808 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURJJ^AL. 



or suggest where I might obtain, a 

 list of bee-keepers, comprising one or 

 two names in each county where the 

 industry is of any prominence, and 

 also give the points which, in your 

 opinion, such an investigation should 

 cover? Very respectfully, 



J. R. Dodge, Statistician. 



The convention then adjourned un- 

 til 9 a.m. on Thursday. 



THE SECOND DAY. 



The convention was called to order 

 by I'resident Hilton at 9 a.m. 



From the Question-Box was taken 

 the following : " How shall spring 

 dwindling be prevented where the 

 wind blows in from the lake over a 

 bank of ice V" 



J. H. Robertson— Move to some 

 other locality. 



R. L. Taylor— I do not think that 

 spring dwindling is the result of cold 

 weather in the spring, but of imper- 

 fect wintering. 



Shade lor tlie Bees. 



Prof. Cook— I would advise the use 

 of a shade-board everytime ; and I 

 say this after having tried about 

 everything that has been recom- 

 mended. I would like a high trim- 

 med grove for comfort. 



John Rey— Sunflowers. 



R. L. Taylor— Shade-board's. 



President Hilton— How about the 

 swarms clustering in high trees ? 



Prof. Cook— If the queens" wings 

 are clipped, as they ought to be, there 

 ■will be no objection to the bees clus- 

 tering where they please. 



President Hilton— I tried grape- 

 vines for shade, and they proved a 

 nuisance. In this latitude it is doubt- 

 ful if shade is needed. 



David Shangle — When I began 

 keeping bees, some of my hives were 

 painted dark, and others white. The 

 combs melted down in some of the 

 dark ones, but never in the white 

 ones. I have painted the dark ones 

 white, and I do not use shade, and I 

 do not think tllat it is necessary. 



J. H. Robertson— My yard is all 

 shaded by high trees, and I like a 

 good shade. 



R. L. Taylor— There are only a few 

 days in the summer when shade is 

 needed, and when it is needed, I know 

 of notiiing better than a shade board. 



W. Z Hutchinson — Who can say 

 from experience that more or less 

 honey will be secured by shading the 

 hives y 



R. L. Taylor— This is a pretty fine 

 point. If one-half of the hives were 

 shaded, the bees might suffer for ivant 

 of the sunshine at some particular time, 

 and those without shade suffer from 

 the sunshine at some other time ; and 

 thus each half of the apiary store an 

 equal amount of honey. As I have 

 already said, shade is needed only a 

 few days, and even then the only 

 trouble is that the bees are driven out 

 of the supers. 



T. F. Bingham— I do not shade my 

 hives, and I have never had a comb 

 melted down. The entrances extend 

 the whole length of the hive— 22 

 inches. 



Mr. R. L. Taylor, of Lapeer, Mich., 

 then read an essay, entitled, 



Coiub Honey vs. Extracted Hoiicy. 



The advantages to the apiarist of 

 producing either kind of honey ,rather 

 than the other, depends upon his 

 tastes and circumstances. Our choice 

 in all the ordinary, not to say the 

 most momentous .things in life, is 

 controlled largely by our tastes ; and 

 this controlling influence will gen- 

 erally be felt when we come to decide 

 whether we shall make it our business 

 to produce comb honey or extracted 

 honey, and it is highly proper that 

 this should be so. 



Every one does that best which he 

 likes best. I like best the production 

 of comb honey, and my mind invol- 

 untarily pictures to itself superior 

 neatness and comfort, and greater 

 ease and more equable division of the 

 labor of the season among the days, 

 as appertaining to this branch ; but 

 while I continue to like this best, I 

 must confess that when I sit down 

 and listen calmly to reason, it is diflS- 

 cult to find any great difference in 

 these respects. So there is no ac- 

 counting tor tastes ; nevertheless they 

 should be consulted, for though they 

 cannot be voluntarily created, yet 

 they are largely formed in response 

 to the necessities of existing condi- 

 tions ; and it is these conditions which 

 in the absence of a decided bias must 

 be consulted in order to determine 

 whether it is better for any particular 

 individual to devote his apiary to the 

 production of comb honey or of ex- 

 tracted honey. 



