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80 



NINTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



take an axe and chop the candied 

 honey up and shovel it into a tank. 



President York — Any other method? 

 Is there any other way to get granu- 

 lated honey — candied honey — out of 

 'barrels ? 



L. C. Dadant — Use a spade; dip your 

 spade in 'hot water; let it get thor- 

 oughly hot, and you will find it will 

 go right down through the honey with 

 very little trouble. 



Mr. Rodenberg — That is the easiest 

 part — to get the spade into it — but get- 

 ting the spade out, you get a chunk of 

 honey. 



Mr, Dadant — ^It is kind of sticky; 

 you have a hard job anyway you put 

 it; but, if granulated, the honey will 

 come right out. 



Cement Hive Bottoms. 



"How many have tried cement for 

 hive bottoms?" 



President York — All who have tried 

 cement for hive bottoms, raise your 

 hands. (4.) . 



Mr. Horstmann — That question is 

 not exactly plain. Do they mean for 

 the bottom of the brood chamber, or 

 stand for the hive to rest on? 



Mr. Huffman — I put that question 

 in. I wanted to see how many have 

 tried it. I tried it, but I don't like it, 

 but I prefer it for a hive stand. I 

 have about two hundred of them in 

 use; I don't think there is anything 

 better; I don't think there will be any 

 dampness; there will not be as much 

 dampness as there would be with a 

 wooden stand. 



Dr. Miller — Tell us exactly how they 

 are made, and what they cost. 



Mr. Huffman — As to the stand alone 

 — you can get them made for about 5 

 cents each; you can't get a board stand 

 for that. I make mine 16 inches wide 

 by 26 inches long; large enough for a 

 bottom to 10-inch frame Langstwth 

 hive. Mr. France is using a lot of 

 them; he said he would not have any- 

 thing else. I have been using mine 

 about two years. 



A Member — How thick? 



Mr. Huffman — Two or 2% inches. 



Mr. Holtermann — How do you make 

 them? 



Mr. Huffman — I hire a man to make 

 them. 



Mr. Holtermann — The upper part, 

 does it form the shape of the bottom- 

 board? 



Mr. Huffman — No, it is perfectly 

 smooth and level; put cement around 

 the sides and finish it off on top just 

 the same as you would a sidewalk. 



Mr. Cavanagh — Would it not be just 

 as well to have a hole in the center 

 of that stand and use less cement? 



Mr. Huffman — I am like the Irish- 

 man was with the boot; I believe the 

 more material you can get for the 

 money, the better. The better and 

 surest way to move them^ is to set 

 them up on edge. 



Dr. Miller — Coming back to Mr. 

 Cavanaugh's question, whether it 

 might not be better to have only the 

 rim, there is another thing; if you 

 have a flatboard surface, or a bottom - 

 board to standi upon; that holds the 

 water, and both the bottom-board and 

 the stand will rot from that. The ques- 

 tion is. Will not the water be- 

 tween the bottom-board and this 

 cement do the same? If it does, 

 there will be an advantage in having 

 merely the rim. If you have a hive 

 setting upon a flat surface, a flat board, 

 there is a kind of large black ant that 

 gets in and will honey-comb the whole 

 thing; before you know it, they will" 

 eat right through the bottom -board; 

 two surfaces coming together favor 

 that; I don't know whether they would 

 work with the cement the same as the 

 other; my idea would be that it would 

 be an advantage to have merely an 

 edge of the cement instead of the fiat 

 surface. If you are going to have a 

 lot of stands, in a place where you 

 know you are going to have them per- 

 manently, would it not be better and 

 cheaper to have them built on the 

 ground ? 



Mr. Huffman — That is what my son 

 says. I would prefer the stand of it- 

 self. As to what Dr. Miller says in 

 regard to the ants bothering, I don't 

 -think they will bother. I don't think, 

 as Dr. Miller saysi in regard to rot- 

 ting the bottom-board, that the damp- 

 ness is enough for that, if you set it 

 with a little incline, there will not be 

 enough dampness to cause any effect 

 as to rotting; this cement business is 

 all new to us. 



•Mr. Rodenberg — ^I have planned to 

 make cement stands next spring for 

 mine, and my idea wag to make them 

 to remain permanently right where the 

 stand is to be; make small cement 

 blocks at each corner of the hive to 



