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, JAN 24 J919 ■ ^'.;;i

FOURTH ANNUAL RBPORT

-OF THE-

Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Assoeiation

Organized February 26, 1891,

-AT-

SPRINGFIELD, ILL.

COMPILED BY

JAMES A. STONE, Secretary,
R. R. 4, Springfield, 111.

CHICAGO, ILL. :

AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL PRINT,
1905.

.: ■^'■■■'■-- ■■■ ^-:"^T--'-^--'^:n:.

OFFICERS AND'MEMBERS

-OF THE-

Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Association

■ FOR 1905.

OI^I^ICEI^S.

President— ' » » J. 0. SMITH, Lincoln

Vice^'Pf esidents ^

1st— AARON COFFIN, Wenona

ll 2d— S. P^< BLACK, Qayton

^\ 3d- J. W, P^IMM, Springfiel^ * '

4th— J. W. BOWEN, Jacksonville
5th— JAS, FOINDEXTER, Bloomington

Sccfctary— » JAS/A STONE, Rt, 4, Springfield

Treasuf ef — " CHAS, BECKER, Pleasant Plains

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LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.

Office of the Secretary. )

R.R. 4, Springfield, Ii,i,., Jan. 25, 1905 f

7b his Excellency, Charles S. Deneen, Governor of the State
of Illinois:

Sir :, I have the honor to transmit herewith the Fourth
Annual Report of the Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Associa-
tion.

Respectfully submitted,

Ji^MES A. Stone, Secretary.

414434

►0

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

LIST OF MEMBERS

OP THE

Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Association

FOR 1905.

Achard, Chas. B., Roselle, 111.
Adler, L. A. Jr., St. Jacob, III.
Almond Bros., Libertyville, 111.
Anderson^ J. L., Harvard, 111.
Austin, C. E., 369 63d St., Chicago, 111.
Abbott, Rev. E. T., St. Jo-seph; Mo.
Allison, A. P., Maquoketa, Iowa.
Arnd, H. M., 141 Ontario St., Chicago, 111.
Baldwin, A. Y., DeKalb, 111.
Becker, Chas., Pleasant Plains, 111.
Bevier, M., Bradford, 111.
Black, S. N., Clayton, 111.
Blunier, Peter, Roanoke, 111.
Bolt, R., R: R. 3, Fulton, 111.
Bowen, J. W., Jacksonville, 111.
Boyden, L. W., 144 Erie St., Chicago, III.
Bronell, Mrs. Dora, Piano, 111.
Brunner, Fred, Coal City, 111.
Burcham, Chas., Mechanicsburg, 111.
Baldwin, A. G., DeKalb, 111.
Ball, W. D., South Bend, Ind.
Barkemeyer, B. D., Oak Park, 111.
Bartz, A. C. F., Keystone, Wis.
Beardsley, E. H., Chicago Lawn, Chicago, 111.
Beck, Baptist, Guttenberg, Iowa.
Black, S. H., Goodhope, 111.
Blume, W. B., Norwood, 111.
Bodenschatz, Adam, Lemont, III.
Brouillette, J. B., St. Anne, 111.
Bell, John C, Valparaiso, Ind.
Bumgardner, J. M., Clinton, Ind.
Burnett, R. A., 199 S. Water St., Chicago, 111.
Campbell, John F., S3 River St., Chicago, 111.
Coppin, Aaron, Wenona, 111.
Cremers, L. H., E. Dubuque, 111.
Crim, S. T., Dawson, III.
Crum, Isaac D., Palmyra, 111.
Candler, Miss M., Cassville, Wis.
Chapman, W. B., 7540 Union Ave., Chicago, 111.
Colburn, R. J.. 6827 Union Ave., Chicago, 111.

gTATfi BEE-KEEPERS^ ASSOCIATION.

Conrad, J. D., Flanagan, 111.
Dowdy, John S., Atlanta, 111.
Dufif, H. J., Sheridan, 111.
DittmerrjGus., Augusta, Wis.
Duby, H- S., St. Anne, 111.
Duncan, Wm., Hinsdale, 111.
Dunlop, Dave S., Greencastle, Ind.
Earnest, D. P., Comstock, 111.
Emigh, Dr. B. T., Aurora, 111.
Eaton, Dr. E. N., 315 Dearborn St., Chicago, 111.
Elliott, Mrs. R. P., Wilmington, 111.
Exo, George, Muscatine, Iowa.
Fleisher, H. A., Kasbeer, 111.
France, N. E., Platteville. Wis.
Frank, J. C, Davis, 111.
Frike, Fred J., Elgin, 111.
Ferguson, L. R., Harvey, Hi.
Fluegge, Theodore, Bensenville, 111.
Frank, JoItn C, Earlville, 111.
Gamash, Jas\ Waukegan, HI.
Gehrke, H. K), Arlington Heights, 111.
Glasser, Wm., Dakota, 111.
Gray, W. H., Wyoming, 111.
Gilbert, L. M., Naperville, 111.
Glessner, Mrs. J. J., 1800 Prairie Ave., Chicago, 111.
Hagler, H. T., Virden, 111.
Haise, Chas., Atlanta, 111.
Heinold, Fred, Cissna Park, 111.
Hinderer, Frank, Frederick, 111.
Hoke, J. H., Decatur, 111. -

Holdener, J. D., Carlyle, 111.
Hall, B. C, Elmwood, 111.
Heintz, Simon, Palmyra, Wis,
Hiestand, N. A., Pullman, Chicago, 111.
Hogge, T. E., 129 N. Trumbull Ave., Chicago, 111.
Horstmann, Wm. H., 6759 Morgan St., Chicago, 111.
Hubbard, Jno. B., Shipshervana, Ind.
Hyde, W. H., New Canton, 111.
Jones, Geo. W., West Bend, Wis.
Karns, Allan A., Dawson, 111.
Kennedy, Miss L. C, Curran, 111.
Kannenberg, C. F., Oak Park, 111.
Kimmey, Fred L., Morgan Park, 111.
Lawrence, W. G., Chadwick, 111.
Leiker, Andrew, Joliet, 111.
Lind, M. H., Baders, 111.
Lyman, W. C, Downer's Grove, 111.
Miller, Dr. C. C, Marengo, 111.
Miller, A. J., Decatur, 111.
Miller, W. C, Box R., Ottawa, 111.
Mohr, Mike D., Hampton, 111. '

Moore, W. B., Altona, 111.
Macklin, Chas. G., Morrison, 111.
Marshall, Wm., DeKalb, 111.

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

Martin, Jos. M., New Carlisle, Ind.
McAllister, G. H., 2872 N. 46thCourt, Chicago, 111.
McCain, Rev. Robt. B., Coal City, 111.
Mottaz, A., Utica, 111.
Muehleip, H., Apple River, 111.
Mussing, Martin, Oak Park, III. -

Nicholson, A. B., Lincoln, 111.
■ Null, W. D., LaHarpe, 111.

• Nydegger, John, Danville, 111. /
Oakes, Lapnes P., Metropolis, 111. * f
Ostermeier, John, Cornland, 111. •
Ohmert, Geo. A., Rockdale, lowA.

• Ow^n, Chas., 536 Alma St., Austin, III.
Payne, John W., Georgetown, 111.
Poindexter, James, Bloomington, 111.
Primm, J. W., Springfield, 111.
Precise, H.- P., Chrisman, 111.

t Parker, A. R., Morrison, 111.
Pease, E. W., 2872 N. 45th Ave., Chicago, 111.
Peftn, chas. M., Colfax, Iowa.
Picaman, Gus., Litchfield, 111.

• Raftery, J. T., ElDara, 111. ' ^
Rasenberg, Paul, Cable, 111.

. Riley, W., Breeds, 111.
Runlund, Peter, Spring Valley, 111.
Ruse, F. M., Pittsfield, 111.
Russler, Jacob, Morgan Park, 111.
Reynolds, AlVah, Altona, 111.

Reynolds, W. G., 1956 Ogden Ave., Chicago, 111.
Kitscher, A. E., Meredosia, 111.
Root, E. R., Medina, Ohio.
Scott, W. C, Athens, 111.
Scroggins, A. C, Mt. Pulaski, 111.
Searl, J. E., Vermont, 111.
Secor, W. G., Greenfield, 111.
Seibold, Jacob, Homer, 111.
Settle, W: H., Gridley, 111. .
Slack, Geo. B., Mapleton, III.
Smith, J. Q., Lincoln, 111.
Smith, Louis, R. R. 2, Springfield, 111.
Stone, Jas. A., R. R. 4, Springfield, 111...
Switzer, Samuel, St. Charles, 111.
Salzmann, Wm., Gushman, Wis.
Schafer, E. F., Chesterton, Ind.
Scheid, Byron, Bay City, Wis.
Secor, Eugene, Forest City, Iowa.
Shroutz, Mack, Momence, 111.
Shupe, Frank, Mazon, 111.
Snell, F. A., Milledgeville, 111.
Stanley, Arthur, Dixon, 111.
Stewart, W. H. H., Emerson, 111.
Stow, Mrs. N. L., Evanston, 111.
Sweet, Ernest, Garden Plain, 111.
Swift, E. C, Ottawa, 111.

STATE BEE-KEEPERS ASSOCIATION. >

Switzer, Samuel-, St. Charles,- IlL . -

Trego, S. F., SAyedona, IlL " / .

Turner, Anderson, .Pleasant Plains, 111..

Tyler, Fred,' San Jose, 111. — ., ' '

Tough, James, Oak Park, IlL >;^

Ulrich, Q. E.,' Campus, 111.

Vogel," Henry, Galena, 111. ;'

Wagner, F. M., Quincy, IlL

Weller, Miss Emma, Jacksonville, III. '

Werner, Louis, Edwardsville, IlL

Williams, Edward P^ Urba'na, lU. " _;

Wagner, L. E., Readstown, Wis. ,

Weckerle, Mrs. Anna, West Pullman,' 111

Weems, H. L., P. O. Box 267, Chicagp, III

West, Ephraim, Minooka, IlL y-

Wheeler, J. C, Oak Park, 111.

Whitney, Wm. M., Lake Geneva, Wis. *

Wilcox, F., Mauston, Wis.

Wilson, Miss Emma, Marengo, 111.

York, George W., 334-pearborn St., Chicago, 111.

Zachgo, Hugo, Danforth, 111.

ZoU, C, Vermont,_Ill.

Zeller, .Caroline, Spring Bay, 111.

Zeiman, Henry, Horicon, Wis. • . '■

State of Illinois— Department of State.

. /

ISAAC N. PEARSON, Secretary of State.

, To all to whom these Presents shall come, Greeting:

^Whereas, A certificate duly signed and acknowledged
having been filed in the office, of the Secretary of State on
the 27th day of February, A. D. 1891, for the organization
of 'the Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Association, under and m
accdrdance with the provisions, of "An Act Concerning Cor-
porations," approved April 18, 1872, and in force July 1, 1872,
and all acts amendatory thereof, a copy of .which certificate
is hereunto attached.

Now, Therefore, I, Isaac N. Pearson, Secretary of State,
of the State of Illinois, by virtue of the powers and duties
vested in me by law, do hereby certify that the said. The
Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Association is a legally organized
corporation under the laws of this State.

In Testimony Whereof, I hereunto set my hand, and
cause to be affixed the great seal of State.

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

Done at the City of Springfield this 27th day of Feb-
ruary, in the year of our Lord, one thousand
[seal] eight hundred and ninety-one, and the Inde-
pendence of the United States the one hundred
and fifteenth. I. N. Pearson,

Secretary of State.

STATE OF ILLINOIS,

SANGAMON COUNTY.
SS.

To Isaac N. Pearson, Secretary of State:

We, the undersigned, Perry J. England, Jas. A. Stone
and Albert N. Draper, citizens of the United States, propose
to form a corporation under an act of the General Assembly
of the 'State of Illinois, entitled, "An Act Concerning Cor-
porations," approved April 18, 1872, and all acts amendatory
thereof ; and for the purposes of such organizations, we hereby
state as follows, to-wit:

1. The name of such corporation is. The Illinois State
Bee-Keepers' Association.

2. The object for which it is formed is, to promote the
general interests of the pursuit of bee-culture.

3. The management of the aforesaid Association shall
be vested in a board of three Directors who are to be elected
annually.

4. The following persons are hereby selected as the
Directors, to control and manage said corporation for the
first year of its corporate existence, viz : Perry J. England,
Jas. A. Stone and Albert N. Draper.

5. The location is in Springfield, in the County of
Sangamon, State of Illinois. [Signed,]

Perry J. England,
Jas. a. Stone,
Albert N. Draper.

STATE OF ILLINOIS,

county of SANGAMON.

I, S. Mendenhall, a notary public in and for the county
and State aforesaid, do hereby certify that on this 26th day
of February, A. D. 1891, personally appeared before me.
Perry J. England, James A. Stone and Albert N. Draper, to
me personally known to be the same persons who executed
the foregoing certificate, and severally acknowledged that they
had executed the same for the purposes therein set forth.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and
seal the day and year above written.

S. Mendenhall,
[seal] Notary Public.

STATE BEE-KEEPERS ASSOCIATION. 9

CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS

OF THE

Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Association.

■^CONSTITUTION**

Adopted Feb; 26, 1891.

ARTICLE I— Name.

This organization shall be known as the Illinois State
Bee-Keepers' Association, and its principal place of business
shall be at Springfield, 111.

ARTICLE 11— Object.

Its object shall be to promote the general interests of the
pursuit of Bee Culture.

ARTICLE III— Membership.

Section 1. Any person interested in Apiculture may be-
come a member upon the payment to the Secretary of an
annual fee of one dollar ($1.00). And any affiliating Asso-
ciation, as a body, may become members on the payment of
an aggregate fee of twenty-five cents (25c) per member.

Sec. 2. Any persons may become honorary members by
receiving a majority vote at any regular meeting.

ARTICLE IV— 0^c(?rj.

Section 1. The officers of this Association shall be Presi-
dent, five Vice-Presidents, Secretary and Treasurer. Their
terms of office shall be for one year, or until their successors
are elected and qualified.

Sec. 2. The President, Secretary and Treasurer shall
constitute the Executive Committee.

Sec. 3. Vacancies in office — ^by death, resignation or
otherwise — shall be filled by the Executive Committee until
the next annual meeting.

ARTICLE Y— Amendments.

This Constitution may be amended at any annual meet-
ing by a two-thirds vote of all the members present — ^thirty
days' notice having been given to each member of the Asso-
ciation.

tM'"'- -'-^ '». '■;': .-'.[l :-'"■' .. •' '.'"r :. v.. . :>.-/•,_;■.■ ;.; ^ i ' ■')'■- ■:.:;■■:■:)■■..:"■■■■■'■■'■-'- ■ ,. ■ :

10 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

^' BY/LAWS '*#
ARTICLE I.

The oflficers of this Association shall be elected by ballot
and by a majority vote.

ARTICLE II.

It shall be the duty of the President to call and preserve
order at all meetings of this Association ; to call for all reports
of officers and committees ; to put to vote all motions regularly
seconded, to count the votes at all elections and declare the
results ; to decide upon all questions of order ; and to deliver
an address at each annual meeting.

ARTICLE III.

The Vice-Presidents shall be numbered respectively,
First, Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth, and it shall be the
duty of one of them in hi§ respective order to preside in
the absence of the President.

ARTICLE IV.

Section 1. It shall be the duty of the Secretary to report all
proceedings of the Association, and to record the same,
when approved, in the Secretary's book; to conduct all cor-
respondence of the Association, and to file and preserve all pa-
pers belonging to the same ; to receive the annual dues and pay
them over to the Treasurer, taking his receipt for the same ;
to take and record the name and address of every member
of the Association ; to cause the Constitution and By-Laws
to be printed in appropriate form, and in such quantities as
may be directed by the Executive Committee from time to
time, and see that each member is provided with a copy
thereof; to make out and publish annually, as far as prac-
ticable, statistical table showing the number of colonies
owned in the spring and fall, and the amount of honey and
wax produced by each member, together with such other in-
formation as may be deemed important, or be directed by the
Executive Committee ; and to give notice of all meetings of
the Association in the leading- papers of the State and in the
bee journals at least four weeks prior to the time of such
meeting.

!Sec. 2. The Secretary shall be allowed a reasonable
compensation for his services, and to appoint an assistant
Secretary if deemed necessary.

ARTICLE V.

It shall be the duty of the Treasurer to take charge of
all funds of the Association, and to pay them out upon the

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 11

order of the Executive Committee, taking a receipt for the
same; and to render a report of all receipts and expendi-
tures at each annual meeting.

ARTICLE VI.

It shall be the duty of the Executive Committee to select
subjects for discussion and appoint members to deliver ad-
dresses or read essays, and to transact all interim business. .

ARTICLE VIL

The meetings of the Association shall be, as far as prac-
ticable, governed by the following order of business :

Call to order.

Reading minutes of last meeting.

President's address.

Secretary's report.

Treasurer's report.

Reports of committees. • \

Unfinished business.

Reception of members and collection.

Miscellaneous business.

Election and installation of officers.

Discussion.

Adjournment.

ARTICLE VIIL

These By-Laws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of
all the members present at any annual meeting.

C. E. YocoM,
Aaron Coppin,
Geo. F. Robbins.

13 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

i

Formation of the
Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Association.

' ISpringfield, III., Feb. 26, 1891.

The Capitol Bee-Keepers' Association was called to order
by President P. J. England.

Previous notice having been given that an effort would
be made to form a State Association, and there being present
bee-keepers from different parts of the State, by motion, a
recess was taken in order to form such an Association.

P. J. England was chosen temporary chairman, and C. E.
Yocom temporary secretary. On motion, the Chair appointed
Thos. G. Newman, C. P. Dadant and Hon. J. M. Hambaugh
a committee on constitution.

Col. Chas. F. Mills addressed the meeting on the needs
of a State Association, and stated that it was his opinion
that the bee-keepers should have a liberal appropriation for a
State Apiarian Exhibit at the World's Columbian Exposition.

A motion to adjourn till 1:30 P. M. prevailed.

AFTERNOON SESSION.

The Committee on Constitution reported a form for same,
which, on motion, was read by the Secretary, by sections
serially.

Geo. F. Robbins moved to substitute the word shall for
may in the last clause of Section 1, Article III. This led to
a very animated discussion, and the motion was lost.

J. A. Stone moved to amend the above-named section
by striking out the word ladies and all that followed of the
same section, which motion led to further discussion and mo-
tion finally prevailed.

'Section 3, Article III, relating to a quorum, was, on
motion, entirely stricken out.

Mr. Robbins moved to amend Article V by adding the
words, "Thirty days' notice having been given to each mem-
ber." Prevailed. %

Thos. G. Newman moved to adopt the Constitution, so
amended, as a whole. Which- motion prevailed.

See Constitution, page 8.

J. A. Stone moved that the Chair appoint a nominating
committee of three on permanent organization. Prevailed.

Chair appointed as such committee. Col. Chas. F. Mills,
Hon. J. M. Hambaugh, and C. P. Dadant.

Committee retired and in a few minutes returned, sub-
mitting the following named persons as candidates for their
respective offices: - r

For President — P. J. England, Fancy Prairie.

For Vice-Presidents — Mrs. L. Harrison, Peoria; C. P.

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 13

Dadant, Hamilton; W. T. F. Petty, Pittsfield; Hon. J. M.
Hambaugh, Soring; Dr. C. C. Miller, Marengo.

Secretary — Jas. A. Stone, Bradfordton.

Treasurer — ^A. N. Draper, Upper Alton.

Mr. Black moved the adoption of the report of the
committee on nominations. The motion prevailed, and the
officers as named by the committee, were declared elected for
the ensuing -"^ear.

Hon. J. M. Hambaugh moved that Mr. Thos. G. New-
man, Editor American Bee Journal, of Chicago, be made the
first honorary member of the Association. Prevailed.

At this point Col. Chas. F. Mills, said, "Mr. Chairman,
I want to be the first one to pay my dollar for membership,"
at the same time suiting his actions to his words, and others
followed his example, as follows:

CHARTER MEMBERS.

Col. Chas. F. Mills, Springfield.
Hon. J. M. Hambaugh, Spring.
Hon. J. S. Lyman, Farmingdale.
C. P. Dadant, Hamilton.
Chas. Dadant, Hamilton.
A. N. Draper, Upper Alton.
S. N. Black, Clayton.
Aaron Coppin, Wenona.
Geo. F. Robbins, Mechanicsb'g.
J. W. Yocom, Williamsville.
Thos. S. Wallace, Clayton.
A. J. England. Fancy Prairie.
P. J. England, Fancy Prairie.
C. E. Yocom, Sherman.

Jas. A. Stone, Bradfordton. •

FIRST HONORARY MEMBER. '

Thos. G. Newman, Editor American Bee Journal, Chicago.

-. i

14 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

Bee^Kccpers' Association^

Preamble.
§ 1. For expenses of an-
nual meetings, per an-
num, $1,200; officers
to receive no salary.

§ 2. How drawn.
§ 3. Duty of Treasurer of
Association.

(Asked for in the 44th General
Assembly.}

A BILL

For an act making an appropriation for the Illinois State
Bee-Keepers' Association.

Whereas, The members of the Illinois State Bee-Keepers'
Association have for years given much time and labor without
compensation in the endeavor to promote the interests of the
bee-keepers of the State; and,

Whereas, The importance of the industry to the farmers
and fruit growers of the State warrants the expenditure of a
reasonable sum for the holding of annual meetings, the pub-
lication of reports and papers containing practical information
concerning bee-keeping, therefore to sustain the same and
enable this organization to defray the expenses of annual
meetings, publishing reports, suppressing foul brood among
bees in the State, and promote the industry in Illinois :

Section 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of
Illinois represented in the General Assembly: That there be
and is hereby appropriated for the use of the Illinois 'State
Bee-Keepers' Association the sum of $1,200 per annum, for
the years 1905 and 1906. For the purpose of advancing the
growth and developing the interests of the bee-keepers of Illi-
nois, said sum to be expended under the direction of the
Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Association for the purpose of
paying the expenses of holding annual meetings, publishing
the proceedings of said meetings, suppressing foul brood
among bees in Illinois, etc.

Provided, however, That no officer or officers of the Illi-
nois State Bee-Keepers' Association shall be entitled to receive

^

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 15

any money compensation whatever, for any services rendered
for the same out of this fund.

Sec. 2. The lUinois State Bee-Keepers' Association shall
appoint at each annual meeting a State inspector of apiaries
for one year or till his successor is elected and qualified who
may if necess-iry appoint his own assistants. Said inspector
or inspectors shall when notified of the existence of the disease
known as foal brood among apiaries, examine all such as are
so reported and all others in the same locality and ascertain
whether or not such disease exists, and if satisfied of its
existence shall give the owner or person who has the care
of such apiaries full instructions as to the manner of treating^
them. Within a reasonable time after making such examina-
tions the inspector shall make another examination thereof,
and if the condition of any of them is such as in his judg-
ment renders it necessary he may burn all the colonies of
bees and all the comb necessary to prevent the spread of the
disease.

The inspector shall make at the close, of each calendar
year a report to the Governor and also to the Illinois State
Bee-Keepers' Association stating the number of apiaries
visited, the number of those diseased and treated, the number
of colonies of bees destroyed and of the expenses incurred in
the performance of his duty. Said inspector shall receive four
dollars for each day actually and necessarily spent in the
performance of his duties and be reimbursed the money ex-
pended by him in the defraying his expenses ; provided that
the total expenditures for such purposes shall not exceed
seven hundred dollars per year.

SALE OF DISEASED APIARY^ ETC.

Sec. 3. Any owner of a diseased apiary, of honey made
or taken from such an apiary, or appliance taken from such
an apiary who shall sell, barter or give away any such apiary,
honey or appliance, or bees from such an apiary, expose other
bees to the danger of contracting such disease, or refuse to
allow the inspector of apiaries to inspect such apiary, honey
or appliances, shall be fined not less than fifty dollars, nor
more than one hundred dollars or be imprisoned in the county
jail not less than one month nor more than two months.

Sec. 4. That on the order of the president, counter-
signed by the secretary of the Illinois State Bee-Keepers'
Association, and approved by the Governor, the Auditor of
Public Accounts shall draw his warrant on the Treasurer of
the State of Illinois in favor of the treasurer of the Illinois
State Bee-Keepers' Association for the sum herein appro-
priated.

Sec. 5. It shall be the duty of the treasurer of the Illi-
nois State Bee-Keepers' Association to pay out of said ap-
propriation on itemized and receipted vouchers, such sums as
may be authorized by vote of said organization on the order
of the president, countersigned by the secretary and make
annual report to the Governor of all such expenditures, as
provided by law.

-■>;;;'■■ ^

16 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

A BILL

For an act providing for the appointment of a State Inspector
of Apiaries, and prescribing his powers and duties.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the People of the State of
Illinois, represented in the General Assembly: That the
Governor, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate,
shall appoint a State Inspector of Apiaries, who shall hold
his office for the term of two years and until his successor
is appointed and qualified.

Sec. 2. Said Inspector shall, whpn notified of the exis-
tence of the disease known as foul brood among apiaries,
examine all such as are so reported and all others in the same
locality and ascertain whether or not such disease exists, and
if satisfied of its existence, shall give the owner or the per-
son who has the care of such apiaries full instructions as to
the manner of treating them. In case the owner of a diseased
apiary shall refuse to treat his bees or allow them to be
treated as directed by the said Inspector, then the said In-
spector may burn all the colonies and all the comb necessary
to prevent the spread of the disease, provided, said Inspector
shall, before burning, give one day's notice to the owner or
other person who has the care of the colonies of bees and
comb, that in his judgment should be burned.

Sec. 3. The Inspector shall, on or before the second
Monday of December in each calendar year, make a report
to the Governor and also to the Illinois State Bee-Keepers'
Association stating the number of apiaries visited, the number
of those diseased and treated, the number of colonies of bees
destroyed, and of the expenses incurred in the performance
of his duty.

Sec. 4. Any owner of a diseased apiary or appliances
taken therefrom, who shall sell, barter, or give away any
such apiary, appliance, or bees from such apiary, expose other
bees to the danger of contracting such disease, or refuse to
allow the Inspector of Apiaries to inspect such apiary, or
appliances, shall be fined not less than fifty dollars nor more
than one hundred dollars. .

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 17

FOUL BROOD

-AND—

OTHER OI5BASBS OF BBBS.

{Republished by permission of N. E. France, Foul Brood Inspector,

of Wisconsin.)

Foul brood — bacillus alvei — is a fatal and contagious dis-
ease among bees, dreaded most of all by bee-keepers. The
germs of disease are either given to young larval bee in its
food when it hatches from the egg of the queen-bee, or it
may be contagion from a diseased colony, or if the queen
deposits eggs, or the w^orker-bees store .honey or pollen in
such combs. If in any one of the above cases, the disease will
soon appear, and the germs increase with great. rapidity, go-
ing from one little cell to another, colony to colony of bees,
and then to all the neighboring apiaries, thus soon leaving
whole apiaries with only diseased combs to inoculate others.
The Island of Syria in three years lost all of its great apiaries
from foul brood. Dzierzon, in 1868, lost his entire apiary
of 500 colonies. Cowan, the editor of the British Bee Jour-
nal, recently wrote : "The only visible hindrance to the rapid
expansion of the bee industry is the prevalence of foul brood,
which is so rapidly spreading over the country as to make
bee-keeping a hazardous occupation."

Canada's foul brood inspector, in 1890 to 1892, reported
2,395 cases, and in a later report for 1893 to 1898, that 40 per
cent of the colonies inspected were diseased. Cuba is one of
the greatest honey-producing countries, and was lately re-
ported to me by a Wisconsin bee-keeper who has been there,.,
and will soon return to Wisconsin: "So plentiful is foul brood
in Cuba that I have known of large apiaries to dwindle out
of existence from its ravages, and hundreds more are on the
same road to sure and certain death. I myself took in 90
days in Cuba, 24,000 pounds of fine honey from 100 colonies,
but where is that apiary and my other 150-colony apiary?
Dead from foul brood." Cuba, in 1901, exported 4,795,600
pounds of honey, and 1,022,897 pounds of beeswax.

Cuba at present has laws to suppress foul brood, and her
inspector is doing all possible to stamp the same from the
island.

Even in Wisconsin, I know of several quite large piles of
empty hives, where all the bees have died from foul brood;
also many other apiaries where said disease had gotten a
strong foothold. By the kindness of the Wisconsin bee-keep-

18 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

ers, and in most cases, by their willing assistance, I have,
during the last five years, gotten several counties free of the
disease, and at the present writing, March 12, 1902, have
what there is in Wisconsin under control and quarantined.
This dreadful disease is often imported into our State from
other States and countries, so that we may expect some new
cases to develop, until all the States shall enact such laws
as will prevent further spread of the same. Arizona, New
York (1899), California, (1891), Nebraska (1895), Utah
(1892), Colorado (1897), have county inspectors, and Wis-
consin (1897), and Michigan (1901), have State inspectors.
The present Wisconsin law, after five years of testing and
rapid decrease of the disease is considered the best, and many
other States are now making efforts to secure a like law.

There are several experimental apiaries in Canada under
control of the Ontario Agricultural College, also a few in the
United States, especially in Colorado, that have done great
work for the bee-keeping industry, and their various pub-
lished bulletins on the same are very valuable. The Wis-
consin State Bee-Keepers' Association have asked that an
experimental apiary might be had on the Wisconsin experi-
mental farm, but at present there are so many departments
asking for aid, that I fear it may be some time before bee-
culture will be taken up.

CAUSES OF FOUL BROOD.

1. Many writers claim foul brood originates from chilled
or dead brood. Dr. Howard, of Texas, one of the best prac-
tical modern scientific experimenters, a man of authority,
has proved beyond doubt that chilled or common dead brood
does not produce foul brood. I have, in the last five years,
also proven his statement to be true in Wisconsin, but I do
believe such conditions of dead brood are the most favorable
places for lodgment and rapid growth of diseases. Also, I
do not believe foul brood germs are floating in the air, for,
if they were, why would not every brood-comb cell of an
infected hive become diseased? I believe that this disease
spreads only as the adult bees come in contact with it,
which is often through robber-bees. Brood-combs should
not be removed from any colony on cold or windy days,
nor should they be left for a moment in the direct rays of
sunshine on hot days.

2. The foul brood may be caused by the need of proper
food and temperature. Generally this disease does not appear
to be serious during a honey-flow, but at the close of the
honey season, or at times of scarcity, it is quite serious, and
as the bees at such times will rob anywhere they can find
stores, whether from healthy or diseased combs, it is the duty
of every bee-keeper to keep everything carefully protected.
Hive-entrances contracted, no old combs or any article with a
drop of honey in where the bees can get to it. While honey
is coming in from the various flowers, quite a portion is used
direct as food for the larval bee, and with such no disease

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 19

would be fed to the bees. Such fed bees, even in a dis-
eased hive, will hatch, as is often the case. I never knew
of a case where a bee hatched from a brood-cell that had
ever had foul brood in. If the germs of disease are there in
the dried scale attached to the lower side-walls, bees will
store honey therein, the queen will deposit eggs, or the cell
may be filled with pollen, or bee-bread, as some call it.
Said honey or pollen, when it comes in contact with those
germs of disease, or the food given the young bee, if in the
proper temperature, said germs of disease will grow and
develop rapidly.

CAUSES BY CONTAGION.

I fully believe if the history of foul brood in Wisconsin
was known, nearly every case could be traced to contagion
from diseased combs, honey, or from some diseased queen-
breeder's cages. Here are some instances where I have traced
the history of contagion in Wisconsin :

1. Diseased apiaries, also single colonies, sold either at
auction or private sale. Several law-suits have resulted in
the settlement of some of the cases.

2. Brood-combs and various implements from diseased
hives, used by other bee-keepers, and borrowed articles.

3. All the bees in an apiary dead from foul brood, and
the hives having an abundance of honey in the brood-combs,
said combs placed out by the side of hives so that neighbors'
bees might get the honey. From those combs I lined robber-
bees to seven other apiaries, and each time became diseased
and were treated.

4. iiobber-bees working on empty honey-packages in the
back yards of grocery stores and baking factories. Said honey
came from diseased apiaries, some located in far distant
States, even Cuba.

5. Loaning of hives, comhs, extractors, and even empty
honey-packages.

6. Buying honey from strangers, or not knowing where
it was produced, and feeding it to bees without boiling the
honey.

7. Too common a practice of using old brood-combs
from some apiary where the owner's bees have died from
"bad luck," as he calls it.

8. Queen-bee — by buying queen-bees from strangers and
introducing her in the cages they came in. I have traced
several new outbreaks of the disease to the hives where such
queens were introduced, and the queens came from distant
States. To be safe, on arrival of queen, put her carefully
alone in a new and clean cage with good food in it. Keep
her in there, warm and comfortable, for a few hours
before introducing. The shipping cage and every bee that came
with the queen should be put in the stove and burned. I do not
think there is any danger from the queen so treated, even from
diseased hives, but I do know of many cases where disease
soon appeared in the hives where the shipping-cage and bees

20 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

were put in with the colony. The great danger is in the
food in said cage being made from diseased honey. I was
called to attend a State bee-keeper's meeting in another State
and I asked if any there had had experience with foul brood.
There was a goodly number of raised hands. Then I asked,
"Do anyone of you think you got the disease by buying queen-
bees?" Again several hands were raised. Even bee-keepers
there had traced the disease in their apiaries to the buying of
queens, and all from the same breeder. If you get queens
from abroad, I hope you will do with her as I have above
described. Better be on the safe side.

EXPERIMENTS.

1. A prominent Wisconsin bee-keeper some years ago
had foul brood among his bees so bad that he lost 200
colonies before the disease was checked. Having a honey
extractor and "comb-foundation machine, he first boiled the
hives in a la*ge sorghum pan, then in a kettle all combs were
melted after the honey was extracted, the honey was boiled
and also the extractor and implements used. The bees were
returned to their hives on comb foundation he made from
the wax made from the melted combs, then fed the boiled
honey. Several years have passed and there has been no
signs of disease in his apiary since.

2. Foul-brood germs are not always killed when exposed
to a temperature of 213 deg. F. (boiling point) for 45 min-
utes. But in every case where the combs are boiled in boiling
water, and same were well stirred while boiling, no germs
were alive.

3. Foul brood in brood-combs is not destroyed or killed
when exposed to the temperature of Wisconsin winters of
20 deg. below zero, and in one case I developed foul brood
from combs that had been exposed to 28 deg. below zero.

4. Honey, if stored in diseased combs, acts as a pre-
serving medium, and in such cases the germs of disease will
remain so long as the comb is undisturbed. Four years at
least.

5. Honev or beeswax, or the refuse from a solar or sun-
heat extractor, is not heated enough to kill foul-brood germs.
Several cases of contagion where robber-bees worked on solar
extractor refuse or honey.

6. Comb foundation made by supply manufacturers is
free from live germs of disease and perfectly safe to use.
To prove this experiment beyond doubt, I took a quantity
of badly-diseased brood-combs from several apiaries, and ren-
dered each batch of combs into wax myself on the farm where
found. Then on my own foundation mill I made some brood
foundation. I also took quite a quantity more of said wax,
went to two wholesale comb foundation manufacturers, and
both parties willingly made my experimental wax into comb
foundation just the same as they do every batch of wax.
I then divided the various makes of foundation and selected 20
of the best bee-yards in Wisconsin, where no disease had

O

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 21

ever been known, had the same placed in 62 of their best
colonies, and in every case no signs of disease have appeared.
Those same colonies continue to be the best in the various
apiaries.

SYMPTOMS OF FOUL BROOD.

1. The infected colony is not liable to be as industrious.
Hive-entrance with few guard-bees to protect their home.
Sometimes fine dirt or little bits of old comb and dead bees
in and around the hive-entrance, and often robber-bees seek-
ing entrance.

2. Upon opening the hive, the brood in the combs is
irregular, badly scattered, with many empty cells which need
inspection.

3. The cappings over healthy brood is oval, smooth and
of a healthy color peculiar to honey-bee brood, but if diseased
the cappings are sunken, a little darker in color, and have
ragged pin-holes. The dead larval bee is of a light color, and,
as it is termed, ropy, so that if a toothpick is inserted and
slowly withdrawn, this dead larva will draw out much like

' spittle or glue.

5. In this ropy stage there is more or less odor peculiar
to the disease; it smells something like an old, stale glue-
pot. A colony may be quite badly affected and not emit
much odor, only upon opening of the hive or close examina-
tion of the brood. I have treated a few cases where th£ foul
brood odor was plainly noticed several rods from the apiary.

6. Dried Scales — If the disease has reached the advanced
stages, all the above-described conditions will be easily seen
and the dried scales as well. This foul matter is so tena-
cious that the bees cannot remove it, so it dries down on the
lower side-wall of the cell, midway from the bottom to front
end of the cell, seldom on the bottom of a cell. According
to its stage of development there will be either the shape-
less mass of dark-brown matter, on the lower side of the
cell, often with a wrinkled skin covering as if a fine thread
had been inserted in the skin lengthwise and drawn enough

, to form rib-like streaks on either side. Later on it becomes
hardened, nearly black in color^ and in time dries down to
be as thin as the side-walls of the cell. Often there will
be a small dried bunch at the front end of the cell not larger
than a part of common pin-head. To see it plainly, take
the comb by the top-bar and hold it so that a good light
falls into the cell at an angle of 75 degrees from the top
of the comb, while your sight falls upon the cell at an angle
of about 45 degrees. The scales, if present, will easily be
seen as above described. This stage of disease in combs is
easily seen and is always a sure guide or proof of foul brood.
Such combs can never be used safely by the bees and must/
be either burned or carefully melted. Be sure not to mistake?
such marked combs in the spring for those soiled with bee-
dysentery. The latter have a somewhat similar appearance
but are more or less surface-soiled, and will also be spotted
or have streaked appearance by the dark-brown sticky ex-

:?^Km

22 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

crements from the adult bees. Please examine closely this
half-tone print, which I photographed from a diseased comb
containing all Stages of foul brood. This comb came from
the last living weak colony of a once large and profitable
apiary.

TREATMENT.

"A bee-keeper who does not discover foul brood, before
his nostrils remind him that there is something wrong with
his bees, is not -the proper person to treat the case." Dr.
Howard, in his valuable book on foul brood, states : "I regard
the use of all drugs in the treatment of foul brood as a use-
less waste of time and material, wholly ineffectual, inviting
ruin and total loss of bees. Any method which has not for "^
its object the entire removal of all infectious material beyond
the reach of both bees and brood will prove detrimental and
destructive, and surely encourage the recurrence of the dis-
ease." In Wisconsin I have tried many methods of treat-
ment, and cured some cases with each method, but the one
that never fails, if carefully followed, and that commends
itself is . the McEvoy treatment. Canada's foul brood in-
spector, has cured foul brood by the wholesale — thousands of
cases.

MCEVOY TREATMENT.

"In the honey season when the bees are gathering honey
freely, remove the combs in the evening and shake the bees
into their own hives ; give them frames with comb-foundation
starters and let them build comb for four days. The bees
will make the starters into comb during the four days and
store the diseased honey in them, which they took with them
from the old comb. Then in the evening of the fourth day
take out the new combs and give them comb foundation
(full sheets) to work out, and then the cure will be com-
plete. By this method of treatment all the diseased honey
is removed ;from the bees before the full sheets of foundation
are worked out. All the old foul-brood combs must be
burned or carefully made into wax after they are removed
from the hives, and all the new combs made out of the start-
ers during the four days must be burned or made into wax,
on account of the diseased honey that would be stored in
them. All the curing or treating of diseased colonies should
be done in the evening, so as- not to have any robbing done,
or cause any of the bees from the diseased colonies to mix and
^o with the bees of healthy colonies. ' By doing all the work in
the evening it gives the bees a chance to settle down nicely
before morning, and then there is no confusion or trouble.
This same method of curing colonies of foul brood can be car-
ried on at any time from May to October, when the bees are
not getting any honey, by feeding plenty of sugar syrup in the
evenings to take the place of the honey-flow. It will start
the bees robbing and spread the disease to work with foul
brood colonies in warm days when the bees are not gathering

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 23

honey, and for that reason all work must be done in the
evenings when no bees are flying.

"When the diseased colonies are weak in bees, put the
bees, two, three, or four colonies togetfier, so as to get a
good-sized colony to start the cure with as it does not pay to
spend time fussing with little, weak colonies. When the bees
are not gathering honey, any apiary can be cured of foul
brood by removing the diseased combs in the evening and
giving the bees frames with comb-foundation starters on.
Then also in the eyening feed the bees plenty of sugar syrup
and they will draw out the foundation and store the diseased
honey which they took with them from the old combs ; on
the fourth evening remove the new combs made out of the
starters and give the bees full sheets of comb foundation and
feed plenty of sugar syrup each evening until every colony
is in first-class order. Make the syrup out of granulated
sugar, putting one pound of water to every pound of sugar,
and bring it to a boil. As previously stated, all the old comb
must be burned or made into wax and so must Jll new
combs made during the four days. No colony is cured of foul
brood by the use of any drug."

A. I. Root, of Medina, Ohio, says : "The starvation plan
in connection with burning the combs and frames and boiling
the hives has worked the best in treating foul brood. It
never appeared after such treatment, though it did in some
cases where hives were honey-stained and not boiled, thus
confirming the theory or fact of spores."

All the difference from the McEvoy treatment that I
practice is this : I dig a deep pit on level ground near the
diseased apiary, and after getting a fire in the pit such dis-
eased combs, frames, etc., as are to be burned are burned in
this pit in the evening, and then the fresh earth from the pit
returned to cover all from sight. Often I use some kerosene
oil, a little at a time being poured on old brood-combs or those
having much honey in, as they are hard to burn. If diseased
combs with honey in are burned on the surface of the soil
there is great danger; the honey when heated a little will
run like water on the soil, and in the morning the robber-
bees will be busy taking home the diseased honey that was
not heated enough to kill germs of foul brood.

I also cage the queen while the bees are on the five or
six^strips of foundation. It helps to keep the colony from
deserting the hive and going to ather colonies.

R. L. Taylor, Michigan University experimental apiary,
reports : "The plan that the colony be shaken out into another
hive after being allowed to build comb for four days, I have
proven in 100 cases to be unnecessary."

In Wisconsin, I, too, have cured several cases by the one
transferring, when honey was not coming in very freely, but it
is better, and a great saving of time to both bees and owner,
to exchange in three or four days those foundation starters,
for full sheets of foundation. Diseased brood-combs, and
those with honey in, if melted in a sun or solar extractor,
(he wax, honey or residue is not hot enough to kill germs of

24

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

foul brood. This I have proven by several experiments.
It must be boiled and well stirred while boiling to be safe.

I do not believe in, or practice, burning any property, such
as hives, bees, beeswax or honey that can be safely treated
and saved. Many times it is poor economy to save all, and
as so many bee-keepers are not so situated as to keep all
s^diseased material from robber-bees while taking care of it,
best and only safe way is to burn the diseased combs and
frames.

UTAH.

Utah has county inspectors, and from one who has re-
markable success I copy the report of his method of treat-
ment :

"Wherever found, it should be dealt with earnestly and
with dispatch. If the colony is weak, I recommend smother-
ing the bees, and in order to do this without letting a b^e
escape, take a tablespoonful of sulphur and place it in the
entrance of the hives, if there is any breeze, turn the hive
so it will blow in the entrance. Then fire the sulphur and it
wiU soon kill the' bees. This should be done early in the
morning before any of the bees are flying, as one bee escap-
ing .from the hive might carry the disease to any colony with
which it may take up its abode. If the colony is a stroqg one,
I would keep the entrance partly closed so as to prevent any
other bees from getting in. Then as soon as fruit-blossoms
come out so the bees can obtain honey I treat them. I pro-
cure an empty box of any kind so it is clean, then find the
queen, put her in a screen-wire cage which is easily made.
Take a small piece of screen, roll it up and tie a string around
either end, cork up one end, then place the queen and a few
workers for company in the cage and place in the other end
cork. Put same in this box and shake all the bees out of their
hive into the box. This must be done in the evening when
no bees ate flying. Keep the queen in this box 24 to 48
hours, allowing the bees to fly in and out as they please.
Next take a clean hive with good, healthy combs or founda-
tion and shake bees into it, letting the queen go and they will
be free from disease. The old combs are melted into wax,
bringing same to a good boil. Often washing with boiling
water any hives or implements that might contain disease.
Wherever strictly followed this has effected a cure."^C. Wil-
cox, Emery Co., Utah.

PICKLED- BROOD.

Some seasons pickled brood is quite bad among bees, and
in a few cases I have known it to reduce large colonies, even
large aoiaries to doubtful hopes, but those same colonies,
after I gave them treatment, were in a month free from all
disease. Sometimes it takes as careful handling as if foul
brood. I do not believe it is contagious, for all I have seen
in 60 colonies in one apiary badly reduced by it. As an ex-
periment one of my out-apiaries had 50 colonies at one time
with pickled brood. I treated them and all were soon free

y .-rr.'

?«p^';-

STATE BEE-KEEPERS* ASSOCIATlO?f. 25

from dead brood. At the same time I took 10 of the worst
brood-combs where at least two-thirds of the brood was dead,
and placed those combs in other strong, healthy colonies.
They at once cleaned out the dead brood and reared as nice
brood as one could ask for.

SYMPTOMS.

The larval bees (in last of May and through June) show
light-brown spots, a little later the cappings have small holes
in — the cappings are not sunken or dark-colored as in foul
brood. The dead bee will be at first swollen, with a black
head, .dried to a hard bunch and often turned up — ^China-
man-shoe like. The skin of the dead bee is quite tough, and,
if punctured, the thin, watery fluid of the body will flow
as free as water, often a little yellow or brownish-colored
from the dissolved pollen from the abdomen of the bee. It
has very little or no smell, does not at any time stick to the
walls of the comb, is easily pulled out of the cell, is never
ropy or sticky, and if the colony is properly cared for, the
bees will take care of themselves. Plenty of liquid, unsealed
honey and pollen near the brood, and hives so protected as
to keep bees and br6od comfortable on cold days and nights.

Never put bees on old black brood-combs, or those with
dead brood in ; better make wax of the combs and give the
bees full sheets of brood-comb foundation.

TREATMENT. '

Keep all colonies strong, with plenty of unsealed honey
near the brood, and if hives are properly sheltered so as to
be warm on cold days and nights there will be little or no
pickled brood. If the queen is old, shows weakness by put-
ting several, eggs in one brood-cell and nursing several others,,
so that the brood is patchy, I would kill such a queen, feed
the bees a little,- and when queen-cells were started, remove
them all and give them a queen and bees, between two of her
own brood-combs from a hive where she has lived. I do not
think pickled brood is often the fault of the queen, but rather
a lack of proper food and heat in the hive. In most cases a
shortage of liquid honey, or moldy pollen, even in hives with
plenty of sealed honey in the outer combs. There is a time
in spring in Wisconsin between dandelion and white clover
bloom when there is no honey coming in from flowers and
often cold days and nights so that the live bees consume the
liquid unsealed honey first, and cluster in a compact body to
keep warm, the result often is the larval bee just changed
from the egg to a tender little grub, is either starved, half-
fed or chilled so that it grows slowly and too often dies,
and we first notice this about the time white clover honey
begins to come in. In other parts of the State, where pickled
brood appeared it was from the same cause, and at other
dates, which was due to a difference of time of honey bloom.

Wherever I fed daily some honey or even sugar syrup,
and kept the hive warm, all dead brood soon disappeared ;

^ ,p

26 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

while in the same apiaries other colonies affected and not
so treated, continued bad for some time, but got rid of it as
soon as treated.

Strong colonies of bees in the fall with a young laying
queen, and an abundance of good honey sealed or capped
by the bees, if properly cared for during winter whether in
'the cellar or in chaff hives, wintered out of doors in sheltered
location, seldom have pickled brood, chilled or other dead
brood, or dysentery, and are the colonies that give their
owner profit.

BLACK BROOD.

Black brood is another fatal and contagions disease
among bees, affecting the old bees as well as the brood. In
189S, 1899 and 1900 it destroyed several apiaries in New
York. Last year I found one case of it in Wisconsin,
which was quickly disposed of. Dr. Howard made more than
a thousand microscopical examinations and found it to be a
distinct form of bacteria. It is most active in sealed brood.
The bees affected continue to grow until they reach the pupa
stage, then turn black and die. At this stage there is a sour
smell. No decomposition from putrefactive germs in pickled
brood. In black brood the dark and rotten mass in time
breaks down and settles to lower side-wall of the cell, is of a
watery, granulated, syrupy fluid, jelly-like, is not ropy or
sticky as in foul brood, and has a peculiar smell, resembling
sour, rotten apples. Not even a house-fly will set a foot
upon it.

TREATMENT.

Best time is during a honey-flow, and the modified Mc-
Evoy plan, much as I have treated foul brood, by caging the
queen five days, remove the foundation starters and give full
sheets, keeping queen caged five days longer. As great care
should be taken of diseased hives, combs, honey, etc, as in
foul brood.

DYSENTERY.

Dysentery among bees in Wisconsin in the spring of the
year, often is quite serious. Many colonies die with it. Dys-
entery is the excrements of the old bees; it is of brownish
color, quite sticky and very disagreeable-smelHiig, and is
sometimes mistaken for foul brood.

CAUSES.

1. Bees confined too long in the hives, so that they can
no longer withhold their excrements, and are compelled to
void the same on the other bees and combs.