Now what these conditions are, it is 

 of interest to all apiarists to know ; 

 and as I view it, the chief among 

 them are the following, namely : Ex- 

 isting appliances, the quality of the 

 honey produced, the season when it is 

 obtained, and the character of the 

 home market. 



Of course, if an apiarist is supplied 

 with the appliances necessary for the 

 advantageous production, and the 

 care of comb honey, he should be very 

 slow to incur the expense incident to 

 a complete change of these for those 

 adapted to the production of extracted 

 honey ,and vice versa. 



Secondly, choice in the matter 

 should often be influenced by the 

 quality of the honey produced. It is 

 seldom best to undertake the produc- 

 tion of comb honey unless it is to be 

 white and of good quality. Dark 

 comb honey is almost always a drug 

 in the market, and sells generally at a 

 very low price— so low that when the 

 increased amount of extracted honey 

 that can be produced, is taken into 

 account, the latter will be found to 

 bring easily the more money. 



Next, it is to be remembered that 

 in the early months of the season the 

 bees produce wax freely, and work it 

 readily, while later in the season they 

 are rather slow to do either ; and the 

 resulting fact is, that with the other- 

 wise equal opportunities they will 

 usually store much more honey dur- 

 ing the first part of the season than 

 during the last, if they are obliged to 

 build the comb in which to store it ; 



so it will generally be found more 

 profitable to use combs for extracting 

 in which to secure the fall nectar. 



Lastly, the character of the home 

 market is to be considered. I think 

 it is safe to say that if three-fifths of 

 the price of comb honey can be ob- 

 tained for extracted honey, the pro- 

 duction of the latter is the more 

 profitable in all circumstances; and 

 there are many home markets in 

 which nearly or quite as much is 

 obtained for the latter as for the 

 former. Those who are blessed with 

 such a market should cultivate it 

 assiduously, and keep it supplied con- 

 stantly with extracted honey of the 

 finest quality that can be produced. 



It is to be noted, also, that gen- 

 erally the man makes the market. 

 Some have a remarkable faculty in 

 this way. They never have any difli- 

 culty in making a market for any- 

 thing that they have to sell. Such 

 should make the most of this talent, 

 and thus not only greatly benefit 

 themselves, but also to a considerable 

 extent relieve the markets of the 

 larger cities. R. L. Taylok. 



T. F. Bingham— I should say for a 

 home market, extracted honey ; to 

 send to Chicago, or for merchants to 

 handle, comb honey is probably the 

 most profitable. 



Prof. Cook — How much more ex- 

 tracted than comb honey can you pro- 

 duce. Mr. Taylor V 



R. L. Taylor— It depends upon how 

 the honey is produced. If left upon 

 the hive until the season is over, per- 

 haps 50 per cent. There is also 

 another point that is usually lost sight 

 of, viz : Colonies worked for extracted 

 honey become more populous. For 

 instance, if one-half of an apiary is 

 worked for extracted honey, and the 

 other half for comb honey, those col- 

 onies worked for extracted honey 

 will become the most populous; and 

 it should be expected that they will 

 gather more honey. 



T. F. Bingham— It may not be gen- 

 erally known that honey stored and 

 ripened by a strong colony is of su- 

 perior quality. 



Using Honey in Coolting. 



T. F. Bingham— Honey cannot be 

 successfully used in cooking; es- 

 pecially in "making cakes or anything 

 that must be baked. The great heat 

 necessary burns the honey and de- 

 stroys the flavor, and spices must be 

 used to cover up the burnt flavor. 



Mrs. R. L. Taylor— Is it white V 



President Hilton— Not so white as 

 some cake. 



Mrs. Taylor— Yes, but Mr. Hilton, 

 is it xohite f 



President Hilton— Not so white as 

 sponge cake, 



Mrs. Taylor— Is it yellow V 



President Hilton— No. 



Mrs. Taylor— We make a coffee 

 cake with honey, but it is neither 

 white, yellow, nor sweet ; it is bl'own. 



Prof. Cook — We" had some peculiar 

 honey about three years ago. I pre- 

 sume you all know what it was with- 

 out my telling you ; it was miserable 

 stuff. We let a baker in Lansing try 

 some of it in making cookies, telling 



