18i8. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



85 



didn't work at all. It granulated just as quick with it as 

 without it. 



Pres. Miller — H. D. Burrell reported that he used tartaric 

 acid, and his syrup granulated solid in the combs. 



Mr. Green — I should suppose the reason of that would be, 

 it was not boiled after the tartaric acid was added ; it must be 

 boiled slowly afterward. 



Mr. Wheeler — Mine was boiled at the time I put it in. 



Pres Miller — I don't believe you can settle "why;" you 

 will find it sometimes will and sometimes won't. 



Mr. York — I read in one of the monthly bee-papers, about 

 a year ago, that to prevent the granulation of extracted honey 

 if M water were added it would do it. It was written by one 

 who ought to know what he was talking about. 



Mr. Green — I should think that would make some honey 

 granulate more readily. 



Mr. Wheeler — I am pretty sure it would sour it. 

 LContinued next week."] 



Report of the California State Couveutiou. 



BY JOHN H. MARTIN. 



The California State Bee-Keepers' Association held its 

 annual meeting in Los Angeles Jan. 10. The meeting was 

 called to order by Pres. A. J. Cook at 2 p.m. There was no 

 set program, and a committee was appointed to prepare one — 

 composed of C. A. Hatch, J. F. Mclntyre and H. E. Wilder. 

 While the committee were out, Prof. Cook gave a short review 

 of topics that should be discust by the association : 1st, The 

 old vs. the new Union. 2nd, Adulteration. 3rd, The Bee- 

 Keepers' Exchange. 



Mr. W. L. Porter, a prominent bee-keeper of Colorado, 

 and Mr. Thos. Wm. Cowan, editor of the British Bee Journal, 

 England, were present, and were Introduced, also elected 

 honorary members. 



The report of the committee on program was presented, 

 and the first topic considered was 



THE TWO bee-keepers' UNIONS. 



Mf. Mclntyre was in favor of the amalgamation of the 

 two Unions. "The National Union had been a great success in 

 defending bee-kjepers against prosecution by fruit-men and 

 others who considered bees a nuisance ; but it was not dis- 

 posed to prosecute the adulterators of honey. The United 

 States Union proposes to take this very important matter in 

 hand, and he was decidedly in favor of uniting the two. 



The tendency of the discussion was in the same strain. 

 Several who had heretofore been opposed to the amalgama- 

 tion of the two were now in favor of it. Mr. C. A. Hatch pre- 

 sented the following resolution : 



"Resolved, That the new United States Union should ab- 

 sorb the National Union." 



Upon putting the resolution to vote, 43 favored it, with 

 none opposing. 



Upon a motion by R. Touchton, the Secretary was in- 

 structed to inform the respective managers of the two Unions 

 of this action. 



The next subject for discussion was 



THE ADULTERATION OP HONEY. 



Mr. Hatch said that the adulteration of honey was prac- 

 tically stopt In Wisconsin by the enactment of stringent laws 

 and the enforcement of them. 



C. H. Clayton, author of the present law In this State 

 against adulteration, said that the proper enforce-nent of the 

 law in this State would have the same effect ; but as the 

 greatest amount of adulteration was practiced in the East, a 

 general pure food law should be enacted under which we 

 could work more effectively. 



BEE-KKEPING IN ENGLAND. 



This topic was on the program, and the announcement 

 meant that Mr. Thos. Wm. Cowan would give the assembled 

 bee-keepers something interesting upon that subject, and they 

 were not disappointed. We wish that we could give a more 

 perfect report of the address, but we trust that the report we 

 do give will repay perusal. Mr. Cowan, in substance, said : 



That while in California large apiaries are common and 

 encouraged, in England there are but few large apiaries, and 

 large apiaries are not encouraged ; the small apiary is the rule 

 in England, and many of the apiaries are kept in fruit-growing 

 districts for the purpose of fertilizing the fruit-blossoms. 



Bee-keeping, according to improved methods, began about 

 1860. The Langstroth hive was introduced at that time, 

 and was used by the most progressive bee-keepers, but the 



real advance did not become general with bee-keepers until 

 1873. Up to this time many straw and other rude hives were 

 used, but now the Langstroth hive is gradually superseding 

 all others. In 187-1 the British Bee Journal was started and 

 an association organized ; something of an impetus was also 

 given to the industry through the exhibits of honey In the 

 Crystal Palace in London. 



