174 



EIGHTH ANNUAL. REPORT OF THE 



it. There seems to be a difficulty in 

 producing comb honey. 



Mr. Gilson — After you get it very 

 nice and clear, if it is allowed to stand 

 down there any length of time it fer- 

 ments and bursts the caping off. 



The President — Is Mr. Witham of 

 California in the audience and will he 

 please come forward and give us a 

 little talk? 



Mr. Witham— Mr. President, Ladies 

 and Gentlemen of the Convention: I 

 am really glad to see the ladies. I 

 know there are a great many ladies 

 engaged in the bee business. I am 

 glad to be at this Convention, the first 

 convention I ever attended pertaining 

 to bees. I am somewhat of a new 

 beginner in the bee business and 

 therefore I hope I will not be sub- 

 jected to any very serious questions. 



The President — We will be easy on 

 you. 



Mr. Witham — My experience with 

 bees has been very limited. I don't 

 know what is going on in the State 

 even. I know what is going on in my 

 immediate vicinity. I want to tell you 

 how ignorant I am in regard to bee 

 diseases. We have an inspector in 

 our county, and I thought I had dis- 

 eased bees last spring, and I told one 

 of my neighbors who had some bees 

 about three miles away that I believed 

 I had foul brood, but I didn't know it. 

 He sfnt immediately to Monteray, 

 where the inspector lived; he cama 

 down and examined my bees and my 

 neighbor's. When he came to my 

 apiary he says, I was told you had 

 foul brood in your apiary, b"t I find 

 none. I thought I had. He said: 

 You have got none, but your neighbor 

 that told me that you had, hasn't got 

 but three sound colonies. I said he 

 didn't do that maliciously I know, for 



I told him I thought I had it. 



I* 

 Tou know California is a great 

 place for big things, and I presume 

 Mr. Root knows something about that 

 as well as myself. We raise a whole 

 lot of honey there, especially in the 

 southern part, but some times we have 

 to get out there because it is a little 

 too diy, and I guess this season was 

 a poor season, but another gentleman 

 and I, in Santa Barbara county, had 

 some honey. I got four and one-half 

 tons out of 85 hives. There were some 

 ten apiaries that didn't have a pound 

 to sell. If any gentleman here can tell 

 why that is, I don't know, but that is 

 the case. We raise good honey there. 

 The sage honey is a splendid honey. 



Mr. A. I. Root — Water white? 



Mr. Witham — Not always. Our first 

 honey is water white. I am not posted 

 at all in this business and I have 

 came here to learn, and I am glad I 

 am here to hear the pros and cons 

 about bees and diseases, and so forth. 

 I have come to learn and carry back 

 to the West what I can. possibly learn 

 here about bees. All my practice and 

 theory that I get, comes out of Illinois 

 and Ohio and some out of Michiigan. 

 I see they are all represented here. 

 (Applause.) 



The President — Taking up the reg- 

 ular program for the afternoon, the 

 first thing is a debate on the follow- 

 ing: "Resolved, That an Eight-Frame 

 Langstroth Hive is Preferable to a 

 Larger Hive in Extracted Honey Pro- 

 duction." The affirmatiive is to be 

 taken by Mr. S. D. Chapman of Mance- 

 lona, Mich., and the negative by R. F. 

 Holterman of Bradford, 6nt. We do 

 not want it understood that this dis- 

 cussion is to be a discussion pitted 

 between these two gentlemen. We 

 want it understood we are going to 

 try to draw out the facts so far as we 

 can as to the advisability of these two 

 sizes of hives, and the judges will 

 render their decision in accordance 

 with the evidence that may 'be given 

 by these gentlemen and by such dis- 

 cussions as they may draw out. 



Mr. Muth — ^Who are the judges? 



The President — Mr. R. L. Taylor of 

 Lapeer, Mich., and Mr. F. J. Miller of 

 London, Ontario. Are they all right? 



Mr. Muth — ^Mr. Taylor is all right. 

 I don't know the other man. 



Mr. Pressler — It is not likely that a 

 man is prejudiced in favor f the hive 

 he uses? 



Mr. Holterman — ^I know Mr. Taylor 

 is an eight frame hive man, but he 

 has a fair mind, he has a judicial 

 mind, he is a lawyer. We want every- 

 one- to be fair-minded in the same way. 



The President — The decision will be 

 rendered upon the evidence given and 

 we must give these judges credit for 

 being fair men. 



Mr. Chapman then addressed the 

 Convention as follows: 



Mr. President, Ladies and Gentle- 

 men: — Some time ago I received a 

 letter from our Secretary stating that 

 all the best men had refused to take 

 a part in this Convention. He wanted 

 to know if I would not come and take 

 a part in a debate showing some of 