2. Poor winter stores gathered in the fall from honey-
dew, cider-mills, sorghum mills, rotten fruit, also some kinds
of fall flowers.

3. Old and especially moldy pollen or bee-bread.

4. Hives too cold or damp. If moisture from the breath
of the bees is not carried out of the hive by some means, such

STATE BEE-KEEPERS* ASSOCIATION. . 21

as throueh a deep cushion of some kind over the bees that will
absorb moisture and at the same time retain the heat, or by
some means of ventilation, so that all is dry and comfortable.
If mold forms on, the combs or cellar so damp as to form
mold, there is gre^t danger the bees will have dysentery and
die. \

TREATMENT.

1. First of alj, have an abundance of combs of sealed
clover or basswo(xi honey in brood-frames carefully^ saved,
and see that each colony is wintered on such food. Three
or four such combs will winter a fair colony safely if con-
fined on those combs late in the fall and the hive contracted
to fit the same. This is one of the most important conditions
for success in wintering.

2. If in the fall the bees have gathered this unwhole-
some honey from the above-named sources, it should all be
extracted and either exchanged for those honey-combs, or
feed the bees good honey or sugar syrup until winter stores
are secured. This should be done before cold weather in the
fall.

3. Hives contracted and made comfortable, whether in
cellar or outdoors.

4. If wintered in chaff hives outdoors with feed as above
directed, and there come one or two warm spells during win-
ter so that bees can have a cleansing flight, they will not
have dysentery or dead brood, and will be much stronger
when clover opens.

If wintered in the cellar the bees will not need as much
honey, and- if the winters are generally long with doubtful
warm spells, the cellar will be best. But to keep the bees
from dysentery, so often fatal to cellar-wintered bees, they
should have such winter stores as above spoken of, then the
cellar kept at a uniform temperature, about 42 deg. F., ven-
tilated so the air is fresh, and no mold will form in the
cellar. Fresh air-slacked lime on the bottom of the cellar
may help if it is damp or has poor air. ,

5.. Dysentery will not appear if bees a«^e kept on sugar
syrup, or best-grade white clover or basswood honey, and are
in a dry place, either sheltered by cellar or chaff-hive.

FORMALDEHYDE EXPERIMENTS.

Formaldehyde, by the medical experts, is now considered
the best of all disinfectants ; I have great faith that we may
yet learn its use, and save infected foul-broody combs.

Mr. C. H. W. Weber has conducted some valuable experi-
ments. !^rly in 1903 I decided to do some experimenting,
having inspected several infected apiaries. We got a carpen-
ter with well-seasoned lumber to make some perfectly air-
tight boxes to hold brood-frames, two tiers deep, as per the
photograph herewith. Mr. Weber's lamp was used in several
trials. Where we used a greater amount, and longer confined
than instructions caled for, the combs with all cells unsealed.

28 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

containing dried scales of foul brood, after fumigating and
airing were placed in hives with bees on them. The chemical
action was such that the bees at once cleaned them out, and
no signs of disease has appeared in them since. But in those
combs having honey or pollen in the infected cells, or those
capped over with brood underneath, they were so covered that
the gases did not destroy the disease, for those treated July
27, in 41 days each of those combs had foul brood again.

To prove that the gases do not go through wax-cappings,
I took some healthy hatching brood, fumigated it, then took
it out and cut away the cappings, and some of the bees had
life enough to crawl.

I believe we should go slow and do careful experimenting.
I know old, diseased combs are worth more rendered into
wax, or those containing honey or pollen in infected combs
^re not safe to use again. A sheet of comb foundation is
'worth far more. I believe it is possible, if carefully done, to
fumigate infected combs where there is nothing over the
disease, so that those combs can be saved.

Platteville, Wis., March 17, 'l 904. N. E. France.

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 29

RBPORT

OF THE

Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Association.

The fourteenth annual session of the Illinois State Bee-
keepers' Association was called to order at 10 a. m. Novem-
ber 15, 1904, in the G. A. R. Hall at the Court House, in
Springifield, Pres. Smith being in the chair.

Mr. George W. York, of the American Bee Journal, of-
fered the opening prayer.

Membership dues were taken and badges were given.

The report of the last meeting was not read, as it had
been printed in the Third Annual Report of the Association.

secretary's annual report.

During the last year the work of the Secretary has been
much greater than any year since our first and second annual
Reports were published, as we have during the year pub-
lished the Third Annual Report.

We also made an effort to secure a larger membership,
and, as you are aware, sent out (through the assistance of
Mr. York), about one thousand letters, with a blank for mem-
bership application for return, and were successful, in secur-
ing 118 members ; and, we believe, had it been done before
so many had sent their dues to the National, we would have
doubled that number, as the $1.00 fee also gave them mem-
bership in the National Association as well as in the State
Association.

We would suggest the same action for next year, and
that it be done as early in the year as possible.

For several years past the Treasury has been in debt to
the Secretary, and it was not necessary to turn over what we
did not have. It wastatised by voting the largest part of the
fees received from members to the subscription for the Amer-
ican Bee Journal. But last year we voted to give each mem-
ber, a membership in the National also for the year, and with
the increased amount going into the treasury, and the growth
in membership, the treasury has paid up the Secretary and
created a surplus besides. We did not make a report of the
amount, as our book is here for the inspection of the Audit-
ing Committee.

At the last year's meeting one of the members present
moved that all throw in and make up the amount due the
Secretary, but the Secretary did not desire such a move, as-
suring the members that he had faith that a gain would be
made that would supply the deficiency. .

4^:^

30 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT ' j

Since we obtained our appropriation, and had the last
Report to publish, the Secretary's work has been, as we said,
very largely increased, and while the work for a number of
years has been gratis, the last year the labor was such as to
cover a good deal of valuable time in getting together the
matter for the report, correspondence, etc.

We have been sending 50 cents for each member to the
National as fast as the fees came in, and, then, to be com-
pelled to settle with the Treasurer for each of these small
amounts, as some seem to think it no trouble to do, it would
cause that much more extra time and postage, which is more
than necessary. Jas. A. Stone_, Secretary.

We have not made a written report but are ready to turn
our book into the hands of the auditing committee, or can in
five minutes give the balance.

Dr. Miller — You should give an account.

Mr. York — I suggest that Mr. Stone make a financial re-
port tomorrow morning.

Pres. Smith — You might as well make it now and be
through with it. The Treasurer's report was submitted; what
shall we do with it? If there is no objection it will be filed.

Mr. Bowen — I think as a matter of business both the
Secretary's and Treasurer's reports should be made in detail.
That is the better way to do; then at the end of the season
there should be an auditing committee to see that they are
correct. We cannot keep them too correct. The best thing
is to make a written report and submit it to the committee,
and let them audit the accounts. I speak as a matter of busi-
ness.

Pres. Smith — Your remarks are well taken.

Mr. Stone — I can present my book for a committee and
they can see it.

Mr. Bowen — Let Mr. Stone make his report tomorrow
morning, and then, if necessary, report that to an auditing
committee. None so perfect that we don't sometimes make
mistakes. While our Secretary may be absolutely correct, it
may have something not correct; we want to fix it so there
will be no misunderstanding hereafter. I think it best that
every man's account should be audited, no matter how cor-
rect it may be. I will suggest that they be allowed till to-
morrow morning to make their reports.

Pres. 'Smith — ^We will report that tomorrow morning.

Mr. Becker — I did not bring the voucher for the amounts ;
if necessary I can go and get them. They would be all right
where we have an auditing committee to audit the accounts.
As far as the Secretary and Treasurer are concerned, as Mr.
Stone said, we did not have money enough a year ago to
need a Treasurer, consequently v/e did not need a committee
to audit the accounts. Now, of course, we have a Treasurer,
and last year, from the State appropriation, we paid out and
had to report to the Gcfvemor, twice a year, March 1 and
October 1.

Pr, Miller — Did I understand you to make a motion?

^-

STATE BEE-KEEPERS ASSOCIATIOl^.

31

Mr. Becker — No, we will just continue till tomorrow
morning.

Mr. Black — We received money from the State; we know
the people are suspicious, and if we get this we believe it is
for our good, and we ought to be able to show a clean
balance sheet so that if anyone inquires where that money
went we can show it, and we should keep our accounts in
good shape.

Dr. Miller — The reports should be itemized as far as pos-
sible.

President J. Q. Smith.

Mr. York — So if the State Legislature wishes to examine
it we ought to let them see it. It is right that they should
know where the money went. If they see where that money
went they will not object to giving more. The treasurer can
copy that in the report.

Dr. Miller — If I were the Secretary or Treasurer, I
should demand that the accounts be audited, and put them out
of the possibility of anyone throwing stones. The best tiling
to do is to make an impression on the State officers, so far as
that report is concerned. Say there is so much money paid
to Mr. Moore, so much to the State inspectors. Take, for
illustration, Mr. 'Smith. Some one might say, "I don't be-

33 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

lieve he did the work; I beUeve he went on a drunk and
spent that money, and then put it in his bill." What assur-
ance have we that the money was paid out? It looks a very
difficult thing to get down in black and white so as to tell
what it went for. How are you going to know how he spent
that money, whether or not on a drunken spree? I confess
it looks difficult to me.

Mr. Stone — There is an Association in this county that
asked us to be their Treasurer. We said we will be Treasur-
er if the President and the Secretary will sign the checks
with us, not leaving any possibility of making mistakes. It
is the same here. The law provides that for every dollar
paid out the President and Secretary shall sign the voucher.
When the checks come back we don't have a thing to do but
look them over and see if our signature is there. The only
trouble that can possibly come up is that the President is also
Inspector. It makes it possible for him to sign the order
that is given to himself, but still the other two have to sign.
We are not going to elect a man to fill the two offices, if we
do not trust him.

Mr. York — I could have said there were 2,500 copies of
the Report, that would give some idea what I could have done
with that money. Everything should be itemized.

Mr. Becker — I have all the bills at home in a book, and
could produce them. I did not think it necessary to carry
on this report how many days inspecting was done, and how
many copies were published. I did not think it necessary, but
I have the bills at home.

Mr. Bowen — I think Mr. York is mistaken as to that bill
having been sent to the Secretary. The Secretary should
submit that bill. The Treasurer is not supposed to know
anything about that at all, all he has to do is to pay it on
the Secretary's advice that the account is correct. He finds
the bill submitted and approved, he finds the items are wrong,
then those things should tally up. The Treasurer should
make a report and have an itemized account of everything.
The business part is to submit your bills to the Treasurer or
Secretary and let them pass them to the Auditing Commit-
tee, and after that let them sign a warrant on the Secretary
or Treasurer. Then you have the whole business.

Mr. Black — The business man should understand that if
we expect to get any money we must go at it in a business
manner.

The Secretary — Why all this discussion? When our Re-
port comes out in print, and, before the legislature, some
member will say : "Why, they have been misappropriating
the funds we gave them — their accounts are all tangled up.
The Treasurer has no vouchers to show what he has paid out.
The Secretary has made no report of the money he has
handled, and the State Inspector went off on a drunk, and
misspent the money," etc. When the whole truth is, vouch-
ers for every dollar and cent that have been paid out have
passed through the President's and Secretary's hands, been
signed by them, and now are in the hands of the Treasurer,

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 33

where the law says they must be, and he will have them
here in the morning, to place in the hands of the Auditing
Committee. And the Secretary, though he did not report
the funds he handled, has placed his book and whole ac-
counts in the hands of the Auditing Committee, and they
are so simple and complete that a balance can be struck in
two minutes; but on account of membership fees coming in
at all times of the year, no report could be made till the last
moment, when you can plainly see how much (?) time the
Secretary has had to spare. And further, the Treasurer has
made his reports to the Governor, • as the law requires he
should do.

Pres. Smith — Don't any one think we are criticising them
at all; we are just getting them fixed up for the future. They
can submit those bills and get things itemized.

Dr. Miller — I did not say our President was on a drunk,
positively! I don't think so at all.

Pres. Smith — Any further remarks? I believe the time
is too short to read any papers ; any suggestion any members
have will be considered.

Mr. Becker — I believe the committee ought to be here at
Springfield to audit their accounts. Were Mr. York to send
■ in his bill to the Secretary, and you of the Auditing Com-
mittee live at Quincy, and at Decatur, why, it would be an
expense to come here and audit his accounts. Why not take
them before a Notary Public and swear to them ? I think that
would be all that is necessary, then at the end of the year
have an Auditing Committee audit these books. But I don't
believe it would be the proper thing to put before an Audit-
ing Committee when the Secretary could do the work. Make
an affidavit to it, sending a bill with it, so much for so many
days' inspecting, and so much expense for other things.

Pres. Smith — The same way with other things, printed
matter, postage, mailing. Itemize all bills. I don't think it
necessary to bring them up.

Pres. Smith — I think it might be a good idea to appoint
an Auditing Committee at the beginning of the session to go
over and report the necessary business.

Mr. York — The law provides that an executive commit-
tee can audit all payments. The executive committee shall
approve all bills ; that is provided in the law. I think we
should have an auditing committee appointed the first ses-
sion and report the next day.

Mr. Bowen — I say that bills should be submitted to the
executive ■ committee hereafter whether they are in the in-
sane asylum or where they are.

Mr. Becker — I believe that if we are to ask for an ap-
propriation before the next Legislature we ought to get our
accounts in as good a shape as possible. I am Treasurer, and
I move that the chairman appoint a committee of three to
audit the books, and report at 8 o'clock tomorrow morning.
[Motion seconded and carried.]

Pres. 'Smith — He practically said he would appoint the
committee. What business has the State with the accounts

V.ii/ts;i;iV:i>.Wv>^i^- L-'£-. '?.-:Va.:^: Z,;^:^ .^^^-:l::-^^^

i\>-^Jr1*'

34 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

of this bee-keepers' convention aside from the appropria-
tion? I don't care where my account goes, just so it goes to
the Treasurer of the accounts. I have only one account,
that is the appropriation from the State of IlHnois. Your
Secretary and President drawing accounts audit them ; no
individual member has anything to do with us.

Mr. Stone — I let every member of this Association see
my book. I don't want it understood that I want to keep
anything back. The auditing committee has a right to have
it. But as our President says, our Auditing Committee has
nothing to do with the appropriation except as our Execu-
tive Committee consent, that is the State Auditor's business.

Pres. Smith — The hour for adjournment has arrived.

Mr. Stone — We ought to mention whether or not we are
going to have a night session. This hall is engaged for an-
other committee. We can get a room in the State House or
a room in the hotel.

Pres. Smith — We can decide that this afternoon.

Mr. Stone — We ought to decide it now, so we can speak
to the janitor.

Motion made and seconded that there be a night session,
and motion lost.

Adjourned.

FIRST DAY — Afternoon Session.

Vice- Pres. Black in the chair.

The meeting was opened by a song by Dr. Miller and
Mr. York.

Mr. Bowen — What objection is there to having a paper
read now?

Mr. Black — None at all.

Secretary Stone then read the following paper by C. P.
Dadant, of Hancock county, on

CO-OPERATION AMONG BEE-KEEPERS .

Your invitation to me to attend our annual State Bee-Keep-
ers' meeting and deliver an address has been duly received,
and I would gladly comply with your request were it not
that the date conflicts with that of another congress — ^the
Upper Mississippi River Improvement Association — ^which is
of very great interest to the cities along the big river, and
for which I am delegated by our city. I trust that, in view of
the importance of the matter, our bee-keepers will excuse
my absence.

I believe that the most important matter before the bee-
keepers of the country at the present time is the matter of
cooperation. The methods of bee-culture have been so im-
proved in the past 50 years as to make the production of
honey an easy matter for all practical men. The old fogy
bee-keeper and the "gum" have been relegated to the back-
ground. The moth-trap has been put away with the spin-

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 35

iiing-wheel of our grandmothers, and neither of them is
brought to Hght, except as a rehc of the past. The essential
questions today are: How to market our honey, and how to
protect ourselves against damage, either through the con-
tagious disease, foul brood, or through the ignorance or dis- •
honesty of those who oppose our interests? The comb-
honey manufacture s^arns, the spraying of fruit-trees in bloom,
the prejudice against bees because of the untrue accusation
that bees damage flowers or injure sound fruit — all these
and many others are to be warred against. To do it safely,
we must unite.

We hear on every side of the success of the great trusts
which are formed in the manufacture of everything, and of
the enormous profits derived by cooperation. The truth is,
that association is the key-note to success today. I dare say
that of those who will hear this paper read, there are, very
few, if any, who do not belong to some association, for profit
or comfort. The life insurance and fire insurance companies
are nothing but trusts for our benefit. The secret societies,
for mutual help — ^Masons, Odd Fellows, etc., are all in the
direction of cooperation. Our bee associations, no matter
how insignificant and weak they may be, are all evidences of
the need of association for mutual information, and ultimate
increased comfort.

Some of our State associations have already secured
some very positive benefits from association. A number of
States have efficient foul-brood laws and foul-brood inspec-
tors, who help keep down this disease, which is really the
only disease that nature has put in our way. As bees in-
crease in numbers throughout the country, the danger of
epidemics increases, and therefore the precautions against all
possibilities of disease should increase. When bee-keepers lived
25 miles apart, and bees existed only in the forests, an epi-
demic was soon stopped, like a fire without fuel, by want of
something to feed on. But since bees are becoming one of
the institutions of the farm or of the suburban, garden, there
is an increase of risk which must be warded off.

I notice the same danger in other lines. A small vine-
yard runs less risk of black-rot than a large one. A farm
yard containing a couple pigs is in less danger from hog
cholera than one containing a couple hundred. So, as we be-
come more and more numerous there is more and more need
of cooperation, to defend ourselves by mutual understanding
and instruction. It is necessary to obtain laws in each State
regulating the .control of foul brood, and sustaining the honest
producer against the adulterator who tries to sell a manu-
factured product as a product of the farm.

There is also need to advertise our business so as to help
the sales of a healthy and pure product; there is need of
placing before the masses a very plain statement showing
that the canards concerning the alleged manufacture of comb
honey by machinery are all a fake. For these purposes, and
for many others which do not come to my mind now, and

JAa^S:^^^^£i^i^^kii^iij^!kiL,iiJii^^.:i^^Ji

s'TtS'

3b FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

also for purposes of which we have no present adequate idea,
it is absolutely necessary that we should unite — cooperate.

The National Association, which a few years ago num-
bered only as many members as met together each year at
one selected spot in the United States, now numbers some-
thing over two thousand members. Although this is a great
increase, it is nothing compared to the possibilities of co-
operation, whenever we convince our brother bee-keepers that
it is to their interest to imite for the common good. Instead

C. p. DADANT.

of two thousand, we must have twenty thousand members.
Each State must form a nucleus, sending its delegates to the
meetings of the National congress, and the Association must
sooner or later send its ramifications to every spot where bees
are kept, in the length and breadth of the land. When this
is done, our bee-keeoers will no longer go to their town
groceries and ask them what prices thev pay for honey, but
each will be posted from headquarters, and will go to the
retailer with a statement something like this;

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 37

"Our sales headquarters state that the crop is short in
such and such States; that the honey is expected to be in
demand in such or such locahties; and that the prices, con-
sidering prices of other sweets, may be expected to range
about so much. Therefore I have placed the following prices
on my honey."

Let no one think that this is impossible. An impossible
thing is to get a fancy price for your product, but there is not
the shadow of a doubt that a plain understanding as to the
resources and the demand will bring about the securing of
fairly profitable prices. No one can produce anything at cost,
or below cost, and keep it up. At present we have many
friends who produce honey and sell it at less than the cost
of production, because they are working individually with-
out any information as to the value of their product. We
may expect paying prices for our crop, if, when we put it on
the market, we know just what to expect, and if we feel that
there is a distributing point from which our surplus may be
handled at the lowest possible cost.

I know that some of our members may consider this as
romance, but let me tell them that this romance is based on
facts. We see thousands of plain evidences that an under-
standing of conditions and an increase of facilities for dis-
tribution is productive of great benefits to all. The cost of
cooperation is insignificant, compared with the results. The
only thing that may discourage some of those who hope for
success is that large cooperative combines are not built up in
one day. We must unite and stay imited until we succeed.

It is not only in progressive America that the ideas of
union are taking root. Even in our pursuit of bee-culture,
we see this principle taking the lead a little more every day.
The bee-papers of nearly all foreign countries are discussing
association and cooperation. In Belgium, in France, there
are some tangible steps taken. The October number of the
Italian "L'Apicoltore" contains an address from Mr. Cap-
poni, before the third National Congress of Bee-Keepers, on
"Protection to the Bee-Industry," in which he urges his
brother bee-keepers to unite, as "no great results can be ob- .
tained if we do not act as 'viribus unitis' — united men." >

The United States of America are a living example of
what can be done by "united men."

C. P. Dadant.

Mr. Black — Any other papers?

Mr. Stone — Mr. York has one from Mr. Moore. We
will ask him to read it, but we will have it when Mr. France
is here, as he has an address on the same subject.

Mr. Primm — Mr. France is here now.

Pres. Smith took the chair.

Mr. Stone — He keeps pretty quiet. Let us have the paper.

38 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

Mr. York then read a paper from Mr. Herman F. Moore,
on

STATE-INSPECTION OF APIARIES IN ILLINOIS.

No more interesting occupation can be imagined than that
of an inspector of apiaries. Early in the summer of 1904 the
writer got his commission from Hon. J. Q. Smith, Inspector
of Apiaries for Illinois. Soon after he started on his rounds
among the Cook County bee-keepers.

Quite a number were visited who kept bees in box-hives,
and never saw the interior of a brood-nest from one year's
end to another. Some of these said their bees had nearly all
died out, that they had not done well, etc. Of course in
such cases it might be necessary to break up a colony or two
of the weakest live ones, to make a thorough examination,
transferring the bees and combs to another hive. In the
cases that I have in mind the parties were somewhat ignor-
ant of our language and customs, and were entirely unwilling
to have the hives touched, almost refusing to let me go into
the back yard to have a look at the outside of the hives. Of
course the colonies might be diseased, and the losses might
have been caused by disease, but under the law as it stands,
an inspector has no power to touch a hive for any purpose,
without the consent of the owner, and the disease continues
to spread in all directions from an infected apiary. By all
means should ^the legislature be asked to give a drastic law,
similar to the Wisconsin act. Otherwise it seems like wast-
ing the money.

In my work of inspection I pass the home and apiary of a
near neighbor and friend. He is an old-timer, having kept
from 100 colonies up and down for 20 years or so. I never
supposed his bees had the disease until one day I made him
a formal call, asking him how his bees were. His answer,
"They have got it," expressed the situation. We spent some
time that day, and another day I returned and we examined
nearly the whole apiary, and found 4 out of 5 colonies had
foul brood. His loss will be over $100.00 this season, by the
disease. I questioned him as to where they could have gotten
the infection. He named a party a mile away as the likely
one. He said further that he had allowed the bees to clean
out a honey-barrel that had been shipped in from Wisconsin.
I visited the party named and found only the lady of the
house at home. I told my errand. We went out to the col-
onies, and found 3 dead and only 1 alive. The live one I opened
without smoke, and found a few bees on three frames and
brood on two frames. They were in the last stage of foul
brood. Now, I should have had the power to burn up the
whole outfit, except the hives, on the spot. I urgently re-
quested the lady of the house to have them burned up at
once, and she promised to have it done. My time was too
short, and the ground too large to get over it the second
time, so I don't know whether it was done or not.

Now here is the condition that confronts us: The big
State of ' Illinois has 102 counties, with about 350 apiaries

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 39

to the county. Suppose an inspector can reach 5 apiaries in
a day, it would take 70 days to cover one county effectually.
This does not seem far out of the way when you remember
that second and third calls must be made, on a certain
number of them. Seventy days to a county, 102 counties —
7140 days' time to inspect the State. Suppose each deputy
could put in 6 months — May, June, July, August, September,
October, and put in 25 days in each month, which would
make 150 days for each inspector. It would take about 48
inspectors to cover the ground. Allow $5.50 a day for each
inspector— $4.00 and $1.50 expenses. That makes $39,370 as
the sum needed to cover Illinois properly in one season. The
moral of this is that we must ask the legislature for $5,000
at the very least.

In order to get the money we must show them what was
done with the money already given us the past two years.
We must make a report of work done and money expended.
We must show why we need a new law, and why we need
more money. This report must be in proper form and ad-
dressed to the Governor and the legislative bodies. It must
not be too voluminous, for they will not read and understand
it if too many words are used. It seems fairly certain that
we can get the largely-increased appropriation if the proper
means are used. The Hon. H. W. Austin has consented to
mtroduce our bill. You may remember that we would have
had no law in 1903 without his aid. He recognizes the fact
that even $5,000 is an insignificant sum to cover the great
State of Illinois.

It seems to be a fact that the aid of the Chicago-North-
western Bee-Keepers' Association is. necessary to the success
of this plan. Let us suggest that a clause be incorporated in
the new law to give the control of the fund to a joint board
composed of the executive committees of both associations
equally. It seems as if under such an administration the
largest constituency could be reached, and the greatest good
done to the greatest number. The Chicago-Northwestern
is looking forward to great things. Two thousand invitations
have been mailed for the coming convention at Chicago, Nov.
30 and Dec. 1, 1904. If these two of the best associations in
America join hands, there will be no limit to their usefulness.

Herman F. Moore,

Secretary of Chicago-Northwestern and Member of
Illinois State.

Mr. Smith (Mr. Smith took the chair) — Any further
papers?

Mr. Stone — We would like to hear from some one, and
suggest that we call on Mr. France for a talk in the line of
foul brood laws and foul brood inspection.

Mr. Smith — Mr. France, if you would consent we would
be glad to hear from you, Mr. France is foul brood inspector
of Wisconsin.

-'"'"jct;.s'^-wj-^.tj ,

4A FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

A TALK ON FOUL BROOD AHONQ BEES.

Mr. France — I am here to help j^ou in your legislative
problem. Conditions are much different here, and I don't
know how to approach the financial part. When I was sent
by our Association to ask for our Bill, the first thing that
confronted me was, "How many bee-keepers are there in
the State?" I don't know. And we had to confess to the
Legislative Committee we didn't know. "Give us an estim-
ate. What does the bee-business amount to in your state,
anyhow?" We had nothing to show, and they said, "What
are you asking for money for, if you don't know your own
business?" They moved indefinite postponement, and we
were turned down for two years. Get facts !

Two years later we came again. Same problem on the
start. "How many bee-keepers have you got in the State?"
There are 10,500 bee-keepers who are voters and tax-payers,
and who by their votes helped to send you here. They are the
ones asking for their respective rights. Suppose you had all
the honey for one year in your State put together, what
would it amount to ? It would be 150 car-loads. K in 4 1-4
by 4 1-4 pound section boxes, and boxes touching, they would
form a walk of comb honey from Madison to Milwaukee and
back, or a distance of 150 miles. Then I took the State map
and drew a line across it representing the valuation of the
honey product, compared with other agricultural products.
It became interesting, and at the close the committee report-
ed in our favor. Another committee was to be heard from
in a few days and we thought everything was nice, but, alas !
we met a new problem. When I went before the committee
the Chairman was sick, and the temporary chairman was
opposed to the Bill. He made light of it when the Bill was
called up for consideration. He did not know whether it
was bees, flies, bed-bugs or what, but said, "as the majority of
the committee is here, I guess we can 'do this man up'." I
was asking in behalf of the State organization of bee-keepers,
delegated by them as a committee of one. I did not want to
plead before that committee with this chairman opposed to it.
After considerable time pleading to have its continuance they
were going to move for indefinite postponement. My last
dying chance. I said, "Gentlemen, if you vote on this Bill,
I ask a copy of every man's ballot which way you vote. I,
and the bee-keepers, who helped to send you here, want to
know iiow every man on this committee stands." If you want
to hit a politician ask him how he votes.

I went immediately from that committee room to the
hotel, and from a list of the Wisconsin bee-keepers I wrote to
all tlic bee-keepers in the county from the district, of the
temporary chairman who was opposed to the Bill. When I
went back the next week the chairman was there with the
temporary chairman, and he said, "France, did you ever go
to a revival meeting?" "Yes, sir." Well, I am converted.
Hew did you get all the bee-keepers of my county down to

STATE BEE-KEEPERS ASSOCIATION.

41

the depot Friday night? We will support everything you
bee-keepers ask for."

Why did he oppose the bill before? Because not a bee-
keeper had said a thing to him about it, and he was oppos-
ing everything asked for a State appropriation, till*he knew it
was just and right. You may leave it to a committee to do
the work, but you will have to do your part. There will a
time come when it will need every individual effort.

Inspector N. E. France.

As to the amount of the appropriation for Illinois, I am
sure that this will be asked: What have you done with the
appropriation already given? What have you accomplished
with it? You will report the power and authority of your
inspector lacking. While I was in St. Louis, in September,
1904, I visited an apiary in that city, and found infected col-
onies contracted from this State. Now that ought not to be
the case. Bees in Illinois have become infected, and it is in-
fecting bees in other States.

«.;*?^c^3. :^*'

42 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

I hope you will have as good a law as Missouri will have
by next spring, but your inspector must have authority. I
went to an apiary and when the man found they were in-
fected he wrote for me to come at once. I said, "Are there
any other bees near you?" There was another apiary in sight.
"Well, let us go over there." I went over there and saw a
young man just coming from the field. "Are these bees
yours?" "Yes, sir." "May I look at them?" I said I was
the State Inspector, sent there by order from the Governor,
to see if the bees are healthy. "I don't care," he replied. I
looked for something to burn in the smoker. Saw a straw-
pile near and started to the straw-stack. I lighted the straw
in my smoker and started to the hive. The boy looked on.
Soon from some place nearby a man came and said, "Here
what are you doing in here? You get out of here and leave
the premises right quick." Well, it startled me. I said, "I
beg your pardon, are these hives and bees yours?" "Yes
sir." "You get off the premises !" "Under what conditions
do you want me to leave? I am State Inspector of Bees."
"I don't care; you get off right away."

I simply turned to my Bulletin No. 2, and said, "Allow
me to read you this page, and I will get off without any
trouble :"

"If anyone refuses to allow the Inspector of Apiaries to
inspect such apiary when necessary, he shall become liable
to a fine of not less than $50 nor more than $100, or be im-
prisoned in the county jail not less than one month or more
than two months."

When I returned in a few days the man was in the gran-
ary. They had sold a car-load of oats and were sacking
them. When I got to the granary door a large dog met me
and kept me from going further, and while I was petting the
dog the man came to the door to see what the dog was
barking about and, without speaking to me, called his sons,
who were in the yard. I had been warned to take a marshal
with me. I said, "I have the authority and power of sheriff ;
I don't anticipate any trouble ; I will go around a long way
before I will fight." I did not know what he meant by get-
ting two big boys, but he said, "You help this man here sack
oats ; that bee-inspector is here."

He came down and pulled off his coat and I wondered
what was coming. He said, "Mr. France, I owe you an
apology. I was a little too fast the other day. Let us look at
the bees." We looked over the- bees to his satisfaction and
mine, did what was necessary to do, and then he took me to
a train that I might go home, and asked me to come again,
and stay over night. Now, without the power to inspect,
your inspector is not in a condition to do much good. If
Illinois inspectors were ordered off the premises they would
have to go. If he were allowed to inspect and give instruc-
tions on how to treat the bees, some people would promise
that they would follow his instructions, but after he is gone
they don't do it. You want your law changed. What would
you do with your Health Commissioners at large, if they were

.-L^'

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 43

not in a position to enforce the law? You need the author-
ity, but the question is, how are you going to get it? By
cooperation. Lock hands together by uniting all local asso-
ciations in Illinois with the Illinois State Association; let us
have a plan to work with for that purpose and get your needs.
But one word of caution : Get your inspector well backed
with authority.

They changed our law in Wisconsin by a vote of 62 to 8
to grant our additional fund, from $500° to $700 per year. We
have the capitol to rebuild and other bills to meet this winter.
You know the conditions existing in your State, but the
thing you must have this winter, is the backed authority of
an inspector, and enough of them to cover the district. Too
long a term of few officers won't accomplish work like an
army of them on shorter terms. Wisconsin, Utah, California,
Colorado, Nebraska and Minnesota are some of the States
that have foul-brood laws. This winter I expect to go to
Pennsylvania to aid them. They met at Harrisburg, Pa., Dec.
G and 7. We need an inspector just as we need a State
vetejinarian to look after the health of the farm-stock. I
believe it is your right to have an inspector, and I believe
you can get it if you ask for it. Do Illinois beek-keepers pay
taxes on bees? All paying taxes on bees rise to your feet.
(4.)

Mr. Black — The assessor asked me, have you any bees,
and how many colonies, but no valuation was placed on them,
and whether they were assessed I don't know.

Mr. Coppin — They have always left bees out for me.

Dr. Miller — We are switching off the track. Go on Mr.
France.

Mr. France — The question they will ask is, "Are your
bees assessed, and, if so, what is the assessed valuation?"
There is a law in Utah that causes bees to be assessed, and
one in New York and Iowa that forbids bees being taxed.
I don't object to bees being assessed. For 27 years my home
apiary was assessed. I was out when the assessor came
last spring, and I asked him later how many colonies of bees
did he put down. He hadn't put down any, and before I
went to bed I followed him up and said, "Have you ,got my
bees on the roll? Well, I want them there." He was sur-
prised. Who ever heard of a man wanting more property
on the assessment blank ! Well, I want them in ; put down
150 colonies in the liome yard, valuation at $1.50 per hive,
about the average of where the receipts were running in
our State.

Now here is the point : The city bee-keepers have made
more trouble in behalf of the law than all the rest com-
bined. I remember a few years ago the tax-collector said,
"France, you have 15 cents road tax to work out in this
district." I would rather pay it than work it out. I would
rather have bees mentioned on the assessor's books. If you
want the good-will of your neighbors, be good to them, and
you will find it will pay you to have the bees on the assess-
ment blank, I went before the State Board asking that it

44 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

be put on the roll for this year. Whether they will do so
or not, I don't know, but I will work for it all over the
States. I believe it is just and right that bees be assessed,
but if you begin to change the assessment roll there is a
danger line. I believe it was in this State, four years ago,
that the question was brought up before the Board of Asses-
sors, and I was asked what we were doing in our State, and
I said bees are assessable property and so is poultry. I be-
lieve they are assessable, I don't know why they should not
be, but don't fight on account of the few pennies the taxes
amount to. It will help you. I tried in Wisconsin once to
make the foul brood expenses self-supporting in this way:
Have the State levy a tax of 2 cents on every colony as
a reserve fund ; in other words, let the bee-tax support their
own expense. The bee-keeper who was keeping over 50
colonies of bees wanted it passed, but the man who was
trying to keep a few bees in old boxes was fighting it, and
enough of those men responded to rule it out. I believe
in Colorado that they are supported by a tax in that way.

Dr. Miller — I admire the common sense of Mr. France,
but I believe our law ought to be changed. Some time ago
when we were trying to get the law, I was told that we had
a foul brood law, and I quarreled over it a good deal and
then had to back down and say we had none. But we can't
change the law till we get the law. We had the appropria-
tion but we had no law that compels the suppression of foul
brood. Don't understand that I am undervaluing your taxes.
It paves the way to ask for a law to prevent foul brood, and
I am more thoroughly convinced in the belief that we need
a foul brood law than I was before. If Mr. France was
not backed with authority he would have been ordered away
in more cases than he was. We need, and I am only saying
it over again what Mr. France just said, if necessary to
make it stronger, that we need that power to let a man go
in and say, "I have a right to see if your bees have foul
brood," and I want to see every bee-keeper and every ex-
perienced man in America exceedingly anxious that there
should be a law for the suppression of foul brood, because
I don't want the disease in my bees and I want the law to
prevent its coming. It is not the man alone who has foul
brood that wants the law. He can cure it just as well with-
out it. It is the man without it that needs the law. There
has been too little feeling that we need that power. Now
the Legislature has said that money should be used to sup-
press foul brood. Now you can say. Will you give us money
or help; we want you to say that the inspector has power,
and till you give us that power we are seriously handicapped.

Mr. Stone — As one of the members of the committee
that got that appropriation I would like just to say what we
have seen. Our chairman was along with us, and we failed
twice in getting the appropriation, and the stumbling block
was when a man gets up and says "personal liberty" in that
committee;^ "You are infringing on my personal liberty." We
heard that, and it was when we came to that clause where it

[ -■ _ •- -'■

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 45

gives us the authority to destroy the man's bees .if they have
foul brood, that made us give up all hope of getting
anything. We tried to get that law through with those con-
ditions— to give the inspector all protection that the foul
brood law could give him. The last bill with those authori-
ties left out went through, but every man was for it and I
suppose the influence brought to bear was what brought it
through. The senator was pleased because he was flooded
with letters he got. Go on Mr. France.

Mr. France — I called there and what few bees he had
were infected. I said shall I treat these? He was busy pick-
ing apples one day and could not attend to it, so he put me
off every day till I said my time is worth too much, and
told him to build a fire under the kettle; we will cure them
right now. But his time was worth too much, and in the
other case the man's bees were in a dying condition. He
said, "I will burn them up." So destroy in cases like that,
])ut generally it is not necessary. If it comes to the last I
show them my authority ; and that goes a long way with
sorrre people. If the State Veterinarian is on the farm and
he finds a horse that is diseased, will he allow you to keep
that horse? Can the man keep it as long as he wants it?
I think the State Veterinarian would take care of jt. It is
only the eradication of the disease that you are after. If I
have a diseased horse or a cholera hog, the State places an
appraised valuation and that animal is destroyed to eradicate
the disease.

Mr. Stone — I would like to ask Mr. France another
question. When you have the authority given to you to
inspect these apiaries, then would it not be sufficient to have
a law that would compel them to eradicate the disease and
not destroy the property? Then you would not be destroying
property and no question of personal rights could come up.
That is just what you need in your law.

Mr. Smith — In my trips as inspector for this State I
visited the past season, in 32 counties, that is about 1-3 of
the State. I traveled over 2,000 miles, inspected something
over 300 colonies of bees, and I will say that I found only
one person who objected to having his bees inspected. But,
on the other hand, I find the people willing and anxious to
have them inspected. In a great many places I had corres-
pondence with the bee-keepers that have foul brood, and they
would notify their neighbors that the inspector was coming,
and they are all anxious to know what they shall do in
regard to treatment. I believe that by sending out the proper
educational printed matter as to treatment, we would have a
great deal of help. They have read the bee-papers of late
years and they all say so much about foul brood that they
are anxious to escape it if possible, and get rid of it if they
have it.

Mr. Stone — Did you not find the trouble with the people
who had just a few colonies?

Mr. Smith — That is the only trouble. About 18 years
ago 1 had 102 colonies of bees in fine condition. Of course

46 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

I read the bee-papers. I thought I would get good queens
and improve my stock, so I sent and got 6 queens. They
were in queen-cages accompanied with J/^ dozen bees, and
enough honey to carry them through their journey. I in-
serted queen, bees, cage and all on the comb, and let the
bees cut their way out, and before I knew it 82 of my colonies
were infected v/ith foul brood. I found my bees were weak,
and I began to investigate, and on investigation found it was
foul brood. Then the next season a neighbor of mine con-
cluded he would go into the bee-business. He went down
*o this party and got 20 nuclei. I destroyed my bees, only
having 7 colonies left. The next fall I built everything up
even from the hives, then sent to this man and got 20 nuclei.
He sent for me to come over and see his bees; they were
not doing well, and I was enlightened then. We went
through and found every colony infected with foul brood.
We burnt them all up, and I supposed that they had been
infected by some bees in the locality. Well, there were only
a few liees in that locality that 3'^ear. The following year I
went to that man again and got 60 more with the same result.
There was a gentleman moved in from a farm near who
sold some bees. I bought them all, black bees. I wrote to
this party for queens, got 4, and successfully introduced them,
yet in two months my bees were infected with foul brood.
Now, then, there was a good indication that they were in-
fected before they came here. It was three years before we
got rid of that trouble in that neighborhood. I built up
again, and have had no foul brood since, but everyone in
Sangamon county is willing to do all possible to keep out
foul brood.

Mr. Becker — ^^Does foul brood exist all over the State of
Illinois? If not, in what part of the State, and in what
counties, does it exist?

Mr. Smith — Well, it exists in the river country all the
way, as I understand, from Cairo up to Galena ; up the Fox
River through the northern part of the State, and down
the Illinois river is where we find the most of it. I found
some in Kankakee county. I believe the best way to do is
to educate the people by sending printed matter to them and
get them interested.

Mr. Stone — When they know we have a foul brood in-
spector they will be more liable to try to get rid of the foul
brood.

Mr. Smith — They mail me a piece of their brood-comb,
and I tell them if it is foul brood. I think that we can do lots
of work that way. Now, when we send out our report to
Mr. York about it, I think it does as much good as the
foul-brood inspector could do. We have now 119 members,
and if all members will send in the name of every bee-keeper
in their vicinity, we will mail them some more of this printed
matter, an outline on how to treat the bees, as Mr. France
illustrated ; I think we could prevent the disease. The bee-
keepers that are bee-keepers are, as a rule, practical, and
are getting more so every year, and those little fellows are

iV!fe''.^.,-.r.^--SUt-.ii

. li'LJ.;^^. V J-*i ..- ■4t^ W^^tiiiiaSt

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 47

gradually quitting; but I think it was in 1881 we had that
great honey-flow in this State. I had 40 colonies that year
and my bees stored 500 pounds of honey to a colony. Every-
one kept bees the next year, not getting such results, but
the practical men kept right at it; the little fellows quit.
If I go to a sale in the country, and there are any bees, I
buy them up. They sell cheap at sales in February or March.
I buy them and transfer them, render up the wax, and if
practical men would follow that we would soon get rid of
little bee-keepers. If the people who want to keep -bees will
take hold of this matter and help us, and by getting the
people to work, I believe it will be better than to have a half-
dozen inspectors.

Mr. Becker — This is quite a bee-country. I believe there
are 5,000 colonies of bees between here and up and down the
river both sides in Mason and Cass counties. I went there
last summer and met a man who takes a bee-paper, and had
me come in to see him. He asked right away about this
foul brood, what it was, and I had to explain it to him. I
mef at least a dozen who had bees, and of course they all
knew I kept bees and had exhibits at the Fair every year,
and that I sometimes bought honey, and it seemed that every-
one there was interested in foul brood. It is a good honey
country, and has no foul brood. I said their bees were all
right, and it seemed as if everyone in the country asked the
same question. People have read about it. I believe that
the money we have spent on these reports and pamphlets
on foul bi'ood has done as much good as the inspectors
themselves, because it is educating the people. The people
keeping bees don't want any foul brood, and if they have
honey-bees they don't want them to die from it. One doctor
there, an old friend of mine, well up in the bee-business, has
about 50 colonies and everything necessary to take care of
them. I wanted to buy some of his honey. I could give
him a good price a pound for it, but I could not use it at
all. It was in such a shape; it was unfilled sections, so it
was nothing but chunk honey, and I don't think in one case
there was a straight section.

Mr. York — According to the last census there are many
bee-keepers in this State, and while these pamphlets are a
good thing, unless you can get the names of the bee-keepers
you can't reach them, and so far as I know we have only
about 1,500 names of bee-keepers in this State. I don't doubt
that the printed reports are good things. About the new law.
I believe that if the things go right, we can have as good a
law as Wisconsin has. I realize it will take some work to
do it. I have not forgotten what we did two years
ago to get the law we have now. I remember
the Chicago-Northwestern Association had subscribed $100
to pay the expense. That was spent in endeavoring to get
the law. I repeat, I believe that if things go right we can
have as good a law as Wisconsin has. I know if we get
this law it will cost some money, we cannot get it for nothing.
We are in touch in Chicago with members of the Legislature,

48

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

many live in Chicago or near there. Mr. Moore and I are
personally acquainted with some of those elected this year,
and I don't know whether it is so or not but we have felt
that you would not have gotten the other law had it not
been for us up there. Mr. Moore spent a great deal of time
and used his influence in every way, and he knows a great
many members of the Legislature. I am satisfied that we
can get $5,000 if we go for it.

Secretary Jas. A. Stone.

Mr. Bowen — I want to understand whether this money
is approoriated for the suppression of foul brood. Is it not
a benefit for Dr. Miller? Why is it not a benefit for the
bee-keepers of Northern Illinois as well as Central Illinois?
If we want an appropriation from the State Legislature we
have to form a united front, and we have to show how many
bee-keepers there are in the State. We have had an inspector
here, and we ought to be able to tell in the report that we
are bringing before the Legislature how many bees were in-
fected with this disease, and how many apiaries were visited,

^il.^-fO:

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 49

SO that we cg.n go to the Legislature and show them that
there is a cause for us to ask for this money for the Illinois
bee-keeoers. Other States are trying the same thing, and
I say again that whatever we do we must bring a united
front if we get the appropriation. Our Chairman and In-
spector spoke of one case where a party had a few colonies
of bees that they objected to their being inspected, and the
party moved to South Dakota. Now I am not in favor of
giving to my neighbor a thing 1 don't want myself. If we
had proper laws, that man's bees would have been inspected,
and if they had the disease they would have been destroyed,
and not gone over into South Dakota to spread the disease.
What is good for Wisconsin is good for Illinois, and what
is good for Illinois is good for South Dakota, and if we are
going to work for the benefit of the bee-keepers we must be
united, not in Illinois alone nor a part of Illinois but all over
the whole country. Most of us are members of the National
Association, and we must feel interested in all the countries.
I know nothing about foul brood, and I hope I may not have
it -among my bees, but I will try to keep other men from
getting it in their bees. I am personally acquainted with
some having foul brood, and I am heartily in favor of any
law that will stamp it out. I should feel badly if I got it
in my bees or in my neighbor's.

Mr. York — If we can get an appropriation we can have
more inspectors. I think if this Bill is presented right that
we can get it. I don't see why we should not get as good
a law as Wisconsin has. We ought to try to get in touch
with the bee-keepers that don't take the bee-papers. If we
can get the bee-keepers in the different parts of the State
to send in the names of the bee-keepers in their locality a
great deal of good will be accomplished. I think Mr. Moore
has suggested that some of the money in tl^^^^^ynr should
be taken to help get the new law. It seeng:^!P|||^Sfchat the
Association ought to pay it, and not ask Mfei^^Kniembers
to pay it. There are a great many peopiBlWH^aon't help
it on at all. They want us to pay for it and do the work too.
We ought to get a larger appropriation.

Mr. Black — If there is an indication that any of this
money is going to be used for that it will prevent us from
getting anything. It will kill the whole thing, and I find
that nothing kills a thing quicker than to get our hands into
the State's pockets. If we want a law we must be willing
to put our hands into our own pockets. I have spent several
dollars in trying to get this law.

Mr. Primm — It seems to me that as we have more than one
Association in this State, we ought so to arrange matters
that those members of one are also members of the other,
so far as the law is concerned, and so far as effectual work
is concerned. Membership in one organization should mean
membership in all, so that we can work together in such a
way as best to effect legislation, and for all concerned it
would be a wise move. I don't know just how it could be
formulated, but I think it would be wise.

50 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

Mr. Coppin — It would pay us to stamp the disease out
if it took all the money in the treasury.

Mr. Smiths — We have till next Julv to work on it.

Mr. Coppin — After working till next July there will be
little money in the treasury.

Mr. Stone — We ought to ask for a larger appropriation;
I don't believe there was a single session at the State House
during the Legislature that I attended, but what I was asked
by the members trying to get the Bill through if the Bill
cut in two would not be enough. We can not get along with
less than $1,000. After the bill went through we expected
the Governor would sign it by cutting it in two, as he did
so many others. They asked if the Editor of the American
Bee Journal was interested in getting that Bill through and
we said "Yes." We ought to have a committee on legisla-
tion, and have it both in the Chicago-Northwestern and in
the State Associations. We don't care how much the Chi-
cago-Northwestern gets; we believe they ought to have their
proportion, but we have to advance cautiously whenever we
find the money is not being spent rightly. If the Legislature
finds the money is not being spent wisely they will quit giving
it to us.

Mr. Bowen — I am not supposed to know much about this
convention, but I would like to know what Mr. York means
by the Chicago-Northwestern Association and what territory
it includes.

Mr. York — It includes Illinois and all the States around
it.

Mr. Smith — In the last meeting of the Chicago-North-
western held in Chicago, there were members present from
seven States.

Mr. BojjxJJ — Now if your money you speak of getting
from the^^Mj^^Legislature is controlled in part by the Chi-
cago-N(MJpRtem, does that not put it in the hands of other
States t^flSictatft how much should be used if that society
is composed 'O^*^ members from other States? I cannot see
where the benefit would be in dividing it up.

Dr. Miller — The idea in Mr. York's mind' is that the Chi-
cago-Northwestern Association has done a lot of work, and
spent quite a good deal of money in order to get this Bill
passed — not that they ought to be paid for it, but that they
have done this, and feel that they ought to be recognized on
this ground aside from their bees..

Mr. Bowen — I am getting the run of it now. I want to
state that your law provides for two annual meetings, and
the expenses of meeting, but I don't know of a single penny
being paid out for any expenses of the meeting. Now as to
foul brood, if Northern Illinois has foul brood they are get-
ting more benefit out of the law than we are. We have not
got it in Central Illinois, but it is along the river counties.

