THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



761 



President Miller— This is the one 

 way in which bee-keepers may pos- 

 sibly do something to help themselves. 



H. R. Boardman— By reading the re- 

 ports in the bee-papers, I get a pretty 

 fair estimate of what the crop will be. 

 Let us encourage these reports. 



N. W. McLain— I have done what I 

 can to induce the Commissioner of 

 Agriculture to include honey in the 

 statistical reports ; but more can be 

 done in this direction by writing to 

 the Commissioner ourselvers. 



James Heddon— These short letters 

 in the bee-papers have covered three- 

 fourths of the ground that could be 

 covered by a statistical report fur- 

 nished by the government. It we 

 could have these reports formulated 

 by the editors, it would be a grand, 

 good thing. 



There was a long debate on the best 

 means of proeuiing reliable statistics 

 on the production of honey in all the 

 States of the Union. 



Prof. Cook stated that these statis- 

 tics should be tabulated by the Na- 

 tional Agricultural Board at Wash- 

 ington, the same as the cereal and 

 live-stock branches, and asked that 

 concerted pressure be brought to bear 

 on State and National legislative 

 bodies for this object. I suggest that 

 four bee-keepers be selected in each 

 State, to send regular reports to some 

 bee-periodical. 



The following resolution was then 

 passed : 



Resohed, That a committee of three 

 be appointed by the President to use 

 their influence in securing the placing 

 of bees and honey upon the statistical 

 list issued by the government. 



The President appointed the follow- 

 ing: Prof. A. J. Cook, Agricultural 

 College, Mich.; Dr. A. B. Mason, 

 Aubumdale, O. ; and promised to ap- 

 point the other member at some 

 future time. 



It was voted that, in the future, 

 officers elected at the preceding meet- 

 ing shall continue their duties until 

 the close of the convention. 



The convention then adjourned 

 until 7:30 p.m. 



EVENING SESSION. 



The convention was called to order 

 by President Miller at 7:30 p.m. The 

 Secretary then read the following 



Reports of the Vice-Presidents. 



FROM ONTARIO, CANADA. 



While the report of an inferior 

 honey-yield throughout America gen- 

 erally cannot be excepted by Ontario, 

 we are nevertheless pleased to say 

 that a kind Providence has favored 

 us above the average. The winter of 

 1886-87 proved favorable to successful 

 wintering, and early in March re- 

 ports looked promising ; spring, how- 

 ever, resulted in much dwindling, and 

 bees generally were not in drst-class 

 condition for the honey-flow. 



Maple yielded honey exceptionally 

 well, and in Canada some of the 

 oldest bee-keepers say this means a 

 generally poor honey-yield. However 

 q^uestiouable this may be, the predic- 

 tion proved correct. 



From all directions reports show 

 that the average yield was little if 

 any above 25 pounds per colony. In 

 my own apiary, wherein almost every 

 colony was in the best of condition 

 to avail themselves of the honey-flow, 

 there was not one day when the bees 

 worked in a manner Indicative of a 

 tirst-class honey-flow. Basswood. 

 which everywhere— by the abundance 

 of the blossoms— promised so' much, 

 was an almost complete failure, owing 

 to the intense drouth ; and yet from 

 this source a great part of the honey 

 of 1887 was secured. 



I may say that last spring there was 

 neither comb nor extracted honey left 

 upon the market, thus leaving a clear 

 market for the coming crop. This 

 being the case, it can readily be im- 

 agined our supply will not be equal to 

 the demand of former years at usual 

 prices. First-class comb honey in 

 about one-pound sections sold in 

 quantities during August and Sep- 

 tember at 14 cents per pound, and the 

 same article is now in demand at 18 

 cents per pound, wholesale. We do 

 not glass sections. 



As to extracted honey : I purchased 

 in August, and have within the last 

 two weeks purchased flrst-class honey 

 at 8 cents per pound in 1,000-pound 

 lots ; it is wholesaled in 60-pound lots 

 or over, at 10 cents per pound— 1 cent 

 higher than last year. It retailed at 

 13 cents per pound— also 1 cent higher 

 than last reason. 



