ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS ASSOCIATION 



141 



There is no question the toad got it. 



Mr. Wheeler — When I asked if snakes 

 eat bees I was going to suggest that 

 they eat the toads. 



Pres. York — The snake may eat the 

 toad full of bees, I suppose! 



Danger of Overheating Buckwheat 

 Honey. 



"Why will not buckwheat honey bear 

 heating so hot as clover honey?" 



Mr. Arnd— Won't it? 



Pres. York — Without destroying the 

 flavor, I suppose it means. 



Mr. France — I do not know the na- 

 ture of the answer required, but when 

 I was in New York there was some 

 buckwheat honey brought in for me to 

 suggest whether it was suitable to feed 

 bees. I said, "No ; not that wild honey." 

 "But that is New York State buck- 

 wheat," they said: I replied, "I can't 

 help it; I would not want to feed my 

 bees on it, because that honey is full 

 of pollen. You can feel it on your 

 fingers — the grain in the honey of the 

 pollen." One of our most extensive bee- 

 keepers lost 90 percent of his bees that 

 winter. I think for the same reason 

 of the pollen in it, if you heat it too 

 much in liquifying, 3'ou will darken it, 

 and also increase the flavor of it. 



Dr. Miller — The question implies that 

 the heating of buckwheat honey injures 

 it more than heating clover honey. Has 

 any one testimony that that is a fact? 



ATr. Wilcox — I have very positively 

 proved that it is a fact. I have been 

 melting buckwheat honey for 20 years, 

 and I have been melting clover about 

 as long, and I know certainly I can 

 not heat buckwheat hotter than 140 de- 

 grees without impairing its flavor, or 

 changing its flavor so that I can dis- 

 cover that it is what we call "boiled 

 honey;" and I heat clover honey or 

 basswood honey easily to 160. I have 

 tried it with a thermometer, again and 

 again. I will say further that it is al- 

 most impossible, with ordinary care, to 

 reliquify buckwheat honey without im- 

 pairing its flavor. I can not fully re- 

 store its former flavor. I am anxious to 

 know if there is any other explanation 

 than that given by Mr. France. 



Mr. Moore — How do you tell how hot 

 you have your honey? 



Mr. Wilcox — Put a thermometer in 

 it. 

 Mr. Moore — Do you use a thermomet- 



er at all times in heating honey over 

 the fire? 



Mr. Wilcox — Not at all times, but 

 frequently; use it both in- the water 

 around the honey, and in the honey. 



Mr. Moore — Can you overheat the 

 honey while there is a candied portion 

 in it? 



Mr. Wilcox — I shovel the honey into 

 the clothes-boiler, and when it is about 

 melted I have a thermometer and drop 

 it into it, and also in the water. 



Mr. Moore — The question is, Can you 

 overheat the honey while there is a 

 candied portion in it? 



Mr. Wilcox — Yes. If there is no 

 more than one pound melted, and that 

 is heated too hot, that will flavor the 

 whole body. The rest may be candied, 

 meanwhile. 



Ground-Moles in the Apiary. 



"How can ground moles be destroyed 

 in the apiary?" 



A Member — Catch them an-d choke 

 them! 



Another Member — The same way as 

 they can anywhere else. 



Mr. France — Use bisulphide of carbon. 



Dr. Miller — Plenty of cats. 



A Member — A good dog. 



Mr. Taylor — A cat won't catch one. 



Pres. York — Mr. Taylor says a cat 

 won't catch one "in his locality." 



Dr. Miller — They will in mine. 



Mr. Taylor — They won't in any lo- 

 cality. 



Dr. Miller — I would like to ask what 

 his evidence is that a cat won't catch 

 them in his locaHty. 



Mr. Taylor — A cat won't dig for 

 them. 



Dr. Miller — I don't know how they 

 got there, but I see them in the cat's 

 mouth in my locality. 



Mr. Taylor — You mean the meadow- 

 mole, don't you? 



Dr. Miller — They are short, and they 

 look as if they were blind. 



Mr. Taylor — They both look as if 

 they were blind. 



Mr. Kimmey — At one time on my 

 lawn I would get up in the morning 

 and would fin-d where something had 

 gone under the ground quite a disance; 

 and sometimes I would see it working, 

 and dig down with a spade and get it. 

 I thought that was a mole. That is 

 what you are speaking about, isn't it? 



MJr. Taylor — Yes. 



Mr. Kimmey — ^That is the kind I 



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