Dr. Miller — The inspector works in the Northern part of
the State. You don't have the disease in this part of the
country, and you are the ones that are getting the benefit
of those in the Northern part of the State. The idea is not

-,M.::~n:i!^M

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. ' 51

that the Northern part alone is getting the benefit. If the
Legislature does not object to the horticultural society, I
don't know why it should object to it on the part of the
State Bee-Keepers' Association.

Mr. York — It seems to me that a grant could be made
to the Chicago-Northwestern Association, and you will notice
that 2-3 of the report is from the Chicago-Northwestern this
year, but they paid nothing for the report of that meeting.
The State Bee-Keepers' Association is confined to operations
within the State. The time is coming, and the sooner it
comes the better, when we shall appeal to Congress through
the National Bee-Keepers' Association, but so long as we
work on the State Legislature for an appropriation for the
work of the bee-keepers, we must give the appropriation
to people operating inside and not outside of the State. The
Chicago-Northwestern might be invited to suggest the names
of persons who are members of the Legislature who shall
I)e foul-brood inspectors, but if we are to secure an appro-
priation that appropriation must be confined strictly within
the State of Illinois, not outside, and if we want to affect
the Legislature we must keep that in mind.

Dr. Miller — I want our State Association to be success-
ful. I would rather see the State society successful than the
Chicago-Northwestern, but I don't believe the State Asso-
ciation will be hurt by anything done by the Chicago-North-
western.

A Member — It was resolved not to hold the meeting in
Chicago. Is there anything we can do toward getting the
Legislature to grant* the appropriation? It certainly is for
the good of this 'State? The Chicago-Northwestern has been
one of the great supporters in getting the law. We must
have a committee composed of members from that Associa-
tion and this, and not divide the funds necessary to accom-
plish the object. Take the money to use for the good of the
State. I think there were 1,000 booklets printed last year
to educate the bee-keepers. I could not get the names of
the bee-keepers so I went to the members that I knew, and
asked them to send me the names of all the bee-keepers in
their part of the country, then when I got the list of names,
I sent these booklets to them and said there is to be a bee-
keepers' convention at Springfield, and you are invited to
come. I sent out booklets on foul brood and some said, "I
have it among my bees but I didn't know it before."

Mr. Stone — I move we adjourn.

Mr. Bowen — Before we adjourn I would like to have the
President and Secretary get together and make their report.

Mr. Smith — I saw a colony in St. Louis that was infected
from this State. It was one of the strongest colonies in the
apiary in the spring ; now they have contracted the disease.
I will appoint a committee for the purpose of drawing to-
morrow morning's resolutions asking for and trying to secure
the co-operation of the bee-keepers throughout the State.
Mr. Primm, Mr. York, and Dr. Miller will be appointed on

; i>,-.^.'. Wr,

53 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

that committee. If you prefer five, I will add two more.
Any further business? If not we will adjourn.

SECOND DAY— Morning Session.

Mr. Smith, in the chair, asked the Secretary as to the
next thing on the program.

Mr. Stone — We wrote to eight persons for papers, but
we only have two. Mr. Crim was one written to, and we
never got any response. Mr. Poindexter has a paper. We
have heard from Mr. Moore and Mr. Dadant, and the rest
did not answer, so that is all we have in the way of papers.
Mr. Black has a talk.

Mr. Smith — Is there anything to dispose of, if not we
will call on Mr. Black for a speech.

Mr. Stone — A great many things ought to come up.

Mr. Primm — We will have a report of the committee
as soon as I can copy it.

Mr. Stone — We ought to do something and have it un-
derstood as to the publishing of this report; if it needs a
motion, I would like to make it. I will leave it to the meet-
ing and let someone else make a motion. We ought to make
arrangements, and I favor their being made with Mr. York,
the editor of the American Bee Journal, because he can ren-
der us far more assistance than any other we can get to
publish our '•eport. This past year when we were in doubt
about the "modus operandi," through a correspondence with
Mr. York we decided on getting out a letter and it was right
in the busy part of the year with me, and I told Mr. York
what we wanted, and asked him if he would write the letter.
He wrote the letter and sent it to me for further suggestions,
and we sent it out. You all know what that was, and no
one but Mr. York could have helped us out as he did. We
get the advantage of all that, if we have him publish our
report, and I am in favor of having a letter like that sent out
again. Now, if it needs any discussion and any motion to
bring it before the house, it might be well to have a com-
mittee appointed. What do you think about that. Dr. Miller?

Dr. Miller — The Executive Committee will attend to that.

Mr. Stone — Will it be best to leave the publishing of the
report to the Executive Committee?

Mr. Smith — Is the meeting willing? I don't know that
it is necessary at all, but I think it best to put the motion.
You have heard the motion : All in favor say, "Aye" ; con-
trary, "No". It is unanimous. It will be left to the Execu-
tive Committee.

Mr. Stone — There is another thing I would like to have
decided before we go any further. We have in the last year
taken in five members who asked also for the American Bee
Journal, in connection with their membership in the Asso-
ciation, and I learn from the proper authorities that it is
the understanding that when this Association gets member-
ship in the National it means all the members. It does not

.t^vi^'i^iljc:^: '

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 53

leave any to go alone into the American Bee Journal family.
Our foul brood inspector will have to be instructed as to
what the rules are, as it was through that source that the
American Bee Journal was ordered.

Mr. Smith — We ought to decide that. We can not give
membership in the Association and the Bee Journal at the
same time.

Mr. Stone — We did it with five members last year, and
this year we have started with two. I will make up the
difference if need be, with the understanding that no more :
subscriptions are given.

Mr. Becker — I don't see how we can compel any one
to go into the National Association if he doesn't want to.
I don't see how you can compel them to go into it. If any
member wants to become a member and doesn't want to go
into the National, I don't see how you can make him.

Mr. Stone — It is his privilege.

Mr. Becker — And it is his privilege to take the Bee
Journal, and it is his privilege to be able to join and be-
come a member of the Association.

Dr. Miller — This privilege was given to all societies in
the country to become members of the National Association,
providing the local Association paid half the amount — .50 '
cents per member. You can't go into the National Asso-
ciation for 50 cents without going into it through the State
Association, or some other, as the National fee is $1.00.
I doubt whether any individual would object to going into it.
I don't need to go into the National if I don't want to. But I t' ,
doubt if any one will object to going into it when it costs
but $1.00 for both the State and the National.

Mr. York — A part of them go in but they have to pay
$1.00 to go in. So, to get the advantage of the 50 cents mem-
bership fee, the whole association has to go in. The regular
dues, as Dr. Miller said, are $1.00. A provision was made
in the National constitution for the purpose of increasing the
membership of the National, and also to help the local asso-
ciations that they might increase their membership. I never
heard of any Association that refused to go in, and they
vote whether they are to join in a body. Those of the mem-
bers that want to join can send in their $1.00 to the National.
But it will cost them $1.00, instead of 50 cents by going
through the State Association.

Mr. Smith — It would be a good idea for the Secretary
to write to those two parties telling them that they pay $1.00
and get membership in the State and National both, but can-
not by present arrangements have the American Bee Journal.

Mr. Primm — Does 50 cents admit the member into this
association, or $1.00?

Mr. Smith — A dollar. They pay their $1.00 and we
credit them for membership in the State Association and
send 50 cents to the General Manager of the National, which
gives them also membership one year in National.

Mr. Stone — The membership is $1.00, and if this Asso-
ciation votes to join the National in a body they give us

54 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

membership for 50 cents each per member. They can't object
to accepting that.

Mr. Primm — We can take their $1.00 and send 50 cents
of it on to the other body.

Dr. Miller — I move that this society as a body go into
the National Association, and accept their offer to pay into
its treasury 50 cents per member.

Mr. Smith — You have heard the motion. All in favor
say, "Aye;" contrary, "No." Motion prevailed.

Dr. Miller — I don't know.

Mr. Smith — I have found it successful by queen-exclud-
ers; they won't carry pollen where the queen can't go.

Mr. Poindexter — There is one case in which pollen is not
carried into the sections — where they have drone-comb mixed
with it.

Mr. President — My experience is that they have both
brood and pollen in the sections.

Mr. Smith — Mr. Poindexter is right; it is a rare thing
to see pollen in drone-cells if you have drone-comb.

Dr. Miller — The queen will get into the sections unless
the excluder keeps her out. If you have drone comb in your
sections and the queen goes up here, the queen will lay in
the dro ne-comb and the bees will store pollen in the comb
close by. If you allow me to say so, it is a rare thing to
have pollen in section. I don't have an excluder, but I have
the sections filled entirely with foundation, and that is the
important part, because if the sections are only partly filled
it will be drone-comb in the part left, and that encourages
the queen coming up. Fill your sections with foundation
and you will have no more pollen.

Mr. Poindexter — My experience is that the foundation
which I am using will certainly keep the brood out, but it
doesn't keep the pollen out, not by any means; it is still
there.

Dr. Miller — May I ask what is the depth of your brood-
frames ?

Mr. Poindexter — I have had shallow brood-frames but I
have pollen carried up. I don't know any especial reason for
it. It may be there is a surplus of pollen in my neighbor-
hood. What troubles me is the getting of pollen in section
honey.

Mr. Smith — ^Do you use queen-excluders?

Mr. Poindexter — No, sir.

Mr. Smith — You try that and you will have no trouble.

A Member — I use queen-excluders in two colonies at
present and it is just the same.

Dr. Miller — The point is this, he says they store honey
over the excluder. I think the reason the excluder keeps
it out is because the queen doesn't go up there, and there is
no laying in the surplus.

Mr. Smith — Is it not a fact that the workers will build
drone-comb in the surplus where the queen can't get?

siATiv i!i;i>Ki:i;i'i:i^s AssotiAirox.

i).>

Dr. Millc-r — 1 (Ion"!, kimw llirit it i-- ims^ihlr.
Mr. Sniitli — I lia\c- liad tlial cxi)ci"ieiioc.

llK.i'.S DKXWINC DIT CO.MI!.

'"Is il a fact that I)crs draw nut ciunl)?"'

Dr. Miller — I sliiuild '-a.y yes as far as i know. I think
(he hecs do.

.Mr. Stone — f a^kt'd that (pu'^iiun. I )(> they draw it d<nvn?
1 heard a man say that he put in the hrood- frames a strii)

Treasurer CiiAS. Bkckki;.

of foundation one inch wide; they drew it down two inches
wide. I claim that is an imi)ossiI)ility : how can they draw
it out? Will they draw it down and make drone-cells out
of it? They could not draw it down without makijij^- the
cells larger and all out of shape, or else taking off bits of
comb and building it on at the bottom, which I doubt, as
they begin first by widening at the top of the comb. I read
about bees drawing out comb bitt I never can believe it.

Dr. Miller — The common understanding is the fact that

56 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

bees draw out comb. -Sure they do. They draw out the cells.
They take what is above and take it farther down bit by bit.

Mr. Primm — I don't know that I catch your idea yet.
The question implies, do the bees fill the comb if you put in
foundation? Do they affect that foundation to any extent
in order that they might enlarge?

Dr. Miller — I see your point. The point Mr. Primm
makes is that they don't draw it out. No, sir, emphatically
they do draw it out. The yellow foundation will be drawn
out. I know they draw out the foundation.

Mr. Primm — I think when you have a foundation one
year the next year when you eat the honey you will find
where the foundation is, there is thick wax.

Dr. Miller — Because that foundation is allowed to stand
for a year and it is hard.

Mr. Stone — Right there is a stumbling block for me.
I have had beeswax lying out for the bees to lick the honey
off, and they do not carry off the wax. How do they get
the comb drawn out, if they cannot carry off my wax?

Mr. Coppin — The bees can dig wax and carry it away ;
they have done it at my place this past summer. I put out
some honey that had pollen in it, for the bees to clean out.
It could be drawn down like Mr. Stone had in his question.
It would not be a worker-bee cell if drawn down, it would
be all out of shape. They use the wax in the foundation
below. It was near the bottom of the section.

Dr. Miller — With regard to bees taking wax from any
place and then using that wax to build out comb, it is pos-
sible that it is done. They do take bits of wax scattered
around and use it as propolis. I could not say positively
they never use it to build comb, but I don't see how it is
possible.

Mr. Stone — I believe that is one question we can't solve.
I think if the foundation is colored further down than where
it was put in, that there is a possibility the darker colored
wax colors that which is attached to it. An old hen made
a nest, and laid every day in a barrel where I had cleaned
old brood-frames. After being a few days from home I
went to the barrel to get the eggs, and found those eggs
were colored. If propolis or beeswax can color egg-shells
can it not color the wax attached to it? And may not this
be the secret of wax-coloring?

Mr. Becker — Is it not a fact that after a honey-flow you
never see bees swarming around- an old hive that is thrown
away looking for beeswax on old frames? I think Benton
in his book issued by the Government, says he thinks that
bees don't produce comb, and we know they don't unless a
certain temperature is in the hive, and this yellow wax in the
hive is the production that comes after a honey-flow, and
there is not sufficient white it it to give it the same color;
it is always a darker color. I never see bees around an old
frame.

Mr. Black — My experience is different from Mr. Becker's.
During the great honey-flow we had noticed that the bees

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 6t

were more eagrer to get the bits of wax that were around.
I had thought that they would not want much except the
screenings of honey, but during last season I noticed par-
ticularly they would not touch the honey at all, but if there
was a bit of wax on the ground they would gather it.

Mr. Primm — I have the impression from my experience,
though rather short, that the expression which we use with
reference to comb is a misnomer. The bees don't draw it
out. They use the wax to build comb and probably that ac-
counts for their acting so, but I doubt if they ever really
draw out the comb from the foundation. If they did they
would enlarge the cells to any size they chose, and we would
have no benefit in putting in the foundation so far as pre-
vention of drone-comb, or anything like that.

Mr. Bowen — I noticed this summer that the bees were
getting the wax on their legs so they could hardly fly with it.
I don't know what they do with it. I didn't know exactly
whether they used it for propolis or not. It is possible that
is what they use it for. I wondered when I saw them getting
it what they would do with it. I am glad the question came
up to-day as to whether it was used for building comb or for
propolis. In regard to building, when they have foundation
they have a base for cells. I think the tendency would be
clear, that a cell the proper size would be made, even larger
than drone-cells.

Dr. Miller — If they can draw out the foundation a little
way they can draw it out to the full depth of the cell. If
you put in a piece of foundation in the working season when
the bees are fully at work, within 12 hours you will find
that foundation double what it was. You will find that
shallow cell-wall within 12 hours will be 10 or 12 times as
large. If you watch them you will say they draw it out of
those shallow cells.

Mr. Stone — I would like to say that Mr. Poindexter is
here, and has a paper, and when it is the pleasure of the
meeting we will have him read it, Mr. Black was asked to
give a talk and we will look to him for that.

COMMITTEE ON RESOLUTIONS.

The following resolutions were then presented, and all
were adopted :

Whereas^ We believe the bee-keeping industry of this
State would be greatly promoted by a closer union of all
bee-keepers ; and

Whereas, The Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Association is
the only incorporated body within the State, representing the
35,000 persons engaged in said industry; therefore,

Resolved, First, that we, the Illinois State Bee-Keepers'
Association, in annual convention assembled, hereby invite
the cooperation of all bee-keepers, and bee-keepers' associa-
tions in Illinois, 'in everything that will promote the com-
mon interest.

58 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

Resolved, Second, that any local bee-keepers' association
in Illinois may become affiliated with this Association on the
payment of twenty-five cents per member, and its members
thereby shall become members of this Association. This
Association will gladly incorporate into its published annual
report the reports of all affiliated associations, if furnished
by the secretaries of such associations.

Resolved, Third, that it is to the interest of every bee-
keeper in the State to assist the State Association in securing
such legislation as will enable us to stamp out the foul-
brood evil, and also prevent the placing on the market of
adulterated honey.

J. W. Primm.
C. C. Miller.
George W. York.
Committee.

In accordance with the resolution laid over from the
last annual meeting (see Third Annual Report, p. 20) it
was voted to amend Art. III. of the Constitution, Sec. 1,
by the addition of the following: "And any affiliating asso-
ciation as a body may become members on the payment of
an aggregate fee of twenty-five cents per member."

Resolved, That our committee on legislation be re-
quested to use every reasonable means to have bees listed
as assessable property, and be a part of the assessor's
enumeration on the assessor's list. Also, that the law be
so amended that the Foul Brood Inspector may have a
legal right to force the owner of diseased bees to treat, or
have treated, such foul brood, or other disease. Also, that
every effort to secure an increase of appropriation from
our Legislature for the furtherance of bee-keepers' inter-
ests be made.

Whereas, Death has taken from our number P. J.
England, the first president of the Illinois State Bee-Keep-
ers' Association, therefore be it

Resolved, That we hereby record our sincere apprecia-
tion of the services rendered by our departed brother, and
our sympathy with his bereaved family in their sad afflic-
tion.

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be for-
warded by the Secretary to the bereaved family.

J. W. Primm.

C. C. Miller.

George W. York.

We, the undersigned committee appointed to audit the
accounts of the Treasurer, Chas. Becker, find the same to
be correct.

J. W. BOWEN.
S. N. Black.
S. T. Crim.
Mr. Black — I don't know that I listened carefully enough
to understand the resolution. Does that mean that they
should affiliate as a body or as an individual?

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 59

Mr. Primm — As a body.

Mr. Black — Then to make that sure they should report the
whole number of their members with 50 cents to each one
of them.

Mr. France — You have several local bee-keepers' asso-
ciations in this State; now if these resolutions are to in-
clude those, is it not the same as to affiliate here? I don't
know whether they have that understanding or not; their
report is to the contrary, else what disposition are you going
to make of those people if they don't understand that matter?

Mr. York — I think it is the idea of the committee that
all associations should be notified of this act so they can
take a vote on it. Notify the secretaries of the other asso-
ciations, and have them send in reports.

iDr. Miller — If you go to the Legislature they will say,
How many are there of you? If your Association has more
members it carries a great weight. I doubt whether the
other societies will do any harm. It does the same as the
National does. They come into the National that way, and
it is a great help to the National. It will in the same way
help the State Association. As Mr. Black says, they don't
have to come in if they don't want to. The whole thing
is this : That it will increase the membership of this Asso-
ciation, and be a help to us. In union there is strength.

Mr. Stone — It costs 5 cents to send out this report. If
we receive 25 cents for membership from each member, will
that include one of these reports?

Dr. Miller — There is that much more of a margin than
you would have without it, no matter whether it is small
or large.

Mr. Smith — Next year send out letters and get more
fees.

Mr. Stone — Our treasurer has mentioned this will all
go out of the appropriation anyway, it won't affect the State
Treasury, as Dr. Miller says.

Mr. York — It seems to me it would be a good idea to
-have another paragraph in it. There are more local asso-
ciations than to take in the bee-keepers in those parts of
the state at the 25 cent rate. They have to pay their $1.00
to join the State Association. I favor having them pay
their $1.00.

Mr. Primm — The bee-keepers are taken in, not as in-
dividual members but as an association. I think as in-
dividual members they would be conflicting, but in a body
It seems to me they would not be.

Mr. Bowen — I don't see how you can make one thing
of one and one of another. If they become members in a
body arid you wish the adoption of this resolution you must
add another clause or another section to the constitution
first, and then take in that section.

Dr. Miller — In order to save time, I wish Mr. Bowen
would suggest the amendment he thinks desirable.

Mr. Stone — We are not doing things in accordance with

: i-ssit^^iai^.:^'* ^^^-

--Sf^i

CtO FOURTH ANNUAL REPORf

the constitution, and I don't see what difference it would
make.

Mr. Bowen — How would you make the membership in
one way with one class, and another way with another
class? Have your committee bring that up in the form
of a resolution.

Mr. Stone — Can't do that, without a two-thirds vote of
the members present.

Mr. York — The constitution says when any person joins
he must pay $1.00, but a whole body can join for 50 cents
each.

Mr. Bowen — No reason why because the National makes
a mistake the Illinois Association must make a mistake.

Mr. Stone — These laws were adopted for this Associa-
tion. Now then, if this meeting so elects, it can do according to
that resolution for a year. We don't want to put some-
thing in that constitution we will have to follow always. It
is only for this year that we want to follow it. This meeting
is in the hands of the members.

Mr. Black — That question came up. If they gain the
appropriation from the secretary of the National it would
not come from the individual, and the money came from
the secretary or treasurer to this body and it would not con-
flict in the least. It seems to me that to make it sure, we
might have an amendment that any association joining this
body, as a body, may be received on the payment of any
sum which this body shall name. I would suggest that we
add this as another clause to the constitution.

Mr. Becker — Unfortunately we are not in such a condi-
tion that we can add an amendment to the constitution at
the present time. It may be amended at any annual meeting
after 30 days' notice is given to members of the Association.

Mr. Stone — The by-laws may be amended by a two-
thirds vote of the members at the annual meeting.

Mr. Becker — Any person may become a member upon
the annual payment of $1.00.

Mr. Stone — I stand corrected ; I was looking at the
wrong place. I see it is in the constitution instead of the by-
laws.

Dr. Miller — I think that it was taken into consideration
in the National that when a society came in as a body it was
a different thing, and they could make different arrange-
ments ; and yet to satisfy Mr. Bowen, I think it would be
better to change the constitution than to take up so much
time with these things and interfere with the bee-talk. Do
anything to stop wasting time.

Mr. Black — I move that all this subject be laid on the
table.

Mr. Smith — The motion is that we lay this question on
the table till the next annual meeting, when we shall take
steps to change the constitution. All favoring, stand. Con-
trary.

The motion is lost to lay it on the table.

Mr. Stone — I move the adoption of the resolution.

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 61

Mr. Black — It is ag&inst our interest to do what most
people admit is doubtful, and as I think a wrong move.

* Mr. Becker — We want the organization to proceed with
other business; our membership is small, and this would give
us a larger body in our organization, and when we come
before the Legislature what can we tell them? I would like
to see every county in the State organized, and find how
many bee-keeoers there are in each county, how much honey
is produced, in order that we can come before the Legisla-
ture and show them the interest there is in the State of
Illinois for bee-keepers. If we don't vote this motion down
we will be losers. We can write to these parties to help us.
Now we have nothing but the Illinois State Association. I
think they are worth more than $1.00.

Mr. Bowen — Could we not have the constitution so ar-
ranged that we can take members as honorary in order
to raise the membership. I move to strike out the 25 cents,
and that members of the Association shall be accepted as
honorary members.

Mr. Smith — There is a motion now before the house,
and that motion is seconded. Mr. Black moved to lay the
motion on the table, your motion is now out of order unless
you move to reconsider it.

Mr. Bowen — This motion is subject to amendment. I
move now to amend it.

Mr. Smith — I misunderstood you.

Dr. Miller — I am an honorary member, but I don't think
it would be fair to take in members for nothing. Our mem-
bers pay their $1.00. Now you are going to say, "Come on
for nothing." While a person may come in at a less amount,
I don't think we are conflicting with the constitution, it is
a question whether the National has done anything wrong.
Don't shut ourselves out from the advantage it will give us.
It looks as if the adoption of this report will more than
double the membership of this society, and the doubling of
that memerbship means a great deal to us. There is noth-
"ing in the constitution that is disturbed by this motion.
You will get into trouble by admitting as honorary members.
It is not fair to the members present. We ought to be will-
ing to strain to increase our membership for the great ad-
vantage it will bring to us.

Mr. Black — They will not become members until we have
notified the body that they have accepted that, or they be-
come honorary members on their acceptance or notice, or they
become members on the payment of 25 cents.

Mr. Bowen — Becoming honorary members doesn't mean
active members, but honorary members to act in harmony
with the State Association. Their interests and ours are
one, and they want to sign their names as members of the
Association and they ought to do so. I would rather see a
good organization with barely an existence in financial mat-
ters than to have a large fee and only a small organization.
If it is right to have a few honorary members, why not
many?

62 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

Dr. Miller — If we have too many honorary members
when we go before the Legislature and tell how many mem-
bers we have, they say how many of them are honorary
members? Don't you see that it won't bear the same with
the Legislature that it would otherwise if they came in with
the payment of so much money.

Mr. Stone — The 25 cents will come out of the treasury
of their society, not out of their pockets. I don't believe we
would get a man as honorary member that we would not
get if he paid his 25 cents. It is out of the association's
pocket, and the association is formed by the individual; if
they vote for them to come to this Association for 25 cents
they are not voting out of their own pockets. It will make
a difference betw^een their coming in as active and honorary
members. The State will say. What! are you sending these
reports to these people that don't give you anything for it?
I believe in things paying for themselves.

Mr. York — Are you going to make honorary members
out of the whole State of Illinois?

Mr. Stone — One year ago this question was brought up,
and on motion of Mr. Black it was laid over for one year,
so that any change in the constitution would now be in order.

Mr. Smith — Are you ready for the adoption of the reso-
lution ? All in favor signify by saying, "Aye" ,* contrary, "No."
Prevailed.

Mr. Stone — In view of the circumstances that brought
France here, and for the talk he has given this Association,
I move that he be elected an honorary member of this Asso-
ciation.

Mr. iSmith — You have heard the motion. All in favor
signify by saying, Aye ; contrary, No. Mr, France is a mem-
ber of this Association.

Dr. Miller — I see more sense in making one outside
of the State an honorary member than one inside the State.

Mr. Smith — Do you want to pay a quarter. Doctor?

Mr. Stone — I would suggest that resolutions be drawn
on the death of the first president this Association ever had,
P. J. England, of Fancy Prairie, who died January 25th.

Mr. Stone — Moved that the Committee on Resolutions
be retained to do it. Carried.

GUARDING AGAINST FOUL BROOD.

"Is there anything to guard against foul brood or to
prevent the disease?"

Dr. Miller — I cannot see that the disease can be pre-
vented only bv preventing infection. Let Mr. France answer
this question. Is there any way to guard against foul brood?

Mr. France — It is important to have a foul brood law;
you need that, and an inspector's authority.

Dr. Miller — Is there anything to do to keep bees from
having foul brood?

Mr. France — I find many bee-keepers whose bees don't
have th? diseaise, saying, "Well, I don't need to be posted;

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 63

my bees don't have the disease." And they don't try to keep
posted on it.

Dr. Miller — I have no foul brood among my bees ; I don't
care about it. When it gets into my apiaries I will study
about it; it is a waste of space to me.

Mr. France — You have a good residence; you will wait
until your house gets a fire, and then insure it.

Mr. Bowen — ^We don't have foul brood in our neighbor-
hood. It doesn't seem to me that question was properly
understood. As I understood it, suppose one of our neigh-
bors has the disease, is there a way to keep our bees from
getting it? Is there any prevention?

Mr. France — Keep a constant watch on your bees to
keep them from being infected. I don't think that a prac-
tical question.

Mr. Smith — If a case of small-pox got among us we
would have to fumigate, but you can't do that with bees.

Mr. Coppin — In the spring when they find they have a
lot of bees that have the disease, a good many of them don't
know about foul brood; if they would examine those bees
that died in the spring, they would find they had the disease,
and if they would examine the combs they would find they
had foul brood, and they could keep the rest of the bees from
getting it. Examine the combs when you find bees dead, and
you will often find foul brood of the worst kind. I told them
to send it to the inspector, which they did; it was a bad
disease because bees don't die leaving a lot of combs full
unless they have the disease. It is easy to tell when the
bees are found dead in the spring if they have foul brood.
It could be prevented I think.

KEEPING BROOD OUT OF SECTIONS,

"What is the best way to keep brood out of sections?"

Dr. Miller — Use a queen-excluder ; you will not have any
brood there. I can prevent it to so great an extent without
that, that I don't want to be to the expense of using ex-
cluders.

Mr. Smith — Tell your secret.

Dr. Miller — It is no secret. Some having brood in their
sections do the same as I do, except that they don't have
their sections filled with foundation w^hen the honey-flow
starts, and no brood-comb in the brood-chamber. They will
fill out the comb in the sections. Some times I have known
the bees to leave a piece of brood-comb for use in the section-
comb entirely empty. Keep your sections filled; that is the
secret. Keep the bees from putting drone-comb, and then
the queen won't go up to lay.

Mr. Primm — How do you fill your sections with founda-
tion?

Dr. Miller — Fill it so full that there can't be drone-brood
in it, so the queen can't get at it.

Mr. Coppin — I find that the Doctor's theory is correct.
If you fill it full of foundation the queen will not go there

64 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

to lay. That is my experience. Whenever I find brood in
sections it is drone-brood, every time. I never find any
worker-brood, unless it should be in the same comb where
there is drone-brood.

Dr. Miller — I have found some cases where without any
drone-comb at all, the queen has gone up and laid in the
worker-comb, but it is a very rare thing when that occurs.

Mr. Bowen — You people neglect the early education of
your bees.

Dr. Miller — It is a rare thing that they will go up into
the sections.

Mr. Smith — Is that very frequent?

Dr. Miller — It is not frequent at all, but it is a rare
thing when a queen will go and lay in cells that are filled
with foundation. Some have a great deal of trouble with it ;
the only way to account for it is that their sections are not
filled with foundation.

Mr. Bowen — I never .allow my bees to go in sections
from four to six days after putting bees into the hive ; they
get the sections above full before they get the frames below,
if I do.

Dr. Miller — Mr. Bowen has brought up the question,
who will answer it? I wait until the bees get started below
before I put the sections on. This is a separate thing, and in
case of swarms you will have brood in your sections. It
just depends on the season in regard to getting brood in the
sections. If there is a swarm, and you use full sheets of
foundation in the brood-frames, the bees will, use no sections
for brood-comb. In those combs nothing but worker-bees
will go if you have excluders. If you put sections on the
next day it is very seldom the queen will go up. I put
sections on the next day after hiving a swarm, and they
don't go up with me.

Mr. Poindexter — I was going to ask about queen-ex-
cluders ; do they store honey in the surplus as well with as
without them?

Dr. Miller — I don't know positively.

OUGHT BEES TO BE ASSESSED?

Dr. Miller — The way property is assessed the bees ought
to be assessed. I want protection of my property. I want
my bees to be protected as well as anything else. I don't see
any reason why they should be excluded.

Mr. Stone — I believe we ought to be willing to have our
bees assessed. The reason I never have done it is, the as-
sessor says they are not on the roll and are not assessable.
I heard Mr. Becker say his bees were assessed. If we go
before the Legislature and ask them to pass the law prevent-
ing the spreading of foul-brood, I want it to be said that
we pay taxes on our bees.

Dr. Miller — How many think bees ought to be assessed?
Rise to your feet. Unanimous.

Dr. Miller — I think it is a very important item that you

k •

STATE BEE-KEEPERS^ ASSOCIATION. 65

would have accomplished in making that answer. I know a
great many would want their bees assessed. I think we are
the gainers in the long run. The tax on bees is not a large
one. I am sorry that bees were not on the list last year.

A. J. Miller — What, should the valuation be given to the
assessor?

Dr. Miller — If I have a horse he is assessed one-fifth of
his value. It should be the same with bees. Five colonies
of bees would be assessed at $1.00 each, one-fifth of its real
value. I bought bees for $2.00 last year, and the prices
range from that on up. Whatever is the real value of those
bees, you ought to have them assessed at one-fifth of same.

Mr. Stone — The valuation on bees ought to be what
they are selling for at a public sale, that is $2.00 a colony.

Mr. Becker — I bought 10 colonies at $1.65 a piece, and
paid $2.00 and a few cents for hives. I wanted the hives
as much as the bees, as they had 50 to 60 pounds of honey.
I think bees should be assessed as you have a horse assessed.
That is if you have 10 colonies of bees with good hives you
should pay not less than $2.00 valuation on the hives if the
bees were not worth a cent.

Mr. Black — In some neighborhoods bees are worth more
than in others, and they ought not to be assessed at a fixed
valuation anyway. They would be worth more in some places
than others.

REGULATING PRICES OF HONEY.

"How can we best regulate the price of pure honey?"

Dr. Miller — You can regulate the price of honey by in-
forming yourself as to what the thing is worth, and be sure
to ask all you think ought to be asked for it, seeing that
you get a fair price for it. I know some sell their honey
for a great deal less than they think it is worth. I know
you can help individually in never asking less than what it
is worth. The markets want your honey and will give what
it is worth.

Mr. Becker — I object to that question, as there is an
insinuation in it that we are selling adulterated honey, not
pure honey. I hope no one in this convention sells anything
but pure honey. So much is said about adulterated honey;
I don't think it ought to be discussed. We don't bring any-
thing but pure honey to the market.

Dr. Miller — Do you think any impure honey is sold?

Mr. Becker — Not in Springfield.

Dr. Miller — Mr. Becker has control of the Springfield
market.

Mr. Becker — You say I have a monopoly on the Spring-
field honey-trade. I have not a monopoly; I sell extracted
honey in all the Springfield stores. The first package I put in,
I say if anyone calls and says they don't like this honey,
don't say anything, just tell them to bring it back and I will
give them their money back. I never had to take any bottles
back but once, and then it was granulated and needed melt-
ing. I went to another store and the man had lots of honey

.,-:«ss^

66 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

on hand. I said, "You have some granulated honey." The
people don't like that kind of honey, so I took it back and
sold that man a gross. I sell my honey just that way; that
is the way I have got a monopoly on honey in Springfield.

A. J. Miller — I have bees that put black enamel in their
section cappings.

Mr. Stone — I am skeptical about bees sealing honey with
anything that is not pure beeswax, as it exudes in scales from
their bodies.

Mr. Black — On this question of feeding and sealing, I
want to give a reason why I don't believe it is done to any
extent, or will be. I have fed bees honey and I found it
took about six pounds of honey fed to the bees to get one
pound in the sections. If you feed sugar they will consume
it, and I don't believe it is practical, from experience of my
own, to feed sugar or honey, and get it stored in the comb
in any way that will be practical to the man that does it. If
it don't pay him it will never be done.

A. J. Miller — I find some customers say that the honey
in the sections is not good, and they won't have it.

Mr. York — How can we best regulate the price? It
seems to me that those who charge a certain price for their
honey have the advantage over those who do not. Some who
bring honey to market don't know what it is worth. If they
knew, they would charge more for their honey. If we hold
out we will get more for our honey.

PREVENTING ADULTERATION OF EXTRACTED HONEY.

"What is the best way to prevent adulteration of ex-
tracted honey?"

Mr. Smith — Enforce the pure food law.

Mr. Primm — It occurred to me that one thing ought to
be done, and that is, have every bee-keeper put his name and
address on every package of "honey he puts up, and especially
the extracted honey, and if that is not in the law I think it
ought to be.

Mr. Smith — That is in the law.

Mr. Becker — I want to say this : There are a great many
people you find when selling honey, asking, "Is this pure
honey?" You tell them, "Yes, it is." "Well, I got some
honey and it tasted so and so, it was not pure honey, it was
adulterated." That is the conclusion they come to. I know
it is pure honey, as we know every flower produces a dif-
ferent flavor of honey. We have samples here. I have 35
samples of honey at home and I always tell them that differ-
ent flowers produce a different flavor of honey. They like
sweet clover honey. Now there is basswood ; I know if bass-
wood is a year old it has a queer flavor, and is not liked by
some people. They ask what I put in that honey. I tell
them what it was. Sweet clover is different in effect from
the basswood. My opinion in regard to the feeding of
honey, when they say we feed sugar and produce honey, it

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 67

is simply some different fall flavor of honey and yet it is all
pure honey.

A. J. Miller — The question is, how best to prevent the
adulteration of extracted honey. If they knew it was adul-
terated honey they would prosecute them by law. I would
help everyone to prosecute a man who adulterated his honey.

Mr. France — ^There was a motion made at the National
Association in St. Louis to the eflfect that anyone in doubt
as to the honey on their market being pure could send a
sample of it to the General Manager of the National, to be
analyzed free of charge. That would settle the question.

FRUIT-TREE BLIGHT AND BEES. ^j

*TDoes ihe honey-bee cause or spread blight of fruit-
trees?"

Mr. France — In short, I will say No! In the extreme
western portions of our States the herdsmen have, without
any good foundation, drawn conclusion to that effect. I
got a paper signed by them asking me that the bees be re-
moved, as they blighted the alfalfa. Because the bee-keeper
was getting some of the benefits they were jealous. We
could not find that the bee was the cause of their blight.
One of the largest pear orchards I know of in your State,
the owner said he would not try to keep pears free of blight
if he did not have a bee to fertilize the bloom. It is non-
sense to talk of bees blighting fruit trees.

Mr. Becker — I move we have the time for 3 o'clock this
afternoon for the election of officers. (Carried.)

Mr. Bowen — In order to get good services from the
officers, while we don't expect to get any better services than
we have had, we expect them to do more, and it is out of
the question to ask men to take valuable time for us for
nothing. We believe especially the secretary should have
some compensation for his work. I believe now with the
work for the secretary to do besides attending to his bees,
that a compensation of not less than $25.00 should be grant-
ed for his services during the coming year, and I move that
the compensation of the Secretary during the coming year
should be fixed at $25.00.

Mr. York — I believe the secretary has done work this
last year that he should be paid for. We ought to see that
it is paid out of the general fund.

The motion was seconded, put, and carried.

Mr. Bowen — ^While nothing has been agreed upon for
paying officers, we ought to pay them for their time and ex-
pense, and I think it is not more than right to pay our
present secretary $20.00 for services during the past year,
and I make a motion to that effect.

The motion was seconded, put and carried.

Mr. Becker — I have a little bill here which I have paid
from my own pocket. I don't ask compensation, but I paid
last year for postage affidavits and stationery, $1.63.

Mr. Black — You ought to have added that in your bill.

■r.i . - ■■- i^v. 7-:; kj^j^f^

68 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

I think we ought not to allow him anything, for not attend-
ing to it!

Mr. Smith — All in favor of Mr. Becker's bill being paid
signify by saying "Aye." Carried.

Mr. Black — We want to talk bees. Let us have a dis-
cussion ; the members want it.

Mr. Stone — I suggest we hear Mr. Poindexter, then Mr.
Black.

WINTERING BEES.

The subject of wintering bees is one which has perhaps
been discussed and written upon as much as any other topic
of apiculture, and it is of paramount importance to the bee-
keeper to know how to bring his bees through, from the
close of one honev harvest to the commencei^ent of an-
other, in good condition, so as to get the full benefit of the
yield, whether it be large or small. This is especially an ap-
propriate time to give the matter our consideration so as to
refresh our minds for the approaching winter. If we were
asked the question as to what was the principal cause of
bees not wintering well, and their reduced condition in
spring, and later when it occurs, would answer. Cold and
the unfavorable condition of the bees to withstand it. With
this view, then, what are some of the favorable conditions
conducive to successful wintering:

First, on the summer stands, to start with strong col-
onies. 'Second, plenty of well-sealed stores of good quality
in the same combs on which the bees are clustered. Third,
protection against winds. Fourth, a double-walled hive or
its equivalent by pa.cking. Fifth, ventilation so as to keep
the inside of the hive dry, but no draft through it.

As to hives being shaded or standing in the sun. it de-
pends upon the kind of winter. If warm, shade ; if long-
continued cold, like the winter of 3 872-3, 1877-8, 1881-4-5,
we would give the hives the benefit of all the sun's warmth
possible.

During some of those extremely cold winters we have
saved the bees, as we believe, by covering the hives with
snow. In all such cases we ventilated the hives above so as
to allow the moisture to escape through the upper chamber.

For outdoor wintering of bees we believe that colonies
should be allowed to increase to their full capacity of
strength during the summer season. In fact, for other pur-
poses we think the expansive- system, or giving the queen
and bees full room, is more profitable than the contracting
and manipulating plan, for Illinois. While with proper care
bees may be wintered with comparative success on their
summer stands, but for the 8 or 10-frame single-wall Lang-
stroth hive, a cellar or building so constructed that it will be
not only frost-proof but not easily affected by outside tem-
perature, is much more desirable. With part of our bees
stored in such a repository we have time and again wintered
them with a loss of not more than 3 or 4 per cent.

During the past thirty years, with but two exceptions,

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 69

we have had almost perfect success in cellar-wintering, while
those colonies wintered on the summer stands have suffered
more or less especially during the coldest winters. Our
conclusion is that the chief point to be kept in mind is the
protection of the bees from cold, from the time it com-
mences in the fall, until warm weather in spring has come
to stay. Jas. Poindexter.

Mr. Black — Some of us know the bees gather what we
call honey-dew, from the black walnut and black oak, and
the honey is dark and the bees that were in the cold any
length of time died out rapidly. Now I have wintered bees
in the cellar without the loss of a single colony. I wintered
out-of-doors with not a very small loss. Even in a single
wall I found no trouble in getting to all the hives. It seems
to me that they want a reasonable amount of ventilation.
Some 35 or 40 years ago I put a swarm of bees there when
the old box-hives were in vogue, and it set there and I kept
it as an experimental hive. The bees in the center of the
hive- had spread up by some way till one side had a crack
that I could put my finger into, and it was that way for
20 years. The bees were near where my stock was, and one
night when the snow was on th6 ground the cow upset the
hive and it laid that way all night. I picked it up the next
morning. They came out again in the spring and never
failed to give me a swarm. I used them as an experiment
till they were over 25 years old, when they died, and I have
thought it was not the cold, but continued cold^ that kills
bees in winter. I wintered one winter in the cellar and lost
none; they came out in first-class shape and for 30 or more
days the thermometer ran from 20 to 28 degrees below
zero, and there seemed to be less consumption of honey
and the fewest dead bees during that season than any season
yet.

Dr. Miller — The idea was advanced that in general cel-
lar-wintering is safer than outdoor wintering.

Mr. Bowen — I would like to ask how far South he
means that to apply. It seems to me that if it is successful
with the thermometer 30 to 40 degrees below zero, the dis-
tance north and south doesn't make any difference. I never
use the cellar, and I believe my loss is just as little as any
wintered in the cellar. One thing I do is to see they are
not to have an open ventilation, but on top of the brood-
chamber I fix it so there is a close ventilation so the heat
naturally arises from the brood-chamber, creates a very
slight current so that the atmosphere drops back. You
have a late season that way, and the bees never get killed.

Dr. Miller — I don't see that I am getting an answer to
my question.

Mr. Poindexter — I was just going to answer that ques-
tion in answer to Mr. Black's question about his ventilating
hives. I think the principal idea was that the hives are to
be kept dry. In keeping the bees from the cold by ventila-
tion just keep them dry. Place them where they have a

70 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

draft and you would see in a very short time that the bees
will die with the cold; they will be simply frozen up in a
wet mass as if they were drowned. Within a week or so
you will see drops or dampness collected.

Mr. Becker — I believe in cellar-wintering. Last winter I
left my bees outdoors. The cellar was not in shape to put
them in, and it was late before I could do anything, and I
left them outdoors. I preserved with woolen carpets; I put
a carpet over every one of the colonies. I really did not
lose any during the winter. During the spring I bought
10 colonies of bees at a sale that had from 30 to 50 pounds
of honey, but when I hauled them home (it was in the early
part of March when I opened them) seven out of ten had
died; the rest were alive. Now I will tell you what I
believe, that they froze to death, for they had plenty of
honey that they could reach. I put cloth on top of them.
My own bees came through the winter in good shape, but
these bees dwindled away till only a few were left. For
good wintering have a sufficient number of young bees to
go through the winter and be on hand the next spring. If
we have no honey-flow in the fall they can't produce young
bees to last till the next April or May, and their natural
age has come and consequently you lose the colonies; but if
they are in good condition and you have plenty of young
bees they generally come through as a good colony next
spring. I winter my bees in the cellar, and if the cellar is
dark I have no trouble of any kind whatever.

Mr. Becker — I think it would be well to appoint a com-
mittee of three from the Chicago-Northwestern Association
as the Legislative Committee, to act with the committee
from this Association. I think it would be all right. We
want some help. I move that the Executive Committee of
that Association be appointed by the President of this Asso-
ciation,

Mr. Smith — I think it would be right to ask them to ap-
point a committee to act in conjunction with this committee,
that they might appoint two or more.

Mr. Black — I would move the executive committee of
this Association be authorized and instructed to use the
proper means to get the Legislature to suppress foul brood,
and that they ask any other committee from any other
society to cooperate with them.

Mr. Bowen — A resolution has been adopted for that be-
fore.

Mr. Black — I move the Executive Committee be appoint-
ed by the society as a legislative committee for the ensuing
year.

Mr. Smith — It is moved and seconded that the Execu-
tive Committee of this Society be the Legislative Commit-
tee the coming year, with power to add to it as they see
proper. All in favor say "Aye;" contrary "No." Carried.

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION, Hi

WORKING FOR COMB HONEY.

Mr. Black — I had intended to write what I had to say,
for the reason that I don't like repetition, and in talking one
is likely to repeat things not necessary, but circumstances
prevented my doing it. In working for comb honey I have
sometimes thought I knew what to do, and sometimes I was
pretty sure I did not know what to do. To illustrate : I had
60 colonies of bees and 40 were the strongest I ever had in
spring, and I thought I would try spring stimulating and
get comb honey. I got less honey from those — considerably
less — from those I stimulated than those I did not. They
commenced swarming before the honey-flow got well on,
and they gave me much more trouble than those weaker in
the spring, and swarmed less. So I found I did not know
quite so much as I thought I did.

Now the point, it seems to me to get comb honey, is to
have lots of bees at just the right time; to have the hive
below pretty well filled with honey or brood; and lots of
bee^ together at the time. If you have too many bees when
the honey-flow comes in, with me they are inclined to get
to swarming, and sometimes I have been unable to control
them, and sometimes they control me. I once thought I
could control swarming pretty well, but they commenced
early in the season, and swarmed, and swarmed, and I could
not stoo them.

For comb honey you should watch very carefully at the
time of putting the first supers on the hive. I think one has
made a great mistake, and it will cost him honey, if he
defers many days after the proper day to put on the supers.
I think to continue that, to get the greatest flow of honey,
the supers should be put on early. If your honey-flow will
hold out put another super on below when the first one is
but half way filled. A third one should go on if you have
any great honey-flow. During the last season I put on a
super and waited for it to fill. I put on two every fall, and
get both full as quickly as I get the one.

Now, there is another thing I feel benefited about in
getting bees into the super. Sometimes the bees, if it is
warm, lay out on the hive and take it easy. I had some
that were decidedly lazy. I took a preparation I had and
sprinkled it over the glass, and made them get into the super
and I found that when I did that several times they went in
the more readily. I found it was a good plan to make them
go into the super. If it is hot it is a good plan to keep it
cool, as cold protects it.

I will not take up any more time as the discussion may
bring out some more points.

Mr. Becker — I move you that we appropriate from the
State fund $100 for the purpose of defraying the expenses
of this meeting and other meetings.

Mr. Smith — It has been moved and seconded that $100
be appropriated out of the State fund for the expenses of
our meeting. Any remarks?

■.^Sbwfc^'ASLi^S&iK-.J:.'' .^",

72 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

Mr. Becker — The reason I say this, is, we agreed to pay
Dr. Miller's and Mr. France's expenses, and other expenses
that may occur, stenographic work, etc. I move we appro-
priate from the State fund enough to pay for the meeting,
publishing reports of proceedings, and the suppression of
foul brood. I don't think we are infringing any law what-
ever.

Mr. Bowen — I think the Executive Committee has a
right to draw without any motion.

Mr. Black— I think so.

Mr. Miller — The question is whether it would be wise
to appropriate it, for the expenses must be met, and the
Executive Committee can attend to that.

Mr. Black — I don't think we ought to use this fund for
the Legislative Committee — not a cent of it.

Mr. Smith— We will not.

Mr. Stone — No, but we have been instructed by the
Executive Committee to go ahead and get out letters like
we did last year. If we g'et out letters and then send them
out, it will cost $20.00 for postage, without any expense of
printing. Anything of that kind can come out of that fund.
There are a great many things for which it can be used. It
would do just as well to let it go along in the old channel,
and let a voucher go in for every expense, and not have the
trouble of showing what everything in the fund went for.

Mr. Black — I want the itemizing to be just as particular,
anyhow.

Mr. York — It seems to me the Executive Committee
can only pay bills that are put in.

Mr. Stone — The same trouble comes up there. This Aud-
iting Committee wants me to pay the money to the Treas-
urer as fast as I receive it. I have to take money out of
my own pocket, and then draw on the Treasurer for money,
and then ±he Committee complains that it ought to be turned
over to the Treasurer. These things get pretty complicated.

Mr. Black — They get worse when we don't, sometimes.

Mr. York — I don't think the law intends to control the
general fund. We could keep two funds. It is the State
fund that the law fixes, not the general fund. Money for
postage, stationery, etc., can come out of the general fund;
paying the officers, etc., will not come out of the State fund.
Now, the question that would be asked would be, "What
are you doing with those badges? Do they materially af-
fect the bee-keepers' interests in the State?" They must
come out of our general fund. We can't use the State fund
as we please.

Mr. Stone — I believe it is more important than that the
State Commissioners can ride around in automobiles. It is
on the same line.

Mr. Becker — We never intended when we spoke about
badges that they were to come out of the State fund.

Mr. Stone — No, we did not intend that.

Mr. Bowen — I say, let us use the State fund for the
original purposes for which it was intended. If you want to

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 73

spend $100 or $200 I cannot see why you cannot get it with-
out using this money.

Dr. Miller — Might we not reach that by authorizing the
Treasurer to have a certain amount of money left in the
hands of the Secretary?

Mr. Stone — Not what it is for, Doctor.

Mr. York — I would like to ask a question. How much
money did the Association raise, toward the expenses of
getting the law last winter?

Mr. Stone — We did it all gratis. I was at the State
House twice a week nearly every week during the pending
of those Bills and I did not get even enough to pay for my
dinner, to say nothing of my time.