In organizing the British Bee-Keepers' Association it was 

 difficult to get bee-keepers to attend. The Association is now 

 made up from afliliated societies. The various county socie- 

 ties are obliged to elect two delegates to represent them in 

 the council, which meets every month. Often the delegation 

 from a county society will number eight or ten, and a large 

 attendance at the council is the result. Refreshments are 

 served, and then follow papers and discussions upon topics of 

 interest to the various societies. 



Through its thorough organization the British Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association is doing excellent educational work, several 

 books upon the different branches of apiculture having been 

 publisht. The Association grants certificates to the most pro- 

 ficient in the manipulation of not only frame hives but straw 

 hives as well, and in the management of foul brood and other 

 diseases. When an examination of candidates for certificates 

 is to be held, several counties unite and select a place where 

 bees can be manipulated. After the candidate is examined, 

 the examination papers are sent to London and past upon by 

 the council. In order to secure a certificate the candidate 

 must be able to give a lecture upon any subject in the practice 

 of bee-keeping. 



Experts for the handling of foul brood are appointed and 

 compensated according to the work done. The expert does 

 not visit keepers who are well up In their business, but it is 

 the careless or ignorant bee-keeper whose bees are found dis- 

 eased. In many districts in England the bees have all died 

 from this disease. It was virulent because many bee-keepers 

 had no knowledge of the interior of a bee-hive ; straw hives, 

 or something equally inaccessible, were in use ; such bee-keep- 

 ers would defy the expert, for there was no law to compel the 

 destruction of diseased bees. The Association had adopted a 

 system of payments where foul-broody colonies were to be de- 

 stroyed, and tho the payments were small it satisfied the owner 

 of the bees, and enabled him to .purchase healthy colonies if 

 his own were all destroyed. 



The honey market is developt by the holding of honey- 

 shows In the various counties, and a central show in London. 

 A system of labels has been adopted. These labels are issued 

 by the county association. Each member is alloted a number 

 which is stampt upon his label ; if he sells inferior honey it is 

 traced to him, and his name is stricken from the Association. 



The Association employs an analyzer, and if a person is 

 caught adulterating honey or selling it under an Association 

 label he is imprisoned ; they are not left off so easily in Eng- 

 land as they are in this country. 



There are about 53,000 bee-keepers in the British Isles. 

 They will average live colonies each : in favorable localities 

 the yield is from 100 to 150 pounds per colony, but the gen- 

 eral yield is from 50 to 60 pounds. 



The bulk of the product is extracted honey, and is put up 

 in 50-pound, 28-pound, and in as small as 4-pound tins ; 

 packages smaller than that are of glass. 



The wholesale price for comb honey is from 14 to 20 

 cents ; extracted honey 12 cents. The value of the annual 

 product is about §750,000. Besides the home production 

 there Is a monthly import of from 10,000 to 15,000 pounds, 

 the greater portion of it from the United States and Canada. 



Imported honey is not Inspected until it Is put upon the 

 market. American honey was held in good repute until in 

 1879 ; in that year Mr. Hoge, who represented Thurber & 

 Co., of New Nork, sold a large amount of adulterated honey, 

 and American honey has not regained the prestige then lost. 



The sources of honey in Eugland are white clover, sainfoin , 

 linn, buckwheat, and the heather honey of Scotland. Heather 

 honey Is darker even than buckwheat, but it sells for a better 

 price on account of its delicious flavor ; it is usually sold for 

 60 cents per section. It is so thick that it cannot be extracted. 

 To secure it in the liquid form the comb must be submitted to 

 pressure; this honey sells for 36 cents per pound. The best 

 imported honey comes from America and the Sandwich Is- 

 lands. Granulated honey sells readily, and the bee-keepers' 

 association is educating people to use it in that form. 



The bee-keeper and the fruit-grower are in accord; the 

 fruit-men recognize the utility of the bee in the fertilization of 

 blossoms, and seeks to have the bees near his orchards. 



An orchardist in Gloucester planted 200 acres of fruit; 

 the orchard was a complete failure In fruit-bearing until a 

 Scotch bee-keeper put In 50 colonies of bees. When properly 

 fertilized by the bees the orchard began to bear. The acreage 