While the past prices of honey, and 

 the public idea that an advance in 

 price places it upon the list of lux- 

 uries, prevent any material rise, we 

 are free from that injurious cutting 

 in prices from which we have suffered 

 for several years. The method of 

 marketing extracted honey has also 

 undergone a change. We used to re- 

 tail largely in tin packages of all 

 sizes, and do very much wholsaling 

 in kegs. The consumers found that 

 the tin cans were of no use, and now, 

 with of course some exceptions, the 

 most desirable method of marketing 

 honey, is in self-sealing gem jars, and 

 the careful housewife can always 

 make use of these. Of course, a house 

 purchasing 30 or 60 pounds of honey, 

 purchases a can. Our wholesale pack- 

 age is the 60-pound tin can with a 

 wooden case about it. Honey can 

 readily be liquifled in these. 



The demand for honey-labels is also 

 largely a thing of the past, as it all 

 adds to the expense of the honey 

 without a corresponding return. Our 

 consumers are also becoming ac- 

 quainted more generally with the fact 

 that honey granulates. For several 

 years prizes have been given at some 

 of our exhibitions for displays of 

 granulated honey, and also best small 

 lots of granulated honey; this custom 

 commends itself. 



As to British markets, or foreign 

 markets of any kind, nothing has 

 been done. The scarcity of the article 

 alone would have prohibited export, a 

 ready sale being found at home. The 

 Ontario Bee-Keepers' Association will 

 hold its annual meeting at Wood- 

 stock, Out., on .Tan. 10 and 11,18k7. 

 I A hearty invitation is extended to 

 1 our American brethren to come and 



take part in our meeting. In conclu- 

 sion, permit me to suggest that at 

 this convention we take up for dis- 

 cussion the question of "Ventilation 

 and shade for hives." 



R. F. HOLTERMANN. 



Brantford, Ont. 



FROM FLORIDA. 



I have been unable to learn much 

 of the success in other portions of the 

 State, except that there has been a 

 light crop generally, and there is very 

 little honey on hand to be disposed of. 

 In the southern portion of the State, 

 where the wild pennyroyal is found, 

 quite a little crop was gathered in the 

 winter and early spring months, but 

 so far as I have learned the later crop 

 was very light. 



Here on the East Coast the bees 

 gathered honey slowly through the 

 last half of the winter, but by April 

 1, they were quite short of honey, and 

 feeding was done by most of us for 

 several weeks. 



The early crop of May and June 

 was a light one, but enough to give 

 many of us a surplus over and above 

 what is likely to be required in the 

 apiary during the year. 



Little was expected of the black 

 mangrove for this season,but although 

 it came in late, and its season did not 

 last as long as usual, the bees gath- 

 ered steadily from it, and strong colo- 

 nies stored from it as high as 100 

 pounds each ; fourteen pounds in one 

 day beingthe largest record per single 

 colony. This mangrove honey is of 

 fine quality, and has nearly all gone 

 on the market at good prices. 



The fall flowers have yielded a light 

 crop that has helped considerably 

 since the middle of September, al- 

 though heavy rains have interfered 

 largely with the gathering of it. 



I think that about one-third of an 

 average crop is all that can be claimed 

 for Florida for the season of 1887. 



W. S. Hart. 



Hawk's Park,0 Fla. 



FROM IOWA. 



From all I can learn, the season of 

 1887 has been a very poor one through- 

 out the State. The eastern and south- 

 ern portion probably suffered worse 

 than the northwestern part. Fruit- 

 bloom and the early blossoming of 

 white clover put the bees in good 

 condition. Brood-rearing went on 

 till they were fairly booming. But 

 they got just enough nectar from 

 these sources to build up rapidly, and 

 not enough to store any. White 

 clover proved a failure for honey in 

 all parts, so far as I know. Hence, 

 those bee-keepers who depend on that 

 for their white honey got scarcely 

 any. 



Those living near enough to linden 

 forests to catch the flow from that 

 magnificent honey-tree, got a partial 

 crop. In my own case, at the open- 

 ing of linden bloom there was hardly 

 a pound of honey in any of my hives. 

 For two weeks the yield was very 

 good. Had my colonies been well 

 aupplred with lioney in the broo<l- 

 chambers, I should have gotten a very 

 fair crop. As it was, I only obtained 



