1898. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



659 



out one frame, usiDK the nine, making the bee-space inside, 

 letting the thin, tight-fitting adjusting board come up even 

 with the top of the frames. 



I hope I have made my answer plain, and as all apiarists 

 of experience Ijnow, ample and free ventilation Is very essen- 

 tial, not only for the comfort of the bees, but a great factor in 

 curing honey as well. This being so, I want to say to all, 

 that there is no arrangement or method and hive that will 

 compare with my method in this one feature alone, so far as I 

 am acquainted ; and by the use of the slatted separators there 

 cannot be improvement in this direction. 



While I was writing the above paragraph, a bee-keeper 

 came a long distance to see my hive and method in operation, 

 retiring for the night at a late hour, but to arise at the dawn 

 of day declaring there is no system of manipulation on earth 

 could supersede the Golden melhod for simplicity and profit ; 

 and that he would journey home and subscribe for the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, and by 1899 be fully convinced to change 

 to the Golden method. 



As to Mr. Hastin's second question, five to six days after 

 hiving shake or brush the bees from the combs, destroy all 

 queen-cells, and anything that looks like a queen-cell, replace 

 and set the parent hive on the stand, and supers on top. Now 

 remove the cage and queen, and insert a section, put on the 

 cover, and let the queen run in with two or three piiflfs of 

 smoke. It is a good idea to place a queen-excluding zinc 

 guard at the entrance for two or three days, as some have 

 reported that some colonies swarmed out, but nearly every 

 case proved that a cell was overlookt. 



In conclusion, see to it that plenty of room is provided, for 

 there are lots of bees, and more hatching. 



Morgan Co., Ohio. 



UNITED STATES BEE-KEEPERS' UNION. 



Report of the 29th Annual Convention Held at 

 Omaha, Nebr., Sept. 13-15, 1898. 



DE. A. B MASON, SEC. 



IContlnued Irom page 644.1 

 FIRST DAY — Afternoon Session. 



FACING COMB HONEY FOR MARKET. 

 " Is it advisable to face comb honey for market ?" 



Mr. Cameron — Yes ; and then I think it would be advis- 

 able to make all just like the face. 



Dr. Mason — I suppose it is meant putting the best on the 

 outside. Farmers that are going by our house face their loads 

 of potatoes, apples and tomatoes, and so forth. I should say 

 DO, it Is not advisable. lam rather "at sea" on this thhig, 

 because we have been putting so much faith In some of our 

 great lights, and they have failed us. Here Doollttle has 

 gone to advising facing comb honey — that is, by implication. 

 Mr. Root recommends certain courses of action to be right. It 

 Is a question in my mind whether I had better place any con- 

 fidence in anybody. It is not a question with me as to whether 

 It is right to deceive people by putting the best outside. Mr. 

 Hutchinson, I believe, says that you don't deceive anybody — 

 that they expect it. If he Is right, then it is right to face 

 comb honey, or anything else. A gentleman came along by 

 our house yesterday morning with potatoes — very nice on top. 

 I said to him, " Are they the same all through?" He said, 

 "Yes, sir." I took his word for it — thought it was perfectly 

 good. I turned the potatoes into a basket bottom side up, 

 and they weren't half as good. That was deception, and he 

 mist a sale. Is there any question as to whether It is right or 

 not? I think not. I lived on a farm once myself, and sold a 

 good deal of produce, and I found It to be a bad practice to 

 " face," whether it was potatoes, or onions, or anything else. 



Mr. Cameron — How would it do to put the best In the 

 bottom ? 



Dr. Mason — That pays. Among those who patronize you, 

 you get the name of being a square dealer. It does not pay 

 to put the best on top, besides being absolutely dishonest. I 



don't say that that is my opinion; I say it is so, and I can 

 prove it. 



J. H. Masters — In packing apples It Is usual to face the 

 bottoms of the barrels — and then reverse the barrels. 