Mr. Smith — I was down here five different times. My
expenses were $12.00, and I paid $6.00 for typewritten letters
sent to all the members — all money out of my pocket.

Mr. York — I don't think Mr. Smith ought to be required
to stand that. I don't think we want him to be out that
much money for the good of the bee-keepers of this State.
Mr. Moore came to Springfield last winter, and he is a poor
man and could not afford to spend his time. He is out of
pocket. I claim that his expenses ought to be paid for by
this Association. I don't think they ought to be asked to
take the money out of their pockets.

Dr. Miller — Do you think that money was for the pur-
pose of advancing the growth and interest of the bee-keepers
of Illinois?

Mr. York— Yes, sir, I do.

'Dr. Miller — Then all right; get it out of that fund.

Mr. York — It was just said not to use this money for
legislating. How are we going to get this Bill passed, then?

Mr. Black — I don't think I should put in a bill for it.

Mr. York — ^We ought not to ask poor men to do it. I
don't want anything but what is right, but I stick to what
is right.

Mr. Black — We are asking the State to do certain things
for us, and we ask the State to pay us to inform them
what we want them to do for us ; in other words we are
making the defendant pay for the plaintiff's case. I know
that when we are supposed to be using other iolks' money we
will be turned down, and we ought to be.

Mr. Stone — When that law was passed, and we were given
the appropriation, we wanted a foul brood inspector, but could
not find one. The Chicago-Northwestern wrote to us and they
could not pick on a man to select for the office of State
Foul Brood Inspector. Our President said he had stamped
out the disease in his neighborhood and could do the work.
Then the question came up, Shall we lose our President?
We resolved that the office would not conflict with the In-
spector; while we believe it is better not to have che
Inspector an office-holder in our Association we could not
find a better Inspector. Now we have more inspectors that
we can place our fingers on.

Mr. France — In regard to Mr. Stone's remarks about

74 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

inspectors, I have been trying since the first of the year in
otir State to find some one to take my office and let me out,
but I confess it is hard to find. I find plenty of people who
know about bees, but that is not all that is needed. In Wis-
consin, treating bees is not half the trouble; it is the man
who keeps the bees to treat, rather than the bees, and it is
hard to find a man to suit the people who own the bees. In
many States they have County Inspectors appointed by the
County Commissioners, and it is sometimes like a team of
horses that don't pull together. Political matters get mixed
into it, and there is a chance to "get even," as the saying is.
To illustrate: Two men were candidates for City Mayor.
One, of course, was elected and the other not, and the other
man was elected foul brood inspector. During the time
this man had some bees. He quarreled with his neighbor
and was commissioned bee-inspector. "Now I will get it
back on you, Charlie," he said, "Going to burn your bees
for you tomorrow."

But I have a deputy in many places, someone to see that
the work has been finished that I started to have done, and
I really believe that in our own State it has been more
economical to the State, and the deputies all drawing money
make a big bill. The first year or two I had opposed some-
thing, and the papers had reported that the inspector would
burn up the hive. Do you wonder that I was met at the
gate with a gun and a dog to keep me off the premises? I
sent out postal cards and outlined a circuit over the State,
and I established dates that I would be at a certain place a
certain day, and all the bee-keepers in that vicinity were
there, and in many cases I deputize someone to look after
the neighbors, and with the exception of two they have
done their best to help their neighbors get rid of the dis-
ease; they will leave their farm work if they. know when I
am coming, and take me to their farm. I find the German
wax-press is the best of anything to save the wax, but the
expense of the thing is so much that there are only a few
in the State. I purchased a German wax-press, and have it
checked as my baggage. It has gone as personal property
all around the State, and when I find foul brood I clean
everything all up, without any expense to the State, except
just the hours I am out with it. I have the counties in our
State that were infected down to four at the present time.

Mr. Black — I think the Association might print a little
booklet describing foul brood, telling what can be done with
it and advising that the inspector be notified as soon as pos-
sible, and let the booklet be sent with the letter from the
inspector. He can, by that means, come in a pleasant
manner as possible, and they will be more ready, and be
better qualified to aid him when he comes.

Mr. Smith — It doesn't take long to educate the people;
they are all interested, and those who don't know about
foul brood want to know about it. That circular is what I
want so that I would not have to write the same thing over
and over again.

STATE BEE-:p;EPERS' ASSOCIATION. 75

Mr. Bkck — Let the people know that we are going to
help them and not hurt them, and they will help themselves
and us.

Mr. Stone — The inspector would be the proper one to
issue that leaflet.

Mr. Bowen — Everyone here has had instructions enough
to tell what foul brood is and can tell it if it comes into
their own hives. I believe we can all tell it when our bees
get foul brood.

Mr. Smith — I want to tell you that last August was the
most severe task I ever had. I had to go over 150 colonies
in one day and the bees were cross and it did not make any
difference how much you smoked them, they would get up
and go after you just the same.

Mr. Coppin — Whenever there is a strong enough case of
foul brood to smell it with your nose, there are not many
more bees left that are alive.

Mr. Stone — We have to name an inspector for next
year.

Mr. York — I move that Mr. J. Q. Smith be appointed
as inspector for the coming year.

Mr. Black — I second the motion.

Mr. Stone — Our State law leaves it to us to elect and to
send the Inspector out.

Mr. Black — Doesn't he receive some commission from
the State?

Mr. Smith — Only from the Association.

Mr. Stone— They look to us to name the Inspector.

Mr. Black — All in favor of Mr. Smith for Inspector
signify by saying "Aye." Carried. Mr. Smith is the Foul
Brood Inspector of Apiaries for the ensuing year.

Mr. France — We must have this inspector backed with
authority if we do any good. He must have the power to
arrest any one not allowing him to inspect the apiary.

Mr. Smith — The people are afraid it will cost- them
something. When they find it is done at the expense of
the State they are willing to let the Inspector inspect the
apiaries.

Mr. Bowen — I move that our Inspector keep an accurate
account of his transactions in regard to the locality visited,
the number of apiaries he has treated, and make a written
report at the next annual meeting.

Mr. Becker — I second the motion.

Mr. Smith — It is moved and seconded that the State
Inspector keep an account of his expenses. Are you ready
for the question? All in favor say "Aye." Ayes have it.

Mr. Becker — Mr. President, I have been here every
meeting, almost, and it is my belief that this has been one of
the most profitable meetings we have had for some time, and
I move that we give a vote of thanks to Mr. France, Dr.
Miller and Mr. York for their attendance at this meeting.

Mr. Black — I second the motion.

The motion was put and carried.

76 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

Mr. York then read the following paper on
SELLING HONEY THROUGH GROCERS.

The methods of selling honey through the grocery trade,
whether in cities or small towns, must be pretty much the
same in all essential respects. It will hardly pay to attempt
to sell honey from house to house, especially in cities. There
is~ already too much of the peddling or canvassing business
done there. It is becoming an unbearable nuisance to the
house-keepers. So I take it that the best way for the honey-
seller is to work through the grocers who are already
established and are supplying families with other things for
their tables.

At present honey is considered by consumers a luxury,
or else is not bought on account of fear of its adulteration.
In either case it will be necessary to do considerable educat-
ing. Honey should be used more, and will be when once
the people come to know its value as a food, and also when
they can be assured that they are getting the absolutely
pure article every time they buy honey.

But one of the main questions is, How put up honey so
that grocers will be induced to handle it? Of course it must
be in suitable or convenient packages. Comb honey will
always be retailed by the section, which usually weighs about
one pound. And the price should be for the best grades,
from 18 to 25 cents, depending upon the locality — or ability
of the consumers to pay. People who think they can afford
to pay 10 cents or more for a useless cigar certainly should
not object to paying 25 cents a pound for honey.

Extracted honey, put up in neat labeled jars holding a
pound each, should retail for at least as much as a section
of honey.

It is very important that honey of always the same grade
and flavor be bottled. If these characteristics are varied,
the consumer's suspicions are at once aroused, and he thinks
he is being swindled by an adulterated or mixed article. He
does not know that different kinds of flowers produce dif-
ferent flavored honeys. Where a bee-keeper or honey-dealer
has a mild-flavored honey, but of insufficient quantity to
supply his demand year in and year out, he can buy a
stronger-flavored honey to mix with the mild kind, and
thus increase his supply, and with about the same flavor.

In order to do a bottling business of any magnitude,
or where one bottles several tons of honey a year, it is nec-
essary to be equipped to do it rapidly and well. A full
equipment will cost about $100, which includes hot-water
heater, a metal melting-bpx for 60-pound tin cans, and a
combined mixing and filling tank with jacket for holding hot
water. A firm with which I am familiar has such an outfit,
and can bottle about a half-ton of honey a day.

This concern's melting-box holds 18 60-pound cans at
one time, and the bottle-filling tank about 100 gallons. It
also has a second filling tank holding about 50 gallons. This
latter tank is used mainly for melting granulated honey that

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 77

was in barrels. A barrel of honey is stood on end on a
sheet of galvanized iron about A feet square laid on the floor.
If the honey is not solidly grained, the edges of the metal
sheet may be turned up, say two inches, After ending the
barrel, it is all removed in pieces, except the bottom-end.
The honey is then shoveled into the melting tank. This
beats digging the honey out of the barrel. Emptied barrels
are worth practically nothing, anyway, so they may as well
be torn to pieces, and the honey shoveled, as mentioned.
Perhaps the barrels could be sawed or broken up, so as to be
burned in the heater, and thus be used as fuel for heating the
water to melt the honey.

The heater and the melting tanks should be connected
so that there can be a circulation of water through all of
them at the same time, or arranged so that each can be dis-
connected at will.

The honey should be bottled and corked or capped hot,
say as near 160 degrees as possible. But great care must be
vsed not to let the honey stand long in the melting tanks at
a lligh temperature. It should be bottled at once. If not, the
flavor and color will be injured. If overheated, or allowed
to stand too long at a high temperature, it becomes a dark
amber, and somewhat bitter in taste. Of course such honey
can be used for baking purposes or for making honey-
vinegar, but even for baking I think that better honey would
make better cakes and cookies.

Now, having the honey bottled, and nicely labeled, the
next thing is to get it into the grocers' hands. Take a
sample jar or bottle (several, if you have various sizes) and
call on the grocer. Tell him your prices, and suggest at
what prices the honey should be retailed. It is a good thing,
also, to leave him a honey circular, giving directions as to
the uses of honey and where to keep it properly. Tell him
what day you will deliver whatever he orders, and try to
have a fair-sized wagon-load before making any deliveries.
It is a good thing to make regular calls on the grocers,
and see that they are kept supplied. Also, whenever you
call leave a self-addressed card (authorized postal size) on
which they can write their orders, affix a one-cent stamp,
and then mail. Such cards are a convenience all around.
If you have a telephone it is well to print your number on
the card also.

Some honey-sellers have found it an advantage to have
attractive honey show-cases which they loan to any grocer
who will keep their honey for sale. Such case holds perhaps
two or three dozen jars, and about as many sections of
honey. The idea, then, is to load up a wagon with honey,
call on the stores where the honey-cases are, and see that
they are kept filled. This plan has worked well. It is rather
expensive to start with, but as many grocers have no good
place to put honey so that it can be seen by their customers,
and also where it will be kept clean, a glass show-case is a
good thing for all concerned.

An individual glass jar has been used with some success

78 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

in the restaurant trade. It holds about two ounces of honey,
and is also neatly labeled. The cost of the jar is about 2
cents. The jars can be returned after using, at one cent
each. As many restaurants charge 10 cents for a serving of
honey it will be seen that there is a profitable field for the
individual honey-package for hotels and restaurants.

But what needs to be done first is to get into the heads
of the consumers the fact that they can buy pure extracted
honey; that comb honey is not made by machinery; that
honey is the best sweet on earth; and that they ought to eat
more of it, and cut out the glucose syrups and other ques-
tionable mixtures that are forever being palmed off on the
public. These are matters in which every bee-keepers' as-
sociation, as well as bee-keepers themselves, can help, and
help mightily. We must all unite in talking honey, and also
in getting newspapers to print items about honey. The
National Bee-Keepers' Association should lead in this cam-
paign, I think. It should prepare suitable matter for publica-
tion, and then its members and local organizations should
see to it that every editor they know publishes it in his
paper, even if it takes a little cash or several pounds of
honey to induce him to do it.

I believe when the people of the United States once
understand the honey question they will use our sweet in
such quantities that bee-keepers will have to bestir them-
selves in order to supply the demand. Then the advice to
"keep more bees" will be heeded more than it is now, for
bee-keepers will see that there is a profitable outlet for their
crops of honey, and that there is good money in the business.

I trust this convention will discuss this question fully.
It means so much to every bee-keeper in the land. Just now
there are bee-keepers who do not know how or where to
dispose of their honey. In the good time coming such will
not be the case. Honey-biSyers will be hunting for honey —
they will be calling on bee-keepers to send in their honey,
and at a good price. May that happy day be hastened in
its coming! George W. York.

REPORT OF THE STATE INSPECTOR

To the Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Association I submit the
following report :

In making this my first annual report of State inspection,
I will say that the work to be done in this State is far
more important than the best-informed on this subject can
imagine. Bacillus alvei (foul brood) I have found to exist
from the counties bordering on Lake Michigan to the banks
of the Mississippi River.

In my work I visited bee-keepers in 32 counties, and found
foul brood in most of them. I also found the infection had
been brought by buying bees and queens from diseased api-
aries and careless dealers. Any one buying queens should be
very careful. The trouble may be avoided by removing the
queen from the cage upon arrival into a clean cage, and burn-

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 79

ing the cage and attendant bees that came by mail. I believe
that the best way to get rid of the disease is to educate the
bee-keepers through the bee-papers, agricultural and horti-
cultural publications.

A great many mistake chilled or pickled brood for foul
brood. It can be easily distinguished from foul brood, as
pickled brood, or chilled brood, occurs after the larva has
passed the 13th day from the egg. The young bee takes on
the nymph form, that is, the formation of legs, wings, etc.,
while the larva infected with foul brood dies in the pupa
state about the 10th day. After a few days it settles back
into the bottom of the cell and turns into a putrid, ropy state,
and can not be shaken from the cells, while the pickled and
chilled brood shrivels up and can readily be drawn from the
cells intact.

I find that the practical bee-keepers are, as a rule, their
own inspectors — the trouble comes from the novice or persons
who never have seen the inside of a hive of live bees. In my
visits with the bee-keepers, I find them all anxious to learn to
know foul brood, so they can take care of their own and
neighbors' bees. As a rule they are intelligent above the aver-
age, and very pleasant ladies and gentlemen.

In my work last season I inspected over 4000 hives, and
although last year was a very poor honey year, the bee-keep-
ers were not discouraged, but are looking forward to the com-
ing season for better results.

I believe that good results could be attained, as Mr. N. E.
France, State Inspector of Wisconsin, suggested in his report,
by bringing together the farmer bee-keepers at the winter
Farmers' Institutes, and having there a talk on bees and their
diseases ; also distributing to bee-keepers the old, reliable
McEvoy treatment, which never fails to effect a cure. I find
that a number of bee-keepers have the wrong idea regarding
the treatment and costs, as in their letters they want to know
what the cost will be to have their bees inspected.

I appointed Mr. Herman F. Moore my deputy last year,
to look after the disease in Cook and adjoining counties. He
visited a number of apiaries, and I herewith give his report
for work done :

Pakk Ridge, Iix., July 11, 1904.
Mb. J. Q. Smith, Lincoln, 111. —

Dear Sir : — I have finished my 30 days of inspection of
apiaries. I visited about 12S yards, and found foul brood in
about 12, containing 88 hives of bees. Possibly one- half of
the 88 are diseased more or less. These figures show the im-
portance of the work, and the need for a better law. The
work has been very interesting.

Hebman F. Moobe,
- Deputy Inspector of Apiaries.

In my treatment and instruction to others I have used the
McEvoy treatment. I have never burned a colony of bees
where there was a fertile queen and bees enough to form a
nucleus, which can soon be built up by adding combs of brood
from strong colonies ; the hives can be used again by boiling

80

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

in strong salt or lye water. Care should be taken in remov-
ing the bees from the diseased combs, so that no robber-bees
can have access to the combs. The work should be done at
night while no bees are flying, or, if in daytime, in a tent or
well-enclosed building. J. Q. Smith.

Lincoln, 111.

Adjourned.

The Secretary — As we have gone over this report, we
are exceedingly disappointed when we realize how many
were left out, of the many good things said, for the simple
reason that the reporter did not g'et their names. Fearing
this we gave them warning, but were disappointed notwith-
standing, through no fault of ours.

Jas. a. Stone, Secretary.

OBSESVATION HIVK FOR SITTING-ROOM WINDOW.

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 81

REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS

OF THB

Chica8:o-Northwestern ^-•-•-•-^

^^^^^^ Bee-Keepers' Association

HBLD AT

Chicago, 111., Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, 1904.

Throngh the courtesy of George W. York, of the American Bee Joar-

nal, we are permitted to print the following report of the

Chicago Northwestern Bee-Keepers' Convention.)

The 14th convention of the Chicago-Northwestern Bee-
Keepers' Association was held in Chicago, Nov. 30 and Dec.
1, 1904. The first session was called to order by Pres. George
W. York, at 10 :30 o'clock a. m., Nov. 30, after which Rev.
R. B. McCain offered the following invocation:

"Almighty God our Heavenly Father, we rejoice in the
fellowship of thy servants in the world who, whatever their
avocations and occupations may be, may come together in
fraternal relations and speak to each other of the interests
of their lives. We thank Thee for the goodly number that
have come here to talk over their daily work; and we pray.
Heavenly Father, that Thou wilt give us the Master who
walks in the midst of the blooming fields and waving corn,
and who speaks the words of eternal truth to those who
listen to Him. Wilt Thou give His direction and the guid-
ance of His spirit in all we have to do. We pray Thou wilt
bless those left at home, protect them and keep them and
watch over the interests of all Thy people. Guide us to Thy
praise and glory while we live, and afterwards may we have
an eternity to spend in Thy presence with Christ, our blessed
Redeemer. Amen."

Pres. York at this point took the opportunity of intro-
ducing those present to one another, after which the secretary
read the minutes of the preceding convention, which, on mo-
tion, were confirmed.

Secretary Moore — A great many years ago there was an
honest old gentleman by the name of Jimmie Griffin, when
I was very small, and he says, "Francke, blow your own
horn or you'll never get a wife." So we have to blow our
own horn a little or people won't know we are doing any-
thing. The Executive Committee about three months ago
got together and decided they would try to have a big meet-
ing here this fall. We decided to send out two thousand

ifi3iiai"iwit^'At'!itt 'J

83 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

notices of this meeting. We sent it to everybody that would
likely, as we thought, come to the Live Stock Show in Chi-
cago in December. Mr. York thought we would get quite a
few dollars in. We got $23 in the mail as a result of that,
and we are hoping we will get many more dollars at this
meeting.

The President appointed Messrs. Fluegge and Jacob as
ushers.

Dr. Miller — After hearing the report of the Secretary I
feel, as an officer of the National Association, like thanking
the officers of this Association for the action they have taken.
It didn't occur to me before that a thing of that kind would
mean so much to the National as it does; and that sort of
thing I think will help to increase the membership of the
National. It is an auxiliary to it in increasing its numbers.
I believe the action in that respect is worthy of commenda-
tion.

Pres. York — There were some who did not get the no-
tice we mailed, and the reason is this : We took the Ameri-
can Bee Journal list, commencing with the State of Wiscon-
sin and stopped when we got to the end of the two thousand
notices, which included Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois and In-
diana. There was no intention to slight anybody, but we
thought we had better stop when we got to the end of the
two thousand. We believe we did not get any of them.

Sec. Moore — I thought we would get a lot of people in,
but I didn't expect to get even $23 in the mail, but I was
sure we would have a very big meeting.

Mr. Abbott — I want to call attention to one fact, that
because only $23 came in is no argument against the cir-
cular. Publicity is the biggest part of advertising. We
newspaper men find they are always trying to play that
racket on us every time, but a man doesn't throw his money
away when he does not get returns. He lets people know
he is in the world, and that is the biggest part of advertising.

The treasurer's report was read and approved, after
which an intermission of ten minutes was taken to allow
those present to pay their annual dues.

THERMOMETER IN THE BEE-CELLAR.

"Where should a thermomenter hang in a bee-cellar?"
Dr. Miller — I should say that it is not an easy matter
to decide always where a thermometer should be hung in
the cellar. Quite a number of degrees difference will be
found in different parts of the cellar. At the top it will be
warmer than down at the bottom, so I try to find where I
think will be about an average temperature for the cellar,
and it does not matter so much where it is as that you
keep you thermometer in the same place all the time. If
I have it in any one place and decide about what I think
the temperature is at which the bees are quietest, then I
try to keep it at that temperature. Another thing, you can-
not go by absolute degrees, because thermometers vary so

STATE BEE-KEETERS ASSOCIATION.

83

much. As I said before, it doesn't matter so much, tlien,
what temperature you have as that you find at what tem-
perature the bees seem most quiet, and tlien try to liold it
at that.

Mr. Dadant — I wish to emphasize what Dr. Miller says
as to the temperature at which bees are quietest. The
thermometer is always needed to tell you whether, when the

President George W. Yokk.

bees are not quiet, the temperature is too high or too low.
If you find your bees quiet at say 40 degrees and you come
back again and find they are not quiet, and the temperature
is 42 degrees, you know it is a little too high. If you did
not have a thermometer you would not be able to tell whether
it was too high or too low. I believe that is the only pur-
pose of the thermometer. If you can get your bees quiet and

84 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

find out what the temperature is under those conditions, and
you keep your -bees quiet at that temperature, it does not
make any difference where your thermometer is.

Dr. Miller — I am not sure but there is a way of telling.
If I understand Mr. Dadant correctly you ccn't tell by the
noise of the bees whether they are too cold or too warm.
I wouldn't like to be too critical about it, but I think when
they begin to get too cold there is a kind of rattling noise,
if I may so call it, of their wings, that you hear, and I don't
think I could tell you what the other is, but there is a little
difference in the noise , Mr. Dadant, between being too cold
and too warm.

Mr. Colburn — In relation to this noise that you speak
about* that is the noise bees make in the cellar,! have never
had much experience in cellar-wintering — only two winters
— and I found my bees making some sort of a noise all the
time, and yet they came through last winter very nicely.
The question is, how much or how little noise would a green-
horn want to observe in order to know what the temperaturt
should be.

Mr. Stewart — Is there any temperature where bees al-
ways keep quiet in the cellar, or do they always keep quiet
at any temperature in the cellar?

Dr. Miller — I think there are some who claim they can
secure perfect quiet. I never could. I think you will find
this : If you have one colony in the cellar and watch it
closely you will find part of the time that colony will be per-
fectly quiet, and then it will have a spell of stirring up and
it will be noisy, and then quiet for a long time. If you have
a number of colonies in the cellar you will find that there
will be a noise there all the time. At least that is the way
I find it. At times there will be very little noise; it will
suggest to you the blowing of a gentle breeze through the
dead trees in winter time. That you will find at all times
if your cell .ar is like mine ; and that I think comes from
the different colonies, here and there, making an unusual
amount of noise. I don't believe there is any one colony that
is all the time the same way. I think they have their spells of
"turning over in bed," when they make a little more noise
than usual. But as to trying to get them so that they are
entirely quiet all the time, you might as well give that up.
But, find the temperature at which they make the least
noise. That is the point.

Mr. Kimmey — Do bees make more noise as they become
too cold?

Dr. Miller— Yes.

Mr. Kimmey — Suppose I should find my thermometer at
28 degrees, would you advise me to leave it that way? Do
you think it is possible to find it that way?

Mr. Miller — No. I think you might possibly find, the
way you have it in your cellar, that they were most quiet at
40 degrees. I might find them most quiet at 47 degrees.
That is, your place and my place may be different. But your
question ?

STATE BEE-KEEPERS^ ASSOCIATION. 85

Mr. Kimmey — My point is, is it possible that the bees
would be so cold that they would make less noise than they
ought to?

Dr. Miller — No, sir, unless they are dead. When they
are dead they make hardly any noise! (Laughter.)

Mr. Kimmey — I don't want that then. I have tried to
keep mine between 45 and 50 degrees, and have succeeded
very well and have not lost any. I would like to do better
than that if I could !

Mr. Abbott — I would like to ask a question, to bring out
a point. Dr. Miller says that they will make some noise un-
less they are so cold that they are dead. I should like to
know if Dr. Miller thinks that bees ever get so cold in the
cellar or out-of-doors that they die from cold when they
have plenty to eat? I don't think they do.

Dr. Miller — There are some things I don't know. One
of the things I do know is that Mr. Abbott doesn't think as
I do about that. My bees will freeze. I take a bee in my
hand and if I hold it out in the cold long enough, that bee
is going to freeze.

* Mr. Abbott — That is not the question. Don't confine it
to a single bee. If two lie together they make heat. You
can't make heat with one. If a lot of bees lie together they
make heat. Do they ever freeze when they all lie together in
that way?

Mr. Dadant — How big a bunch of bees?

Mr. Abbott — The ordinary size?

Dr. Miller — If there is a stove in a room and it is hot
enough people are not going to freeze, and as long as there is
plenty of food there to keep the furnace going the bees will
keep up that heat; they are not going to freeze. When they
fail of that they are going to freeze, Mr. Abbott to the con-
trary, notwithstanding. He says they starve. I say they freeze.
You can pay your money and take your choice.

Ernest R. Root — I would like to answer both Mr. Abbott's
and Dr. Miller's questions. Last surrimer in queen-rearing
operations we conducted a series of experiments to get some
drone-layers. We had read in some of the old works that if
you freeze a queen for awhile she will become a drone-layer.
So I took about a dozen of our young, nice vigorous laying
queens, caged them with the bees, put them on a cake of ice
in a refrigerator and left them, varying all the way from two
hours up to 48. I expected some of them to be dead. The
bees were perfectly stiff at the end of two hours. I took them
out and examined them and put them back, and some of them
we put into nuclei to see what they would do, to see whether
the queens would refuse to lay regular worker eggs. I don't
know whether you believe me or not — I don't know whether
Dr. Miller or Mr. Abbott would; I don't know exactly how
they disagree, but we found in every case that when taken off
the ice, chilled, cold — I won't say they were frozen to death;
they couldn't have been — in a few hours they would "come
to;" the queens would begin in three or four days afterwards

J^Ai*.\i^iSivi'Ji^':i .

86 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

to lay, and lay normally, and not one of them laid drone-layer
eggs. The question was, if bees can be put in a position
where they are perfectly stiff with cold for 48 hours, can they
be kept in that condition longer, and, if so, how long? I
omitted to carry on that experiment. It has been said bees do
not die of cold. What kills them we do not know.

Another question, I should say the question of the temper-
ature of the cellar and the buzzing and noise depends some-
what on the time of year. When the bees are first put in they
are apt to be quiet in our cellar, with a high or low tempera-
ture, but after they have been there for three or four months
they begin to get uneasy. Then the latter must be accounted
for. If the temperature is too high or too low it must be
brought to the proper degree. Giving bees a midwinter flight
stops the buzzing and roaring in our case. I would describe
this noise, when it is normal, as like a harp. Once in a while
you will get a noise something like the sound of telephone
wires, not that high note, but a sort of low, distant hum.
When you get something of the effect of that contented, quiet
noise amongst the bees that seems to indicate everything is
normal and right, that is the condition we call perfect; and
yet there is a little noise there, and that noise might, to the
beginner, seem to be the wrong thing.

Mr. Abbott — We don't get the point exactly yet. I think
this is a vital point, and I have been trying to get the bee-
books and bee-papers, to say something about it for a long
time and they have persisted in not doing it, and that is the
reason I am calling it out. I hold that bees are wintered suc-
cessfully where the mercury runs down to 40 degrees below
zero, out-of-doors, on the summer stands ; and that that can be
done in any place in the United States, provided there is food
accessible ; and that no normal cluster of bees ever dies from
cold when there is food accessible ; and to be accessible it
must be directly above the cluster; and that the bees in that
condition will winter safely any place in any temperature that
ever existed in the United States or ever may exist — if the
food is accessible — if the "stove" is there, as Dr. Miller says.
He brings the point out clearly. If the food is on another
frame or where they can't get at it without breaking cluster
or following up the line of heat they will die from starvation,
but if they can get at the "stove" they will not die. Now if
anybody has any evidence to prove to the contrary I should
like to know it, for I have been talking this thing for 15 or 20
years, and I don't want to talk it any longer if it is not right.
But I do, if it is right, longer and louder.

Mr. Wilcox — What I was going to say was bearing rather
upon the discussion between Dr. Miller and Mr. Root, but
since Mr. Abbott has spoken I want to say I have conducted
one experiment that substantiates his claim very much. I
once took a bee-tree about four feet long and set it
up in the front yard, full of honey and bees, and
with a temperature of 40 degrees below zero. It froze
and burst open the whole length; and those bees win-
tered well and came out right in the spring. I could put

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 87

my hands right through a crack anywhere in that tree. That
goes to confirm somewhat Mr. Abbott's theory. The other
matter about which I wish to speak is not very important or
profitable, but may perhaps be interesting as an experiment.
Before I commenced keeping bees in movable-comb hives I
inverted a half sugar barrel filled with bees and honey ;
poured cold water clear to the brim to drown the bees ; left
it 24 hours with a temperature of 25 or 30 degrees bdow zero ;
then went to carry my bees in and get my honey. I was sur-
prised on moving it into the house to find that the water was
not entirely frozen over at that very cold temperature and 24
hours out-doors, but I rolled it up under the stove just the
same and melted the ice out and went away from home. In a
few hours more the bees drove my wife out. They were all
alive and happy as ever. The query is. Why didn't they
drown? Every bee was under water; they were completely
covered. Then, again, why didn't that water cool off and
freeze over? I suppose perhaps the warmth of the bees pre-
vented that, but I would have expected them to drown if they
breathed. Can they live" that long without breathing?

Mr. Becker — As to the question, do bees freeze out-
doors, I want to say this, that I have had bees that were out-
doors all winter with broken hives that you could almost run
your fist into, and they appeared to have wintered all right.
Last winter when the thermometer went down to 25 degrees
below zero in our latitude, I had 10 colonies in new hives,
with plenty of honey, and every one of them died, with the
exception of one, before spring came. It lived until spring
and then dwindled away and finally died, and in the hive there
was as much as 50 pounds of honey. The other hives, many
of them full of holes, stood on the summer stands. I couldn't
take care of them in the fall because I was too busy. I put
in a piece of gunnysack to fill up the opening and they win-
tered through in good shape, and produced virtually the honey
I got this year. I believe it is not so much the cold as it is
the condition that the bees go to winter quarters in. I don't
believe in outdoor wintering. I don't want to risk it if I can
possibly help it. I believe what will do one year won't do
another year. The conditions as to bees are different one
year from another in one locality; and they may be all right
in one locality and not in another. I also believe that if we
can keeo our bees dry, or from getting too much moisture
around the cluster,, that the cold will not affect them so much
as the dampness does. The honey will freeze around when
there is much honey in the comb, and there will be great
chunks of ice hanging around the bees all over the comb,
and that is one effect of out-door wintering. When it is not
warm enough so that they can come out and clean them-
selves they will begin to get damp, and the dampness will get
through all the hives, and then the next little cold spell will
catch every one of them and they die. Where we winter bees
in the cellar, we aim to keep them dry and avoid the extreme
cold. I believe that dampness has more to do with it than
cold weather. •»

88

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

Dr. Miller — I don't believe that this is a matter of vital
importance and I hope we will not take up time with it, but
if you are going on with it I want to say what I think about
it is, a single bee will freeze — I think no one disputes that;
two bees put together will freeze if it is cold enough and the
cold continued long enough ; so will three or four ; and there
comes a point somewhere where Mr. Abbott will tell you they
don't freeze, they starve. If you have a small cluster that

Vice-President Mes. N. L. Stow.

small cluster will freeze, and before we get to the place
where Mr. Abbott says they starve, they still will die, whether
it is from freezing or from starvation, or whatever it may be.
But here is the point. You put them down to 40 degrees be-
low zero, or put them down to the point where they do not
stir, and I think you will get a point, and I don't believe the
bees will move at that even if there is honey above them.
They will wait until it gets a little bit warmer before they
will break cluster to get anything fresh. If you hold them

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 89

there long enough, and if the cold is severe enough, they are
going to stay there and they will freeze, and freeze to death.
That is what I think. Now Mr. Abbott thinks they starve.
Stop that cold at any time and let them warm up and start
in afresh. But I say, put it down cold enough and hold it
there and those bees are going to freeze. You don't call it
starvation with a single bee, why should you call it that with
the colony? I dOn't believe it makes a particle of difference
which way you believe.

Mr. Abbott — They don't get 40 degrees below zero in the
cluster.

Mr. Stuebing — I am an old bee-keeper — about 50 years
in the business. When bees are given honey they will never
freeze outdoors.

Mr. Root — I don't know whether I agree with Dr. Miller
or Mr. Abbott. I am going to tell you something, and Mr.
Abbott can clap his hands to show us whether it hits his way
or not. We wintered bees for a good many years at Medina
outdoors. We winter a good portion indoors now. I noticed
that the bees that were dead on the comb would be circled
around as near a sphere as they could be; that on each comb
they would be in the form of a circle. If they were dead
there would be about two inches without any honey around
them at all. I never saw any bees that were dead that had
access to honey, no matter how cold it was, but every time
I found a cluster of bees dead I found they had eaten away
all the honey around them to the extent of three or four
inches. Seemingly they had got to the point where they
couldn't move ; whether they froze or starved Dr. Miller can
settle.

ABSCONDING OF SHOOK SWARMS.

"How to prevent absconding of shook swarms."

Mr. Smith — I find hiving them on a frame of brood as a
rule would prevent that.

Dr. Miller — May I ask Mr. Smith whether he finds in
hiving on a frame brood they start cells on that brood?

Mr. Smith — Yes, I have found that also; not as a rule,
though.

Dr. Miller — One of the writers says. Give them a frame
of brood and within two or three days take it away again
to prevent them starting queen-cells.

Mr. Becker — If I have two swarms that come out at the
same time I hive them on a frame of brood, and I never
had one yet that left if I did that: and I always do it if I
have two swarms come together.

Dr. Miller — Are you talking about natural or shaken
swarms ?

Mr. Becker — Natural swarms.

Mr. Snell — I never practised that very much, but when-
ever I have done so I have given the colony a frame of
brood, and as yet I have never had them desert.

Mr. Whitney — I have practised shaking swarms and I
have never had the shaken swarm leave the hive. Some-

90 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

times if I shake them on comb I take the queen with them,
and I never had them leave.

Mr. Hutchinson — I never have had any experience myself
with shook swarming, but quite a number of those who have
written articles on that subject have made one point quite
clear, that the bees should be pounded and disturbed and
jarred until they fill themselves thoroughly with honey. The
natural swarm fills itself when it starts out, and when that
point has been attended to there has been very little trouble
with absconding. Whereas, if we simply take them off the
combs without any of this previous disturbance there will
quite frequently be absconding.

Mr. Abbott — I want to ask if the people who practise
shaking swarms give them the queen at once? The question
is asked if they start cells on the comb? Do they not have
a queen given them at once?

Mr. Hutchinson — They have the old queen.

Mr. Abbott — Suppose you make two or three swarms out
of a colony?

Dr. Miller— We don't.

Mr. Abbott — I thought if they would give them a queen,
and they had brood, I couldn't see why they would start
cells.

Dr. Miller — As a matter of fact they do start cells. There
are two things you are getting a little mixed, the absconding
and the starting of queen-cells. The point is, Do they start
cells? They have started cells for me in more than one case,
and perhaps you who say they do not abscond, if you had
examined carefully you might find that they had started cells.
What they start cells for I don't know. Mr. Stachelhausen
says they start cells and he gives them the sheet of brood,
holding them there so that they won't abscond. Whether
they would go on with that and rear a queen and swarm
again I don't know, because I always stopped them and took
them away. But it is, I think, a pretty common thing that
they start cells when you give a frame of brood to a shaken
swarm.

Mr. Whitney — Perhaps I don't understand. When I said
they didn't abscond when I put them on frames of comb it
is simply old combs with the queen. I don't understand that
they would commence queen-cells under such circumstances
as that. But when I give them uncapped brood and eggs I
have never had them trouble me by attempting to abscond,
but they do rear queen-cells, and they will rear a queen un-
less you introduce one, of course. I would think if they didn't
commence making queen-cells you would have a very weak
colony of bees very soon. When parts of mine leave the hive
sometimes I have shut them in for 36 hours, and especially
if I move that hive away from the old stand; and I have
never had any trouble, and I have shaken swarms a great
many times.

Mr. Abbott — I made shook swarms long before I ever
heard tell of shook swarms, at least I suppose I was doing
the same thing. I did this: I took a colony of bees and

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 91

divided it up into two or three colonies sometimes and gave
them all a laying queen. I had the queens, maybe a dozen,
before I commenced my work, and with each colony went a
queen, turned loose at once, and they had one frame of brood
and the rest foundation, and under such circumstances I have
never had any cells started or had any trouble. My idea was
to bring out the point that the way to make shook swarms
is to keep a number of lajdng queens on the colonies you
want to divide, and then turn the laying queens loose at
once, and I don't think they will build any cells if you do
that.

Mr. Hutchinson — If I understand the matter, they do not
shake the bees from the colony until they have made prepa-
rations for swarming; and the bees are shaken off on the
old stand and the brood given the bees on the new stand;
and the old queen and all of the bees, or nearly all, go on
the old stand, and the flying bees that come back join that,
and that has a queen; and what we have been talking about
is the giving of a new swarm a comb of brood to prevent
them absconding, and sometimes they go to work and build
cells on that. That is all the division they usually make ; they
do not divide them up into several parts; they just have the
two; and the old combs of brood are usually given a queen-
cell nearly ready to hatch, or else given a laying queen,
preferably a laying queen. If it is given, then there is no
use going to work and hunting up the queen-cells and de-
stroying them, because that colony and laying queen will
destroy them themselves.

Mr. Smith — I believe it is their instinct for ther own
preservation. You disturb a colony of bees, or alarm them,
and they will immediately start queen-cells, but they will cut
them out again after they find their old queen is secure, in
a day or two. I think that is the reason; it is the fear of
their queen being injured or taken from them that they
start queen-cells.

Mr. Snell — I would like to ask any one who has given
a shook swarm a queen, and then that colony started cells,
if he has ever known them to be matured and a swarm made
from such colonies? I would doubt their doing it very
much. ■ , ; V '

ADVANTAGES OF THE '^WISCONSIN HIVE."

"What are the advantages of the so-called Wisconsin
hive?"

Mr. Bacon — It seems to me that the Wisconsin hive has
the combination of the good points of the Improved Lang-
stroth-Simplicity and also the dove-tailed; it seems to me
that is the main reason for its popularity. It has a portico
front and it is now made so that the supers which are now
used with the dove-tailed hive can also be used on the Wis-
consin hive. Those I believe are the principal points.

Mr. Abbott — I want to say that the main advantage of
the Wisconsin hive is that its makers took all they could

92 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

of the "St. Joe" hive and put into the Wisconsin, and made
a very good hive ! [Laughter.]

Mr. Fluegge — I would like to ask these gentlemen what
the slatting arrangement in their super is. If they got that
from Mr. Abbott he didn't lose much. [Laughter.] I have
several of them and I always took an axe to them to get
the honey out. They may have improved them now. I hope
they have. When I was a beginner I had six of them and
the slats had no end-blocks ; they fitted into a rabbet at the
bottom of the super, and in order to get them out — one rabbet
was a little deeper than the other — I had to lift them up a
little ways and shove them over probably a quarter of an
inch, and the other end would come out.

Mr. Wilcox — I have tried the Wisconsin hive somewhat.
I bought one or two some years ago for trial and I found
some disadvantages. The question calls for advantages.

Pres. York — We don't want to know the disadvantages —
just the advantages!

Mr. Wilcox — One thing I disliked was that the end-bars
of the brood-frames struck right out.

Mr. Root — That is the Langstroth-Simplicity.

Mr. Wilcox — I think it was listed as the Wisconsin hive.
I might specify another peculiarity of it which was that the
frames were anywhere from one quarter to three-eights of
an inch shorter than the regular Langstroth or what would
be the old frame Langstroth length and that was an odd
feature of it because it didn't correspond with any other
frames in the neighborhood. Another feature of it was that
described by the last gentleman about the supers. The slats
in the bottom of the super didn't trouble me very much but
I didn't exactly like them. I may be mistaken. I don't know,
but I have always called it the Wisconsin hive. I think it
was.

Mr. Whitney — I want to back up what Mr. Wilcox
said about what he supposed to be the Wisconsin hive. You
know last winter didn't treat some of us very well, and we
lost a good many bees. I wanted some last spring to build
up my apiary, and I went out and bought four or five col-
onies. They happened to be in a queer sort of hive; the
frames were a little shorter than the Langstroth ; I couldn't
use them in the Langstroth hive when I came to make a
transfer ; and they had supers on that had that rabbet arrange-
ment that the gentleman here- speaks about. I thought it
was a Chinese puzzle. I couldn't use it at all. Now, I
don't know whether that is the Wisconsin hive or not, but
as they describe it I should conclude it might be. It had a
portico.

Mr. Abbott — I want these gentlemen to get a clear idea
about these hives, and it is a matter of some interest. While
I represent the firm making the Wisconsin hive, I think an
explanation is due them at least. They have made what was
called the Langstroth-Simplicity hive which is, I admit, prac-
tically worthless. They have discussed taking it off the mar-
ket for a long time. It has a shorter frame, and a groove

STATE BEE-KEEPERS ASSOCIATION. 93

all around, and the frames extend over. A great many
people call that the Wisconsin hive. That is not the Wis-
consin hive at all. That is a Langstroth-Simplicity hive.
They make at the same time what they call a Wisconsin
hive, that is the trade name; that has Hoffman frames in
it which fit inside the hive on a tin rabbet. The sliding
arrangement of the hive is the same as the St. Joe hive, and
if the gentlemen do not know how to handle that, why, we
are ready to show them how to handle it so that they won't
have any trouble about it. But don't get the two hives con-
fused. The old Langstroth-Simplicity hive, in my opinion, is
worthless because it hadn't a correct bee-space above it and
the frames were not the same. So when you order hives
don't say you want a Langstroth-Simplicity hive unless you
want an odd frame, for you will get it. The other is the
same as the dove-tailed hive; and in all of the hives that
concern makes, the frames are the same except that old
Langstroth-Simplicity, and that is not of any account.

Mr. Whitney — When you order hives don't order the
Whitney hive. He has a hive of his own, and he doesn't
want any better, and he has none to sell !

Mr. Stuebing — It depends mostly on the man, how he
handles the bees and how he places and handles the frames.

FIRST DAY— Afternoon Session.

Pres. York called for the report of the Foul Brood Com-
mittee which had been appointed two years ago.

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON FOUL BROOD.

Mr. Moore — The Foul Brood Committee, of which I have
the honor to be chairman, really has nothing to report. We
reported in full to date at the last meeting, and frorn then
till now there was no work that could be done except in-
specting apiaries. I don't suppose that comes under the scope
of this report. There is a heading in the program that does
refer to such matters as that. We might make our recom-
mendations ; we might tell you a lot of things ; we might
say this fall the Legislature meets again and we have to get
the law over again, or fail to get it. Mr. Kannenberg is with
me on this committee, and I believe there is a vacancj-^ to
fill. As the committee having charge of this matter, we have
to urge upon each one of you individually to do what you
can to get a law through the Legislature this fall. If you
know some member of the Legislature, communicate with him
by all means. If. you do not know any member take the pains
to find the names and addresses of the nearest member to
you and communicate with him. If every one of us would
do that it would have a material effect. When I was there
two years ago and appeared before committees of the
Legislature to get the laws we did get, they said, " For

94 FOURTH ANNUAL REIPORT

goodness sake, stop writing us letters ; we will give you
anything if you will only quit writing to us."

Advertising is what we want, and the members of the
Legislature must know we are alive. How are they going
to find it out unless by individuals writing and saying. Give
us the laws we need? But hundreds have to do that. We
want to ask this fall for either five or ten thousand dollars.
In this State there are 102 counties. The State, in its cen-
sus, has formally said that there are 35,000 bee-keepers in
Illinois. If there were inspectors enough to cover that
ground it would take 50 to 60 working six months. You
can see how far five or ten thousand dollars would go. I
had a conversation with the Hon. Mr. Austin, who got our
last Bill for us, and he saw the point; he saw a thousand
dollars wasn't a beginning for this great State of 102 coun-
ties with that number of bee-keepers. So that we want
this fall $5,000 from the Legislature to spend in the in-
terests of the bee-keepers in this State, and it is a question
of judgment whether to ask for $10,000 and give theirj a
chance to cut it in two, or ask outright for the $5,000 we
want. If you don't ask for anything you won't get any-
thing, and in order to get anything we must have the help
of all the bee-keepers in the State. I would like to hear
from Mr. Kannenberg, who is a member of this committee,
and has some things to say.

Mr. Kannenberg — I am one of the committee and we
did pretty good work last year. I do not know whether we
can do it this year or not. But one thing I think I must
say, if we want to strive for that law we must have a
compulsory clause in it or else it is no good to us what-
ever.

Dr. Miller — Hear, hear.

Mr. Kannenberg — That is right, Doctor. We want
about $10,000, that is about the only thing; and they will
give us only half, the same as in damage suits, if the bee-
keepers don't join in with us; I think we won't get much
out of it if they don't help us the way they did last year.
Last year I wrote hundreds of letters to all the Senators;
I hope it did some good. As far as I know, the Hon. Mr.
Austin is again elected to the Legislature with a large ma-
jority. I have not spoken to him this year, personally, be-
cause he is on his honey-moon trip. As soon as he comes
back I am going to speak to him.

Mr. Wheeler — I would like to ask who the other Com-
mittee man is?

Pres. York — Mr. Clarke, I think was the other member
of the Committee, but he has not served on the committee
at all.

Mr. Wheeler — I would like to ask how manv colonies
of bees Mr. Kannenberg has?

Mr. Kannenberg — 82.

Mr. Wheeler — How many has Mr. Moore?

Mr. Moore — I have never kept a large number; I have
less than 35 now. My family keeps about 400.

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 95

Mr. Wheeler — ^What I was getting at was, we want rep-
resentative bee-keepers on this committee; we want people
interested, and that have thousands of dollars invested.

Dr. Miller — I have more bees than Mr. Moore and I
don't believe that I could influence Mr. Austin as much as
he has done. A man may represent a body of people with-
out himself being one of those people. Possibly it would
have its weight; at the same time if he can present the
thing the right way that is more than to say he has the
bees.

Mr. Colburn — A man has a thousand colonies of bees
and he goes to our Legislature and he says, I want this and
that, and the fellows say, you are selfish. If I have but
very few bees and I go there for somebody else it will be
two to one I will get what I ask.

Secretary Heeman F. Moobe.

Mr. Whitney — My experience with politicians is that
the man who has some influence in the community is the
man who will get some help from the Legislature, not the
man who may possess perhaps a thousand colonies of bees,
or any other interest that he may represent. I know in-
dividuals who haven't a single colony of bees that I think
would make good committeemen for that very purpose. It
seems to me the point is well taken.

Mr. Becker — On behalf of Mr. Moore I will say that
he is the right man in the right place. I have had some
experience with Mr. Moore in the Legislature. Mr. Smith
and I were before the Legislature when they tried to get
our law passed and I know what efforts Mr. Moore made
in that direction, and we never left until we had the guar-
antee that the law would be passed, as far as the Committee
on Appropriations goes. We couldn't wait until the House
debated on it and the Senate, but we had the promise of the
Committee ; and they passed it in the House and in the Sen-
ate before they left,

96 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

Mr. Wheeler — I don't like to be misunderstood. It
wasn't in regard to getting that appropriation I was speak-
ing, and getting the Bill through ; it was in regard to the
committee's work afterwards. You must not lose sight of
the fact that people are interested that have money invested,
and it must be looked into a little and we must see that we
do not take men who are not interested financially in bee-
keeping and who are not interested in the welfare of bee-
keeping.

Pres. York — As I understand it, it does not make any
diflference after the law is secured. This committee has
nothing further to do. The inspector is then appointed on
the recommendation of the State Association, and the money
is turned over to the State Association.

Dr. Miller — I move that the report be accepted and the
committee continued.

Mr. Smith — Has that vacancy been filled on that com-
mittee ?

Pres. York — Not yet.

Mr. Smith moved, which motion was duly seconded,
that the chair fill the vacancy.

Pres. York — I think we might as well consider it a
vacancy because Mr. Clarke has never served on the com-
mittee.

Mr. Wheeler — I object to that. I don't believe that is
fair.

Pres. York — Then we had better have a motion to de-
clare the vacancy.

Mr. Moore moved, which motion was duly seconded,
that a vacancy be declared in the office of third committee-
man of the Foul Brood Committee. [Carried.]

Pres. York then put a motion to fill the vacancy which
on a vote having been taken was declared, carried. Mr.
Horstmann was then appointed as third committeeman on
the Foul Brood Committee.

Pres. York then put the motion to accept the report and
continue the committee, which, on a vote having been taken,
was declared carried.

