, lie thought that a bright 



future was very near. 



When honey can be sold at the door 

 of every apiary, it is a staple. Men 

 will look the country over, buy the 

 honey, and all will be sold and dis- 

 tributed. Honey is good to keep. It 

 is not perishable. It can be. trans- 

 ported to foreign markets. 



Mr. Jones, Ontario, found that in 

 Canada small packages sold best; 

 sells best in tin cans; exhibited five 

 sizes of cans, holding from li ounces 

 to 5 lbs. The five cent packages 

 sold the best at the fair at. Toronto. 

 The small cans brought in larger or- 

 ders. He sold 15,000 lbs. at home 

 and 30,000 at the fair. Be said small 

 packages were best ; he used tin cans. 

 Small packages prepare the way for 

 large ones. 



An essay was then read on 



Something about Foul Brood. 



Stock-breeders or fanciers of any 

 kind desiring to meet with success 

 must keep their eyes open at all times. 

 One may be favored or injured by 

 lucky or unfortunate circumstances, 

 but success in every business is gen- 

 erally the result of intelligent man- 

 agement and prompt attention. In 

 the same degree the reverse is caused 

 by ignorance or inattention. 



Nothing requires more the attention 

 of bee-keepers than to guard against 

 the spread of foul brood. Small is the 

 trouble to cure a colony or two, if dis- 

 covered in time, but the whole apiary 

 is in danger, just as sure as a single 

 colony is overlooked. If infested in 

 the spring, every colony will, very 

 likely, be diseased by the approach of 

 winter, and no neighboring apiaries 

 will be safe. In essays, on former oc- 

 casions. I have spoken of the danger- 

 ous and insidious character of foul 

 brood, and gave also simple and com- 

 plete remedies. Interested parties 

 will find records of the same in our 

 bee papers of the present and past 

 years, and save me unnecessary repe- 

 tition. My object now is to admonish 

 our friends to be watchful for their 

 own sake and for our common welfare, 

 and to show how easy, with a little 

 care, great trouble and loss may be 

 prevented. 



You will remember my statement 

 at the National Convention, at Lex- 

 ington, Ky., of my having a few hives 

 infested with the disease during last 

 summer, and of their cure. I expected 

 to have had foul brood rooted outonce 

 more in my apiary, and, no doubt, I 

 was correct at the time ; but perhaps 

 an invisible little speck, a fungus, 

 was hidden in the fissures of the table 

 on which an infected hive had stood, 

 or hidden somewhere on my bee-roof, 

 until it was carried into the hive on 

 the feet of a bee, and brought into 

 contact with a larva. The colony had 

 a number of combs with brood, only 

 two of which contained a few cells 

 with diseased larvse. I exhibited the 

 worst comb at our National Conven- 

 tion at Lexington, last fall, and very 

 few of those present would have recog- 

 nized as diseased a comb like it, if 

 found in one of their hives. It was, 

 nevertheless, the most dangerous kind 

 of foul brood. On my return home I 

 put the bees into a clean hive, on 

 foundation, and fed them with honey 

 and salicylic acid as described at the 

 meeting. They had commenced nicely 

 to build out their foundation, but it 

 being late in the season, I exchanged 

 them for combs well filled with capped 

 honey about a week afterward. 



On preparing my bees for winter, I 

 discovered, in two more hives, one or 

 two cells each containing larvse dis- 

 eased with foul brood. The combs of 

 these three colonies, and all the combs 

 that were in their hives during sum- 

 mer, will be rendered into wax, and 

 my first care in early spring, when 

 bees commence to breed, will be to 

 place a jar of honey above them pre- 

 pared with salicylic acid. Those few 

 diseased cells would have done no 

 harm this winter, but the trouble they 

 would have given me by next summer 

 can only be estimated by a person ac- 

 quainted with the disease. 



Larvse dead from any cause will de- 