Mr. Danzenbaker — Facing is universally practiced with 

 apples. You open a barrel of apples that has the brand on it 

 — Baldwins, or Greenings, or whatever It may be — and you 

 take the head out and you find the barrel faced. If you don't 

 find any good ones on top you can conclude that there are no 

 good ones there. There are, of course, packers whose name 

 on the barrels is a guaranty. I sort my honey before it goes 

 into the case. I pick out four for the front, and then say to 

 the merchant, " If there is any In there that you can't sell 

 for 20 cents, put it aside for me. They want It to look as 

 nice as possible, because they pile It up to make a show. If I 

 had some that was travel-stained I would put some travel- 

 stained at the front. That kind of facing is honest. I have 

 never had a case come back to me on a complaint. I do not 

 face with white honey at the front and put dark behind. We 

 face just as we paint a house or hang up window-curtains to 

 make it look nice. If there is good honey in the case it must 

 be shown. If they don't see It they conclude that there is no 

 good in it. 



E. R. Root— 1 would say that I at firstsided with Mr. Doo- 

 llttle, and when I found I had made a mistake I got off of the 

 fence. I might say that there is perhaps a species of facing 

 that is not dishonest, and there is a kind of facing that is cer- 

 tainly dishonest. I don't believe there Is any one here who 

 would think it proper to put buckwheat honey into the case 

 and have it faced with white honey. I don't know that I would 

 do It myself, but if some one sold me a case of honey with 

 the best sections in front, I don't know that I would say he In- 

 tended to deceive me. It would depend on how far he in- 

 tended to pick out the best sections. I believe that nearly all 

 honey that goes on the market is faced somewhat. It is so 

 easy to put one or two of the best sections in front. I never 

 think that the best sections will be in the rear or in the center, 

 and for that reason when we buy honey from the dealer's 

 standpoint we generally take off the cover and pull out a sec- 

 tion or two from the body of the case. We go rather by the 

 inside of the case than by the face. That would seem to argue 

 that all honey is faced to a certain extent ; for4hat reason we 

 prefer to see what Is on the inside. 



Dr. Mason — Why do you look in the center of the case ? 



E. R. Root — Because we want to know exactly what the 

 honey is all the way through. 



Dr. Mason — Then you are afraid it is faced ? 



E. R. Root — We are afraid it is faced. 



Dr. Mason — The question is, " Is it advisable to face comb 

 honey ?" 



E R. Root— I don't think it Is. 



A. I. Root— This question has been up quite extensively 

 In the fruit papers. They make a certain compromise, that 

 there is no harm in fixing a case of strawberries or peaches or 

 other fruit so that the best side of the red cheek is uppermost. 

 There might be a difference of opinion in regard to that. Some 

 say It Is like exhorting the members of a family to " put their 

 best foot forward." I think It pays to take pains to make 

 things look nice and attractive, but I don't think it pays to 

 cheat in any shape or manner. Making a good appearance 

 has everything to do with selling your stuff. For instance, 

 Mr. Selser has the handsomest honey-wagons I ever saw in 

 my life. I believe that his wagons have a areat deal to do 

 with his sales In the city markets. You ought to make every- 

 thing look as well as possible without cheating anybody. 



Dr. Miller — This Is one of the topics that has been pretty 

 thoroughly discust, and yet I think it can be profitably dls- 

 cusl here. Whilst there has been some feeling about the mat- 

 ter, I think if we would all look at it from the same stand- 

 point, we would all see it about alike. I don't believe there Is 

 a more honest man than G. M. Doollttle. He doesn't look at 

 the matter exactly as some of the rest of us do. I am not sure 

 that he looks at it from the right standpoint. He looks at It 

 In this way : When you send honey to a commission man you 

 send It with the understanding that he has the whole thing 

 before him, and it is his business to look and find out what 

 there Is In It, and with that understanding he says facing is 

 entirely right — that It Is right that I shall put buckwheat 

 honey In the middle of the case and ray best honey In front. 

 If that argument Is all right, then Mr. Doollttle Is entirely 

 right. But I don't believe it is straight. I think when you 

 send honey to a commission man he expects the honey outside 

 to be the same — to be a representation of the whole thing. Mr. 

 Ernest Root tells us they look on the Inside of the cases ; but 

 they do not look on the Inside because they think the outside 

 ought to be a fair representation of the whole. The feeling 

 in their minds when they open the case is that the outside 



