100 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



For tlie American Bee Journal* 



Statistics and Essays. 



O. O. POPPLETON— 155. 



I would like to say sometlimg on 

 these two subjects, which have been 

 suggested by articles in the Bee Jour- 

 nal of Jan". 30. 



There is no need of my repeating 

 any of the reasons given by Dr. Miller 

 (page 70) wliy and when we want 

 statistics of our honey crop, as he has 

 stated them fully and correctly. What 

 is wanted is to find the " How "" to 

 obtain them in shape and time to be 

 of value. 



Those obtained by assessors or 

 other state officers, are undoubtedly 

 more complete than can be obtained 

 by any other means, but cannot pos- 

 sibly be obtained in time to be of 

 value. We are, therefore, thrown on 

 our own resources. 



While we cannot get full and ac- 

 curate statistics. -I am satisfied from 

 experience in trying to get them from 

 my own State the past two seasons, 

 that we can get them full enougli to 

 be of very great value in marlietuig 

 our honey. What we want to know 

 is, about what is the extent of the 

 crop in different parts of the country, 

 as regards an average crop, so we can 

 judge about what and where the best 

 market will be. 



I have thought much on this mat- 

 ter, and now give suggestions of what 

 seems to be the best plan I can think 

 of. Let the executive committee of 

 our Korth American Society decide 

 what information is wanted, prepare 

 a list of questions (as few as possible), 

 then publish in each of the bee papers, 

 at least one or two months previous 

 to the meeting of the society, a re- 

 quest to all bee-keepers to send to the 

 vice-presidents of their respective 

 States, answers to these questions on 

 a card, appending to this request a 

 Ust of the vice-presidents and their 

 addresses. These reports can be tab- 

 ulated bv the vice-presidents, and 

 forwarded to the secretary, in time 

 for him to prepare a tabulated report 

 to the society. This will also have 

 the advantage of saving some two or 

 tliree hours of valuable time of the 

 convention, now taken up in listening 

 to individual reports from the States. 

 This plan was tried last year, but en- 

 tirely failed, because it was only pub- 

 lisheJd in one paper, and even that one 

 omitted the addresses of the vice- 

 presidents. These addresses are very 

 important, as I doubt whether one 

 bee-keeper in a hundred in Iowa 

 knows where to address a card to me, 

 if they were simply told that I was 

 the proper person to send their reports 

 to, and the same would be true in 

 some of tlie other States. 



We will probably have very little 

 trouble so far as Iowa is concerned, 

 as our State society is to meet at the 

 time of the State Fair, about the close 



of the honey season, and, of course, 

 statistics can be obtained then. 



ESSAYS^AT CONVENTIONS. 



I have attended several important 

 conventions, the proceedings of some 

 of them consisting almost exclusively 

 of essay reading, while others went to 

 the other extreme, and my opinions 

 are exactlv tlie same as those given 

 by Mr. Hutchinson on page 73. but he 

 gives no suggestions or plan how those 

 opinions can be practically carried 

 out, which is a very important part of 

 the subject. 



I have devoted some thought to 

 this subject, and the best plan I can 

 think of would be the appointment of 

 a committee to examine all essays 

 that may be handed in — they to select 

 such of "them for use by th"e conven- 

 tion as are on topics of general in- 

 terest, and so WTitten as to be an ex- 

 cellent basis for the discussion of the 

 topics they treat of. There are one 

 or two serious objections to this plan, 

 but it is the only one I can think of 

 that will prevent the reading of long 

 prosy essays on topics not or general 

 interest, nor valuable as a basis for 

 discussion. 



Anvthing that helps to make our 

 conve"ntions more valuable, is well 

 worthy the careful consideration of 

 all persons who may be charged with 

 their conduct. 



Williamstown. lowa^Feb. 1. 1884. 



[Would it not be better to select a 

 few topics, and appoint some person 

 to prepare a short speech or essay to 

 introduce each subject, making sug- 

 gestions, etc. V— Ed.] 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Ohio State Convention. 



The Ohio State Bee-Keepers' Con 

 vention was held in Columbus, O., 

 Jan. 14-11). First subject : ■' How to 

 create a home market for honey." Dr. 