Pres. York — Before we take up some of the questions
which have been handed in we will have a talk by Mr.
Ernest R. Root, of Ohio, on

BABY NUCLEI AND MATING QUEENS— BRICK HONEY

(Mr. Root exhibited before the convention a baby-
nucleus box, illustrating his remarks as he went on by
pointing out various features of the little outfit. We have
since obtained a series of illustrations, and think the reader
will have no difficulty in understanding Mr. Root's explana-
tions if he will keep before him the illustrations. — Editor's
Note.)

Perhaps those of you who devote your whole attention
to the production of honey, may think that what I am now
about to say on this subject will be of no particular interest

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 97

to you for the reason that you can better afford to buy your
queens than to rear them yourselves. This, I believe, is a
mistake, as the honey-producer should properly inform him-
self as to the latest method of rearing queens so that he can
rear his own stock as a matter of economy. I hope to show
you, therefore, that you can afford to rear your own queens
to a very great extent after having purchased one or more
breeding queens, or having selected something from your
own stock which shows an unquestioned superiority over
other stock in the yard.

The business has been developed to a very pretty science.
Indeed I know of nothing in all the realm of bee-culture that
is more interesting or more fascinating than watching the
baby queens develop into full-fledged mothers.

It will not be necessary for me to explain how queen-
cells may be reared in wooden cell-cups in quantity, nor how
the eggs of one or two breeding queens may be used for all
the cell-building work. This part of the operation has been
usually regarded as simple and easy; but the problem of get-
ting the young hatched virgins mated — aye, there has been
the rub. I desire to show you a method whereby even this
part of the work can be accomplished simply and easily, and
at a trifling expense in bees and brood.

Until within the last year or so, full-sized two and three
frame nuclei using standard Langstroth frames have been
employed for mating the virgins. To make such, it has been
necessary to break up a good many otherwise strong colonies
for honey-production. As a general rule, only three or four
nuclei could be made out of one colony. This made the
question of mating somewhat expensive. Mr. Pratt, Mr.
Laws, and others who have worked at this problem, have
now demonstrated that a small teacupful of bees and one or
two sections of comb will serve as good a purpose as a large
nucleus, with the added advantage that the queens can be
found instantly.

I hold in my hand here one of Mr. Pratt's "baby" nucleus-
boxes. As you will see, it is a miniature hive made of quar-
ter-inch stuff with a small flight-hole in front. This has a tin
slide on the outside so that the hole can be closed, and a
perforated zinc slide on the inside. This latter can be re-
volved around, holding the queen after she is mated. The
little frames, as you will note, are secured to the cover, hav-
ing no ears nor projections. They are not made permanently
fast, but are secured by a staple bent at right angles, folded
over against the top-bar. When these little frames are filled
with comb and bees, the cover is turned bottom up, leaving
the frames standing upright. If the queens or the eggs are
not discovered on the two outside surfaces of the combs, a
sliding twist will remove one of the frames so that its inside
surface, as well as the inside surface of the other comb, can
be readily seen. If the queen is laying, the fact can be noted
at a glance. If she is to be caged and sent out through the
mails she can be located without hunting. We have gone so
far as to take every bee in the box and put it in the mailing-

98

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

cage with the queen. In cases of this kind we supply the
box with fresh bees in the manner I shall presently explain.
To get these little "baby" frames filled with comb, we

make them of just the right size so that six of them will fit
in a standard Langstroth frame, a good deal as eight sections
used to be inserted in the old-style wide-frame. Each of

these little frames is supplied with foundation, and the whole,
six in one frame is set down in the center of a strong colony.
In a few hours the comb will be drawn out, and will contain

STATE BEE-KEEPERS ASSOCIATION.

99

some honey if honey is coming in, as well as, possibly, a few
eggs.

We have a good many of these frames, each containing
six small frames, scattered through the yard so that we can
get freshly sealed combs whenever we need them for the
"babies," for that is what we call these miniature nuclei.

Now, then, how do we supply these little boxes with
bees? We prepare a lot of them, say a dozen or so, with
combs all ready for the bees. We next go to some good
colony and shake all the bees into a box, having previously
smoked them in order to make them quiet, and to get them
to gorge themselves with honey. This box of combless bees,
after giving the brood to other colonies, is then carried to a
shady place where we have the prepared miniature nuclei.
The box of bees before scooping up is given a bump in order
td get them into a heap. The cover is removed, and with a

tea-cup we scoop up one or two hundred bees and dump the
teacupful into one of the baby boxes, when the cover v/ith
its combs is set down in place, thus confining them. In a like
manner the other babies are supplied. Of course, the en-
trances are kept closed. Having supplied all the bees, we
can now give each through the hole in the cover a queen-cell
built on one of these wooden cell-cups; or in 24 hours after
the bees have come to know their utter queenlessness we
may run in a young virgin.

We can now distribute these baby boxes around in dif-
ferent parts of the yard; but it is usually advisable to carry
them to an outyard or to some isolated locality where there
may be one or two hives with a large pre-dominance of se-
lected drones. The queens are allowed to fly at this yard and
become mated, when they are brought home and kept for
supplying queenless colonies or to fill any orders that one
may have ; for these little boxes - of bees will hold their
queens for a considerable length of time. It may be neces-
sary to "repeople" these boxes, for Mr. Laws says these
clusters sometimes get uneasy; but we have kept these same

100

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

little clusters going all summer, rearing their own brood, and
working a good deal on the same plan as the ordinary strong
colonies.

I wish to call attention to the fact that one can almost

control the male parentage of his bees by selecting some
locality where there are no bees, and keeping there a few
hives of select drones.

HOW PRATT FBKDS SYRUP TO THB
BABY NUCLEI.

BRICK HONEY.

"I show here a sample of "brick honey," or what has been
appropriately called "honey butter." It is nothing more nor
less than an oblong cake of candied honey hard enough to

rj^kr

STATE BEE-KEEPERS^ ASSOCIATION. 101

hold its shape. It is wrapped in paraffin paper and then
given other wrappings, or, better still, putting into a carton
and properly labeling it on the outside. These bricks of
candied honey are secured from the cans of alfalfa honey —
the honey, of course, being granulated solid. The tin can is
stripped off from the cake with a pair of tinner's snips. The
bldck of honey is now put into a regu.lar machine for cutting
up butter into bricks. This consists of a cast-iron plate with
four upright standards on which slides up and down a frame
having two or more wires stretched tightly across it. These
wires are forced perpendicularly down through the block of
honey by a steady, even pressure. Another frame swung on
one of the standards as an axis, carries another set of v,-ires
which cut the honey on a horizontal plane. When cut up,
these bricks can then be taken off with a thin-bladed knife, ,
placed on a piece of paraffin paper of suitable size, and
wrapped.

We have developed quite a business in putting up brick
honey at Medina and vicinity. It is now offered in some of
the largest retail stores in Cleveland. Of late we have been
calling it "honey butter;" and under that appropriate title it
seems to take well with the general public. Our labels show
how to liquefy, if preferred in that form, and also explain
that pure honey, or nearly all of it, will turn to this solid
state at the approach of, or during cool weather.

I believe this brick honey has a bright future, and that
many of our honey-producers will find it a field well worth
developing in their own localities, Ernest R. Root.

Mr. Wheeler — Do you have any absconding?

Mr. Root — Very little. I expected that, but we had very
little. Our early experiments indicated there would be more
or less absconding but I do not think that will be the case.

Mr. Kimmey — I understand the advantage of taking that
to an out-yard is to control the drones?

Mr. Root— That is all.

Mr. Meredith — Do yoit expect to put them on the mar-
ket? If so, about what would the complete expense be?

Mr. Root — ^We are going to put them on the market.
What the price will be I don't know. I am glad I don't. I
don't think it would be proper for me to mention prices at
this time.

Mr. Meredith — Will they be in your catalogue?

Mr. Root— In 1905.

Mr. Colburn — The queen-cell is sealed?

Mr. Root — Yes, what we call a "wrapped queen-cell."

Mr. Colburn — Would that be warm enough in severely
cold nights?

Mr. Root — I couldn't say as to that. In our locality we
had no difficulty from that. We had those cells hatch along
in November. This cage is what we call the Titoff case. It
is quite convenient for holding the cell.

Dr. Miller — With your indulgence, I would like to say if
you want to try the plan of having queens fertilized with

102 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

baby nuclei, that you can do it without any arrangement of
this kind at all, only just what you have at home. I reared
a number of queens last year and had them fertilized. I
followed Boston Smith's rule, "Do the best you can with
what you have." I didn't have anything of that kind. I had
an ordinary hive that I use every day, a dove-tailed hive. In
that I put a wide frame that will hold four sections. In that
I put one section of honey filled solid full of honey. Another
frame beside it with a section of comb, no honey in it at all.
It doesn't matter whether there is or not. I put those two
in the hive. Had the hive closed up in front so that it would
have only an entrance of one-quarter of an inch. Then I go
to a hive, take out a frame of brood with the adhering bees
and bring it to that hive. Then I tell my assistant to take
that and pound off the bees and at the same time I drop a
virgin queen in the bottom of the hive, quickly shut the
thing up, and leave them fastened there for three days. Then
open the entrance, and that is all. The bees do the rest.

Mr. McCain^After forming the little colony — the nucleus
— ^how long does Mr. Root keep that closed before liberating
the bees or the queen?

Mr. Root — That all depends upon whether you carry them
to an out-apiary.

Mr. McCain — In the yard.

Mr. Root — Not less than three days. They will have to
be shut up at least three days to get them so that they will
get used to a new location. At the end of that time they
will do very well. In the out-yard you can use them imme-
diately.

Mr. Wheeler — Mr. Stanley is here. He rears queens and
I have bought hundreds of them in the last year and he has
a very unique and fine way of rearing them, and he will
exhibit for you any time you want him to in the back room.
He does not care to come before the assembly and speak;
but there is one thing I can assure you he rears good, lively
queens, and the bees take them, and they lay, and they are a
good color. He is one of the largest bee-keepers in the State,
I understand ; he represents about 700 colonies. Such .men as
that are men that work as well as talk.

Pres. York — Has Mr. Stanley anything to say on this?

Mr. Stanley — No, not unless anyone wishes me to talk.

(Mr. Stanley was requested to explain his method of rear-
ing queens.)

Pres. York — While Mr. Stanley is getting ready I think
we may take up a question or two.

SHOOK-SWARMING.

"How many present think shook-swarming a preferable
and practical method of management?"

Mr. Whitney — That would depend largely upon circum-
stances.

(Pres. York called for a show of hands on the question.
The request was complied with.)

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 103

Pres. York — It would be preferable, I think. There were
four I think who raised their hands.

Mr. Wilcox — How many have an opinion concerning the
subject and know anything about it?

Pres. York — Do you mean how many have tried it?

Mr. Wilcox — Yes.

Pres. York — How many have tried shook-swarming ?
Raise your hands. (About 10 responded.)

Pres. York — How many think it is preferable to all other
methods. Raise your hand? (One responded.)

LAWS ON BEE-KEEPING.

"In what respect does the law of Cook County differ from
the State laws relative to bee-keeping?"

Pres. York — Does anybody know of any different law in
this county from any other county in the State?

Mr. Moore — There are no laws in Illinois except State
laws which are applicable to every county in the State. There
are no County laws.

- Pres. York — Are there any ordinances in the City of Chi-
cago relating to bees or bee-keeping?

Mr. Moore — There have been ordinances made in certain
places in the State against keeping bees within certain limits.

Mr. Pease — We have in the ordinances of the City of Chi-
cago, an ordinance that bee-keepers do not care to discuss very
much, as a rule. It is still one of the ordinances. It is to
this effect, prohibiting the keeping of bees within 200 feet of
a public highway or alley. That ordinance is still in effect
although it has never been enforced. There has been no liti-
gation on the subject whatever. There has been considerable
controversy among some of the bee-keepers of Cook County
to have that ordinance repealed. As to the legality of it, it
is a question as to whether it would be sustained or not. It is
in a measure conflicting with the State Laws as being rather
class legislation, and there has been a strong inclination on
the part of many of the bee-keepers of Cook County to have
that ordinance repealed. Philadelphia had a similar ordinance
which was taken into Court and contested and carried to the
Supreme Court of the State and there found unconstitutional.
I suppose that is what is referred to by this question.

Mr. Moore — I am certainly instructed by the gentleman's
authority, which I take for granted is correct, that there is
an ordinance in Chicago on keeping bees within certain limits,
but it has given us so little trouble that we didn't know there
was such a thing. It would take $500 or $1,000 to wipe it
off the statute book. No legislation of that sort is going to
give us any trouble either now or in the future, judging by
the amount of bother it has been in the past ; it might as well
stay there, as there has been no attempt made to enforce it.

Mr. Abbott — I am not a lawyer, but whenever there is
any specification regarding keeping bees a certain distance
from any place I pay no attention to it whatever. It cannot
be enforced in any State in this Union. That belongs to the

104

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

common principles of law that underlie all law. Every law
must be specific and must apply specifically to all the people
engaged in that industry.

Mr. Kimmey — Suppose you lived next door to a church
and should insist on keeping a row of bee-hives right along
side of the church, don't you think there is power in the
municipal power of a city to control that matter?

Mr. Moore — This matter has been threshed over at very
great length. The law of nuisances covers a great many of
these things. There is such a thing as a public and a private
nuisance. No man would claim that keeping a cow was a
nuisance, but in a city where people live close together you
can keep a horse or a cow in such a way as to become a
nuisance. It may be a private nuisance, it may be a public
nuisance. The whole neighborhood is interested in having
it abated, in which case there is appropriate remedy. Keep-
ing bees or chickens is not a nuisance, but they may be kept
in such a way as to become an awful nuisance. Then there
is a remedy for the people aggrieved, at law.

Mr. Kimmey — Don't you think there is a remedy with
the authorities. Has the pastor of a church got to go to law?
Why can't he ask that there shall be a reasonable ordinance
passed to control those things?

Mr. Moore — It is not necessary to pass an ordinance. If
the church authorities are agreed, the church authorities as a
corporation can maintain an action for specific nuisance.

Mr. Kimmey — Your argument would abolish all law. I
don't believe that we should take the high and lofty position
that we can keep bees wherever we please, regardless of
everybody and anybody. When we do I believe we will find
ourselves subject to municipal legislation under the police
power granted by the State of all municipal corporations.

Mr. Moore — If the Legislature or if municipal corpora-
tions attempted to make laws to govern everything, pretty
soon they would be making laws telling you to have your
picket fence so high, to keep your next neighbor's chickens
out.

Mr. Kimmey — They do that very thing right here in the
city of Chicago.

Mr. Moore — There are a whole lot of things that must
be governed by common sense, and they have attempted to
make general laws to remedy specific cases of grievance.
There is always a law for specific grievance.

Mr. Stanley being now ready to explain his method of
queen-rearing, the subject was taken up.

STANLEY METHOD OF QUEEN-REARING.

Mr. Stanley — I have a frame of queen-cells here.
Dr. Miller — How do you get those queen-cells started?
Mr. Stanley — Started as they are now? Do you mean
grafted ?

Dr. Miller— Yes.

jsasft

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 105

Mr. Stanley — They are started with rojral jelly and then
the larva is grafted in. I made these myself.

Mr. McCain — Are those the ordinary Doolittle cups?

Mr. Stanley — No. This is a frame showing complete
cells, some of them hatched and some of them not. At this
stage that should be removed (indicating).

Mr. Kimmey — What would I do with those if I had-
them?

Mr. Stanley— If you wanted to save the queen I suppose
you would put it in a cage until she hatched and then you
could make use of it by putting it in a nucleus, the full
colony.

Mr. Moore — Before these hatch you cover them with
some kind of a metal cover.

Mr. Stanley — ^Yes. In introducing the cage it is supplied
with a candy, to liberate the queen at any time. They are
kept warm with the heat of the colony in full colonies or
nucleus.

Dr. Miller — Right down in the colonies?

Mr. Stanley — Yes; they are put right between brood-
CQmbs, one, two, three or four colonies.

Dr. Miller — I wish you could all see closely the beautiful
workmanship of all of this. Mr. Stanley is a wonder as a
mechanic. His work is beautiful.

Mr. Whitney — Do you mean to say that you can intro-
duce a queen to a colony in one of those protectors — that is,
a laying queen, and the bees not kill the queen?

Mr. Stanley — Yes, I can introduce a virgin queen into
a colony and have the laying queen caged.

Mr, Whitney — ^With room for the bees to go in and out
at pleasure?

Mr. Stanley — Yes, the bees can go in and out and feed
their laying queen. Have your laying queen caged, and the
virgin queen at liberty on the combs.
' Dr. Miller — ^Would it do if there were a laying queen

at liberty in the hive?

Mr. Stanley — You couldn't liberate the virgins. You
■ might lose your virgin and you might lose your life.

Mr. McCain — In regard to fertilizing. You have quite
a number of cells there. What is your method of getting
the queens fertilized?

Mr. Stanley — I use a three-frame nucleus, standard size
frame. I have tried the small one. I have had some failure
and some success.

Mr. McCain — ^Do you introduce the virgins one at a
time?

Mr. Stanley — One at a time.

Mr. Kannenberg — How long can you keep the queens
after they are hatched in those cells you have there?

Mr. Stanley — I have kept one 34 days to see how long
I could keep them.

Mr. Kannenberg — Without any honey ? The bees will
feed them?

Mr. Stanley — Yes.

106 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

Mr. Wheeler — Could you introduce them after that time?

Mr. Stanley — ^Yes.

Mr. Whitney — Could you introduce that virgin queen into
the center of the hive where there is a laying queen, and not
have any of these virgin queens killed?

Mr. Stanley — Yes; they can be cared for in the colony
with the laying queen.

Mr. Moore — They simply can't get at them.

Mr. Stanley — Certainly.

Mr. Moore — They are protected by the zinc.

Mr. Whitney — The question is about the bees killing
them.

Mr. Stanley — I haven't had any trouble with the bees
killing them.

Mr. Wheeler — Do they ever attempt to ball them?

Mr. Stanley — No, I have never had any trouble with
balling.

Mr. Wilcox — Would it not be better, in introducing them
into a hive, to put them in an upper story with a queen-
excluding honey-board ?

Mr. Stanley — If there are bees enough it would be just
as well; all they require is to be kept warm.

Mr. Wilcox — You supply them with food?

Mr. Stanley — You don't need to supply them; the bees
feed them.

Mr. Wilcox — The bees will not feed the virgin queen?

Mr. Stanley — Yes, the bees feed the virgin queens while
they have a laying queen in the hive. There probably are
cases where they will not, but it can be brought about so
that they will.

Mr. Wilcox — I have very often slipped a virgin queen in
the hive with a laying queen, and found her dead afterwards.
I thought they killed her or starved her to death.

RE-INTRODUCING A BALLED QUEEN.

"When a laying queen is balled in introducing, what
method should be adopted to introduce her again to the
same colony?"

Mr. Whitney — That comes directly in line with some
practice I had a year ago, although I didn't ask that question.
I introduced the queen to a queenless colony for a young
lady who bought a colony of bees from me, and the next
day or two afterwards she wanted to see whether that queen
was accepted or not. She found they had eaten out the candy
and the queen was liberated. I told her there was a little
danger in opening that hive so soon, but if she cared to haye
me do it I would try to do so. I opened the hive and I
didn't find the queen — I gave them a little smoke — I was
afraid perhaps they had killed her. The young lady looked
down into the hive at the bottom and she said, "Mr. Whitney,
what is the matter?" I looked in and I said, "There they
are balling that queen as sure as you are alive." I put my
hand down and took that ball of bees out and shook them

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 107

and there that queen was and they hadn't hurt her. I re-
caged her and put her back and left it till the next morning,
when I pulled the plug out and in three or four days the
queen was all right.

Dr. Miller — There is just one part that might be added
to what Mr. Whitney has said. He says that he introduced
that queen the second time in the morning.

Mr. Whitney — No; 1 introduced her immediately.

Dr. Miller — About what time was it?

Mr. Whitney — About the middle of the day it was that
we looked, and I introduced her again, but plugged up the
cage so that she couldn't get out, and left her there over the
frame till the next morning, and then carefully removed the
frame and didn't disturb the bees at all.

Dr. Miller — That is the point — if. you free her at a time
when the bees are likely to be troublesome, in the morning.
Any other time in the day you will not be quite so safe as
if you free her just at night when there will be no chance
for robbers or foreign bees to get in. In this case it is the
queen with which you have had trouble, and you want to take
mpre than ordinary care. So take the additional precaution
to liberate her at night and you will be safe.

Mr. Wilcox — I thpught perhaps there might be a word
more said in regard to the manner of picking up that queen
in the ball. He said he picked it up with his fingers and put
it in the cage.

Mr. Whitney — No ; I scooped the whole ball of bees up
from the bottom of the hive with my hand and shook them
out and the bees were very much surprised.

Mr. Wilcox — Sometimes a bee-keeper is, too ! I could
recommend those that are very timid to use a little table
spoon and pick up the ball and throw it into some water.

Mr. McCain — In regard to the ball of bees, I would like
to ask if it is a dangerous or unwise thing to smoke the
ball.

Dr. Miller — Yes, and no. I take the smoke and I will
warrant that one way I use it they will kill the queen, and
another way I use it they will not hurt the queen. Hold the
smoker off far enough so that the cold smoke comes upon
them, and they will leave it about the same as they will when
you throw them into the water. Get some bees in your
fingers and hold the smoker up so that the smoke will be
hot and see if you don't get stung. You will be sure to kill
the queen if you blow hot smoke on it.

Mr Kimmey — I don't know anything about these matters,
but I have had just a little experience. I got a queen, and
found after she was liberated the bees had balled the queen
in the bottom of the hive, and I picked it up and laid it on
top of the frames and moved it a little, and it never occurred
to me that they would sting me; and the queen flew away
and I thought, "Well, surely she has gone." But I waited
about an hour, or something like that, and I looked again
and I found the queen back, balled in the bottom of the hive.
I simply picked it up, from my previous experience, and

108 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

carried it into a little building in my hands and then caged
it there. I had a caged queen and the colony without any
queen which I wanted to get that queen into. I didn't know
what to do. I went back and hunted up all the old bee-
papers I could find to get some information on the question.
I don't know just what paper it was in, but it said to smear
the bee with a honey and water mixture and throw it in the
hive and it would be all right. I thought, "Here is a des-
perate case and I don't know what to do." I tried it and it
succeeded, and that is all I know about it. I simply smeared
the queen with that mixture and poured a teacupful right
down between two frames and let the bees in, and it went on
and made a good colony.

Dr. Miller — It may succeed next time, but maybe it
won't.

Mr. Dadant — I think there is a great deal less danger
than some people would think of bees stinging when they have
balled a queen. I have never had patience to go after a pail
of water to throw the bees into. We have found the bees
ball and I was in too much of a hurry to release her to do
anything like that and I never got stung. They are rubbing
against one another and expect to be rubbed, and their stings
will not hurt one another ; they will hardly hurt your fingers.
Qur way to do it is to do it promptly.

Mr. Abbott — I would like to ask these gentlemen what
they have queens balled for? I wouldn't think anything more
about putting a queen into a hive and not having her balled
than I would about picking a frame out. I think a bee-
keeper hasn't learned his business that has them balled.

Mr. Whitney — If she were balled what would you do?

Mr. Abbott — She won't be. You might just as well ask
me if my wife left me what would I do. She won't leave.

Mr. Kimmey — I would like to know what I did wrong.
I simply put the cage in the hive and left it there, I believe,
about 42 hours and found her balled in the bottom of the
hive.

Dr. Miller — May I be allowed to interrupt and cut this
matter short by asking that Mr. Abbott shall tell us what he
can do so that there are never any balled queens or queens
balled.

Mr. Whitney — Perhaps I can answer the question for
Mr. Abbott. I don't believe he keeps any bees ! [Laughter.]

Mr. Abbott — I used to have about 200 colonies when I
was handling queens, but the question with me was. How
your colony came to be queenless?

Dr. Miller — That is not the question. The question is.
How does he do that he never has any queens balled?

Mr. Abbott — In the first place I don't have queenless
colonies to begin with, when I want to introduce a aueen.

Mr. Kannenberg — I had a colony of bees I wanted to
Italianize. I got the queen out about two days before, and
I left it queenless for two or three days. Then I looked to
see when I put the queen in if there was —

Mr. Abbott — You followed the instructions of the bee-

i:;5B^«^."/^^/^~^t-i^«>?5?i'rJf=^^^,73i'^^ -- ■:. . - - ■ ; '^."- -:-.;?-^^ -'•■ ^-./'■^

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 109

books and journals; you shouldn't have done anything of the
kind. The way to introduce a queen is not to kill the old
queen to start with. The way to do is to leave the old
queen in the hive; don't interfere with her at all. When
you get your cage with the new queen, uncover the wire so
that the bees in the cage can get at the bees inside of it,
and get at the queen if tiiey want to. Leave it there at least
48 hours, then catch the old queen and kill it, and uncover
the candy and cover up your hive as quick as you can. Just
as soon as you find the queen and kill it don't spend another
moment's time but get the frames back in as quickly as pos-
sible; uncover the candy, cover up the hive and go about
your business, and pay no attention to them for two or three
days; and when you go back you will find the queen laying
every time, and never have one balled. If you kill the old
queen according to the instructions in all the books, in nine
cases out of ten you will have trouble and have them balled.

Dr. Miller — I have had queens balled a good many times
when there was but one queen in the hive and none other
had ever been in; they balled their own queen.

Mr. Dadant — There are many cases in which we have
balled queens. I have seen hundreds of instances. I have
had two swarms come out and each of the two queens balled
because some of the bees of the other swarm were with that
queen. I have had queens that I was about to introduce,
balled before I had any time to do anything with them. I
have seen young queens balled in the hive. Those things are
accidents that happen in the bee-business, and the best of us
cannot avoid them.

Mr. Root — -I would like to agree with both gentlemen,
but I think Mr. Dadant is exactly right. I also agree with
Mr. Abbott on his method of introducing queens. We have
been trying that all the past summer and the plan is all right.
Leave the old queen in the hive until you are ready to
release the new queen. We have been doing it with our
virgin and laying queens and it works better than it worked
the other way. But the "A B C of Bee Culture" has been
changed, Mr. Abbott, and our directions are changed to cover
that. We introduce our virgins; we have three or four in a
hive at a time, and we also have a laying queen. As those
virgin queens begin to lay we take out the laying queen and
leave the other in the hive, and when the other begins to lay
we take her out. I think there is one point that has been
dropped, and that is this question of scent of the bees. At
the University of Pennsylvania I spent some three months
a year ago last summer, and after working a long time at
this problem the intention was to consider some problem of
introducing. I remember Mr. Abbott had been trying to
pound that thing into us, and we didn't believe it —

Mr. Abbott — For twenty years. [Laughter.]

Mr. Root — And Dr. Phillips takes the ground — and he
has been studying this question very carefully — ^that this
question of introduction depends almost entirely on the scent
of the bees. If the bees are balled, and you handle that ball

110 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

in your hand and get that queen in your fingers, the chances
are that they will ball up again because that scent has been
changed. The bee's sense of smell is very acute. If the scent
is changed a little bit the conditions are different. They rec-
ognize her somewhat as a stranger. I have had queens balled
in our yard. By picking up the queen and showing her to
visitors and dropping her back, they will ball her. Sometimes
a disturbance in the hive will cause them to ball her. But
this question of scent plays a more important part in it than
we bee-keepers have been in the habit of thinking. If she
has the same scent as the rest of the bees she will be accepted.
A little while ago Mr. Stanley spoke about putting virgin
queens in a hive where there is a laying queen. If they have
the scent of the rest of the bees the bees won't tackle them,
but if the laying mother can get at those then there will be
war.

Mr. Smith — Why do bees ball their queens? In my ex-
perience I find that there are two motives, one is to protect
them and another is to kill them. I will illustrate : I had
an Italian second swarm and a black swarm go together, and
both queens were balled. The yellow queen was balled with
her own bees ; the blacks also balled their own queen. I
liberated them and neither one was hurt. I introduced the
black queen and she flew away. I introduced the yellow
queen and shook the bees all out on the ground, and dropped
her in among the bees as they went to the hive. She was
introduced that way perfectly safe. The black queen came
back and lit on the outside, and the yellow bees killed her.
In the first place they had balled their own queen, which I
think was for protection.

Mr. Abbott — I want to say I didn't mean my remarks
to apply to these abnormal conditions of two swarms going
together or anything of that kind. I want to be rightly
understood. I just let them go together and let them fight
it out. I don't fool with them.

Mr. Smith — If you alarm a colony they will sometimes
ball their queen. That is to protect the queen.

Mr. Root — Shut the hive up and they will be all right.

DISPENSING WITH THE BEE-VEIL.

"Generally speaking, can the bee-veil be dispensed with?
How many think it can?"

Mr. Smith I would like -to see a man go through 40
or 50 colonies in the honey season without a bee-veil.

Mr. Dadant — There are a few gentlemen here that get
along without bee-veils but if they wanted to follow some of
us all day among the bees and not flinch, stay right with it,
they will wish they had a bee-veil, unless they are absolutely
proof against the sting, and there are very few that are.
When you have a bee-veil you don't have to wear it all the
time, but you have it at hand so that you can wear it if you
have to.

Mr. Miller — I may say in regard to that, that there are

d' ■■

STATE BEE-KEEPERS ASSOCIATION. Ill

men who do not use a bee-veil at all. There was one of them
went in one of my apiaries; he went around with me with
a smoker and he said, "They will never sting me; there is
no need for me to wear a veil." And he kept that smoke going
all the while, so I couldn't have any use of the smoker, I
won't give you the man's name because I am afraid it might
hurt the feelings of his son Ernest. [Laughter.]

Mr. Whitney — There was a friend of mine who said he
didn't need a veil. He was extracting a great deal of honey.
He sold the honey around through the community. I didn't
know anything about bees then, and he invited me into the
yard where he was taking off some frames; and he said,
"They never sting an honest man." I went in and stood
around the hive and pretty soon a bee struck him right over
the mouth. I said, "I guess you're right." [Laughter.]

Mr. Moore — If any one really wants to handle bees with-
out a veil he can do it. I have been engaged in marketing
honey in Chicago, and for the sake of advertising I have done
a great many outlandish things. I have attempted to go into
my own hives and other peoples' without the bee-veil. The
past summer I didn't carry a veil with me except on one or
two days. I opened the hive without smoke. But I want to
tell you right now, I got stung on one occasion twelve or
fifteen times because not wearing a veil. If you are so
patriotic, all right; but as a rule it pays to have a veil.

Mr. Whitney — A friend of mine in Ohio has been able to
handle his bees without a veil for years. At one time he
thought he would look into one hive and he took off the cover,
and they came out. He backed up and held uo his hands
and they still came. He turned around and ran down the
outside cellar-way and shut the trap-door, and he was stung
so badly he fainted away and was sick for three weeks. Since
then he hasn't been able to handle bees at all. A lady friend
said, "I always use a veil; never go into the yard without

one."

'shook'' or "shaken" swarm.

"Is it better to say. "shook swarm" or "shaken swarm?"

Mr. Root — If Dr. Miller wasn't here I would say "shaken
swarms," but in his presence I always say, "shook swarms."

Pres. York — I think we would better refer that to Mr.
Hutchinson.

Mr. Hutchinson — I agree with Mr. Root on that ques-
tion.

Dr. Miller — If that thing is entirely to spite me, I am
going to say a word about it. I am very glad of an oppor-
tunity to say a word in favor of having people at large under-
stand that bee-keepers are not a lot of ignoramuses. I have
felt mortified at the use of that word as a violation of com-
mon English, that a teacher in any one of our public schools
would know better than to countenance. If either of these
good brethren who have such a vicious feeling towards me
can give me any possible reason why the word "shook" is
any better than the word "shaken," they can give me some-

112

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

thing I have never had yet. The word "shook" expresses
something to me a little stronger than the word "shaken."
When Mr. Root told me that, I knew that there was some-
think that had shaken loose in his brain. If they have a seat
reserved in one of these places, say in a concert, there will
be laid down a little slip and on it marked, "Taken." Do you
think I would feel any more secure of that seat if it was
marked, "Took." [Laughter]. Now, I consider this, without
any joking, of enough consequence that we should spend a
little time upon it. If there is any reason why "shook" is
better than "shaken" I would like to hear it. One is good
English, the other is bad, and it seems to me that is enough
to settle the question, unless you can give some other very
strong reason.

Mr. Dadant — In regard to this matter I think there is
a great deal in locality! [Laughter.] I am foreign born, but
when some of our Western Americans took a trip to Europe
I was with them, and I had occasion to say to an Englishman,
"Hurry up," and he said, "I suppose you mean "make haste."
Mr. Whitney — When I saw the words "shook swarm" I
thought the whole thing was wrong. What is a swarm? It
is bees in the air or in cluster. Then you can't make a shook
swarm or a shaken swarm. It is simply a colony of bees.
You can't shake them or have them swarm in the air or clus-
ter, so that it is not a swarm at all.

Mr. Wheeler — I would like to know of how much money
value this is to us. We are here to learn something. I
didn't leave my work to come here to listen to sport. I came
here to learn something about bee-keeping. Now what does
this have to do with bee-keeping?

Mr. Abbott — I used to teach school and they paid me $50
a month for teaching their children the correct use of the
English language. It must have had some value to me. But
I disagree with Dr. Miller that the use of the word "shook"
is not as correct as shaken." This is simply the invention of
a new condition of things, and new conditions of things are
creating words and phrases every day in America. I suppose
I could mention 50 that have been created within the last few
years. It is just as proper to apply "shook" to a new condi-
tion of things as "shaken;" and the words got into Dr. Mil-
ler's dictionary that way.

Pres. York — This is one of the questions for diversion.
Now we will go on to something more solid.

Mr. Wheeler — We have editors, such as Mr. Hutchinson ;
leave such things to him. We don't want to spend our time
here to-day on that. He will put that word in just as he
pleases when he gets home, anyway.

ADVANTAGE OF SHOOK SWARMING.

"What is the advantage of shook swarming?"
Mr. Hutchinson — I suppose primarily that the principle
advantage of this shook swarming is that we are able to have
the work gone on with without being there to see to it. We

y-¥~f TT'*''**' I** ^ > ' /^ -^w>*' -^ :^,*'0'^!*'^^'"''«'^ ''*'-*'"'*^^g*?»''i5;^^ " s.v^_ •' *flf 1)^,; ti

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 113

forestall swarming. We make preparations for the bees to
swarm and we are not there to take care of them, so instead
of that we go at it and shake them off and make the swarms
while we are there to see to it.

Pres. York — What about joining the National in a body
this year?

Dr. Miller — Moved, duly seconded, that this Association
join the National in a body, at the rate of 50 cents a member.

Pres. York put the motion which, on a vote having been
taken, was declared carried.

Dr. Miller — Right in connection with the point which is
before us is the question of uniting with the State. If it is a
proper thing to bring that up now I move that this Associa-
tion, as a body, unite with the Illinois State Association, pay-
ing into its treasury 25 cents per member.

The motion was seconded.

Mr. Colburn — ^What is the present membership of the
Illinois Society?

Mr. Smith — The present membership of the Illinois State
Association is over 150.

Mr. Wilcox — How many bee-keepers' societies are there
in the State of Illinois ?

Mr. York — I think there are two besides this, outside
of the State organization, that is, the Northern Illinois and
the Western Illinois.

Mr. Whitney — I want to ask the Treasurer as to what
effect taking 25 cents for each member joining the State
would have upon our balance in the Treasury?

Mr. Moore — There would not be enough money left in
the Treasury to support our Association if we paid out 75
cents on each dollar, that is, 50 cents to the National and 25
cents to the Illinois State. The actual expenditure for mem-
bership if this motion is passed, under our Constitution, will
be about $20 out of our treasury.

After a long discussion Pres. York put the motion that
this Association join the Illinois State Association in a body
by paying 25 cents a member, which, on a vote having been
taken, was declared carried. The necessary amount to pay
same was secured by passing the hat.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS.

The President appointed as tellers Messrs. Fluegge, Jacob
and Dadant. Ballots were taken and the officers were all
re-elected as follows: President, George W. York; Vice-
President, Mrs. N. L. Stow; and Secretary-Treasurer, Her-
man F. Moore.

queen's wing and leg growing.

"Does a queen's wing ever grow again after being
clipped?"

Dr. Miller— No.

Mr. Criggs — Does a queen's leg ever grow where a leg
has been pulled out?

114 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

Dr. Miller— No.

Mr. Criggs — I was clipping a queen's wing one time with
gloves on, and I didn't have a very steady hand, and in some
way pulled off one of the large legs right to the bottom. I was
sorry at the time, but I thought they had so much brood and
eggs they could rear another queen. However, I kept close
watch and they didn't rear another queen to take her place,
but this queen in the course of another two weeks had another
leg.

Mr. Wilcox — Did her progeny have a missing leg, too?
[Laughter.]

Mr. Criggs — I didn't find any that did.

Dr. Miller — I would rather believe a clipped queen got
into that hive from another hive than to believe the wings or
leg would grow on again. That has sometimes happened. ' A
clipped queen has gone from one hive into another.

Mr. Criggs — I should say not. This was a pure Italian
queen and all the other queens within two rods were dark.
I had only half a dozen Italian queens in the whole apiary
of about 60 or 80 colonies; the rest were all dark bees.

Mr. Whitney — Was that a queen of your own rearing?

Mr, CriggS;— No.

OUTDOOR WINTERING OF BEES.

"In outdoor wintering is water running out of the en-
tranqe of the hive an indication of poor wintering."

Mr. Wilcox — I should say not, but it indicates poor prep-
aration for wintering. There ought to be absorption enough
so that it wouldn't condense and accumulate.

Mr. Snell — That has been my experience. If the ventila-
tion is proper, and the preparation is proper for wintering,
there will be no water running out from the entrance.

STARTING WITH BEES.

"Tell a few good ways for beginners to get a start in
bees and a first-class ex5)erience at one and the same time."

Dr. Miller — Buy a colony of bees, buy a bee-book, or
several of them, and subscribe for a bee-paper, or several of
them, and then go on and get your experience.

Pres. York — I noticed that the Doctor didn't say he could
buy his experience, too.

Dr. Miller — ^He will buy it and pay for it.

EFFECT OF MARKET REPORTS ON HONEY PRICES.

"What effect has market reports on the price of honey?"
Mr. Burnett — I don't know that I ought to answer or en-
deavor to answer that question. I make some market reports.
What effect it has, has to be problematic. I think, however, it
is in general alignment with all other reports on prices. Peo-
ple are guided by what they find to be a price in a certain
market. It gives you an idea of what goods can be obtained

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 115

for there. It is also a guide for those seeking a market.
I should think it had a good deal to do as a matter of fact
with the general business of the country.

Mr. Colburn — I am a resident of Chicago and I asked
that question because I wanted to find out if there is any dif-
ference, or if it had any appreciable effect; and the reason
I asked it is, I have been on South Water Street a good
many times and I always found on enquiring there that the.
prices of honey were invariably greater than these market
reports give us to understand. Why that is so I don't just
know. I think I know the South Water Street houses pretty
well. I was a grocer here in Chicago for a number of years
and went all around the streets with my market wagon on
every day in the summer, and every other day in the winter,
and I found things down there were quite peculiar. This fall
I examined up and down the street on one or two days and
I found at that time five different firms reported honey as
selling at 15 cents a pound in one-pound sections. At that
time our market quotations — the nearest was within seven
days — gave us prices at 12 to 14 cents. This is what I don't
understand, and I want to understand it. Every bee-keeper
within 300 miles of Chicago who sends his honey here, if he
takes these papers, naturally is enquiring and looking at these
reports, and these reports ought to be reasonably accurate.
At the stock yards, with which I was familiar for a number of
years, the market reports give the actual sales as they are.
They don't say, "We quote so and so." They say, "Armour
bought so and so, such and such a kind of stock, and it sold
for so much." I think our market reports ought to be under
the control of this Association, on account of the fact that
there is such an apparent discrepancy between the reports in
the papers and the actual condition on the street. We as
individuals who are bee-keepers are interested in having prices
at a reasonable figure, and we don't want any market reports
which show the prices of honey to be less than it is generally
sold at. Whether they are, or not, I can't say, but I think
they are. In every investigation I have made I have in-
variably found a difference of one or two cents in the reported
price of the honey from the price on the street. In the quo-
tation from Milwaukee it is from one to two cents higher than
the Chicago market, and yet Milwaukee is 200 miles nearer the
great center of honey-production than we are. I brought this
up because I think the bee-keepers will lose two cents a
pound on every pound they send to Chicago unless they get
straight market reports.

Mr. Wilcox — The question is, What effect do market re-
ports have on the honey market? If they be timely and truth-
ful they tend to steady the market, to prevent fluctuations,
and are highly profitable to all.

Mr. Moore — There isn't any use in allowing any preju-
dice to enter into the discussion of these questions. I know
a good many people think that all lawyers are thieves, and all
commission men in the same class. They are very much like
the rest of us; they are all honest and all dishonest. But

116 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

according to Mr. Colburn's own statement there is no dis-
crepancy. He said the market report gave 12 to 14 cents.
Twelve meant the lower grade, 14 meant the highest grade.
Understand that those quotations mean some considerable
sale. You go along and ask a man what is the price and he
says 15 cents. He thinks, to look at you at first, you are a
suburbanite, come to carry honey home under your arm. If
you say, "Here, I want five or ten cases," he gives it at 14
cents, according to the quotation that you say was quoted.
There are dififerent circumstances. Quantity and quality of
purchase make a difference as to quotations, as you state it,
and are fair.

Mr. Burnett — As to difference, I would like to have him
change the word invariable to variable. It seems to me it is
hardly fair that it should be invariably higher than the quota-
tions. As a matter of fact we all know that is not the fact.
That buying honey, as he buys it — perhaps he met a man who
buys from the receivers. The majority of the houses on
South Water Street that sell honey in a small way or keep a
few cases, buy it from some of the receivers, and they need
to get a cent a pound as a margin over and above what they
pay. The purpose, as I have understood for many years, of
market reports, is to give as nearly as may be the actual value
of honey sold as received. A lot of honey sold consisting of
25 or 100 or 1,000 cases is the price that the purchaser must
be guided by. Allow him to send the honey here and get a
cent a pound less than the quotations are for that grade of
honey, he feels that he has not had the market value for it.
So that it is not fair to any one to say that it is invariably so,
but that it does vary is a fact.

Mr. Fluegge — I find the market quotations in Chicago
given out as nearly correct as they possibly can be. I visited
a number of grocersTnen and they informed me that the prices
they paid for first-class honey were 14 cents a pound, and that
is comb honey. That is what the quotations are now. I have
been watching it for several years and there is very little
difference between what the grocerymen say and what the
quotations are, so I think they are as nearly correct as we can
get tiiem from that standpoint.

HORIZONTAL WIRING OF COMB-FOUNDATION.

"Can brood-frames filled with full sheets of foundation
be wired horizontally in a manner that will prevent buckling?"

Mr. Dadant — If we wire foundation at all, I believe as a
general thing those who do wire put their first wire too low.
The weight is at the top — ^the pull is on the top story; the
cells are nearest to the top of the frame and the first wire
should be put very close to the top, within an inch. When
you come to the bottom of the frame, those who have handled
fotmdation for years, know that those cells are hardly ever
stretched, and there is no need of wiring below the middle of
the frame. If you put one wire at the middle and the other

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 117

two above, you will have better success than if you put the
wires within your space in the frame.

Dr. Miller — I would like to ask Mr. Dadant a question I
think germane to the subject. In those, do you suppose that
the wires are taut or slack?

Mr. Dadant — It would be better for the wires to be taut
if they are pressed into the foundation. A slack wire is only
supposed to follow the wax if it settles. The great trouble is
giving it to swarms. When full sheets of foundation are
given they sag at once before it is finished; that is the time
when it is really more of a strain upon it than is natural
with the comb, because bees build their combs entirely at the
top before they lengthen them, but when you give them a full
sheet they will load it from the bottom, and the top has a
greater strain upon it, and I think nearly all the strain takes
place from that. I think the wire ought to be taut, but in a
great many cases it is not necessary at all if it is carefully
done to wire.

SIZE OF COLONIES OF BEES IN SPRING.

"How much brood, honey and bees should there be in a
hive in the time of fruit-bloom before putting on supers?"

Mr. Wilcox — I am confident that the answer to that will
vary according to the locality somewhat. For my part I never
put supers on during fruit-bloom. Then, the quantity of bees
cuts no figure. If there is not surplus enough coming in our
locality at that time to make a decent start, I always divide
them, if they are strong enough to bear dividing without be-
ing weak colonies, when clover opens in the middle of June.
Fruit-bloom is in the middle of May, and if there are two
bushels of bees I would divide them ; if there was one bushel
I would divide them; if there were 10 pounds of live bees
I would divide them and give the other half a young queen,
but I would build them both up for the ho^iey harvest the
first of July or the latter part of June. Our best honey-yield
comes in August, fronj wild flowers. Consequently I would
be sure, ansrway, to have more bees to gather more honey
later in the season.

PREVENTION OF ROBBING DURING A HONEY-FLOW.

"What can be done to prevent bees from robbing in the
honey-flow season?"

Mr. Hutchinson — You couldn't make them rob them.

Dr. Miller — ^They can rob. The way to stop them is to
take away the fool bee-keeper that gets them to rob.

Pres. York — He ought to be clipped!

EXTRACTING FROM COMBS HAVING BROOD.

"Will extracting from combs containing unsealed brood
injure the quality of the honey provided no brood is thrown
out?"

118 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

Mr. Wilcox — No.

Mr. Burnett — A gentleman here has the idea with regard
to that brood, that it has a tendency to sour the honey. If
there is any such thing it is important. It may be one of
those things that is an unknown quantity to us. We often
find in a consignment of honey, there are one or two packages
that will ferment, and the rest show no tendency to do so.
As dealers, and finding so many instances of that kind, we
are quite at a loss to know what is the cause of it.

Dr. Miller — I should say yes to that question ; if you had
obliged me to say yes or no just at first blush I should have
said no, but thinking more carefully over it I should say yes,
because if you put brood-frames — and by that we generally
understand combs containing brood — into an extractor you
most surely will have unripe honey in that, and when you
throw unripe honey out you are likely to injure the quality
of your honey, and that may account for the kind of honey
that Mr. Burnett is talking about.

Mr. Wilcox — I think it is terrible to throw out unripe
honey, but it does not follow just as he expressed it, surely.

Dr. Miller — Almost surely.

Mr. Dadant — I have had considerable experience in the
matter of extracting honey. I must say, in the first place,
it is not advisable to extract honey from combs containing
young brood; and in the second place I believe Dr. Miller
is right; if you do that you are extracting in the beginning of
the season and you will have thin honey. If you extract at
the end of the season from brood-combs that contain brood
and sealed honey the brood will likely be sealed also. There-
fore it is unlikely that the bee-keeper who wants good honey
will extract from brood-combs containing unsealed honey.
If it contains any he can throw it out without throwing
any brood out. Those who are expert enough can make it
in such a manner that it moved the larvae a little forv/ard
when it was extracted and this larvae could work back
after the comb was taken back to the hive, or the bees
would take them back, and yet none of them were thrown
out. But you don't want a careless boy to turn the ex-
tractor, because a little too fast whirling will throw the
brood out, and then you have a chance for fermentation.
Although, I believe very ripe honey will not ferment even
if it has brood in it. The ancients tell us they used to
preserve bodies in honey, showing that honey will keep
things from rotting. I believe that bees and larvae will
be preserved in the honey if th^ honey is ripe, but if the
honey is unripe it will be sure to ferment, whether you
have dead larvae in it or not.

Mr. Wheeler — I have had a suspicion of that thing
for quite a number of years, and the more I have watched
it and studied it, the more I have made up my mind there
is a great deal in it. You not only throw out the honey,
but the food that is given to the bees, that sours the
larvae. One has to be very careful in extracting. Another
point Mr. Dadant makes about the honey season bemg

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 119

at a close; we don't have such a thing around Chicago
where there is sweet clover; honey is gathered so that
they can continue to breed and have young bees at all
times. If you extract from those combs that have brood
in you must have young larvae. And then those young
bees have a liquid: they are floating in a liquid. If that
liquid is thrown out it is my impression it floats on top
of the honey and it sours and gives the smell of sourness
to the whole dish of honey. Yet I believe the honey
down underneath is just as sweet as it ever was.

Mr. Wilcox — You don't believe that is thrown out
without throwing out some brood?

Mr. Wheeler — That is immaterial. We do throw out
the brood. I think you throw out some of that liquid
when you don't throw out the brood.

QUEENS KILLED WHEN INTRODUCING.

"I introduced a queen into a queenless colony and
they killed her; four days afterwards I introduced another
qyeen and they killed her. What should I have done?"

Mr. Wheeler — I would say, put healthy young bees
into the hive to kill any drone-layers. They would pre-
pare the way for the queen every time.

Mr. Swift — I had the crossest lot of bees I ever ran
across in my life; I couldn't get the queen into that hive;
I tried three different queens. I gave it up. I kept them
supplied with young bees all the time.

Mr. Snell — ^The best way is to introduce two frames
of young bees into the parent colony, and at the same
time put their queen in with them, or introduce a queen
at that time. Those bees seem to destroy the laying
worker so that the queen is never molested. I have never
yet had a failure in that way.

DETECTING ADULTERATION IN BEESWAX.

