86 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Fel. 10, 



was then extended to 500 acres, and the apiary was increast 

 to 200 colonies ; the orchard now produces a large amount of 

 fruit, a large jam factory is operated on the tract, and all of 

 this prosperity is owing to the beneficial intervention of the 

 honey-bee. Several instances of a similar nature might be 

 cited. The honey-bee is certainly a great factor for the pro- 

 duction of perfect fruit. 



The following committee was appointed to draw up a 

 memorial to Congress in reference to the passage of a general 

 pure food law: N. Levering, R. Touchton and J. H. Martin. 



DEEP- CELL FOUNDATION. 



This foundation has not been tried to any extent yet, and 

 it is still problemetical if it ever becomes a commercial suc- 

 cess. Several bee-keepers had noted that bees would not 

 work deep-cell foundation as readily as they will foundation. 

 The new Weed process foundation was considered by those 

 who had given it an impartial trial as superior to all other 

 foundation. 



The election of olScers was next in order, and with the 

 following result : 



C. A. Hatch, President ; Elon Hart, Vice-President for 

 Los Angeles county ; Delos Wood, for Santa Barbara ; M. H. 

 Mendleson, for Ventura ; Dr. E. Gallup, for Orange ; F. G. 

 Reynolds, for San Diego; H. E. Wilder, for Riverside; and J. 

 C. Kubias, for San Bernardino. J. F. Mclntyre, Secretary ; 

 J. H. Martin, Treasurer. G. S. Stubbletield and R. Touchton, 

 executive committee. 



EVENING SESSION. 



The evening session was opened by Mr. Geo. W. Brodbeck 

 upon 



THE BEST SECTION FOB COMB HONEY. 



He exhibited honey in the new no-bee-way section, and 

 pointed out the advantages of the same, viz : that the section 

 appeared better filled, and that more of them could be packt 

 in a case. The disadvantages were that the combs were too 

 near in contact with each oEher when packt in a case, giving 

 Inducement for miller-worms to work ; and if the face of the 

 comb was not perfectly even there was liable to be abrasion 

 and leakage. F'rom a side view the section appeared to be 

 light weight. 



M. H. Mendleson had used the Danzenbaker or tall sec- 

 tion, and had excellent success in producing a first-class honey 

 and selling a portion of it for a good price. He proposed to 

 use them exclusively in the future. 



Under the head of the keeping qualities of comb honey 

 Mr. C. S. Stubblefield said that he had kept white sage honey 

 for three years without detriment to the honey. 



NATURAL vs. ARTIFICIAL SWAR.MING AND THE METHOD OP 

 INCR6.A8E 



was tie next subject for consideration. Mr. Mendleson said 

 that if his bees swarmed freely he let them swarm, but if they 

 did not then he resorted to division. 



Mr. Mclntyre desired to prevent swarming, but if be 

 wisht to increase he usually let the colony swarm, then re- 

 moved the hive from which they issued, and made as many 

 nuclei as there were good queen-cells. The swarm that had 

 Issued was returned to the old location, and put into a hive 

 filled with foundation as soon as the queens were laying in 

 the nuclei, or even before the nuclei could be built up with 

 brood from other colonies that had swarmed. In this method 

 good queens were secured and a rapid increase made. Ten 

 from one could be easily made. 



J. K. Williamson said that he could make 25 colonies 

 from one by the nucleus plan, and have them all strong 

 enough to winter ; it however required a long season. He 

 usually made his increase on a diminishing honey-flow. 



MOVING BEES. 



Tn the process of moving bees Mr. Mendleson used a 

 wagon upon which he could carry 200 colonies, but for long- 

 distance moving it made the load too top heavy, and he usually 

 put on only 150. The springs on his wagon would bear a 

 burden of six tons. 



Mr. Brodbeck preferred to move bees in lighter loads and 

 travel faster. He desired to so move his bees as to prevent 

 night travel as much as possible. 



SECOND DAY— Morning Session. 



FOUL BROOD. 



Mr. Mendleson, foul brood inspector for Ventura county, 

 said that the sure-cure remedy was the total destruction of 

 the colony. He had burned a large number of colonies and 

 their hives. There is no chance for an annihilated colony to 

 spread the disease. 