 Besse said that by care and careful 

 management there is no trouble in 

 creating a home market. When he 

 first began, could only sell from one 

 to two pounds where he now sells 

 from five to ten pounds. By making 

 a good showing at County Fairs it 

 lieTps greatly tocreate a home market. 



Mr. Benedict thinks we should im- 

 press on the minds of the people that 

 honey is healthy as well as a luxury, 

 and that it should he kept in every 

 lionse as a medicine for coughs, colds, 

 and. in fact, for all lung diseases. 



Mr. Goodrich, of Columbus, had no 

 trouble in selling 2,800 lbs. of ex- 

 tracted honev at from 18 to 20 cents 

 per pound. He put it up in five and 

 ten pound buckets ; thinks he can sell 

 more by using the ten pound buckets. 



Mr. Cochran advises using two- 

 pound sections for comb honey in the 

 home market ; he thinks it is just as 

 easy to sell two pounds as one ; the 

 first thing to do is to get the confi- 

 dence of tlie people, so that they 

 know that they are getting pure 

 honey. Others engaged in the dis- 

 cussion, but generally agreed with 

 the above. 



" What shall we do to prevent adul- 

 teration of honey ?" It was gener- 

 ally considered that we could do noth- 

 ing more than when we knew of any 

 person so engaged, that we publish 

 them, and it they are members of this 

 association, that they be expelled 

 ther^rom. 



" Will bees feed on glucose ?" It 

 was said by those that had tested it, 

 that they would not, if they could get 

 anything else to work on. 



'• How many colonies can be kept in 

 one locality at a profit ?" It was gen- 

 erally decided that by sowing pastur- 

 age "on the highways, creeks, and 

 waste ground in a neighborhood, that 

 there could not be liees enough put in 

 any one locality to overstock it. 



ilrs. Cochran asked if it was not the 

 duty of bee-keepers to cultivate some 

 honev-producing plants in order to 

 keep the bees rrom destroying their 

 neighbors" grapes V 



A. I. Root, of Medina, spoke of the 

 main honey plants, also mentioned the 

 great western fireweed in this con- 

 nection. Catnip, sweet clover, borage, 

 etc.. was also added to the list. 



" How to prevent second swarms V" 

 The method thought to be the best 

 was to look through the hive, after 

 the first swarm had come off, cut out 

 all queen-cells and introduce a laying 

 queen. 



A committee was appointed to wait 

 upon the members of the Legislature 

 to see if we could not get an appro- 

 priation to be used in securing the 

 statistics, and to investigate the 

 causes of diseases among bees, etc. 

 S. D. Riegel. Dan'l Spear. Burgis 

 Helphrv, Dr. H. Besse, C. M. Kings- 

 bury, and J. T. Martin were ap- 

 pointed as the committee. 



A committee was appointed to con- 

 fer with tlie Ohio State Board of Ag- 

 riculture in reference to an enlarged 

 premium list for the State Fair. 



A motion was then made to change 

 the time of holding the annual con- 

 vention from fall to winter, which was 

 adopted unanimously. 



"Which are tlie best size of sec- 

 tions V"" I will not occupy space to 

 give the discussions, but will give 

 the votes as thev were taken on the 

 diiferent sizes. The natural law of 

 convenience will solve tliis problem 

 better than we can do at conventions. 



Mrs. Cochran said that ladies pre- 

 ferred the one-pound sections, as they 

 are the most convenient for table use. 



One member favored half-pound ; 28 

 favored the one pound ; 3 favored the 

 1% pounds ; and quite a number did 

 not vote. 



The vote in favor of the width of 

 sections was : 17 favored 1}4 inches in 

 width ; 3 favored 1^^; 1 favored 1%, 

 and one the 2-inch sections, and great 

 many did not vote, as they had no 

 preference. It was the unanimous 

 expression of the convention to do 

 without separators. 



The subject of the size of frames 

 for brood-chamliers was next dis- 

 cussed. The majority favored the 

 Langstroth; however, some favored 

 the \0}4\\()H : otliers 12x12 ; and some 

 11x11, and all gave reasons why we 

 should adopt their favorite sizes. 



Mr. Fredenburgh says it is impor- 