"How can we detect foreign substance in beeswax?"
Mr. Dittmer — I don't know that I can give any rule.
It is force of habit with me. I get wax sometimes, and
it looks suspicious, and there is generally something the
matter with it. The most common thing that occurs with
me is receiving wax that contains tallow. In fact, some
people have shipped wax to me and were rather rash
about it, so that I think almost anybody could have de-
tected it; but as to giving any chemical process, I can't
say anything about it.

Mr. Abbott — I see Dr. Wiley has written another let-
ter to explain the matter with regard to what is called
the "Wiley lie," published in the Rural New Yorker. I
was writing an editorial note on it before I left, for the
Modern Farmer, and I used a sentence at the last of it
that these comb-foundation people will be interested in,
and these bee-keepers. Dr. Wiley says that paraffin is

120 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

used wholly or in part in comb-foundation in the United
States. This statement came from Canada a short time
ago, and now it is repeated by the chief chemist of the
United States, and I say in my editorial there are only a
few manufacturers of comb foundation in the United
States. If they put paraffin in wax they know it, and we
want to know it. If they don't do it, it will not be a very
hard thing for them to prove it. If they do do it, it will
be a very easy thing for the United States' chemists to
prove. Now this subject of foundation is up, I think it
would be a good time to hear from the comb-foundation
makers right now as to what they have to say in answer
to Dr. Wiley. I have had my say in the paper, and it will
appear in the next issue, and I want to know if they put
paraffin in foundation.

Mr. Dadant — I will give you three methods by which
you can all detect, without chemical analysis, whether
comb foundation is pure or not, and you can test it with
your own beeswax, comparatively. The first test we have
is the HEAT TEST. It is the most delicate because you have
to get the exact heat at the exact spot. Foundation is a
little more brittle, a little more in pieces than solid bees-
wax. Therefore you will heat the foundation more readily
than beeswax. A lump of beeswax that is round or large
will not heat so readily through as sheet foundation full
of holes. Therefore you must expect your foundation
to melt a little more readily. Between 135 and 150 is the
temperature, but your thermometers may vary a little.
You take a piece of beeswax, tie it to the thermometer,
take it to the right spot, put it in a pint bottle, put the
stopper in it, put it on the stove, and see at what degree
that thin beeswax melts. Do the same with the sheet
foundation, and see whether it melts at the same or about
the same temperature. Another test is the saponification
TEST. That is the changing of beeswax into soap; it will
change to soap as grease will. It is no longer beeswax.
Take lye and heat it, and take beeswax and melt it, and
pour the two together and it will no longer be beesv/ax;
if it is paraffin it will be paraffin. The paraffin will
pour out just the same as before. The paraffin is a min-
eral substance which is not at all touched by lye, while
beeswax is absolutely dissolved by lye.

The third test is specific gravity. Beeswax is heavier
or lighter than other substances of the same kind. That
is another very fine test, because if there is a little bulb
of air in your specimen, whether beeswax or foundation,
you will change the specific gravity. It is very difficult to
make that test, but you can. A specimen that has a great
deal of paraffin of one kind will flow where beeswax
would go with the foundation. The way to do is this:
Take water and put pure beeswax into it. Pour in alcohol
until the beeswax goes to the bottom. The beeswax is
then heavier than the solution which you have of water
and alcohol. Then you are ready to test any samples

-^-■■'".■.■fer*.-

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 121

that may come to you. In this particular it is the same
thing as before. If your foundation is full of holes, when
you put it under, the air will be in those and hold it up.
You have to be very particular to have the wax from your
foundation the same as your beeswax, if you want to make
a proper test. If you have a sample of paraffin it will
float, while the beeswax will go to the bottom.

Mr. Dittmer — It seems to me that the statement that
Mr. Abbott has made, as to what Prof. Wiley said, puts
the comb-foundation manufacturers in the position of be-
ing guilty unless they are proved innocent. It seems to
me that is rather a poor predicament to find one's self in.
Personally, I am perfectly satisfied that neither the Da-
daiits nor the Roots use anything but what they know
to be pure beeswax. So far as I am concerned, I think
that my reputation with those who have used my founda-
tion will carry me through. I think that the foundation
manufacturers of this country have always had the repu-
tation of using nothing but what they honestly knew to be
pure beeswax; and as to taking the position of proving
otSrselves innocent, it seems to me that is the wrong posi-
tion. We should be first proved guilty, and then give us a
chance of saying something. But this idea of considering
a man guilty until he proves himself innocent is wrong.

Dr. Miller — In Europe there are perhaps some 17,000
or more of the Rietsche presses in use; a large number of
the bee-keepers making their own foundation. In this
country I think there are not nearly so many bee-keepers
making their own foundation as there were 25 years ago.
I think the reason that so many of those Rietsche presses
are used in Europe, and that the making of foundation
has been simmered down to a small number of manufac-
turers, is that in Europe, they cannot buy pure founda-
tion as we can here. I don't have any thought at all about
the quality of foundation when I buy it; I know it is pure
almost as absolutely as if I had given it all three of the
tests mentioned by Mr. Dadant. I think Mr. Dittmer is
entirely right in saying every man should be supposed to
be innocent until proven guilty, and the burden of proof
should not lie upon the manufacturer to prove that he is
innocent. I think in the same way Wiley, if he has made
that mistake again, should be taught to believe that he
should not, after having made such a sad mistake before —
that he should certainly not make the third mistake, or
the bee-keepers of the country will resent it.

Mr. Abbott — Of course, you are just taking this on
my say so, but I have the article and I suppose it is set up
in type now and will be in the Modern Farmer in the next
issue, and I cut it from the Rural New Yorker. This let-
ter is addressed to the editor of that paper, and signed by
Dr. Wiley. It seems the editor of the Rural New Yorker
asked for an article with regard to the matter of adul-
terated honey, and Dr. Wiley is endeavoring to set himself
right. It is in connection with the Ladies' Home Journal

122 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

statement, and there is a whole column in it and the arti-
cle closes up with the statement I refer to. Of course it
was news to me. I thought I had been handling tons
and tons of foundation that was pure, or, at least, I had
been telling my customers it was pure, and I was standing
behind it myself, and I had my reputation at stake and I
wanted you people to know it as soon as possible. I
thought I would send it to the American Bee Journal, but
we like to get "a scoop," and I thought I would copy it
first.

Pres. York — Have you the entire letter?

Mr. Abbott — I have the entire copy, my comment and the
editor's upon it.

Dr. Miller — Just what is the statment he did make?

Mr. Abbott — The sentence states that honey is not
adulterated, but that paraffin is used wholly or in part in
the manufacture of foundation. Those are not exactly the
words but that is the substance of it.

Dr. Miller — That leaves it, he might say if he knew
of a single case in which some fool who was making ex-
periments might have used only half a pound of it. Per-
haps it will be wise for us to be careful in what we say,
and rather ask the question whether Prof. Wiley has any
proof; and perhaps it would be wise to let the journals
ask him. I think that would be better.

Mr. Dadant — I think you are doing Mr. Wiley a great
deal too much honor by paying so much attention to what
he says. In regard to this accusation, it only strikes one
or two firms. I am perfectly willing to stand on my own
responsibility, and my respectability, without any atten-
tion being paid to it.

Mr. Dittmer — Mr. Dadant is wholly right. Prof.
Wiley's reputation in the past has been such that he de-
serves no attention on our part, and the best way to get
rid of an obnoxious person is to ignore him.

Mr. Abbott — Mr. Wiley is chief chemist of the United
States; his word is authority not only in the United
States but all over the world. He is quoted as the repre^
sentative of the United States by the chemical men of the
world and we cannot ignore Mr. Wiley. We have to face
the fact that he represents the United States among the
scholars of the world so far as chemistry is concerned,
and he represents the United States so far as the people
in command are concerned. We cannot ignore those
things. It is all right enough to say we are giving him
too much advertising. We are not giving him too much.
The chief chemist of the United States, who speaks by
authority of the United States, ought to tell the truth.

Mr. Dadant — But he doesn't. It will serve no purpose
whatever to demand anything. A man who will state a
thing which he knows to be false will stick to the false-
hood. He will make an untruthful statement again, and it
will simply make matters worse by having anything to do
with him.

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 133

Mr. Hutchinson — Not only Mr. Dadant but all other
comb-foundation manufacturers are affected if these state-
ments go out in the Rural New Yorker all over to the
reading community that buy honey; it prejudices them against
our product.

Mr. Dadant — In that case, don't ask him to prove it but
simply state that it is not so. If you ask him to prove it
when he has made the statement he will prove it in some
way if he has to manufacture something in order to prove
it in one single instance. That will be sufficient for him, and
sufficient to hurt your business that much more.

Mr. Colburn — I wanted to ask if anybody here knows
whether bees will work on foundation that is made partially
of paraffin?

Dr. Miller — Yes, they will.

Mr. Colburn — What proportion ?

Dr. Miller — I don't know.

Mr. Wilcox — ^What causes the difference in foundation
with regard to some being very hard and others very soft at
the same temperature?

' Mr. Dadant — Beeswax is a little like iron; you can cast
iron and make it malleable, and it is the same way with bees-
wax. Pour beeswax into a mould and the cake will be brit-
tle. It will break readily and you can't stretch it. But put
that cake of beeswax under the roller and it will become mal-
leable; that is, warm it to a certain temperature. There are
a good many points concerning beeswax that it is impossible
for the general public to know. In regard to the adultera-
tion of beeswax with tallow, it may be well to inform you
as to the way of detecting tallow. It is very easily detected;
it makes the beeswax softer, and when you have a cake which
you suspect of having tallow at the ordinary temperature,
run your fingernail over the cake. If it is pure beeswax it
will make ripples in the cake; if it is tallow it will make
a dull-looking streak in the cake.

INCREASING THE CIRCULATION OF BEE-PAPERS.

Pres. York — Here is a question that I didn't ask myself,
but I would like to know the answer. "What can be done
to increase the circulation of bee-papers?"

Mr. Moore — Advertise.

Mr. Abbott — I do not think that that ought to be passed
by. I am not saying that because I am interested in papers ;
I don't publish a bee-paper; I publish a farm paper. But it
does seem to me that there is not enough pride among bee-
keepers in our industry. I asked that question and I asked
it because I wanted to say something. You take the poultry
people, and there are in the United States something like
15 or 20 poultry papers that have a circulation ranging from
25,000 to 75,000. They all have good circulation, and every
poultry keeper swears by his poultry paper. Every poultry
keeper has a pride in his industry and therefore he reads
carefully his poultry paper. They do not all take the same

124 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

paper, of course, but they swear by some poultry paper, and
they go out and talk it up amongst their friends, and they get
subscribers for the different papers; they are talking it up at
institutes and poultry meetings, and all the time interested
in pushing the circulation of their papers. But it seems to» be
a crime to mention a bee-paper at any bee-convention. The
editors are so modest they will hardly distribute sample copies
for fear some one will say they are trying to drum up trade.
If they are, they are drumming up trade that helps us. Take
the American Bee Journal, the only weekly bee-paper that is
published on this continent and it has a paltry circula-
tion say of less than 10,000 copies, and perhaps there are
less than 30,000, all told, that read bee-papers, and we are told..
and we tell the world, that there are over 300,000 bee-keepers
in the United States. Are there less than 30,000 out of 300,-

000 who have enough pride in the industry to spend one
dollar a year to learn what is going on in the industry? It
seems they must think it a very small business if it is not
worth investing a dollar in. There is no other kind of an
industry but what the people who belong to it are willing to
take three or four different papers. The hog people, the sheep
people, and the poultry people, take three or four papers. A
man came into my place the other day who is just an ordi-
nary poultry fancier in the city, and before he went out he
had subscribed for four poultry papers in addition to mine.

1 said to my wife, "That fellow has some pride in his indus-
try." If a man happens to take two or three bee-papers, and
spends two or three dollars a year for bee-literature, he seems
to think he is making a bank account for some fellow, that
lives in the city. I can't understand how it is we have so
little industrial pride in our papers. If the American Bee
Journal, instead of having less than 10,000 had 100,000 sub-
scribers, what a power it would be. Then when Mr. York
opened his mouth in the American Bee Journal in regard to
such a thing as we have just been discussing it would mean
something, because he would have a constituency behind him,
and he could make himself heard all over this land. I say,
the way to do it is for the bee-keepers of the United States
to take an interest in the circulation of our bee-papers. Mr.
York, Mr. Root and Mr. Hutchinson will all be gone soon,
their hair will soon be as grey as mine — mine is not very
grey yet, but I am getting old, and I know it — and Dr.
Miller there, and somebody rnust come into their places, and
this industry is to be perpetuated and the bee-papers are
what perpetuate it, and I say we ought to take more interest
in it than we do, as individuals and bodies.

Dr. Miller — I must say a word in defence after such a
lambasting as that. I very much doubt whether there is a
larger percentage of poultry men take the poultry papers
than the percentage of bee-men that take bee-papers. Did
you tell us how many poultry subscribers there are and how
many poultry keepers? Please remember this, that there are
more people that keep hens than keep bees, very many more;
there are more than five times as many.

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 125

Mr. Abbott — I am talking of the poultry fancier.

Dr. Miller — If you count the poultry fanciers and the
bee-fanciers. I think they will rate very fairly. I think the
bee- fanciers take just as many papers as the poultry fanciers
take poultry papers. But you must remember that the sub-
scription list of these papers is not made up of fanciers so
much as of those who keep a few hens or a few bees. My
wife keeps hens and several other wives keep hens, and they
don't keep bees at all. When you take the number, I do
believe Mr. Abbott will find out he is a little hard on us.
We are keeping up to the mark just as well as the chicken
people are. The thing in a nutshell is, there are not so
many bee-keepers as there are of the others, and I don't
believe we are as "worse" as we might be.

Mr. Whitney — I agree somewhat with Mr. Abbott and
with the Doctor. I think the Doctor's position is about cor-
rect when he makes a comparison between the chicken men
and bee-keepers. But the fact is, we don't take the bee-
papers as we ought to. I don't care how many chicken men
take chicken papers, every mother's son of us ought to take
a bee-paper. There is not a farmer in the country but ought
to take an agricultural paper and a bee-paper and a fruit
journal. They all raise fruit, they all raise poultry, and
nearly all of them ought to keep a few colonies of bees;
that is, keep them right, keep them as they should be kept.
I have tried my best in the last year to increase the sub-
scription list of the different bee-papers ; I have succceeded
in getting four or five individuals to subscribe, and they are
delighted with what they get in the bee-papers. I think if
we would all take that interest in it, that we go to somebody
who is our neighbor — and some clever fellow would just as
soon give a dollar for something he doesn't know anything
about, may be he will learn something about it, and in that
way we have increased the circulation of these different
journals may be one hundred percent. I think we can do it
next year, and if we do that, we will increase the member-
ship of the National Association, too.

Mr. Dadant — I wish to take issue with Mr. Abbott in the
statement that there is a greater percentage of poultry raisers
who take poultry papers than there are bee-keepers who
take bee-papers. I believe it is the other way. I think
you all know everybody keeps poultry, except a ■ few people
in the big cities. Every farmer keeps chickens. We see
the chickens when we pass by the farm-house; and lots of
city people keep poultry. Now, wkat per cent are there of
those people who keep bees? How many are there of the
people who keep poultry who read a poultry paper? Only
here and there. But of those who keep bees the great
majority, who have an interest at all I believe, take a bee-
paper. There are plenty who raise two hundred chickens
a year and who make money out of them who do not take
a poultry paper. But there are very few farmers that we
find who make any money at all out of bees that do not
take a bee-paper. Therefore, I believe, generally, the bee-

126 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

keepers take a journal where the poultry men do not take
a poultry paper.

Mr. Whitney — I know a bee-supply man who has a large
sign out by the side of the railroad advertising bee-keeper's
supplies and honey, and he doesn't take a journal, and I have
talked to him more than a little to get him to subscribe for
some of the journals.

Dr. MilUer — I would like to ask those bee-keepers who
take only one bee-paper to rise. (7 rose.) How many take
only two? (2.) How many take only three? (16.) How
man take only four? (5.) How many take more than four?
(6.) I am very glad to have the opportunity of asking those
questions. I want to follow the advice of Mr. Abbott, and
urge that those who do not take a bee-paper, that did not
rise, to take a bee-paper. lYou will like it; it will do you
good.

Pres. York — I would like to ask Mr. France to say
what he found in Wisconsin, where he had made a pretty
thorough canvass of bee-keepers, as to the proportion of
them that take a bee-paper.

Mr. France — A .few years ago, I don't remember the
year, I was going to make a very thorough report while
inspecting bees over the State. I beheve Wisconsin will
average up to any other State as a honey-producing State;
it will average as well in its proportion of those who are
readers of bee-papers. When I had finished that season, I
am sorry to say I found only one in twenty who was a
reader of the bee-papers. That looks pretty tough for my
own State, but I believe if you take the subscription lists
you will find it will average up with the other States. It is
just the same with the farmers' institute. Wherever the
farmers' institutes were frequently held we found better
farmers; and invariably wherever I find a home that takes
a bee-paper I find a better bee-keeper.

Mr. Abbott — I want to say further, I know scores of
people who have from 10 to 15, 20 to 100 colonies, who do
not take any bee-paper at all. I have a way of finding out
because I am taking subscriptions on the basis of new sub-
scribers only for the American Bee Journal, and you would
be surprised to know the information that comes to me along
that line. People come to me and say, "I want to take
that club offer of yours;" and I say, "Why, you can't take
that; you get the American Bee Journal right along; that
is for new subscribers." They say, "No, I don't. I don't
take it at all." Some of them say they never have taken it;
and some of them say, "I never have heard of it; what kind
of a paper is it?" And they don't all live in Missouri, either.
[Laughter.]

A NATIONAL HONEY EXCHANGE.

"Is there any movement on foot regarding a honey ex-
change or any method whereby the National Association can
market its members' honey?"

Pres. York — There was a movement started in St. Louis

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION, 127

to organize a National Honey Producers' Association, and
there were some subscriptions of stock taken.

Dr. Miller — But not for the National?

The President — It was started in the National conven-
tion.

Dr. Miller — I think you are right that there was a move-
ment started there to get up a honey exchange, but not that
the National was to do anything about it.

Mr. Whitney — From the report which was sent me I
think the Doctor is right. There was an attempt to or-
ganize something inside of the National, or by individuals
who belonged to the National becoming stockholders of the
new corporation if it was formed, for- that purpose.

CASH FOR PROOF OF ADULTERATED COMB HONEY.

"I suggest that this Association offer $500 for two
pounds of comb honey that is proved to be adulterated."

Prof. York — I don't know who suggested that, or where
the $500 is to come from, but the intention no doubt is all
ri^ht. It is proposed that this Association offer $500 for
two pounds of comb honey. I suppose it is meant two
pounds that the bees didn't make. What are you going to
do with it?

Mr. France — I think nearly all here are members of the
National and this was threshed over very thoroughly at St.
Louis. I don't know why it should be brought up again.
We know that manufactured or so called artificial comb
honey has not been made or placed upon the market, and
there is no necessity of agitating that matter here at length.

Mr. Wilcox — I read the proceedings of that convention
at St. Louis, and I think all who have read it understand
if anjihing is to be done it will need to come in a little
different form from this. But I hardly see the necessity or
advantage of trying to do anything. But if we do, we should
need to put it in proper form or else we would create a
wrong impression and say something we didn't intend.

Mr. Whitney — It seems to me it would be better to let
the individual who manufactures that pound of honey take
the A. I. Root Company's $1,000 for it. I understand they
have an offer, and have had it for years, to pay $1,000 to
anybody who produces the proof. If I were going to manu-
facture that pound of honey I would rather go to them.

"What can this Association do to counteract the evil
eflfect of the publication of the manufactured-comb-honey
story in the press of the country? Can we do anything?
If so, what?"

Mr. Dadant — Publish statements to the contrary.

Dr. Miller — I doubt very much the ability of this Asso-
ciation as an association to do anything, but I don't at all
doubt the ability of the individual members to do something
by working through the local press. They can do a great
deal in that direction. I doubt the wisdom of any action
on the part of this Association.

128 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

Mr. Whitney— On that question I have something in-
teresting— to me, at least. I heard of a merchant in this
city who sold a lady a case of honey, and the next day
she sent it back and came in in a day or two after to tell
him she had seat that honey back. She said, "That is manu-
factured honey. It came from " South Water street ; it was
made by machinery, and I never bought any such honey as
that." He told her that she was mistaken, and convinced
her it was not manufactured; that it was put in by the bees.
She finally consented to let him send the honey back to her
house. But there are plenty of people who really think that
there is plenty of manufactured comb honey on the market.
I meet them at home; intelligent people on ever3^hing else
but bees and honey; they don't know anything about it.

Mr. Moore — Some of your may think we are threshing
this thing out at unnecessary length. My specialty has
always been honey for private families. Some of us visit
the people who eat our honey on their tables, and you will
all admit that they are not quite the biggest chumps on
earth that are running the city of Chicago, large and small,
rich and poor; and I want to tell you, from all those people,
of all conditions in life, comes this question, "Is comb honey
really manufactured?" And they ask me as an expert to
answer it. "Is most of the honey on the market manu-
factured?" This comes to me in one hundred and . one
different ways. I have one answer. Of course I say that
all comb honey is pure honey. Some of you perhaps do not
come in touch with these folks in the way I do, and you
think it is a question that we are putting too much stress
upon, but every one of you ought to carry the idea through
your lives, that whenever you can you want to strike a blow
in favor of the right. Dr. Emma Walker, in the Ladies'
Home Journal, put forth a statement in which she said that
one of the largest uses of paraffin was to make manufactured
comb honey. Then and tiiereupon I wrote to her contra-
dicting it, and I wrote to the editor saying that it was abso-
lutely false, and it was wrong for any one in her position
to put forth a statement that would injure a large number
of people. Mr. York also wrote to the editor a personal
letter. We both got answ«rs. I suppose that that depart-
ment was flooded with letters from all over the country.
We looked with a great deal of interest to see what would
be done. Perhaps two months afterwards came the answer,
an article in which she summed the thing up and said this
and that authority said it was so; and that the Encyclopaedia
Britannica said that there was manufactured comb honey,
and gave four or five different authorities stating that comb
honey was manufactured and paraffin was largely used. But
she summed it up at the bottom by saying that "after talk-
ing with practical bee-keepers and considering the matter in
all its points we have decided that there is no such thing,
and never has been, as manufactured comb honey." It was
the result of our influence. Now, all of you go through life
and remember to use your influence wherever you see the

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 129

opportunity. Wherever you see in the newspaper an article
with this falsehood, go to the newspaper, or write, and have
it contradicted, if possible, and do not let a single instance
go by of contradicting this infamous lie that has been passed
around from one end of the world to another. That is the
way in which this Association, and we as individuals, can do
good; whenever we see a head, hit it!

Mr. Becker — It is a fact that there are many people who
believe that there is adulteration both in comb and extracted
honey. I sell honey right here in Chicago. I have bought
it from Mr. York and from Mr. Dadant. I ship honey to
Chicago. They wouldn't under any consideration buy the
honey here in Chicago and believe that it actually was pure
honey. They have told me so, time and again. I have tested
the honey to-day that I shipped here ten years ago, and which
has been kept in an open jar. I told them that the honey
was too strong. They thought it was delicious. It was pure
honey. A few years ago we brought in honey and I told
some of the parties here that I would guarantee they would
get pure honey here in Chicago, and I told them where to
get it. They got some of it. They said, "Oh, that was not
pure honey; that was not honey like you sent me." But it
was pure. We all know that there is no adulteration in comb
honey, but when it comes to extracted honey of course there
is sometimes adulteration. There are so many varieties of
honey; there is bass wood, white clover, alfalfa, Spanish-
needle, heartsease, and other varieties of honey, and one
does not taste or look like the other, especially sweet clover
and basswood. You give them some of your honey and they
have been used to white clover or alfalfa, and they just de-
clare up and down, and you cannot make them believe that
it is not adulterated honey. I have sold honey in Springfield
for the last 20 years, and one traveler there accused me
two weeks ago of having a monopoly because he couldn't
sell any. I told him I was glad that I had the monopoly,
if I had it. But the only way I got that monopoly was by
selling them an article that I stood behind. I said, "If this
honey isn't pure, and if anybody does not like it, don't argue
with them, but tell them to bring it back and give them their
money back ; it is my honey and I will take it off your hands."
And to-day should I go to Springfield I am asked no ques-
tions as to its purity. I simply ask, "Do you need any
honey?" And they say, "Yes, two, three or four dozen, and
as high as a gross." I never buy on the Chicago market.
I don't send any honey here. I am right the other way;
I take it from Chicago and sell it at other places; and I
sell it at home, and I will stand behind my honey, and
never sell anything but what I know is pure, genuine honey.
If you all do the same thing I think you will have no trouble
in selling your honey.

Mr. Dadant — I wish to insist on the necessity of our
explaining the comb-honey story wherever we can. We must
do it. I have a better opportunity perhaps than any one
else of finding out what the general public thinks of the

130 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

comb-honey story. When I travel I come across business
men and we get into conversation. The first thing we ask
one another is, "What is your business?" I say, "I have a
little factory out here in the country." "What do you make?"
"I make comb foundation." "What is that?" "Did you ever
hear about comb honey being manufactured?" "Oh yes."
"Well, there isn't any such thing. I make the nearest to
comb that can be done." "Is that so?" Then comes the
explanation. If I have a sample I show him and he is
absolutely convinced there is no comb honey manufactured.
But when I first meet him, if knows anything about it he
knows comb honey is manufactured and sold ! I find very
few people that do not believe it until it is explained to them.
When I tell them, I know they believe me because there is
no reason for me to tell them a story and they understand
how the story was gotten up. But this extends to you ; it
is absolutely necessary to make this matter known widely
because there are millions of people who have read that story
and believe it simply because they have never been told
better.

Mr. Smith — I want to say I have convinced some parties
by exhibiting some of the thin foundation and explaining
why it was used and how it was used, and that was all
there was to it. It dawned on their minds finally that I
was right. I think the more we do that, and the more we
can explain this thing and talk it the better, because it is
the fact, and it is easily demonstrated when we have the
evidence, that is, the foundation, and show the people that
that is all there is to it. I am like Mr. Becker, I believe
in every bee-keeper standing by his honey.

Pres. York — Before Mr. Smith spoke I was wondering
whether it would. not be a good idea for every bee-keeper
to carry a little piece of comb foundation; and I am going to
suggest to the comb manufacturers that they get up a little
pocket-holder with a piece of comb in it, and give it to
all the bee-keepers. I think it would be a good advertise-
ment for them.

Mr. Abbott — If these comb-foundatioti men would find
out when the Traveling Men's Association meets, and send
some of this comb foundation there they would do more
towards counteracting this than anything I know of. The
traveling men who travel for wholesale houses do more to
keep this story alive than any class of men in existence. I
never met a traveling man' in my life, who was not a bee-
keeper, that did not think that comb honey could be manu-
factured. He wouldn't believe it at all when I came to talk
to him. Every once in a while I meet one who wants to
bet money on it. I met one in the streets of St. Louis one
day, and he said when I told him it was not manufactured,
"You are crazy. I know right where the man is ; he is down
the street here not more than four blocks away, and he was
talking to a man that knew well." I put my hand on the
man's shoulder, and said, "Am I responsible for $500?" He
said, "I think you are." I said, "My dear sir, come on down

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 131

the street with me and I will give you $500 in clean cash
if you show me that man." He stopped and looked at me.
He said, "I am awfully busy." I said, "Can you make $500
in a day, or an hour? Come on with me. I want you either
to stop this story or else go and show the goods." He said,
I didn't see it, but I saw a fellow that said he saw it."
[Laughter.] That is all there was to it; but they keep send-
ing it around.

Mr. Becker — The general public confuse foundation with
honey-comb. They are all well aware that there are fac-
tories that manufacture comb foundation, but they call it
"honey-comb." In that way the general public get the wrong
idea, and they think it is the genuine honey-comb. Instead
of that the word "foundation" should be used, and, as has
been suggested, they should be shown a sample so that they
understand just what it is. But it is commonly known as
honey-comb, and that is the reasoin I believe the general
public has that impression.

Mr. Pease— A few months ago I placed some cases of
honey with a firm here in Chicago. At the time I did this
one of the gentlemen said, "I want you to tell me something
that I can tell the enquiring public about this artificial honey-
comb story." I said, "I will not take time to do it now,
but I will come in tomorrow and explain that to you." The
next day I went down and took with me a section with a
full sheet of foundation that was partially drawn out — drawn
out more at the top than at the bottom; I used the extra-
thin foundation and the bottom had not been drawn out at
all. I went on to explain to him the process by which this
foundation was used, and how it was made, and that that
was the extent of this artificial honey-comb. I left a sec-
tion containing this partly-drawn foundation with him. Sev-
eral weeks after that I went into the store and asked him
about his honey, and spoke of this sheet of foundation that
I had left with him ; and he said he had experienced more
satisfaction in using that to explain to the public exactly
what comb foundation was, and what artificial honey-comb
was, than anything else he had ever seen. I simply offer this
as a suggestion. I believe whenever you place a consign-
ment of honey with a firm, especially a retail firm, if you
will take the pains to place with them a sample of foundation
or a section containing the foundation, or partly drawn foun-
dation, you will take a long step in educating the public as
to what this artificial honey-comb is.

Mr. Wheeler — I always seem to have to differ from the
public. I differ a little on this question of foundation, and
I have had considerable experience in selling honey. I have
explained foundation to the public, and I have had them
go to their friends the next day and tell them, "Why, Wheeler
had some manufactured honey there ;" and they confused the
foundation with the comb, time and again. I have had that
happen. They say, "He buys comb and puts it into the
hives." One or two years I went to the County Fair and
explained foundation to the folks. I had tliat thrown back

132 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

at me so many times that I made up my mind I never would
speak of foundation at all unless people asked me if I used it.
Of course I don't deny using it. But this explaining to the
public that you put in a sheet of beeswax — they can't tell
whether there is a "sell" there or not, and the trouble is
you know how a story goes ; they will repeat the thing to
their friends, and put an addition to it, and the first thing
you know it will come around that you really furnish the
bees with comb.

Dr. Miller — "A little learning is a dangerous thing."
The trouble in Mr. Wheeler's case is that he doesn't go on
and educate them far enough, and keep right after them, and
they will come finally to know enough. He gives them just
a little sight of that, and they put a whole lot more to it.
He should follow that up and show them it is not so. Get
after them after they have heard the wrong thing. I do
believe enlightenment on the subject will finally bring the
public to the right place. I am just half German blood in
me and sometimes it gets me into trouble. Mr. York sug-
gested a thing that I had in mind, and by some sort of
telepathy he got hold of it and told you to carry around
foundation. That was a thing I had been thinking of be-
fore, and if he had just waited a little while I would have
said that. I believe there is wisdom in it. I have thought
after this I will try to have a piece of foundation in my
pocket. I don't doubt at all that these foundation makers
will approve of that, for we will "draw out" a good deal
of foundation in that way !

Mr. Whitney — I would like to make another suggestion
in regard to advertising this matter. If we would all write
a short article on this subject to our local editor; there is
no individual here but can do that in his own locality and
publish the facts in regard to this foundation business, this
comb-honey business, and this extracted-honey adulteration.
By doing that we will do a great deal more than we can do
in any other way personally. The editor of our paper at
home has been importuning me to write a series of short
articles for his paper, and I have partly promised to do it
on that very subject, and touching upon bee-keeping generally
— all the little things and facts about it. I think if we will
all do that in our local papers we will do more to correct
this impression that has gone abroad than we can do in any
other way, and do it easily; too.

Mr. Meredith — Some three hundred car-loads of excur-
sionists visited our Park the past season where I had an
exhibit of bees, extracted wax, a press, and utensils used for
the production of honey. Among those were comb founda-
tion partly drawn out, finished and capped, and in almost
every manner, and it was very interesting to tlie people as
they had never seen the way extracted and comb honey was
produced, in looking over and seeing how the foundation had
been extended. And also I had a number of pieces of foun-
dation coiled up in the shape of wax, and I used them for
the purpose of selling, selling it for so much, taking an or-

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 133

dinary piece of foundation and winding it around a rod and
selling that to them for beeswax. The biggest part of the
people that looked over my exhibit could see what was con-
sidered artificial comb was practically pure wax drawn out
by the bees, and I think it had a big influence in the enlight-
enment of people in regard to this artificial comb.

Mr. Dadant — A gentleman over here spoke a while ago.
He thought it was not advisable to let people know that there
is foundation in combs. The question is only whether we
shall allow the people to keep on believing a lie or tell them
the plain truth. We do put foundation in our honey. In fact
we cannot get straight sections without putting foundation
in it. if we explain that we must explain to them we put
foundation in the bottom. It is nothing to be ashamed of.
Why not tell them that rather than allow them to believe a
lie, for fear of telling them that honey-comb is manufactured
and sealed over? I have never seen a lady, delicate as she
may be, that was not willing to take a piece of that founda-
tion and chew it. If they are willing to do that they are
willing to eat the honey that is made on that foundation.

Mr. Horstmann — I think each bee-keeper is responsible
• for his own neighborhood. I don't agree with Mr. Wheeler.
I believe you should explain to them the use of the founda-
tion and why you use it. I will take people right into my
bee-house and show them sections before they are bent and
put together; show them the strips of foundation before they
are put in; show them the machine I use for putting the
foundation in, and for fastening it; show them how I fix up
the supers ; shows them how I put it on the hives ; show
them the bees working, and then guarantee to everybody that
my honey will be absolutely pure. If they find any adultera-
tion I will give them $100, and also pay for the analysis. I want
people to be fully satisfied when they buy honey from me
that they are getting it pure. I have never had to take any
honey to a wholesale house ; I have always been able to sell
it at home.

Mr. Wheeler — I am afraid I was misunderstood. I have
been selling honey a good many years. I aim to sell as much
honey with as little work as possible. It would be a pretty
hard job for me to explain to every customer who buys a
pound of honey all about it, but I tell you one thing that
proved to me very strongly that the idea of foundation went
against the people? I have used for ten years a split section
that showed the foundation on four sides. I put in four sections
in a row, put sheets of foundation through the middle, the
sheet of foundation running the full length of the section,
and when I got ready to case up those sections I pulled the
sections out and scraped the foundation off and went ahead
and cased it up. A great many objected to that foundation.
AH they saw was the foundation sticking out. The grocery
men say, "I wish you would let me have sections that are not
split; my customers object to those split sections." The con-
sequence was I quit for the present using them. It is a very
convenient section the best kind of section in the world to

lS4 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

get filled out, but I had to cater to the trade and I did it
just for that reason, no other, simply because people saw
that foundation and they said, "Well, that looks as if it was
manufactured; I am a little afraid of it."

Mr. Kimniey — I would like to ask some of these prac-
tical men when they speak of foundation drawn out what pro-
portion of foundation is used in honey? I speak now of sec-
tion honey; such as is produced by Dr. Miller's bees.

Dr. Miller — 'That will depend largely on the foundation
itself.

Mr. Kimmey — Take the thin surplus foundation?

Dr. Milller — I should say that the thin foundation is
drawn out perhaps an eighth of an inch.

Mr. Kimmey — So that you would not dare recommend
your product as being the work of the bees without any
artificial assistance.

Dr. Miller — Certainly not if there is foundation in it.

Mr. Kimmey — The question is whether we are to tell the
truth about it or try to deceive them ; I believe the truth
is the best.

Dr. Miller — Certainly. I don't think any reasonable per-
son would object to that, and I don't think an unreasonable
person will object to that after you have explained it to him
as much as he would without the explanation.

Mr. Kimmey — I will confess I was one of those persons
for two years who firmly believed honey was manufactured —
comb honey, everything by machinery. I heard it so often.
I knew so many things that I firmly believed the comb honey
capping and everything was manufactured. I have found out
differently since, but I have found out also that the founda-
tion is manufactured. I can't say it is to the detriment of
anybody, and I don't believe in trying to deceive or fool any-
body.

Mr. Bacon — When you come right down to it, foundation
is not manufactured ; it is pure beeswax and is merely pressed
out; it is originally made by the bees.

Mr. Kimmey — If you can manufacture the full comb and
fill it with the pure article, that is absolutely pure; it is just
as good as though made by your bees.

Mr. Meredith — I would like to have Mr. Dadant and Mr.
Root give their opinion of how -much of the medium or light
brood can be drawn out in the shape of foundation.

Mr. Dadant — If you give foundation and the bees are not
too much in a hurry they will draw it nearly entirely into
comb. There is a great difference in the result between when
the bees are in a hurry and when they are not. If they are
in a hurry and they have plenty of wax they will add to the
foundation without drawing it much. They will always work
the foundation over. They have changed the shape of it;
they have changed it to suit themselves. They always thin it
a little if they have plenty. I suppose you understand that
clearly. Of course it is according to the grades of foundation,
you have thicker or thinner combs both into the midrib and
also in the wall. The first is always the best for comb honey.

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 135

What we call extra-thin we have always considered the best
for starters or sheets in the supers. I think very little of
that will go into the cell-wall. It will nearly all remain in
the midrib because it is so very thin. " Therefore, I want

. to advise people to use the very thinnest for their sections.
But when you come to medium and light brood, it is out of
the question to furnish that to people for consumption. You
will have a heavy midrib in either case. I am afraid too
many people use that and create a sentiment against the
foundation. But better have a sentiment against the founda-
tion, which we must all know and acknowledge to be there,
than to let them believe that your honey is manufactured
comb honey, and sealed over with a hot iron, as so many
ibelieve. The great trouble is they don't look and don't
rely on their palate. The car-loads of honey that come in
from the West are largely responsible for that. It is very
nice and white, and it looks as if it had never been on a
hive, to anybody who does not know. But anybody who
will look at the honey, and anybody who can be told that no
two sections are alike, will readily understand that it cannot

, be manufactured. Because, if we were to manufacture them
we could not make every comb different from every other
comb.

Pres. York — It has been suggested we write for our local
papers. I want to say that a few weeks ago my attention
was called to a statement about manufactured comb honey
in one of the papers that has perhaps several hundred thou-
sand readers. I wrote the editor asking him to make the
correction, and he replied that he believed comb honey was
manufactured, but if he found otherwise he would correct it.
A few weeks later I received another letter from him saying
he had discovered it was not true, and he would correct it.
I wrote him at once and thanked him for his intention to
make the correction. I also said if he wished I would write
him an article, and got a letter in a few days saying he
would be glad to have me write an article of eight hundred
or a thousand words, and I have just written the article. It
may have been a little presumption on my part to offer that,
but I think it was all right, and I think the rest of us
can do the same thing. Whenever you see anything about
honey that is wrong, ask for the correction of it, and offer
to write an article.

EVENING SESSION.

At 7 :30 o'clock p. m. Pres. York called the convention
to order and stated that before proceeding with the business
they would be favored with some music and a couple of
readings.

Master Ferdinand Moore and Miss Esther Wheeler, fa-
vored the convention with instrumental solos; Mrs. Dittmer
pleased them with a reading entitled, "A Lullaby," while

136 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

Dr. Miller convulsed the audience by a reading showing how
a certan German was cured of rheumatism by the bee-stings.

ADVERTISING HONEY AS A HEALTH FOOD.

'"What can this Association do in the line of advertising
that will show the value of honey as a health food in the
newspaper press?"

Dr. Miller — I think perhaps the Association will do
about as much as it can be expected to do in that direction
by the publication of this report, in getting in the things
that were said here to-day and encouraging the publication
of items in the local press.

'v BREAKING DOWN PRICES OF HONEY.

"What can this Association do along the lines of pre-
venting bee-keepers themselves from breaking down the
prices of honey early in the marketing season?"

Mr. Wilcox — That is the most important question we
have to consider ; at least it has been with me all my life.
We have never found a solution, and I don't believe we
ever will. I believe that the best advice we ever had on
that subject was that given by our late friend, Thomas G.
Newman, when he advised us to work the home market, to
see it was always supplied with all the honey it could take.
The aim should be to increase the consumption. It is quite
certain that there is not as much honey consumed as there
can be, and should be, and would be if it were propeily
presented to all people. It involves an extensive system of
advertising, and that has been told over and over again by
Mr. Abbott and others, and yourself, Mr. President, and I
believe that it is in the right direction. I can't think of
anything better to get the world to know it is good, and
use it. I propose to try a little scheme of m^ own of honey
and buckwheat cakes, simply because they are two com-
modities in which I feel interested. I believe the two will
work well together, and the consumption of one will help
the consumption of the other, for anything that will tend
to increase the consumption of one will help the other.

Pres. York — I think the price of honey is lowered by
some bee-keepers not knowing what honey is worth starting
out with the price too low.

Mr. Wilcox — The remedy for that, so far as my own
locality is concerned, has been by some one who does know
the value of honey, or can learn it, in the seasofi buying
up all the cheaper lots and putting them upon the market
at the proper price.

Mr. Whitney — It seems to me that the way to furnish
a good market for honey is to produce the very best article
you can, and make people believe it. I have known honey
to be sold at 15, 16, 18 and 20 cents a section right in a
community where much honey was selling for 10 cents,
simply because they knew that the honey they were paying

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 137

the higher price for was all right. I think every bee-keeper
ought to do the very best he can, not be slipshod, not have
dirty-looking sections, not have one full of holes all around,
or perhaps not filled at the bottom of the section at all.
Produce the best article you can, and make people believe
it is all right, and set your own price.

Dr. Miller: — I suppose that nearly all here have been
taught to believe by the newspapers that they need a biscuit.
Pick up any newspaper and "Uneeda biscuit" will stare you
in the face. Thousands and thousands of dollars are evi-
dently spent in advertising that one style of biscuit. Those
men are not spending money for fun; they are not wasting
money, either ; they are level-headed men, with a standard
article that needs money spent in advertising it. Is there
any question that a proper amount of advertising of honey
would bring in returns. Is Mr. France here? I was just
wondering whether he would agree with my statement or not.
Yes, there he is. Mr. France, I want to see if you will agree
with me. If the money that has been spent by the National
Association helping to settle quarrels were spent in adver-
, tising honey in the public press, somewhat in the same way
that "Uneeda Biscuit" is being advertised, I believe it would
do more good, just a little more, at least, towards raising the
standard of honey all over the country. Now if you don't
believe that, Mr. France, say so.

Mr. France — I endorse it.

Dr. Miller — Good for you. I believe that is a point in
the right direction. You ask what can this Association do?
If this Association could get enough money into its treasury
to help in that same direction that would be a good thing.
For at least this Association is helping to make the National
what it ought to be, and I am speaking for one only when
I say that I believe there is a great work for the National
before it to advertise honey, to put a lot of money in. It
will take a lot of money. But if the thousands upon thou-
sands of bee-keepers in the country could be got into it there
would be money enough to do some good. I know very well
some of you will say it will take so much money you need
not try it at all. If you can suggest something better I will
take that back.

Mr. Moore — There is a thought that occurs to me, dif-
ferent from anything that has been expressed by anybody
else. I was one of those who went to the Illinois Legislature
and helped them to get a law two years ago for bee-keepers
— and an appropriation. In the midst of other things this im-
pressed itself upon my mind : The faith and confidence that
the Legislature and the public at large have in associations.
There is so much crookedness in the world at large that
people are skeptical about anything they don't know anything
about. For instance, take this question of manufactured
comb honey: The public at large do not know any more
about comb honey or foundation than a week-old baby does
about arithmetic or the dictionary, until they are taught by
the specialist, and they decide the worst possible thing out

138 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

of their absolute ignorance on the subject. But they look
upon our associations, the bee-associations, the dairymen's as-
sociations, the fruit men's associations, and anything com-
ing from those associations, and put forth in a formal manner,
as the act of those associations, and give full credence.
Witness the Dairymen's Association got through the law
establishing a pure food commission. I think I am correct
in saying there would be no such law on the statute book to-
dav unless the dairymen had talked it and worked for it.
Another thing, three or four associations were given appro-
priations 'by the Legislature two years ago. They give the
Illinois State Bee-Keeper's Association $2,000. They did
that because the association asked for it, and they took at
one hundred percent all the statements made by the asso-
ciation. Now, let us, along with the National, advertise in
such papers as seems best, "Buy your honey of members of
the National Bee Keepers' Association," or other associa-
tions, according to your judgment, and continue that year
after year, not at large perhaps, but somewhere every month
in the year for five years. After a while everybody who
reads the English language will know that there is honey
sold that is guaranteed by the name of the National Bee
Keepers' Association, and people will come to inquire for
honey under the brand and guarantee of the bee-keepers'
association. That has been done for ten years now in Ver-
mont. The Vermont Maple Sugar Makers' Association issues
a very fine report every year, and I have had the pleasure
of reading two or three of them, and one of their methods
was to go to the Legislature and get as stringent a law as
they could. Then they have adopted a brand which is issued
to all members of the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers' Asso-
ciation. It is a general brand which is copyrighted or trade-
marked, which ever it is, and there is a blank for each mem-
ber to put in his own individual name and address, and there is
a penalty against any one using this except authorized parties.
It seems to me that is perfectly feasible, when you take into
consideration the public minds, and advertising would be a
way to spend some of our money.

Mr. Becker — Those bee-keepers that are taking the bee-
papers and are paying annual fees here, claim to get a fair
price for their honey. Now, suppose we advertise, you have a
certain element to contend with that almost give their honey
away. You go through the country, and even in my section
of country, I can cite you 25 or 35 that have from 5 to 50
colonies of bees, and one of our own members of the Illinois'
Bee-Keepers' Association a few years ago sold her honey at
10 cents a pound, as fine white clover honey as ever was
put on the market. The storekeepers themselves said, ''We
would just as soon give her 12^ cents as 10 cents." The past
summer I knew of one case where a man sold 1,000 pounds
of honey at 8 cents a pound — ^fine white clover honey. I was
after the honey myself, but happened to be just one day too
late, and he wouldn't sell any quantity, but he wanted to sell
the entire lot at 8 cents a pound. Last year I bought 1,000

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 139

pounds of honey at 9 cents a pound in the same locality.
I could have bought 5,000 pounds more at 8 cents. What
are you going to do with those that know the price, and
hold the better honey at simply a fair price? The past
summer, when I wanted to sell my honey, I had to run
up against honey sold at 12^ cents a pound and I bought
12 cases myself and gave 135^ for it to the storekeeper.
The storekeepers are just about as smart as we are. You
come into the city with a thousand pounds of honey on j'Our
wagon and you want to sell it. You bring it to a store and
they say, "Well, we will give you so much money for it."
If you are a stranger in that city you probably can drive all
over it and you can't get any more money for it, and you
blight as well have taken the first bid in order to get rid
of your honey. These grocery keepers have an organization
that is called the Retail Grocery Association. When a fellow
comes in, the first man he strikes makes an offer. If you
could stay around you would probably see him go to his
telephone and watch the honey man, to see which direction
he is going, and then telephone to his next friend, "There
,is a man in town with so much honey; I made an offer of
so much money;" that is when there is an abundance of
honey. If the article is scarce then they buy it. But you
will always have to contend with the bee-keepers who do not
know the prices and do not care. They bring their honey in-
to market early, and you men that have honey and are try-
ing to make a living have to hold on until that honey is
out of the way, and is consumed, before you get better prices.
You have to contend with these parties that do not take a
bee-paper, and, don't know the price of honey nor how much
honey there is in the country. They sell it for whatever they
can get. They go to the store and take it out in other
commodities, while you want to get the cash for it ; and they
always sell it for less money than we can.

The balance of the evening session was in the hands of
Ernest R. Root, who delivered a very interesting lecture,
copiously illustrated with stereopticon views, also with mov-
ing pictures.

SECOND DAY— Morning Session.

December 1, 1904.

At 9 :50 a. m. Pres. York called the convention to order
and requested Dr. Miller to invoke the divine blessing.

Dr. Miller — Our Father, we thank Thee for another
night's rest. Prepare us for the work of the day. We pray
Thee that the same kind feelings, and the same kind spirit,
may prevail here to-day as did on the past day. We thank
Thee for the acquaintances of the other bee-keepers, and that
we may meet together in a kindly spirit and discuss the
things in which we are mutually interested. We pray. Oh
God, for Thy blessing upon us. Wilt Thou care for the dear
ones at our respective homes. May we feel that they are safe

140 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

under Thy care. We pray that Thy blessing may be upon us
as bee-keepers, and we learn something to-day. May we go
from here better men and women; better fitted to do the
work that our Heavenly Father has for us to do here upon
the earth. Bless the President and the other officers. May
the President have just the wisdom he ought to have to
direct aright the proceedings of this convention. We pray
that Thou wilt bless all the members. Lead us in all we do.
Lead us, we pray Thee, through life; lead us up to the time
when we shall leave all the things of this world, and may
we unitedly come up to enjoy the life beyond through all
eternity. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen.

REPORT OF THE INSPECTOR OF APIARIES.

We will call upon Mr. Smith, the State Inspector of Illi-
nois, to open this subject, and tell us about his work.