Mr. Brautigam had found that foul brood was especially 

 virulent in Napa county, with not much effort to eradicate it. 



H. E. Wilder, inspector for Riverside county, said that 

 one cause for the spread of foul brood is in the apathy of bee- 

 keepers. The State law will not allow inspection unless a 

 complaint is made, and bee-keepers are careless about mak- 

 ing complaints. 



Mr. Cowan said that in England in many districts the bees 

 had all died from the disease. It was virulent because many 

 bee-keepers had no knowledge of the interior of the bee-hive. 

 There were bees in churches and other inaccessible places 

 which were liable to spread the disease. The church bees 

 were being removed, and in this thorough way of treat- 

 ing it the disease was much better under control than formerly. 

 Mr. Cowan believed in destroying the hive and the frames, for 

 a germ of the disease would live in a crevice of a hive for sev- 

 eral years, and if at any time it became exposed the colony 

 was sure to become inoculated. 



Mr. Mendleson favored a law to prevent the moving of a, 

 foul-broody apiary into a location where there was no foul 

 brood. A person in moving bees should be compelled to secure 

 a certificate from the foul-brood inspector, guaranteeing his 

 bees to be in good condition. 



It was demonstrated that the disease could be cured if It 

 was handled in a thorough and systematic manner. Mr. 

 Touchton said that the cure should be in the hands of an ex- 

 perienced person, for a remedy in the hands of such a person 

 was all right, but in the hands of a novice it was many times 

 worse than useless. The washes that were recommended were 

 salsoda and lye; the latter would take off paint, and ought to 

 penetrate the most obscure crevices of the hive. 



THE BEST BEE-HIVE. 



Mr. Brautigam said that the manipulation of bees for the 

 highest profit depended more upon the man than the hive. 



Mr. Mclutyre used a 10-frame hive, but had recently in- 

 troduced into his apiary 60 12-frame hives, and prefers them 

 to the 10-frame hives. He thinks that this hive three stories 

 in height will have a tendency to give the queen the highest 

 capacity for brood-rearing, and for the prevention of swarm- 

 ing. 



Mr. Hatch said that he had kept bees in Wisconsin, Ari- 

 zona and California, and had found that if the bee-keeper 

 wants a bucketful of honey he must have a large hive. 



Mr. Martin said that he uses the Heddon hive. The regu- 

 lar Heddon hive is made to take eight frames, but he uses ten 

 frames, and finds that by adding stories as the season ad- 

 vances the hive can be enlarged to any desirable size. 



HONEV-CANS— SUPER-HOLDER. 



Honey-can manufacturers were in evidence with their 

 wares. A Mr. Boyle exhibited tin cans lacquered in imitation 

 of brass. The cans presented a very neat appearance, and in 

 being so treated they did not have the appearance of coal-oil 

 cans. 



Some of the bee-keepers advocated that our honey should 

 be put up in 50-pound cans, and two in a case. The present 

 cases, weighing about 135 pounds, are too unwieldy to handle. 

 There was also an inquiry for 10-pound cans. 



Mr. Heath exhibited an apparatus for removing the super 

 from a hive and holding it in an elevated position while the 

 queen-excluder or an empty super was being adjusted under it. 



After a very pleasant and profitable session in a social 

 way the Association adjourned. 



John H. Martin, Sec. 



Cotuplete Volumes ot 1897.— We have on hand 

 about 40 complete volumes of the American Bee Journal for 

 1897, which we will mail to any one upon receipt of 60 cents. 

 We also have about the same number of the first six month 

 copies of 1897, which we will mail for 30 cents. As thei 

 were 832 pages of the Bee Journal last year, here is a chance 

 for our new subscribers to get a good deal of valuable reading- 

 matter for a very little money. Better order at once, before 



they are all gone. 



-*-»-*^ 



Langstroth on the Honey-Bee, revised by 

 The Dadants, is a standard, reliable and thoroughly complete 

 work on bee-culture. It contains 520 pages, and is bound 

 elegantly. Every reader of the American Bee Journal should 

 have a copy of this book, as it answers hundreds of questions 

 that arise about bees. We mail it for §1.25, or club it with 

 the Bee Journal for a year — both together for only $2.00. 



,s 

 ere 



See " Bee-Keeper's Guide" offer on page 43. 