Mr. Smith — Really, I do not believe that I can add to
what has already been so often told the bee-keepers by Mr.
France, and by Mr. Moore here in his remarks yesterday.
However, I will give an outline of what I have done the past
year. The way I do my work is by going to places from
which I get invitations to come. I don't go out and hunt
up foul brood, only in the neighborhood where I find foul
brood; we as a rule go around to the adjoining neighbors
that have bees and inspect them. During the last season I
visited thirty-two counties in this State, just about one-third
of the counties, probably — it would be a good one-third with
Mr. Moore's work in Cook County. I find that the bee-
keepers are very anxious to know all about foul brood, and
how to treat it, and they are very apt to learn also. They are
very anxious to inform other bee-keepers how to treat it.
Of course there is only one way that I treat foul brood and
that is to destroy the comb. I don't try formaldehyde or any
otha'r disinfectant; T remove the bees and destroy the
comb — that is, the brood-combs. I cleanse the hives
out and re-hive the j bees again on foundation or empty
frames. I thirik^hat the work is in fair progress,
and another year or two will show that the work
that has been commenced will bear good fruit. The diseased
locations are found mostly in the north part of the State
and along the Mississippi River in the north and south parts
of the State, also along the Indiana line. I found foul brood
in only one county in the central part of the State. Of
course there may be foul brood in every county in the State
so far as I know, but I think the bee-keepers, as a rule, are
reading up, and that is one way we ought to work — through
the press, and the mail, and educate the bee-keepers so that
they can take care of their own bees. The bee-keepers as a
rule, are very anxious to have the Inspector come, and they
are very pleasant people to be with. In fact, I believe that
the bee-keepers are intelligent and progressive, and are very
friendly. There doesn't seem to be any jealousy existing
among them, that one is afraid that his neighbor will produce

STATi: nF.E-KF.F.l'KRS ASSflCT ATTOV.

Ill

more- lioney llian lu" (l<irs. nr tliat liis Ih'cs will do hctlcr than
his lU'if^liljDrs', hiu ilu'v srcni lo he anxious lo wmk- Ih-
i^ctluT. I think thai is a \cry t;<iu(l idca.aKn. Xow if lliiTc arc
an_v ((uestions that any of tin- nu-nihrrs \vi-^h tn a-^k i will
he i^lad to tell tlu'in ansthmt; tlu'y want to k-iiow. that ihcy
do not know.

Dr. Aiilk-r — ^'on say that you destroy the conih and ))ut
the hers upon foundation or eniiity franu-s. j^ that all; I )o
\(in let them vta\ ?

Dk. C. C. Mjij.ek.

Mr. Smith — Xo, in about two weeks or ten days r(,:no\e
them and i)ut them on full sheet-- of foundation: after tlu'y
ha\e e.xhausted the honey they carried with tlKUi from in-
fected colonies.

Dr. Miller — 1-n't two weeks longer than ha^ been the
custom ?

Mr. Smith — That is loni>' enou.uh. Some 1 have given as
short a lime as fcnu" or five days, hut 1 think the best i)lan is

yi'

y-r^-r-'r^i^W'

142 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

to be sure that the honey is all exhausted ; and if it is in
a time when there is no honey-flow the bees want to be fed.

Mr. Kimmey — How about the young that have been
started in two weeks, or would they start?

Mr. Smith — You cut that comb out and melt it up into
wax.

Mr. Kimmey — Suppose that the disease is carried by the
honey that the bees have at the time they make the first
change, won't the disease go on with the next brood?

Mr. Smith — You will find very little brood in the new
comb. Of course it would be in the very young larval stage.
The disease never attacks the young bees until they get in
the state called the- grub state. After the bees become in
the nymph state the disease never attacks them. I have
never found any that were killed after taking the form of
the nymph, with legs and wings.

Mr. Kimmey — ^Before that time w.on't the bees that have
become infected with the honey carry that infection to the
brood that is started in two weeks?

Mr. Smith — I think not. I don't think that the disease
can be developed in two weeks. At least I have never found
any disease. I have had some parties that didn't change their
bees back into the second frames until they had capped brood,
and I found no disease there.

Mr. Kimmey — Won't it then be better to put them on
empty frames the first time?

Mr. Smith — I think it would, because it has a tendency
for them to exhaust their honey in building new comb.

Mr. Kimmey — And afterwards destroy them and put them
on full foundation.

Mr. Smith — Put them on full foundation the second
change.

Pres. York — I would like to ask in how many apiaries
Mr. Smith found disease, and what percent he visited ?
Mr. Smith — The percent I visited was probably 90.
Pres. York — Do you know how many apiaries you
visited ?

Mr. Smith — I have a record of that, but I didn't bring
it with me.

Pres. York — How many colonies did you examine?
Mr. Smith— Over 2,000.

Mr. Swift — Is the disease exterminated by melting the
wax? Does heat destroy it?.

Mr. Smith — Yes. Mr. Dadant can tell that. He gets
thousands of pounds ©f wax sent in, extracted from diseased
colonies, and he has never had any complaint against it.

Mr. Pease — Will you give us a plan by which the per-
son who never saw foul brood will recognize it?

Mr. Smith — Did you ever smell a carpenter's glue-pot?
It puts me in mind of the young man who went to the medical
college. When he returned home they wanted to know all
about it. He says, "Now I will tell you, If you had seen
what I have seen, and felt what I have felt, and smelt what
I have smelt, you would know all about it." [Laughter.] If

STATE BEE-KEEPERS* ASSOCIATION. 143

you smell that foul brood once you will never forget it It
smells as nearly like a carpenter's glue-pot as anything
you can get.

Mr. Wilcox — Don't you find foul brood sometimes with-
out smell?

Mr. Smith — Where it is not fully developed all over the
hive and it is just the first inoculation, you may sometimes
find a comb of beautifully sealed brood and just three or four
cells that are affected, but it doesn't take long for it to spread.

Mr. Wheeler — I would like to go bade a little bit. In
regard to this treatment that you speak of, the bees are first
shaken out at the beginning of the honey-flow, or "shook
-out," and they are put on empty frames. Our bees gathered
the whole year's crop in two weeks' time. Now, there is a
very tender point right there, whether you leave those bees
in the hive two weeks and then take them off those combs
they have built in those two weeks and melt those combs up.
If it is not necessary to do that it would be a great loss of
money to the bee-keeper. If two days or 48 hours would do,
that would be a great deal better than two weeks.

Mr. Smith — Two days or 48 hours would not suffice — four
• days at least. I wouldn't make the change under that time.
While it is a fact that they do not always carry the disease
with them — I have known swarms to come out of the in-
fected hives, and I have hived them on foundation and they
didn't carry the disease with them at all. It seems they
exhaust the honey before the young brood gets large enough
to take the disease; especially if it is a second swarm and
the young queen doesn't get to laying for a few days, the
brood is later than the laying queen would be.

Mr. Wheeler — Some of the money that is used ought to
be used to experiment along that line. It makes a great
difference to us bee-keepers, if we know just how much time
there should be. I have had a little experience, and I have
shaken them out on combs, that is, just one comb with a
little brood in and fresh-laid eggs, and those bees showed no
signs of the disease for a year or two, no more than bees
shaken out on empty frames ; why that was I can't tell. They
were no more affected than bees that were shaken out on
empty combs and given new comb. The object was to save
all the bees possible.

Mr. Smith — In making my trips I cannot go back to every
man's yards in four or five days afterward and change his
bees, I only leave my orders with him. I have gone back on
several occasions where my trip was near there, and found
some of them had not transferred them at all. They got
busy, it was haying time, and the oats had to be hauled in,
and with one thing and another they didn't have time, and
they didn't like to bother with them; they were afraid of
being stung, and they didn't transfer them back at all.

Mr. Hutchinson — In all my experience with foul brood
I have never cut the combs out, as you speak of. I either
shake them on starters or full sheets of foundation, and
I never had another case of foul brood come on. In other

iiw^'^i' ;'a&»^.!i:; r.'ij

144 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

words, I haven't found it necessary to make that second
shake.

Mr. Smith — That is according to the rules that are laid
down by Mr. McEvoy. My experience has been the same
as Mr. Hutchinson's.

Mr. Hutchinson — I wouldn't like to say it was never
necessary, but I say in my experience I have not found it
necessary.

Mr. Smith — I have not found any to develop the second
time, unless it was taken from other infected colonies.

Mr. Kimmey — From your experience with infected brood,
is it your opinion that you would find after the first trans-
fer that that colony would be saved, whatever way it was
treated ?

Mr. Smith — Oh, yes, where it is done in the early part of
the season ; and it depends a good deal on the fall flow ; but a
great many of them have done well.

Mr. Kimmey — Would there be much loss in the first two
weeks ?

Mr. Smith — I believe you can gain by making the change
and putting them on full sheets of foundation because the
bees draw it out and you have a full sheet of workers and
the queen will fill those new combs. They are not clogged
with honey or pollen; and I have had a great many swarm
within four weeks after being transferred.

Mr. Wheeler — I think there would be a great loss there
right along this line. You people ought to be pretty careful
when you go to work. We bee-keepers who are interested
financially, and have all our money in the business, do not
want to have the inspector come along that is careless in
regard to our financial welfare, as well as the bees. Now if it
is not absolutely necessary to allow those bees two weeks'
time before you cut out the combs, we don't want to have to do
it. In regard to this man asking if that colony is of any
value, it certainly is of value. The colonies in the spring
may show a little of that disease, and they want shaking
out and may gather hundreds of pounds of comb honey in
that season. And right there is where you people ought
to be a little careful. We ought to have scientific investiga-
tion; we ought to have some definite knowledge to go by,
and not be haphazard about it, and have a man come along
and say two or three days or two weeks, it doesn't matter.
We must understand what we are doing. It is a matter of
thousands of dollars of importance to us.

Mr. Smith — I said two weeks. I said that is as long a
period as I have known parties to let their bees remain and
change them.; But (about four days is what I Itell them.
Leave those in till they have exhausted the honey, about
four days, and then change them back onto other frames or
foundation.

Mr. Wilcox — Wouldn't it be better to put them on empty
frames than foundation?

Mr. Smith — I do, as a rule, but a great many men have

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 145

starters of foundation in their frames, and they don't want to
take the starters out.

Mr. Whitney — You said you found foul brood in this
region along the west part of the State, and along the In-
diana line. Do you conclude from that that foul brood is
prevalent along water courses, or in damp, low locations,
rather than dry?

Mr. Smith — I can't say as to that.

Mr. Whitney — It seems to me that it would be an index
if you found it in that locality and not in the dry ones.

Mr. Smith — I found some counties along the Illinois
River from Peoria south until we get down to Pike county,
where I have not heard of any foul brood. When you get
down to Pike county there seems to be considerable of it.

Mr. Dadant — I think I have an answer to that ques-
tion, whether foul brood will be produced in damp places.
Colorado is about as dry a State as there is, and, I believe
there is more foul brood to the thousand colonies there than
there is in Illinois. California is a very dry State, and they
have considerable foul brood. I think a great many colonies
has more to do with foul brood than temperature or moisture.
, We find when things are congregated in large numbers there
is more chance of disease ; that cities have more disease than
farms. In the production of crops a small vineyard will
have very little of the black rot, but put them together and
it will start somewhere and spread through the vineyard;
and I believe you will find the same thing where large vine-
yards are, and where a number of bees are kept together.
I believe that is the main secret of all the diseases. I would
like to add with regard to foul brood, it is very difficult to
say some things positively in regard to the treatment, as I
believe there are different degrees of foul brood, as there
are different diseases of the throat. Some foul brood is
more malignant than others. Therefore you need more care,
in which case the inspector has to judge as to how much
care he should use. In regard to beeswax, I have never had
foul brood at home. We have bees in the apiary where we
have our comb foundation making. We get beeswax from all
parts of the Union and foreign countries ; our bees have
access to the beeswax before it is melted. We find it diffi-
cult when we take in materials to have very close-fitting
doors, so they are opened most of the time in the summer,
and we have the bees in there a good part of the time; we
have never had any foul brood from it. Therefore I con-
clude it is impossible for beeswax to give foul brood, and
the reason is this : When beeswax is melted it soaks into
whatever it touches. If you dip your finger in hot beeswax
you find it very difficult to work it out, although the mois-
ture in the body would be apt to throw it out. Take one of
those foul-brood germs and soak it in beeswax, and you
deaden it and render it absolutely harmless, and it surely
could not reproduce itself.

Mr. Reynolds — Mr. Smith states that a swarm hived on
foundation with a young queen is not as likely to have foul

146

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

brood as the swarm shaken from a colony would be. Would
it not answer the purpose, instead of keeping those bees so
long, on foundation, to catch the queen and prevent her from
laving, as Mr. Smith says, and close the entrance for four
days and they would consume the honey, no matter what the
horiey-flow would be?

Mr. Smith — That would be a very good idea, I think, to
catch the old queen to keep her from laying. It takes a
brood or an egg to develop, I think it is nine days until it

The late Mrs. I<. Harrison.

comes into a fully-developed pupa — as we call it when it
fills the cell ready to cap; that is the time that foul brood
attacks the larva ; and after the bees cap it, then it goes into
the nymph state. I have never yet found any bees in that stage
of growth or development that were affected with foul brood.
It seems that the tissue of it gets so tough that the spores
do not enter it.

Mr. Moore — One gentleman has raised the question as
to the great damage that is likely to be done to a bee-
keeper by the inspector. I want to ask these people who
have had experience in this matter, what is the probable

< -c^ .'-*> tJ«Hk<^<

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 147

profit from a colony of bees that has foul brood during the
season, supposing they are run for honey? Never mind the
question of getting rid of the disease, but what profit will
you have from those diseased colonies through the season?
And what is the damage to the honey crop by the legitimate
treatment ?

Mr, Root — If I might answer that question, from my own
experience I would say, generally speaking, there would be no
profit. If the colony could hold its own, if I allowed the
disease to run and didn't do anything with it, it would be
not a case of profit, but a case of profit and loss, with par-
ticular emphasis on the word "loss," with the chance of in-
fecting the other colonies.

Mr. Re3molds — ^Some inspectors might be a little more
partial with some than others. There is a point there to
look at.

Mr. Snell — I would like to ask Mr. Smith if he has
found any foul brood in the northwestern part of the State?

Mr. Smith — Yes, sir; in Whiteside county there is a
good deal of it.

Mr. Wilcox — I want to get this clear to my own mind.

* I have never found foul brood in my apiary, and I hope I

never will. I understand from all I have read of it that the

disease is transmitted only through honey. Is that correct?

Mr. Dadant — I believe that is a mistake. Cheshire de-
scribed foul brood as Bacillus alvei, and he found it even in
the body of the queens. Now, of course, I couldn't answer for
what Cheshire said, but he is one of the best authors on
bee-culture. Cheshire was a scientific man, but he was not
practical ; he was not a man who produced honey. He found
germs of foul brood in all parts of the hive. In cases v/here
you cure it so readily I don't believe you have the true,
dangerous foul brood. Therefore I think we should be very
particular. I don't think we can go any too far. Where you
cure it by simply transferring the bees, that is well. I don't
think you should expect to do it in every instance. I be-
lieve there are dangerous cases where .you will have to
transfer the bees and destroy the combs, over and over again.
I don't believe you should stand to the statement that foul
brood is only in honey.

Mr. Root — Prof. Harrison gave a paper on that in the
Canadian report in which he stated he had found the Bacillus
alvei in the ovaries of the queen, as Cheshire has said. But
I wish to say, in opposition to that, I have personally intro-
duced queens, from ithe worst colonies w« have had, into
healthy ones, time and time again, and never saw the disease
carried in that way. I don't mean to say it cannot be done,
though. But the experience so far as I know over the country
has been to the effect that queens may be taken out of these
diseased colonies and put into others, and the disease was
not transmitted. Why, that is so I don't know, but that is
the practical result of it.

Mr. Dadant — Perhaps in this matter the scientific men
are deceived by some circumstances. Now, where a man

148 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

dissects a queen he evidently has to kill her, and those germs
of Bacillus alvei are very difficult to produce. It may be a
colony partly infected. When he examined the queen the
germs have developed since the death of the queen, or in such
a way that if the queen had been alive and well she would
not have had any germs. At the same time, we must be
very cautious and not assert. In this disease it is better to
be over-cautious than insufficiently cautious. Therefore, I be-
lieve we should be very careful. In regard to 'boiling, I
believe it is a mistake to say it will take three hours of
boiling to destroy the germs. At the same time there are

The late Thomas G. Newman,
First Honorary Member Illinois State Association.

men who have found germs after three hours of boiling.
It may be they got those germs in a short time after the
boiling, before they made the examination, and I am in-
clined to believe that, because I think anything that is boiled
in the matter of life will die. But in such a , dangerous
disease we must be very careful in asserting the danger does
not exist under such and such circumstances. We may say
it is not probably. As Mr. Root says he has not found it,
therefore I would be inclined to think he is right, but at the
same time we must be very careful not to assert the disease
does not exist in all parts of the hive.

Dr. Miller — Calling attention to a point that might be
misunderstood in what Mr. Dadant has said, the fact that
the germs of foul brood may be found in the body of the

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 149

queen, does it necessarily follow that the disease will be
conveyed by that? It may be there without being conveyed.
But going back to the point before: Will foul brood be
carried in any other way than by the honey of the hive?
If the germs be carried from a diseased colony, no matter
what from, the disease may be conveyed to another hive.
The germs are in the brood. Isn't it possible that that
might be carried, sometimes, as well as the honey? I sup-
pose it is true that the honey is the principal medium, and
the usual medium, through which the disease is conveyed,
but surely it is not the only medium. If the diseased part
itself of the brood be in any way carried from one colony
to another, that would surely carry the disease.

Mr. Wheeler — That is a good point the Doctor makes,
and one that is very important. The bees are continually
taking out that dead brood. I believe when the disease
first starts they keep it all clean. I believe the hive for
months is perfectly free of any signs of foul brood, and
yet they have it and we don't know it. They keep carry-
ing out every bit of foul matter and finally they have to give
up in despair. All this time that foul- brood has been carried
on the bottom-board and after a while some of it is left.
Now, the question is. Is the foul matter that is carried out
infectious? That is something worth inquiring into. The
question is whether we had better fumigate our hives and
burn them out or not. Some say yes, and some say no.
It is an important question.

Mr. Abbott — This whole question hinges on how the dis-
ease gets into the animal. We lose sight of that sometimes.
Take for instance some germ diseases that are communicated
to human beings, such as tuberculosis in which the germ
that produces that must find a lesion some place. If -tthere
is a lesion on the outside of the body in some of the glands
and it lodges there it will take root and produce the disease,
so that you have tuberculosis of the different organs. It is
not always in the lungs. A great many people die of con-
sumption that never had anything the matter with their lungs ;
that is, from tuberculosis. As I understand, the develop-
ment of the germ of foul brood is only in the larva. In
what way does the germ get into the larva? Does it get
into it by contact and communicate itself by coming in
contact with the larva, or is it taken in by the alimentary
canal? There are some diseases that the human family get
that are taken in by the water they drink, such as typhoid
fever, and must be taken in in that way; they cannot be
communicated by coming in contact with a gland, but they
must come in contact with the inside of the human body
somewhere along the alimentary canal, mostly in the lower
bowels in typhoid fever. Now, then, if foul brood is a de-
velopment in the larva, in the alimentary canal, and it can
only be communicated by passing in in that way and coming
in contact with certain portions of the larva, then it must
be something that the larva will eat, to have the disease
communicated. The larva does not eat anything but honey.

150

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

or the thing that might be mixed in the honey. Now, what-
ever does not mix with the food of the larva cannot carry
the disease, as I understand it. So that the question is,-
What condition of things must exist in order that this
germ be in the stuff that is fed to the larva? Because the
germ is harmless in honey, is harmless every place so far
as the disease is concerned, except it is in the alimentary canal
of the larva; and if there is not some way by which it
gets in there, it is as harmless as a chunk of sand, as I
understand it. It only gets in through the feed, and they
only feed bees honey, and the hive may be covered with the
germs and not affect it in the least.

Mr. Dadant — I think Mr. Abbott was asking me the
question. I think he is very correct in that matter, and
the fact is, I was about to rise to make the same sugges-
tion, with this addition, that it is stated by authorities that
formic acid, "which is the constituent of the poison of the
bees, is an antidote for foul brood, and that would explain
why the bees never have foul brood and never suffer from it.
The bee carries its necessary antidote with it. It is quite
likely that the disease could only be transferred to the larva
by or through the honey, or through other larvae which, of
course, would pass it to the bee, and the bee pass it back
to the larva in feeding. It seems to me that is very con-
clusive^. At the same time, if there are any germs at all
in the hive, and they can be passed at all so as to be fed
to the larvae, it will promote it.

Mr. Wheeler — You know if you put a clean super on
a hive of old combs and the bees go to work there, they will
drag from those old combs out onto the new comb and
jwill color them. Now isn't it possible for the bees to travel
Ifrom the bottom-board around this bad brood and drop those
had spores? Such questions as that are of vital importance,
and I think a little of the money that is raised ought to
be used for investigation, not entirely for going around and
doing this business. While I think you know all these points,
some man ought to be hired and paid for his time. It is
either yes or no; they either give that disease in that way
or they don't, and some man ought to be able to find it out.

Mr. Swift — I think the bee-keepers will find the treat-
ment of foul brood is something like the practice of medicine.
What was first-class practice 25 years ago is bad to-day, and
it is only by experimenting and testing that we will ever
get at the right thing. There is no question — I found a
doctor here just the other day who told me that operations
that were frequent two years ago are condemned to-day by
the bulk of the profession, that is, by the advanced profes-
sion, and yet they were the popular and proper thing tw6
years ago. It may be the same thing in regard to foul brood.
Tentative work is the only thing.

Mr. Root — Mr. Abbott has struck the key-note, it seems
to me, as to how foul brood is transmitted. If we take Mr.
McEvoy's experience, and the experience of foul-brood in-
spectors, it does not seem to be transmitted by the hive ex-

'-■.' 6 ,-i-Se't.i,v'^&^?^^'-

STATE BEE-KEEPERS ASSOCIATION.

151

cept through the honey, and if this theory is correct it solves
nearly all the trouble. The danger lies in shaking the combs
and using them over again, because in shaking the combs you
may shake the honey onto the hives.

Mr. Wilcox — I am not going to shed any light on the
subjecty but I wanted to finish the thought presented by
Mr. Wheeler. He said we should spend some of this money
for investigation. So far as I am concerned, and many others,
we came here for that very purpose, to investigate. I didn't
know where to go to find men better informed on the subject.

F. Wilcox.

I don't know how to conduct an examination or investigation
that .would be more satisfactory than to be at a convention
with such men as we have here. If we cannot learn it from
the combined wisdom of previous bee-keepers in the country,
I don't know where to find it. That is the way to spend
the money.

Pres. York — I think Mr. Wheeler meant that we should
have scientific investigation by scientific men.

Mr. Moore — I want to take exception to Mr. Wheeler's
remarks. He says we must not go ahead with this thing
until we know exactly where we stand. That would apply

152 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

to everything in the world. You must not try to keep bees
until we know all about it. How do we learn except by
starting and using the things we know? The idea that we
should not try till we know all about it is all bosh. Where
would our medical profession have been on that basis? Mr.
Wheeler says the bees will take these germs and scatter them
all around, and then those foul-brood germs will get every-
where. Dr. Howard gives the answer to that. By exposing
foul-brood germs to light, air and dust they die. We know
that light and air and dust are present everywhere. Ask
your wife, if you don't believe it. And those foul-brood
germs scattered anywhere are exposed to light and air and
dust, and that is fatal to them. Some more scientific man
than myself can tell you how soon. Two of our members
have said that which is an insult to our intelligence, and to
inspectors everywhere ; they say we are going to favor cer-
tain parties; that we are going to be prejudiced; that we are
not going to do right. Every man who has ever gone around
inspecting bees knows that is not true. We are meeting
everybody, and I tell you we are human ; we want people
to like us ; we want to be popular, and the way to do that
is to do right, and to be just, and honest, and help our
brothers where we are right.

Dr. Miller — How can you favor?

Mr. Kimmey — By skipping foul brood and saying it is
not foul brood.

Dr. Miller — Suppose you do skip a man, would you favor
that man by doing it?

Mr. Kimmey — Of course you wouldn't.

Mr. Wheeler — I was misquoted, or misunderstood. I
didn't say it was best to do nothing till we found out every-
thing. That is a misstatement. I don't mean that. I didn't
say anything of the kind. I believe all such investigations
are good, but I believe there is no use going to an extreme
in the matter, and doing things that are unwarranted, until
we have good ground.

Mr. Reynolds — I will relate my experience in that regard.
Mr. Moore came to my place last July about 20 minutes to
12, and asked how my bees were getting along, and I told
him pretty fairly. He said. "Have you any trouble?" I
said, "Yes, with one hive ; it is marked there. He said. Light
the smoker and we will go and see it." We lit the smoker,
and just then my wife put her head out of the door and said
dinner was ready, so we went and had dinner. That was the
end of it. A neighbor of mine acknowledges that his apiary
is rotten with foul brood, but a short distance from me ;
he hasn't the money to clean it up. I sent Mr. Moore to
somebody else whose apiary was fairly rotten with it, and
he left orders there as to what was to be done. The man
came to me to ask me to help him out, and I told him I
didn't like to go there amongst his bees for fear I would
carry it home. Mr. Moore said to me he would be ghd to
put in a few days more if he only got his expenses. I told
him to write to him and get his address. This man is worth

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 153

over $50,000 and would gladly pay to have it done. He wrote
to Mr. Moore and the letter never came back, and Mr Moore
has never answered. I was there nine times trying to get
that man to do it. His wife said to me he would be fined
if he didn't have this done, by the State. After that I could
do nothing. The bees are all hanging in five frames in soap-
boxes to-day.

Mr. Moore — I had no appropriation for answering let-
ters, but I paid the postage and answered every letter as far
as I know. It was wholly unintentional if anybody was
neglected. I answered a number of inquiries where I couldn't
personally go.

Mr. Smith — I will just say for the information of Mr.
Wheeler, that there is now in Washington a scientific process.
Mr. France is on his way there with foul brood, and the
best scientists in the United States are trying to solve that
jprobleln, and it is better than we inspectors can do, and
we expect information from there that will be nublished in
all the bee-papers.

Mr. Moore — I feel very deeply in this matter, to state
that any' man who goes abroad and tries to help the bee-
keepers ought to go for two years to the Agricultural Col-
lege at Champaign and take a regular scientific course in
entomology and microscopy. That ought to be done. The
question is. Who is going to pay for it? I was appointed
by the chief inspector, Mr. Smith, as deputy inspector. In
the pursuit of my duties I spent 33 days calling on bee-
keepers within my reach. I followed a totally different
scheme from my chief, Mr Smith. He gave me no instruc-
tions as to what I should do. So I took the addresses that
I had of the members of our Association, and there is some-
thing like 300, and attempted to call on everybody. It was
published in the American Bee Journal, and we tried to ad-
vertise to every one that we would go and see whoever called
for us within say 20 miles of Chicago. But we got no re-
sponses. I think there was one or two who wrote to me,
suggesting that they would like a visit. I called in, on my
own plan and out of 135 apiaries I found about 25 diseased.
Now, you see, if I had attempted simply to go where there
were complaints I would have had two out of 25. I found
23 diseased apiaries by dint of calling on everybody and
examining the hives in the apiary that seemed to show disease
or weakness.

Dr. Miller — How many of those 23 knew before you
called that their bees had foul brood?

Mr. Moore — Not to exceed two or three. I would have
to guess at that. They knew that the bees had not done as
well as they did some time before, and they had not gotten
any honey from that hive or from other hives, but that they
had this awful disease that we understand as foul brood, they
didn't know.

Mr. Dadant — Were they foul-broody in every case ?

Mr. Moore — You understand it is a great deal easier to
ask questions than answer them. I myself had about 35

154 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

colonies and lost practically the whole thing with foul brood.
I had no experience with it, and it got into a dreadful state
before I knew it was foul brood ; and I didn't go at it in the
scientific way that Mr. McEvoy and Mr. France teach, and
that we all practice nowadays, and the result was I lost the
whole thing. I found foul brood in quite a number of dif-
ferent stages in the honey. I saw foul brood, as I say, in
those 25 apiaries, which would mean 75 to 100 colonies af-
fected; and after a while one gets the idea in his head, and
I am satisfied now that I know foul brood when I see it.
It is not necessary to smell anything at all to find foul brood.
The expression has been used that one who cannot tell foul
brood in his hives when he smells it is not competent to treat
the disease. I believe that is true, because you can see foul
brood with your eyes a long time before you will smell it at
all, a good sunlight helping you. That shows to me that
the disease is much more widely distributed than any one has
an idea. I believe the only way to do these things is to
make a clean sweep of them. With infectious diseases we
make laws to protect the public and we don't care a snap
of the finger for the individual who is injured, as long as the
welfare of the entire people is at stake. Some laws are made
paying injured individuals for the loss of their goods, such
as cattle and some other things, but as far as I know there
is no law in the United States compensating any bee-keeper
for the loss of his bees. Now, the reason has occurred to
me why. Under our accepted treatments — we call it the
iVicEvoy treatment — you can save your bees in a great many
cases. If you go to the Legislature and say, "We can save
our bees, but there is a big loss there, and we want to pay
the bee-keepers for it," they won't understand it. If you save
your hives and bees they can't see where there is much loss
at all; and the duty of the inspector is to help you, and give
you a money value, of course, in helping you to eradicate
the disease and to save your bees and hives. Consequently,
they would not give any compensating clause in any law to
that effect. I made a minute of every case, and I can tell
you the names, number of colonies they have, and the number
of hives infected, and what I said. It would take a month
if I would attempt to cover that ground.

Pres. York — Did the foul-brood inspector visit all the
bee-keepers in this (Cook) County?

Mr. Moore — Not by any means. In Cook County we
have from 350 to 400 bee-keepers, and my total visits were
125 or 135 calls.

Mr. Wheeler — Did you do any work in helping to get
rid of the disease?

Mr. Moore — I did everything that was possible. Where
there was an opening I made appointments and went back
on other days and helped them cure the disease. I spent in
some cases half a day with individuals to see the thing was
done properly. I am green along side of these people who
have made a life study of it ; I feel as if I were in the A B C
class. I don't want any one to get the idea that I think I

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 155

am an authority on this subject, but I want to contribute
my information for the general good. The people all over
our State are not competent to treat it any more than they
are competent to treat a case of diphtheria or typhoid fever.

Mr. Wilcox — How much is a diseased colony damaged
by treatment?

Mr. Moore — Every day it is without any treatment?

Mr. Kimmey — Yes, of course.

Mr. Moore — I say it is not damaged one cent's worth.

Mr. Wilcox — How much do you have to treat those which
are not diseased?

Mr. Moore — I don't like to answer these questions be-
cause it means more experience than I have had, but I give
my opinion. I go to a man's apiary and he has 20 or 30
colonies. How am I to tell which is diseased? We usually
go from May to September. At that time of the year the
colonies are prosperous if they ever are. We walk up and
down the rows of bee-hives and we talk to the owner and
say, "Now, which colony has not been prosperous?" He says.
"This one." We open that hive. Something is the matter
with that colony; it may be queenless, it may be entirely
"•dead, or it may be nearly dead with foul brood; and with
or without smoke we open it. Almost at a glance, when you
get a frame out from the middle of the brood-nest you can
tell what you have got. If he suggests this or that hive we
always open that. If you are not satisfied with what he sug-
gests, say, "All right, I will look around a little." You open
one, two or three hives and you have a general view of the
situation. When he has 10, 20 or 30 colonies we don't at-
tempt for a moment to go through them all.

Mr. Wilcox — You treat them all whether they are foul-
broody or not?

Mr. Moore — ^Under our law we have no power to treat
at all ; we have simply to give advice. If they allow us to
treat we are glad to do so.

Mr. Wilcox — What I want to find out is whether there
are any damages to be paid for it?

Mr. Moore — Whether there ought to be a law giving dam-
ages to the bee-keeper? There should not, in my judgment.

BEES AS PROPERTY, AND ASSESSABLE.

Mr. Swift — ^Our bees as property are not assessable under
the laws of the State of Illinois. If they are not assessable
and produce no revenue why should the State pay revenue
back? Take cattle or any animal that is diseased, every one
is assessed upon that animal and pays revenue into the State.

Dr. Miller — ^They may not be assessable but they are
assessed; I pay taxes on my bees.

Mr. Swift — ^You don't have to. They are not assessable.

Mr. Moore — You are a little in error, Mr. Swift, in the
schedule is a clause which says, "Other property." Now to a
really conscientious man, if he calls bees property, he ought
to list them; and I know of two or three who list them and

if-i--Y-yO^^^^^^^ ■"

.^-_..,^_... ^^^ ^

156 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

are assessed. Now if we are assessed, that will give us cer-
tain rights before the Legislature.

Mr. Swift — The only thing is this, bees come under that
class of ferce naturce — they are wild by nature; and conse-
quently anything of that character is like a fiock of prairie
chickens — the farmer does not have to pay taxes on them.
Bees are not assessable under the revenue laws of the State
of Illinois unless a man chooses to list them as "other prop-
erty." Consequentiv this is my opinion. The Supreme Court
may .differ from me — I am not certain it has ever been ad-
judicated upon by the Supreme Court — but I think they are
not assessable from the very fact that without any provoca-
tion a colony of bees does sometimes take wing and go away
in the spring. It is the very fluctuating character of the thing.
A man in the fall might have 100 colonies, and in the spring
he might not have more than 15, and according to Dr. Miller,
then, he has to go before the Board of Supervisors and the
Committee on Payments and present his claim for the loss
of his-property, unless he chooses to pay on something he has not
got. Under those circumstances, the bees not being assessable, by
the very nature of the property, as property that is fixed
and tangible is, that can be gotten hold of or levied upon —
because I don't believe there is a sheriff in the State would
levy on a hive of bees — by that very fact you could not go
before the Legislature and ask any law that would give force
that a bee-keeper should be recompensed if his bees were
injured by being treated for foul brood or any disease. But if
you can get the Legislature to recognize that this is a source
of revenue for the State, and of wealth to the individual, and
his wealth in that way can be assessed and taxed as his money
and household goods and the things he can buy as the result
of his product, then they will legislate and will do what they
have done in the past — give you any appropriation for the
protection of that industry. But when you come to ask for
recornpense for injury done by making the injured better,
you have gone up against the wrong thing, and will meet a
snag every time.

Mr. Dadant — I would be very glad to hear bees are not
assessable. I have been paying taxes on bees for many years.
The argument is very good but it is not only bees ; there is
the hive, the combs, the brood, the honey, the supers and
sections of foundation and all that belongs to the hive. I
pay taxes on my bees; I pay taxes on the comb foundation
I manufacture. All this belongs to the bees. If the bees are
not asessable, and all this other part of the property is not
taxable, I have $15,000 worth of goods on hand. I have been
paying taxes, and I would be ashamed not to pay taxes.

Mr. Swift — Mr. Dadant does not bear in mind that he is
in a manufacturing industry.

Mr. Dadant — We would suffer from foul brood if our
bees had it.

Mr. Swift — You say your wax does not get affected by
foul brood. As a manufacturer with an industry with a
capital stock, then, you would be assessed upon it whether in-

STATE BEE-KEEPERS^ ASSOCIATION. 157

corporated or as an individual; but here is a man that has
got 50 colonies of bees on his farm — I don't believe he can
be assessed on them. If a test case was made, from the very
fact of its fluctuating character, I do not believe he could
be assessed. The honey might be assessed, and possibly the
hive, if you could fix what the value would be, but not that
which deteriorates and is so fluctuating it would be almost
impossible to determine. But the product of the bees in his
possession is property that is assessable. Just the same as in
your commission business if you have a thousand cases of
honey in your warehouse on the first day of April you are
assessed upon that, upon its market value, upon a fifth of its
fair cash valuation. But upon bees out in the field there is
no assessment. I don't believe it ever can lie.

Mr. Colburn — I had hoped to continue this discussion on
foul brood because I am particularly interested in it. I am
no lawyer, but listening to the gentleman here I want to say
this, he makes a particular point of fercB naturce. I want to
ask if the wild ox and the wild goat and all animals were
not at one time ferce naturcef Mr. France has a great many
papers here pertaining to the legal status of bees. Quite a
number of decisions have been made lately in regard to that
very point. Bees sometimes leave my premises and go on the
premises of my neighbor. The question is whether I could
go after them or not. Mr. France might be able to tell us
about the legal status. As to bees being assessable in con-
sequence of their fluctuating nature, you might answer the
question by saying a man might have 50 cows on his place
and they may all die. Therefore I don't consider that is a
good argument in that view of the case, for the assessor
doesn't care a cent what is to become of that property; if he
finds it in my possession he will assess it. The big factories
up in the stock yards have a million, or two million dollars'
worth of pork piled up there. When the assessor goes around
it is all in New York, but if it is there he will assess it. The
same way with bees. I think they are assessable if they are
there at the time the assessor comes around.

Mr. Kimmey — I :want you to indulge me just a minute.
All of these men who have talked want this discussion
stopped. I am responsible because I asked the question. I
used to be a lawyer myself. I didn't know much law and
have forgotten a good deal I once knew. But I commenced
in 1868 in the business and have been connected with it ever
since, and after listening to Mr. Swift on the question whether
bees are assessable or not, I believe he is mistaken.

Pres. York — They used to be when you studied law !

Mr. Kimmey — You men that have been convicted at law
don't say anything. You remember the Irishman who said,
"I don't want to go to trial." The judge says, "You needn't
be afraid, you will get justice, and be jailed." He replied,
"That's just what I don't want." [Laughter.] It is true my
bees go out on my neighbor's lawn and gather their honey,
but it is also true that bees have been recognized by the laws
of this country as property, but prairie chickens have not.

158 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

You can steal bees but you can't go over to the other man's
farm and steal prairie chickens. Of course you can commit
trespass. But when you steal a colony of bees don't you be-
lieve they are fercz naturae and that you can get out of it.
You will go to the penitentiary, probably. He can sell the
prairie chickens after he shoots them.

Mr. Smith — He can't sell them after he shoots them.

Mr. Kimmey — There is another fellow that has been
caught. [Laughter.] If you obey the law you can shoot
them. There is a certain time of the year. Do we want to
say we are going to own property that is valuable to us, out
of which we make our living, and that it is not assessable?
If there is any such idea as that let us be honest and fair and
drop it. If they are not assessable I think they should be
made so. I rather insist upon Mr. Moore making a state-
ment because he came to my house and we had a peculiar
experience down there. Mr. Moore came to me from visiting
an educated gentleman, a man that knows all about the
anatomy of the bee and foul brood, and that sort of thing,
and Mr. Moore told me that this gentleman had one case
of foul brood. I had never seen any and I wanted to see,
and feel, and smell it. I went up there and I told the gentle-
man that I wanted to see the colony of bees that Mr. Moore
said had foul brood. He says, "You can't see any foul brood
here." He also said he had once been cleaned out entirely
by foul brood. I was ready to believe there was something
there. I know he bought some bees of another neighbor who
had foul brood. I had some of the same bees ; in fact, the
only ones I had to commence with came from there. I was
interested in it. He " said he had a small nucleus that was
doing fairly well and in the meantime had a hive full of comb,
no bees, and he wanted those bees to take care of that comb,
and so set the hive with the comb on top of the nucleus. Con-
sequently the queen and some of the bees moved out, and then
came the cold weather last spring and the brood in the lower
hive died. I was ready to believe that story. He also said
that Mr. Moore said he was not an expert. I suppose Mr.
Moore said the same things to him that he said this morning.
I took it for granted there was no foul brood, and didn't in-
sist upon an examination. It seemed to me, then, and it
seems to me now — I want to be frank and fair about it — Mr.
Moore either ought to know what foul brood is, without go-
ing two years to the agricultural college, or else Mr. Moore
ought to stop inspecting. I believe after hearing him talk
here this morning that the bees of the gentleman I referred
to had foul brood, and that Mr. Moore knew it. I think
he wants to shake off some of his modesty and say he knows
foul brood when he sees it. I want to mention another thing
this gentleman told me. He said, "Notwithstanding I believe
there is no foul brood I am going to burn that thing up, hive
and everything," which he did that night; and I believe that
is the proper spirit that any one should show even though
one may have a doubt in regard to it. A hive of bees of
course is not of much consequence, but if he finds it in one,

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 159

and there is more than one hive, he should be willing to in-
vestigate. Mr. Moore came to my place and looked my
colonies over and did it in a very thorough manner, for which
I am obliged to him. I said, "How much do I owe you?"
He replied, "You owe me just one dollar, and I want you to
pay it to join the Chicago-Northwestern Bee-Keepers' Asso-
ciation. I want to state the facts, and I am impelled more
to say it by the remarks the gentleman made in the rear of
the room. I believe Mr. Moore has done his duty, and he is
a good man, and I don't want him to go around saying, "I
don't know," when he does.

Mr. Moore — I am not correctly quoted in the case which
Mr. Kimmey has mentioned. The gentleman Mr. Kimmey
referred to merely plays with bees for pleasure. He told me
he had practically been cleaned out with foul brood, but that
he hadn't any at that time; and I certainly told him, as I
have told everybody, that I knew foul brood when I saw it,
absolutely, and I do know it. When it comes to these scien-
tific matters, in which every subject is involved if you come
right down to the very bottom of it, I say I am not an expert,,
as Mr. France or Mr. McEvoy is, because I have not got
their years of experience. But I absolutely know foul brood,
and I told that gentleman so, and he said, "I haven't got it."
We examined one or two of his hives and the bees were very
cross ; I got stung repeatedly. We had smoke, too, lots of it.
When we got done with that hive I showed him he had foul
brood, and I showed him the proofs of it, and he admitted
that it was foul brood. There was also pickled brood in the
same frame with it in the same colony ; and he didn't deny to
me at all he had foul brood in his apiary.

Mr. Kimmey — ^When Mr. Moore was in our section he
Avent to every bee-keeper he could find, and spared neither
tinie nor pains in going to the bottom of all of them. I gave
him the name of every bee-keeper I' knew within five or six
rniles, and I understand from hearing from them that he
visited all of them.

Dr. Miller — I have a resolution to offer : "Resolved, That
it is the sense of this Convention that it is desirable that bees
should be assessed and taxed."

Mr. Smith — I might say that that same resolution was
passed at the State Bee-Keepers' Convention two weeks ago,
in Springfield.

Mr. Moore — I want to correct some of these lawyers tliat
are talking about common law and State law. Wlienever the
Illinois Legislature raises its hands it wipes the common law
off the land. I S *! Hi

Pres. York put the motion, and a vote having been taken
it was declared carried.

BLACK BROOD — PICKLED BROOD.

Mr. Colburn — We hear about black brood, and this sum-
mer I ran across two or three symptoms in my apiary of
something not exactly like foul brood. Some four years ago

160 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

up on the North Side I had an apiary and I had something
I didn't understand, 'so I sent a portion of the brood to Dr.
Howard, and he returned it stating it was not foul brood,
but pickled brood. This year I have something just like both,
and not like either. I think possibly we may be getting a
little taste of black brood; and possibly the reason we differ
is that we are looking at things from different points, or rather
have a different disease ; that may account for the discrepancy
of symptoms, etc., which we find in different hives.

Dr. Miller — I rise to a question of privilege. I have a
whole lot of speeches on foul brood, and I know you would
be delighted to hear them, but I think the time is passing,
and I believe we ought to hear from Mr. France.

Mr. France — I don't know just what part of this discus-
sion you want. Do you want the description so that you may
know without guessing when you look into a hive or not?

Dr. Miller — Give that first as briefly as you can.

DETECTING FOUL BROOD.

Mr. France — There is one thing of vital importance to
Illinois, that the State Association and the Chicago-North-
western, now made a part of it, hand in hand together work
for the needed legislation this winter, and not wrangle so
much over other things. I am on my way to Washington to
help Prof. Benton get out a bulletin, of which there will be
published 50,000 conies for free distribution to the bee-keepers
of the United States, on the diseases of bees. I find that edu-
cational literature on this subject will do as much good as
inspe<^ting. As Jsoon as we can get the people educated I
nuestion if we will need any inspectors. [Applause.] As I
said yesterday, unfortunately in our State I find a very small
proportion of the bee-keepers who read bee-literature, and it
is going to take some time to get them educated. Until that
time we will have need of those other devices. To those of
us here who have not seen foul brood, this sample I am tak-
ing with me to Washington — (by the way, it has odor enough)
— is a sample procured out of a hive in the city of St. Louis
while I was down~there at our National Convention. That
disease was contracted from your State, across the river, by
bees robbing from the city of St. Louis, so that your State
transmitted it over there. It is a very serious case of disease.

Mr. Wheeler — How can you prove that?

Mr. France — We prove it in this way : The strongest
colonies of bees that this man had in St. Louis were, in the
fore part of the season, very busy bringing in honey and ap-
parently robbing from somewhere. He took chop dust and
put upon those bees so that he might see how long it would
take for them to go and come back again. He got the time,
and he discovered them all going directly east across the river.
He went across the river and found a bee-yard infected with
foul brood, and these bees with the dust on, going in and out.

Mr. Wheeler — Did he have other colonies?

Mr. France — Yes, there are three others that have stolen

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION.

161

away from this naughty colony which was the strongest, and
to-day is a dead colony in the hive. Now the disease in ap'
pearance varies according to the localities, but I find some
few things that do not vary a great deal: The sunken cap-
ping; the ragged, perforated holes in the capping. I believe
in all the States that is common. The bee in the larval age,
at aboui. six to eight days from the egg, will first to the naked
eye show the appearance of the disease; earlier than that you
would need a glass. I am taking this from the point of those
who want to use just the naked eye, as you can't, without a
glass, see it before that. The bee will, in the larval age, in-
stead of crawling around as it should, stand upon the point
ends of that larva with its back up. It is diseased, in agony,
and in that condition it does not lay down naturally. There is
a little yellow cast on either side of the back. It finally
straightens out the same as the natural larva, and in stand-
ing up it lacks the vitality to retain itself in that shape and
falls back again to the lower side-wall of the cell. That is
the time that the larva will make itself adhere to the side-
wall and will never let go.

Now, there is a marked difference between black brood,
pickled brood, and foul brood. Foul brood, when it once
strikes the lower side-wall, stays there as if fastened with
glue. The bees can not remove it except in one way. If
those combs have been thoroughly fumigated with formalde-
hyde it has a chemical action on those and they do remove
it in some cases, but not in all. That bee in the last dying
effort gets quite a dark color, and it throws out its tongue
frequently with force sufficient so that the tongue strikes the
upper side-wall and as such will hold as if put there by glue.
That will have a tendency, as the body of the bee dries out,
to draw the head up. This tongue has a tendency still to
hold, a(nd in the sample I have here there are many of those
larvae at that age with the tongue still holding thread-like to
the upper side-wall. That is the only reason I can give why
always in foul brood the head of the larval bee has a Chinese-
shoe-fashion or turn-up; it is because of that.

' Now, the body of the bee becomes flattened and dark-
brown, nearly coffee-color, and just at that point in giving
way, as it drops down, there is a dark, very nearly a black
streak across the body of the bee, and apparently on either
side little brown streaks that will remain in that condition for
about two days. It will continue to dry on the point on the
lower side-wall until it is no thicker than the side-wall of
the comb, s6metimes even thinner than that, but the head
end of the bee having dried in that curled-up shape shows
itself to the eye much quicker than the balance of it further
back.

jHow to look at the comb is one of the most important
features that the bee-keepers of our country have not learned.
They take a comb and hold it looking straight down into the
cells. I confess I can't see foul brood in that way. For the
benefit of this bulletin we are getting out, I went to an artist
the other day with this comb and told him I wanted to be

162

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

photographed, but to take the picture from the rear. I
wanted to show how to look down in the comb. As an illus-
tration we will suppose this to be a comb of foul brood, and
I want to look into it and there is the light — and by the way,
never take candle light or electric light — you want good day
light in order to see it satisfactorily. If I were to hold it
upright, and stand with the light coming over my shoulder,
I would still look down into the bottom of the cell and see
no foul brood. But let me tip the top towards me so that

Proper Position to Hold Foul-Broody Comb.

my eye looking in there will strike the lower side-wall about
one-third the length towards the base, then I will see those
black-brown heads readily all through the comb. You need
never question it. Black brood or pickled brood will never
have the appearance that foul brood does. In every state
where I have found it, there is a marked difference. This
photo is simply showing where I am holding up the comb.
I made a streak on the negative showing the angle of the
rays of light. It should be coming over the shoulder, and
then tip the top of the comb towards you.

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 163

Mr. Wheeler — Have you learned anything definitely this
last year about fumigating?

Mr. France — I took one apiary badly infected where there
were several hundred combs, and from the fact that formal-
dehyde gas is one of the best disinfectants the medical world
has to-day, 'there wa^ a great possibility, and I had a box
made by one of the best carpenters, which was perfectly air-
tight, all jointed, and white lead put in the joints. I put in
that box quite a number of combs, leaving about an inch and
a ihalf space between each two combs. I had Mr. Weber's
lamp and followed his directions with one exception — I gave
twice the amount, and doubled the time in which it was fumi-
gated. I aired the combs, and two days later I put them back
into clean hives, put the bees back on those combs, and went
to Los Angeles to the National Convention; came home, went
immediately up there, and by the time I got back they had the
brood hatched. In about three-quarters of those hives I
found foul brood beginning to appear. I went to further in-
vestigation on !the case and I found this, that every frame I
had fumigated had here and there a cell that was capped over
at the time. Those that were not capped over the bees had
cleaned out,, and I could not see any foul brood, but where
they haki not taken that capping off, seemingly the chemical
properties of the acid had not destroyed the germs, and the
brood in those cells was diseased. So that if I were to fumi-
gate combs I should first uncap everything sealed and put it
in an extractor, and I would throw that brood till I was satis-
fied ,1 had thrown everything out of it possible, and then
fumigate it. There is a possibility, but bear in mind we are
running a great risk and I would not recommend it. I have
carefully weighed the combs, carefully weighed the wax ren-
dered from a set of combs, and considered the price of foun-
dation, and in Wisconsin we can change a hive infected with
did and black combs to comb foundation at the cost of 12
cents per colony. Why do we put any stress upon the loss
in that line? Those bees have as much new vigor and ambi-
tion to work on foundation, over the other one, as a boy has
over a new suit of clothes.

Mr. Wheeler — We have heard a good deal about fumiga-
ting the hive with a spray; there is a man in California that
has practised that. He sprays the bottom-board and allows
the fumes to go up in the combs.

Mr. France — I have tried that somewhat, but there is a
marked difference between California's dry atmosphere and
here. I question, with the experience I have had within the
last two years, if the hive is thoroughly clean that there is
any danger. I put the bees right back into the same hive on
comb foundation, land I have no trouble.

Mr. Wheeler — Do you shake them out twice?

Mr. France — Yes. I tried two apiaries by shaking once,
and -in the (majority -^of cases it cured it, but here and there
would be a case in an apiary where it did not, and it would
not be safe. W'e do not lose a great deal if we do this at
the beginning of the honey-flow. As an illustration, up in

L:.iTi^-'

^T

164 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

Central Wisconsin'' I reached an apiary of 15 or 20 colonies,
all infected, quite late in the afternoon or evening of the first
day of basswood bloom. The man was a very thorough man ;
his surroundings all showed it. I repeated to him what I
would do with the apiary, were it mine. I said, "Do you un-
derstand it?" He said, "Yes." Now as a teacher I learned
that the best way to know that the student understood v/hat
I itold hitn/ was to let him tell it back to me again. I said,
"You tell me, if you please, what you are going to do with
those bees." He did, and I had to correct him only in two
places, so Ivwas satisfied he understood how to do it, and do
it thoroughly. Thirty days later I returned to the apiary to
see wh'at the effect was. The same hives were there and I
could find no indications of the disease. That was two years
ago, and there is none there yet. So I am satisfied it is
treated and cured. And on those hives was from 16 to 18,
and on one hive 24 pounds of section comb honey within 30
days after they had been treated. That colony had not suf-
fered very much.

From another apiary that had gone down from a large
to a small number, the apiary having been treated, those
bees had been taking first and second premiums at our Wis-
consin State fair. It doesn't hurt a boy to have a new suit
of clothes. The cost is a very minor affair. The worst diffi-
culty with me, for the first few years at least, was to adjust
myself to the peculiar condition of each individual bee-keeper.
There is the worst feature I find as an inspector. One man
is glad you have come, and will do anything, even leave the
harvest, if you please, to have that work attended to ; the
other man is the very opposite — he would sooner you would
get away from there; he would promise an3rthing to get rid
of you; and the surroundings correspond. That is the man
who needs an inspector, not the other man. In order to help
out I have taken with me for the last two years a German
wax-press, having a case made so that I could check it as
baggage. Where I found a badly -infected yard, with the
class of bee-keeper whose surroundings are not favorable, I
take off my coat and I stay there and clean up the premises
myself, and take my wax-press and go on. If 1 leave it to
him a neighbor who is making his living out of the business
will suffer from the indifference of this friend.

Mr. Wilcox — Have you traced the source of foul brood
to bee-trees or wild bees in the woods?

Mr. France — That was brought out very strongly the
second year I was out. One man said, "There is no use
treating my bees because the woods are full of bee-trees, and
you will never get rid of it." I used to hunt bee-trees.
So after I had treated all the bees in the vicinity, and be-
fore I got through, I found two bee-trees. One of them
was where a swarm had gone from an infected hive ; it was
away over yonder on a bluff. This man said that that tree
must be diseased. I said, "On what basis can you argue
that that is diseased?" He said, "Why, the bees went from
here over there; they carried the honey with them, and I

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 165

am dead sure it is diseased." I said, "Wait a moment.
What did we do to this hive ?" "We took away the combs ;
we gave them foundations." "Have they got any over there ?"
He said, "No." I said, "After they had drawn out the
foundation we took that away and made them go again and
they had nothing; they had to consume all the honey they
took with them to produce the first combs, to start to store
the honey they gathered from the field, and I will venture the
assertion they are not diseased."

We went over and cut the tree down, felling it very care-
fully,, and there was no disease. We cut some other trees
and I found trees where the bees had died from lack of
protection; and I also found this, that within a year's time
after a colony of bees had died the squirrels and the bee-
moth will eradicate everything in the interior of that tree ;
there is no danger left. If the bee-keepers will attend to
their end of the work they need not worry over the bee-
tree problem. There is just one way a bee-tree might be
infected. If a colony has combs drawn and has wintered over,
or towards the latter portion of the season they have some-
body who is careless, thereby having foul brood, that bee-
tree bees could go and rob from an infected bee-hive and
transmit it to that tree ; but we all know it is a matter of
short duration; that colony of bees would not last long;
squirrels and moths would soon eradicate what is in the
tree. If we do our part v/e will get rid of foul brood.

Pres. York — What kind of a foul brood law do we need
in this State?

Mr. France — Coming out of another State I hardly like
to recommend, but my opinion is this : Keep the appropria-
tion you have; put in effect your inspector with authority,
and you will accomplish a great deal of good.

Pres. York — You mean as to a compulsory clause?

Mr. France — Yes. Now this comb I have here is ap
illustration. As I understand this apiary is in your State ;
your inspector wants to investigate that apiary and has been
objected to. Look at the situation. We will take as an
illustration a row of these seats, each one representing dif-
ferent apiaries. The inspector comes to this party and wants
to look at the hives. "Yes, I am glad to have you come in."
The next says, "My bees are all right." The inspector says,
"I don't like to look at these, but while I am here I will
look at them." The answer he receives is, "You get off the
premises." He has got to go. You see the weak point in
the law. What would we do with contagious diseases amongst
ourselves if our law did not admit of our health warden
coming in and saying "this is small-pox," or any other con-
tagious disease, "and they must be quarantined." You say, "No,
we have no smajl-pox; let everybody come in and out." It
is just as necessary for your inspector to be clothed with
that authority if you would get the desired effect.

Mr. Kimmey — You have considered the possibility and
propriety of having a National foul brood law ?

Mr. France — Yes, but we have first got to demonstrate

ii?iil8£»;>^S?.^iS^4ikii^^lii«;!:S£ff^^ ■'. ■ '-ji!Sd^l\K-iJ:<!xi.'^^Sv^!fi^.-ti

166 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

through the States before we get that. It may come to that
in time.

Mr. Pease — What proportion of the States have foul
brood laws?

Mr. France — I think about nine.

Mr. Abbott — Let me suggest that you cannot have a
national law.

Mr. Colburn — We have a pure-food law.

Mr. Abbott — That is interstate commerce.

Mr. Wheeler — What is your plan in regard to appointing
an inspector? How is it proposed? I suppose the law will
have to be plain.

Mr. France — I think that those who are interested in
the line of work should select one whom they think com-
petent. I don't believe it is a good plan to allow this to be
a political appointment. Let that man be selected by the
State or local association. They know better who they want
than any other person, and let their recommendation be of
the one who serves them best. They cut out that portion
of our Wisconsin Law. I fought it to the bitter end. It was
first, "Upon recommedation of the Bee-Keepers' Association
the Government shall appoint." The political men saw fit
to modify our law, and now it says, "The Governor may ap-
point."

Pres. York — If he does not care to appoint anybody,
you have no inspector?

Mr. France — No, sir, and the State Association is not
asked, although it is still recognized. They have asked the
State Association. There is another thing they do in Wis-
consin. The State Board of Agriculture asked the bee-
keepers whom they want to be judges at the State fair.
They consider that the State Bee-Keepers' Association ought
to know who is competent for that; and the one they recom-
mend ?has always been appointed. Now in regard to this
sample of foul brood, I have here, I will confess this much :
In this room, with the light you have to look into, I would
guarantee it would be almost a failure to see the various
stages of foul brood, from the fact that you would get
shadows that you wouldn't get in day-light, but I have illus-
trated to you how you should look to see it.

Pres. York — I should think now that we ought to be
able to know foul brood or almost smell foul brood or some-
thing, by this time, as we have been talking about it all fore-
noon. I was glad to have it discussed, but I was afraid
some that were not particularly interested would get tired
of it.

Mr. Meredith — Mv reason for coming here was based al-
most entirely upon what I could learn about foul brood,
knowing that the disease is around Batavia, and I think in
an aoiary that was inspected by one of the inspectors. If
I am going to keep bees I want to be in condition to know
when my bees are free from disease, or take such measures
to see that they are.

Mr. Moore — I want to speak of a thing that has not

SI'A'IT. I'.r.F.-KF.F.I'I'.RS ASSOd A'l ION . ICiT

l)c(.-n mcnliuiK-cl Iktc liv anybody. In r^'tianl lo l"unii;_;atin<4
to cure foul hrood, I liavt- lalsrn tlic ^anu- -laml a-. Mr.
l^'rancc and our hesl antlKirilics, luit I tlioiiLihi ii wa-. no)
well to reconnnend fmnis^atinL;" on llu- L^mniid that ua' didn't
know vvliother it w.as snccessful ni all ca--i-. : ami. ^i-oond,
it is dangerous to ])nt a knife into the hand of a heginner.
It is dangerous to nut a remedy we are n^t --rire nf in the
hands of the aver.a.ge, inexjierieneed hee-keeju r. 1 had (|uiti-
a long talk with Dr. l'".aton, who. I ihonL'.hl. wnnJd In- here
to-dav. He is the chemist df ihe lllini.i- food ( '< ininii--ii m.

GUS DllTMIiK.

and we talked about this very matter <if formalin I'unnga-
tion. I said to Dr. k^aton, "Here you have a ci\]) of honey.
Down in the bottom of that is a spore of foul brood covered
with honey an inch or two deep. If you fumigate that thing
for a month or two witli formalin what will happen?" He
says, "After a while the f<:)rmalin will unite with the honey.
It has an affinity for water, and honey is a scdution of water
and something else; and you will have a compound of for-
malin honey, and so on." I said, ""What will be the effect
on this spore in the bottom (jf the lioney?" He said. "It
will absolutely destroy it." I said, "What do you think if

168 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

we take our combs of foul brood and shave off the coverings
of the cells with a sharp knife so as to expose the honey,
pollen and germs of foul brood, if you put it in a boiler
of water and jounce it up and down, then put it in the ex-
tractor and whirl it like everything so as to throw out
everything that is dissolved by the water, and then fumi-
gate a long time, what will be the result?" His opinion was
that because formalin combined with the water it would
absolutely destroy everything in the comb that was in-
fectious. Now there is a point for these people that have
facilities like Mr. France and Mr. Smith, -^perhaps, to ex-
periment upon. It seems to be a new way of experimenting
with formalin gas.

Mr. Dadant — You can't get water to the bottom of the
cells by dipoing it in water.

Mr. Wheeler — I think that is proven every time you
fumigate a hive. From that gas that is generated there is a
steam, and there is nothing more penetrating than steam.
The combs, after they come out of the fumigation, will be
wet with steam. Surely the very bottom of the cells will
be saturated by steam from the formaldehyde gas.

Mr. France — Anywhere over the States, since I have been
in this National position, the members have taken it as a
matter of fact that when they get into any trouble or
grievance no matter what it is, "fire" it into the General
Manager: and among other things they "fire" in samples
of foul brood from all over the States. I analyze them as
well as I possibly can, and give a report. But I want to
make this one statement : Whenever you are sending samples
of suspected material by mail, put it in something so that
it will stand the racket in the mail. So many of the packages
come all smashed up. I had one come the other day with a
piece of newspaper around it and a two-cent stamp on it, and
the whole thing was about as thick as a piece of cardboard
when it reached me.

Dr. Miller — Put it in what?

Mr. France — The best of all is a tin box next a wooden
box. And, by the wav. the United States mail people may
get after you if you don't.

MAILING INFECTIOUS MATERIAL.

"Would it not be a violation of the United States postal
law to send infectious diseases of any sort through the
mail?"

Mr. Reynolds — I would say, as one working in the mails,
that it is.

BEE-KEEPING FOR WOMEN.

"Is bee-keeping a pleasant and profitable occupation for
woman ?"

Pres. York — We have not heard much from the wconen,
it seems to me ; I think we had better hear from Mrs. Stow,

-?-■ .--^uX'^-^^^^

riATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 169

the vice-president of the Association. Mrs. Stow, what can
you answer to that?

Mrs. Stow — Bee-keeping has been very pleasing to me.
whether it has been profitable in all respects I don't know,
but I don't think I would say that it has not been. I have
enjoyed the work with my bees for the last 20 years more
than anything else that I have known of, except my own
family duties; and the only objection I can see is that there
is some hard work about it; that unless she can have the
help of a man once in a while, or a big boy, it would be a
little too hard for her. But there is so much of the work
that can be done by a woman just as well as by a man, that
I think it is all right for a woman, if she has the taste to
go into the business. I like outdoor work, and enjoy nature
and studying it; and it is one of the advantages that any
woman going into this business has, as it is done at home,
and she can interest her own family in it; it is not like
going out to work. But if a woman went into it by herself
with the idea of making a living by it, I don't know whether
I could say she would be able to do so.

Mrs. Glessner — I am such an amateur bee-keeper that
I don't believe anybody that keeps bees would want to hear
anything I have to say. Let me tell a story. I have only
a very small number of colonies, as I have taken entire
charge of them myself. One day when I was busy, and very
much engaged — I have a little house down in the White
Mountains — I saw a little skunk down the path coming to-
wards me. I was so much engaged I simply went right on
with my work, and kept an eye on him. After a while he
came down another path, and it was so tempting, he was
so close to me, that I thought I would see if I couldn't
capture him. So I picked up an empty bee-hive without a
bottom-board, but with a cover on it, and I walked out very
gently and clapped it over the "gentleman," and then piled
some stones on top so that he couldn't lift the cover up;
then I went away. My son's house is up in the woods a
little wav, and I went to the telephone and called him up,
and said, "I have a little skunk in a bee-hive down at the
bee-yard, and I would be very glad if you would come down
and help me." There was quite a little pause, and quite
a little snicker, and finally he said, "Of course. What shall
I bring?" I said, "You might bring some fire arms of some
sort." So I armed myself with a bottle of ether and chloro-
form, and a little, long syringe. We pushed the cover off
a little bit and I threw in tlie ether and chloroform. Then
we tied a string a string around the bee-hive and he put
me off to one side and said, "Now, when I say 'Pull,' you
pull." I pulled, and he fired, and we had one dead skunk,
and no odor at all. [Applause.]

Miss Wilson — I don't know that I have anything new to
say, except I think it very much depends upon the woman, just
the same as it does upon the man. Not all men will make a
success of bee-keeping, and not all women. If a woman is in-
tensely interested in bees, and has a good deal of pluck, and

■ -^^af£^.cl!<iCM^.:>c!i£^ ati^ V :^'.

_^iri.iS»r-.-j-

170

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

grit, and energy, she will make a success of it. If she is afraid
of bees and doesn't care for them, and is not interested
in them, I don't know that she would be very apt to make
a success of it. As to the profit of bee-keeping, I think
there are other profits to be considered than dollars and
cents. The health of many women would be improved, and
they would enjoy a f^reat deal of profit outside of dollars
and cents. As for me, I am very sure that the profit in

Miss Emma M. Wii,son.

regard to my health would have been a sufficient inducement
for me to have gone into bee-keeping; and I think many
women would find the same thing, besides materially adding
to their finances at the same time.

Pres. York — I think Mrs. Stow said something about
having a man to help her. What do you say about that,
Miss Wilson?

Miss Wilson — I think it would be very advisable — if you
can get one. [Laughter.] I think you can get along with-
out them.

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 171

Pres. York — Next, I was going to ask Miss Wilson to
tell about the man that helps her.

Miss Wilson — If you could all have as good a man to
help you as I have to help me, I would advise you all to
have a man.

Mr. Wilcox — Can you tell us any reason why a woman
producing comb honey cannot make it as profitable as a
man can?

Miss Wilson — I don't know of any reason; I say it all
depends upon the woman.

Miss Candler — I don't know, only as Miss Wilson says ;
bee-keeping is very nice, very profitable, and very health-
ful.

PRESSURE OF THE GERMAN WAX-PRESS.

"Will Mr. Root tell us what is the pressure of the Ger-
man wax-press?"

Mr. Root — I don't believe that I can answer that in
pounds. Miss Wilson said a good deal depends upon the
woman in keeping bees. A good lead depends on the wax
you are pressing, and a good deal depends on what strength
you have. One great trouble is, it is a mistake to suppose
that a great deal of pressure is necessary; an intermittent
pressure is generally better than to squeeze the combs right
down. Suppose you fill your press clean up to the top, and
then squeeze it down in a solid mass, and consider you have
done the job. That is not the way it should be done. It
should be squeezed, and turned over, and turned over, and
squeezed, if you want to get it all out. Some experiments
are going to show that hot water is a great deal better than
steam.

Mr. France — Just one thing there. I believe that some
of you get a wrong impression about the wax-press. When
Mr. Root said, "You fill that up," he won't recommend that,
or I have not found that from my experience. You want to
put in but a small quantity of slumgum at a time in order
to get the effect of the pressure.

Mr. Wilcox — How thick should the cake be at the bot-
tom of the press when you press it?

Mr. France — I should prefer not to have it over an
inch and a half thick.

Mr. Reynolds— Dr. Miller, I believe, asked Mr. Hubert
Root last year what the pressure was of that press, and he
stated that there was between three and four tons. I claim
that there is no such pressure, for the simple reason that
the cross-piece of the wax-press will not stand it. The one
I use bends, and draws the side in on the basket, and it is
a hard matter to. get the basket out with the slumgum in.

Dr. Miller — Is the bar of wood or metal?

Mr. Reynolds — It is wood. I think it is not right that
that should be sent broadcast through the proceedings of
the convention as it was last year.

Mr. Meredith — I believe if you take a 10-pound block,
and put it over the screw, turning or pressing the wax, that
the pressure at which I have used tlie press, the slumgum

172 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

would easily raise a 10-pound block. I don't tbink there are
many people who recognize the force that is obtained by
the screw process. Possibly Mr. Root could give us some
idea. You have seen buildings that have been raised with
jacks, and the thread on the wax-press is something like
that, which would indicate a large amount of pressure.

Mr. Wheeler — I have used one of those presses and I
have had to do away with one of those top sticks. As Mr.
Reynolds said, it was too light, and kept bending, and bend-
ing, until it was a regular rainbow, and finally we had to
put in twice as heavy a stick of oak, 3 by 4 inches, and that
works tip-top. The hot steam seems to soften the wood.

Ernest R. Root.

The first one gave out entirely. After it got a bent shape
I turned it over.

Mr. Root — What Mr. Wheeler says is true. We found
that out to our sorrow, and I will say we have replaced those,
and any one who has had one that has given them trouble,
we desire to give him a new one. We put an iron brace
under it, and a piece of sheet-metal to protect the wood.
I perhaps ought not to say it, but I will say it, that wax-
press is something we sent out and we thought it was per-
fect. There is a great deal to learn about a wax-press. My
brother has been three months working on this wax-press,
ten hours a day, doing nothing else, and sometimes clear
up into the evening, and we have learned this, that great
pressure is not necessary. During the last year we changed

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 173

the pitch of the screw so that it would have less than half
the power of the first screw sent out, because the difficulty
would be, they would put too great pressure on and break it.
Mr. France is right when he says a press should not be full,
only enough to make a cheese about an inch and a half
thick. Then you can get all out but about five percent of
the wax. What we are working for now is to get that five
percent.

Mr. Dadant — We have had considerable experience in
melting beeswax and old combs. We used to melt old combs
by breaking them up fine, soaking them in water, and then
rendering them. But the great principle is, if you get the
combs well broken, those combs that contain cocoons or the
skins of the larva lodge in the cells, and no matter what
amount of pressure they will not come out ; that is, they
will not allow the wax to come out. If you have every-
thing well broken, and well soaked in water, the beeswax
will come out sooner or later.

Dr. Miller — That is very good, I believe, but I failed
on that.

Mr. Dadant — I never did much of it myself, but I know
we did it.

Dr. Miller — I am merely saying I didn't know enough
to do it, and I would like to know how.

Mr. Dadant — If you do it in warm weather it will not
do it so well, but in cold weather it will do it better. We
have used the German wax-press, and I believe we are one
of the few who have not broken the iron casting given in
the first place. We had customers who bought those through
us and who all complained of breaking them. We took it
for granted that it was easily broken, and we must be care-
ful, and I think we got the wax out of the combs about as
well as anybody could. We put the wax in and put on the
pressure, and keep it on all day long. You will find every
few minutes, or half an hour or so, you can make another
turn with but a little pressure, and keep on getting your
wax away from the center. We have the same thing in
pressing grapes. You take a large cheese of grape-pulps and
press it in a hurry, and the juice in the center has no time
to get out; but give it time to press out, as the pressure
goes on it it gives more room; you press it gradually, and
therefore you can get better results with less fatigue to
the operator.

Dr. Miller — Do I understand that the metal casting had
broken?

Mr. Root — The first press we sent out had a cast-iron
frame built exactly as they build them in Germany. I sup-
posed if we followed the plan given in Germany we would
be perfectly safe. Those who have had experience in mak-
ing castings will know that sometimes there are flaws in
the casting. Mr. Dadant may have had one without any
flaws. Those flaws are covered up by galvanizing. We re-
placed all that we knew about, and sent out the wooden tops.
I sent Dr. Miller one. Then we discovered that the com-
bination of metal and wood — wood protected by a piece of

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174 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

galvanized iron — was better than anything else we could have,
and that is what we are now furnishing. It consists of a
piece of hard oak, 4 by 3 inches thick; on the inner side
of it is a cast-iron brace that is two inches at the widest
part, through which the screw passes, and an inch at the
farthest point. This brace is made just like ordinary braces
— with a rib running through the center to stiffen it. The
cast-iron top was a circular piece of cast-iron about three-
eights of an inch thick, with ribs like the spokes of a wheel,
the ribs being thicker towards the center.

Mr. Meredith — I would like to say a word, not speaking
of pressure as a defect, but from experience possibly in put-
ting on too much power when I have had to let it stand.
The bottom or the portion upon which the cage sets being
a light piece of metal with rivets around, I have drawn two
or three rivets right straight through, and I found that the
iron around there has turned something like the fans of a
windmill, instead of standing up. I was wondering if that
was a common complaint, or just an accident with my
machine.

Mr. Root — That is not a common complaint, but in some
few instances it has happened. There is one thing about the
wax-press I feel chagrined over — that we couldn't build it
in the first place so that it would resist these strains. But
you can see what the problem was to us, it was making one
strain against another, and that strain sufficient to stand all
kinds of pressure. When we say the pressure must be right,
it may be three or four tons, or four or five tons, they don't
quite understand what we mean. In reference to the remark
made by Mr. Reynolds, stating that my brother said the
pressure would be three or four tons, he probably gave that
statement from first experiments then made. /Kt that time
we thought great pressure was necessary, but we learned
afterwards pressure was not needed, but a light pressure con-
tinued, so that the wax could get away.

Mr. Reynolds — Don't you think it should be sent broad-
cast to the people that that was a mistake?

Mr. Root — This is broadcast here.

Mr. Reynolds — ^^Shouldn't it be put in Gleanings?

Mr. Root — I think I have published it two or three

times.

EXHIBITS AND PRIZES AT CONVENTIONS.

Mr. Swift — I don't want to shut off the wax-press dis-
cussion, but a matter has occurred to me that is entirely
foreign. I have attended, now, I think, three or four of
these conventions — I am not sure which — and this is the
only convention I have ever attended where there is nothing
in evidence of the object of the convention. You take the
Fat Stock Show, and when they have their meeting they
have their stock to see and judge; you take the meeting of
the Horticultural Society, and the different associations
throughout the United States and elsewhere, and they all
have exhibitions of their products — something to judge by.
The Chicago-Northwestern Bee-Keepers' Association have

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 175

nothing but a bare room, and these charming ( !) pictures
to gaze upon, while you are listening to the words of
knowledge that come. I think it would be a good idea
to have something on the line of our work on exhibition
here at the convention. Our Secretary-Treasurer has notified
us we are woefully weak in the form of finances. If we
join any more associations we probably won't have any-
thing left. If it meets with the approval of the Executive
Committee, I would like to make an offer of $10 to the
Association for three prizes for the exhibition of honey
at our next convention; $5 for the first, $3 for the second,
and $2 for the third — say a dozen sections of comb honey,
the quality and character considered, and I will myself be
responsible for the premium, if that meets with the approval
of the Association.

Pres. York — I think that is a very good idea, and if
you wish to put it that way I think the Executive Committee
will arrange for an exhibition next year; and if anybody else
wishes to say they will give something, or give a premium
for something else, we can have that.

Dr. Miller — I will take it out of the hands of the
Executive Committee, and move that the offer be accepted
with thanks.

Mr. Reynolds — I second that.

Pres. York put the motion, which was carried with ap-
plause.

Dr. Miller — I want to suggest one caution. I have been
at conventions where we have had a great many things on
exhibition, and Mr. Swift doesn't know the danger-point
that lies in connection with that. One of the troubles about
it was that in an adjoining room, or sometimes in the same
room where these articles were on exhibition, the invariable
result would be that there would be two or three, or half
a dozen, people around those things looking at them and
talking about them while the meeting was going on, and
unless some steps are taken to prevent that, you are going
to do more harm than good.

Mr. Swift — That is the reason I left it to the Executive
Committee.

Pres. York — If we meet here next year we can have
it in front of the convention.

Mr. Moore moved, seconded by Dr. Miller, that at 4
o'clock p. m. this convention adjourn to meet again next
year. Carried.

SECOND DAY— Afternoon SeSbion.

At 1 :30 the convention was called to order, with Pres.
York in the chair.

PROTECTING HIVES FROM SUN HEAT.

"Should hives be protected from the heat of the sun?
If so, what is the best method?"

Mr. Hutchinson — I think where you are producing comb

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176

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

honey, and the heat drives the bees out of the supers, it is
an advantage to have the hives shaded. I don't know of
anything better than a moveable board. You can make a
very cheap "board" out of shingles by having a piece across
the center of each, and you may nail the butts of the shingles
together and make a shade-board 2 by 3 feet. Have the hive
face either east or west, and lay that board on top of the
hive.

Mr. Kimniey — When it gets hot enough to drive the bees
out of the super, you say. Do you know that it ever does.

Mr. Hutchinson — Yes.

W. Z. Hutchinson.

Mr. Kimmey — Some one has told us if the hives are
open; Mr. Doolittle has said there was no need of opening
them at all.

Mr. Hutchinson — It depends upon the location. If the
hives are standing in a close place, where the sun could beat
down and no breeze pass over, that would make a great
difference. If they stood out on a hill where the breeze
could blow over, that would make a great difference.

Mr. Meredith — A gentleman I have some dealing with
in the bee-business recommended planting grape-vines ; that
lets the heat of the sun directly on the hives before the
leaves come out, and after the leaves have fallen in the

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. ' 177

fall, and it gave them shade protection in the summer, using
the Clinton grape more on account of its prolificness.

Mr. Snell — I think the matter of shade depends largely
upon location, as Mr. Hutchinson said; where the apiary is
surrounded by a good deal of wind-break the air is more
suffocating, and the hives in that case will need shading;
where, if they stood out in more of an open place, where
there is more circulation of air, they would not become
heated up enough so that the bees would chister out very
much and desert the supers.

WIRING BROOD-FRAMES WITH STARTERS.

"Should brood- frames with starters be wired to prevent
breaking out of the comb?"

Mr. Hutchinson — Unless the hives are to be moved or
shipped by express I don't think there is any necessity for
it, simply for use in your own apiary. If they are to be
shipped they need wiring. Possibly if you are going to pro-
duce extracted honey those wires would be of advantage,
especially when the combs are new. After they are old they
are not.

Pres. York — Would the bees be apt to build the combs
properly over the wires when using only starters?

Mr. Hutchinson — Yes, they will.

Mr. Kimmey — My experience with bees has been limited
to the first swarm I had issue. I hived upon simple frames
with starters, and I never expressed nor move them any-
where except to carry them in the cellar, and three of those
frames broke down; I don't know whether it was from
my awkwardness, or weak combs, or what it was. It seems
to me that after that experience I would always wire the
frames.

Mr. Meredith — In wiring frames of foundation I have
experienced the trouble of the bees gnawing in or around
the wire, and to do away with this trouble I use the brush
and slightly cover the wires with a little heated wax.

Mr. Becker — In my experience I have never used any
wire. I always use half sheets of foundation for every brood-
frame, and I have never had any trouble with frames break-
ing down.

Mr. Hoffman — I won't agree. If they do as I do they
will have no trouble. Hive on full sheets of foundation,
and put it in the hive, and then you want to wire. But
I try, as a rule, to get all the combs drawn before that
time. I put them in the top hives and have the bees draw
them out, and then I can put them anywhere and they are
all right. This wiring is a tedious undertaking for me.

Mr. Horstmann — ^The comb will not break if properly
handled, so there will be no necessity for wiring for the
purpose of holding the combs. Take a frame and turn it
over, and they are going to work up into it, right up and
down; they will never break.

Mr. Colburn — I think it depends upon whether tlie
combs are fastened to all sides of the frames. I have had

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178

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

quite a number of combs where the frames were fastened
securely, and I have done almost anything I wanted with
them, and yet they never fell out ; and then I have had a

White Sweet Clover,

comb that was not fastened, and it simply tipped out by
raising the frame horizontally.

Mr. Hoffman — Wiring foundation gives one so much
more work, and that is why I am not so much in favor of

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 179

it; by wiring you will get a straight comb, and true, and it
will not sag, either.

Mr. Horstmann — The question asked is. Is it necessary
to wire frames with starters? I say it is not necessary,
but if you want to take the frames out of the brood-chamber
to extract the honey it will be necessary to have it wired.
But answering, the question as it is, I consider it is not
necessary, because I have handled the frames a great deal
and I have never had one break yet, not even bend.

Mr. Hoffman — I don't understand by the question that
it means starters. I wouldn't wire them at all.

SWEET CXOVER HONEY.

"What are the objections, if any, to honey produced from
sweet clover?"

Mr. Horstmann — There is no objection. That is the best
honey produced.

Pres. York — The only objection then, is, that we don't
get enough of it!

Mr. Colburn — I have heard the suggestion that it was
not as good as white clover honey. I have been in localities
where I got both, and I confess I like the white best. The
sweet clover is very fine — ^it is very far ahead of anything
else in looks, but I don't think the quality is as good as
the white clover. If you can get it mixed it is good.

Mr. Becker — I think sweet clover is all right, providing
there is no other honey with it. I have had experience with
sweet clover. We don't get it pure in our neighborhood.
Whenever we take it to Springfield we have to have our
sales made before we get there to get rid of it. They don't
like it in that locality. I bought some from New York,
four or five years ago, when there was no honey at all in
our part of the country, not even an ounce, and I took it
down to the State fair to make my exhibit, and then sold
it out; and the store keepers who sold the honey use to
tell me, "Becker, you have ruined by honey-trade." They
said, "That isn't honey."

Pres. York — ^Didn't you get a premium on that honey?

Mr. Becker — Yes. [Laughter.]

Mr. Kannenberg — I think it depends a good deal on the
man that sells the honey, and how to educate the people
to taste the honey. I think if Mr. Becker educated his
people to get the honey they liked they would eat it just
the same.

Pres. York — Probably there is not enough of it produced.

Mr. Colburn— I have in my place three different kinds
of honey. There is another kind of honey I have had put
into sections and supers ; I don't know what source it comes
from. It is white, though not snow-white like sweet clover ;
it has a slightly muddy tint. That honey has no more flavor
to it than so much sugar syrup. As soon as I discovered
it I stopped selling it, because I said everybody that tastes
that will swear it is sugar syrup and nothing else. I would
like to know if anybody else has had any experience with it.

?;;%/#,

180

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

I think it comes about between white clover and spring
clover.

Mr. Meredith — Is it honey-dew?

Mr. Opfer — Here is a bottle of sweet clover honey, and
I would like anybody in the audience to show better honey
than this. It depends a good deal on the man that produces
the sweet clover honey in my opinion.

Pres. York — I am satisfied that Mr. Opfer's sample is
pure sweet clover honey. I have had lots of it.

Yellow Sweet Clover.

Mr. Moore — I would like to say a word on this honey
question. I sold to my customers some sweet clover honey
in Chicago, seven or eight years ago, and it is only recently
I have gotten away from the effects of it. Any one who
asks which is best, I say, "There is no best; it is simply
a question of what you are used to." This market is used
to clover and basswood flavors. They get their honey from

-;Ij..

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 181

Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Michigan, where the pre-
ponderance is white clover and basswood. I know a major-
ity will have sweet clover honey. Where they get to like
it, it is liked as well as anything else. But this honey ques-
tion is purely a matter of taste. They want what they have
all their lives been used to, and they will absolutely condemn
and call impure anything else.

Mr. Becker — As far as sweet clover honey is concerned,
I have no objection whatever; it is a very fine honey. But
when you take out a section of sweet clover honey there is
the peculiar smell to it that is not in any other honey, and
I think that is the part that people do not like. When you
taste the honey it is as fine tasting as any honey, but it has
that peculiar smell that you can smell in the growing sweet
clover a hundred yards off before you reach it.

LABELING SECTION HONEY.

"What might be the disadvantage of a label covering
all four sides of a section, printed matter being on all four
sides?"

Mr. Fluegee — I should think it would be daubbed up with
honey and get soiled.

Mr. Wilcox — ^Retail dealers might not like it, and that is
a serious objection. They won't want to advertise your
honey for you, by distributing it among their customers;
they would sooner order direct from the producer.

Pres. York — I take it that the questioner means printed
matter concerning the production of honey, or proof of the
purity, and not as an advertising card.

Mr. Wilcox — 1 see no necessity for any printed matter
on comb honey unless your name is on it as a guaranty of
purity.

Pres. York — At the St. Louis convention the question
was asked whether it might be well to print something right
on the wood of the sections by the manufacturers, calling
attention to the fact that there is no such thing as manu-
factured comb honey, or something of that kind. But I
doubt if people would stop to read it, anyway. Take the
cities where most of the comb honey is sold, the servant
girls get it, and I don't think they would stop to read any-
thing printed on the sections. Still, they might.

Mr. Moore — It seems to me if any one wants to put
printed matter on it, the carton is the very best method,
and you 'can print them all over, and as much of it will
be read as any other printed matter we send out.

THANKS TO MR. ROOT.

" Mr. Moore — I move that we present to Mr. E. R. Root,
towards his expenses, the sum of $5. Now, inasmuch as he
has absolutely refused to accept anything, and says he will
donate this sum to our foul brood fund ; and inasumch as
our whole assembly was greatly entertained and interested
by his exhibition of last night, I move you a vote of thanks

• 1 ^ ^

■ 'i^£^£^«(^^^^5d^£^^^i^^£i&£^t^..d;l^J^t^4^

182 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

be given to Mr. Root for his very fine exhibition of last
evening.

Mr. Kannenburg — I second that motion.

The President put the motion, which was carried unani-
mously.

EXPERIENCE WITH ALFALFA HONEY.

"Has any one had any experience with alfalfa honey,
and with what success?"

Pres. York — I don't know whether it means producing
alfalfa honey, or handling it, or eating it, or what. I would
say it is very good to eat.

Mr. Becker — I want to say I don't know anything about
its production. I know that alfalfa won't produce honey in
our locality. But alfalfa honey as a honey I have sold on
the market, and I think it is equal to white clover, or next
to it, none excepted. It sells readily; everybody likes it.
And there is another thing about it, there are a great many
persons that cannot eat honey, but alfalfa they can eat in
great quantities. I would advise those that handle alfalfa
honey, or sweet clover honey, if the store-keepers will not
sell it, to mix it with some darker honey, for instance with
heartsease or even buckwheat. Buckwheat I have not had
for a good many years, but I use heartsease and Spanish-
needle. Invariably in my locality they say this alfalfa honey
looks too much like sugar; it hasn't the color of honey. I
sell a great deal of it every winter. When I get this honey
at this time, and I am out of other honey, I go around and
get some Spanish-needle and heartsease honey, and heat it
all and melt it in order to produce a different color of honey.
Alfalfa is too light a color to sell in the stores. But as to
alfalfa, it outsells almost any other kind of honey.

The regular stenographer, Mr. Angus, having to leave
for his train at this time, Mr. Hutchinsin kindly reported
the balance of tne session as follows :

PAPER PAILS AS RETAIL PACKAGES FOR HONEY.

Mr. Abbott — A man in Colorado expressed to me a paper
pail full of alfalfa honey. It reached me in good condition,
and was of fine quality. It stood around in the office two
days, when, by that time, it had all been eaten. If we could
get hold of somethiner like this to put up honey in for retail,
it would be a fine thing.

ALFALFA HONEY CANDIES READILY.

Mr. Wheeler — When we mention alfalfa honey we are
advertising a Colorado product; we ought to advertise our
own honey. I have found that alfalfa honey candies very
readily.

Pres. York — I have found that alfalfa candies very
readily, and comb honey of this variety ought to be sold
before cold weather comes on.

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. l83

IS PURE ALFALFA HONEY HARD TO GET?

Some members expressed their doubts of the possibility
of getting pure alfalfa honey. They thought it was largely
mixed with sweet clover.

Mr. lAbbott — I have been eating sweet clover honey for
20 years, and I don't think you can fool me with it. We get
some honey from the West that is not all alfalfa, but I have
no trouble in getting water-white alfalfa honey.

A bottle of honey, supposed to be sweet clover, was then
passed around.

Pres. York — I have handled tons of sweet clover honey,
and I should say that this is a sample of pure, sweet clover
honey.

Mr. Snell — I get no surplus from alfalfa, but we have
sent for some of the bacteria with which to inoculate the
soil, and are hopeful of better results.

WHAT IS AN UP-TO-DATE APIARY?

Mr. Horstmann — Where all of the hives are of approved
pattern, the weeds and grass kept mowed, where there is an
extractor used, and everything kept neat and clean.

Mr. Wilcox — I suppose that no old straw hives are used,
and everything is kept neat.

HAS ALFALFA HONEY SPECIAL MEDICINAL QUALITIES ?

Pres. York — I have never heard that alfalfa honey pos-
sessed any special medicinal properties. I believe that bass-
wood has been given that distinction.

Mr. France — I have sold my dandelion honey at an ad-
vanced price because of its supposed medicinal qualities.

Mr. Abbott — I suppose that all honey has medicinal quali-
ties if it is used rightly. It is peculiarly effective in bronchial
diseases.

SHEEP FOR KEEPING DOWN GRASS IN THE APIARY.

Mr. Reynolds — Sheep sometimes knock over the hives.

Mr. Wilcox— I don't know as I would at all times turn
in the sheep, but, in the honey season, it seems to me it would
be all right.

Mr. France — In procuring a site for an out-apiary, I
select a pasture. The stock soon learns to work in the apiary
at night. If hogs have to the yard, I want the hogs to have
rings in their noses.

CAN HONEY-VINEGAR BE MADE AT A PROFIT?

Mr. Meredith — Waste honey can be used profitably for
that purpose.

Mr. France — We can get a good price for honey-vinegar
in our home market where we and the vinegar are known.
I would advise the use of waste honey from washing cap-
pings, the washing of dishes that have contained honey, etc.

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184

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

Mr. Wilcox — If we have honey that will sell at 4 or 5
cents per pound, can it be made into vinegar with profit?

Mr. France — I think not.

Mr. Hoffman — Give the process for manufacturing vine-
gar.

Mr. France — Make a solution of honey and water that
will float an egg, then let it stand until it has turned to
vinegar. That is all there is to it. There are quicker proces-
ses than this — those that expose it to the air more thoroughly
than this — but it will not pay the ordinary bee-keeper to
bother with them.

SAMPLES OF HONEY.

As a drawing card for the National convention that
was held at -St. Louis, Mr. France collected pound-samples
of different varieties of honey from different States. After
securing them it was impossible to display them, as out-
siders kept slipping in and carrying them off. It was quite
interesting to see how the same variety of honey differed
in different parts of the country. Mr. France had with him,
and placed upon exhibition, small samples of the varieties
of honey that he had gathered.

''brick honey."

Mr. Root exhibited a sample of candied cut up as they
cut it up into "bricks," and surround the packages with para-
fiined paper, with parchment paper over that. It can be sold
only in a local market, as the public in general does not
understand about the candying of honey, and, if kept over
until warm weather, it will become too soft; in fact, only
such honey as candies hard can be used.

Mr. France — Have you tried Southern honey?

Mr. Root — No, we have not.

Mr. Kimmey — How will it be next summer?

Mr. Root — It will be soft. As I have said, it must be sold
while the weather is still cold. I would not advocate it for
use away from home.

Mr. Duby — I have calls for candied honey here in Chi-
cago.

Mr. Moore — There is no trade in candied honey here in
Chicago, unless it has been worked up.

HOW SHALL WE BEST MARKET COMB HONEY?

Mr. Abbott — It depends upon the locality.

Mr. Becker — My plan is to put the honey up in an
attractive package. I make three grades. There is a first
and a second grade, and then the culls. Sell in the home
market if possible. A home market is lasting, once it is
established. Shipping honey without loss from breakage
is an art. I have bought lots of honey from Mr. York, and
never yet had a particle of loss from leakage in shipping.

Mr. Reynolds — An agent, or seller of honey, sometimes
makes sales, and gets the start of some other seller, by show-

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 185

ing that his honey is of light-weight — that is, the sections do
not quite weigh a pound each, and there is more profit in
their sale.

Mr. Becker — I have seen that done, but I always sell by
weight.

Mr. Moore — I found, in Indiana, merchants who were
selling 2,000 or 3,000 pounds of honey each year. I found
that tiiey did it by keeping it in sight — put up in nice show-
cases. Sell honey close at home, then it will not be smashed.

Mr. Duby — I have sold as much as 1,000 pounds of honey
at a fair, and I find it an excellent place to advertise.

Mr. Meredith — At Mill Park, where there were excur-
sions from schools, I have sold as much as 400 pounds of
honey in one day.

Mr. Wilcox — First decide at what price honey will sell.
Put it up in the best style. Sell it near home. If not pos-
sible, then put it in the hands of commission men.

Next came an address by Prof. E. N. Eaton, State
Analyst of the Illinois Food Commission, on

FOOD FRAUDS AND FOOD OFFICIALS.

Again I have the privilege and the honor — and I assure
you it is a privilege and an honor — of appearing before the
Chicago-Northwestern Bee-Keepers' Association. I believe
I feel as much interest in your Association, its members and
its meetings, as I would had I as large an apiary as Mrs.
Stow, or as much knowledge of the bee as Dr. Miller, in-
stead of no knowledge of the ways of the bee except as a
warrior, and no earthly possessions in that line — not even a
bee in my bonnet. Last October I read before the National
Association a paper on "Food Frauds," laying special stress
on the misrepresentation of comb honey, and the damage such
misrepresentation has done to the sale of that commodity.

Mr. York has suggested that I bring the same subject
before this Association, inasmuch as there are many in at-
tendance at this convention who were unable to get to the
National, and the records of that convention will not be
available for some time.

Many years ago Dr. Wiley, now chief chemist of the
United States Department of Agriculture, stated that comb
honey was being made artificially, comb and all. That story
went the rounds of the press, and, despite frequent denials,
appears in papers to this day, even in such reliable publica-
tions as the Ladies' Home Journal, the Chicago Tribune, and
the Philadelphia Press. When cornered Dr. Wiley claimed
that the statement was "a scientific pleasantry," and that the
bee-keepers — simple children of Nature — ^were too obtuse to
see the joke. The public and the public press, however, took
it as seriously as did the bee-keepers, and consequently Dr.
Wiley's reputation as a joker suffered a serious relapse.

There have been many variations of "the Wiley lie," as
the statement has been referred to by bee-keepers. State
Food Commissions have said that bees entered the conspiracy,
and were fed glucose to produce honey. Other Food Com-

-'ki'^i^l:^''^jJ. :V»-. ■Wi::-rc?i^*CT-ei^=^A^iiK«r-:ifci-iV".-^v«^^^

186

rOIITJTTI AXXT'AI. I^F.PORT

ini-^^i(]ns cumcntcd lluinsc1\rs willi iH-pcalinj^ llu' original lie
witlR)Ut variritinn. lliit all liad llu' .■^anu■ effect — to (jrcjiulice
tin- i)ul)lic against the pureliase of imre eomh lione}, and, to a
certain extent, oi honey of all kinds. I need not tell an as-
sociation of l)ee-kee])ers tiiat snch stories are made out of
whole cloth. They are in fact lies — however, not malicious
lies, as 1 douht not they largely come through ignorance.
As to the remedy 1 would infringe on the copyright of Presi-
dent l-Joosevelt. and suggest juihlirity. I'^very food commis-
sioner and chemist should do his part to correct the false
impres.-.ion which has heen made, and 1 assure vou in hehalf

State Analyst K. N. Eaton.

of Conunissioner Jones antl myself, that we will do our part.

Another matter in which the hee-keepcrs have of late
evinced much interest, is the chemical composition of hone}'.
Owing t<j the fact that the word "glucose"' has two or three
meanings cheniicall\-, and an entirely ditiferent meaning com-
merciall}-. there l)a> hei-'u nuich confusion among hee-keepers.
as to whether or mil glucose is a normal constituent of
honey.

In taking uj) this matter 1 wish to call \-our attention io
a pamphlet just receixed. dehning honey and setting" standards
for the same, 'l^ie iianiphlet i> a part of a report from a

STATE r.F.F-KREPF.RS' ASSOrTATrnX. 187

committee of standards ni the Assnciatimi of OiTicial Ai^ri-
eulttiral Chemists, and as their standards have lieen recoo-
nized liy t!ie United Stales Secretary of ( Ai4ricultnre, they
l)ecome important and authoritative. 'I'lie standard and defi-
nition of honey are as follows:

"1. Honey is the nectar and saccharine exudations of
plants gathered, modified, and stored in the com!) hy honey-
bees (Apis mcllifica). It is l;evo-rotatory. contains not more
than twenty— five (2.")) percent of water, not more than twen-
ty-five hundredths ((».2."») percent of ash, and not more than
eight (S) percent of sucrose.

"2. Cunib honey is honey contained in the cells of comb.

'".]. Extracted honey is hone}- which has been separated
from the uncrushed comb by centrifugal force or gravity.

"4. Strained honey is honey removed from the crushed
comb by straining or other means."

My quarrel with these standards is in the definition for
honey, which I maintain is too sweeping, and incorrect.

Strictly speaking, honey — commercial honey — should be
limited to the nectar of flowers. Louse honey, or honey-
dew honey, or pine-tree honey, are not, and should not be,
sold to consumers for honey. Again, honey is not nectar
nor saccharine, but a manufactured product, made by the
bees, changed from its original condition.

There is, of course, such a thing as honey from bumble-
bees and no doubt other bees, but the only honey of com-
merce is produced by the honey-bee, and to this bee the
definition properly should be restricted. I would therefore
suggest that the definition for honey be that suggested by
me to the National Association of State Food Commissions,
which is this :

Commercial honey is the nectar of flowers, transformed,
and stored in a comb by the honey-bee.

As these schedules are subject to revision, it might be
wise, if the Association looks at this matter in the light that
I do, to take some action, preferably by resolution.

A word as to the condition of the Illinois honey mar-
kets in regard to purity, and I am done : Before the Illinois
Food law became operative fully :;.'! l-l! percent of the
extracted honey on the market was adulterated. Since then
the adulteration has grown less, until last year, when we
found seven samples of adulterated extracted honey out of
:2S samples analyzed. However, in all but one case, the adul-
terant was cane-sugar, and in several cases it was impi>s-
sible to tell whether it had been intentionally added or fed
to bees. This year, while only a few samples were analyzed,
none have been found adulterated. It seems that adultera-
tion of honey with glucose is almost a thinsi" of the jiast.

"E. X. K.\Tox.

I\Tr. Moore — Isn't the change of cane-sugar to grape-
sugar the same as that made l)y the bees?
Prof. Eaton — I think not.

Mr. Kimme}- — Can chemical science make honey?
Prof. Eaton — No.

188

FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

Mr. McCain — I supposed that the nectar was changed to
honey while in the sac of the bee. Isn't that true?

Prof. Eaton — I am inclined to think that the change is
begun in the sac.

Mr. Abbott — This question of nectar and honey has
been threshed over again and again. When the nectar is
put into a cell I think it is still nectar. I don't agree with
Prof. Cook, that honey is partly-digested nectar. Cane-
sugar stored in the combs is still cane-sugar, and will re-
main such, Prof. Cook to the contrary notwithstanding, and

Emerson T. Abbott.

I want Prof. Cook to know that I say this. I would like
to know if Prof. Eaton agrees with Prof. Cook.

Prof. Eaton — I must admit that I got most of my in-
formation on this subject from Prof. Cook, and I am in-
clined to agree with him.

Mr. Kimmey — If I feed the bees 20 pounds of honey or
sugar, and then find only 14 pounds in the combs, let me
ask where the difference has gone to?

Mr. Moore — It has been used up in household economy.
Prof. Cook has said that if we feed sugar to the bees,
honey will be the result. If this is true, then what kind of
honey is it?

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 189

Mr. Wheeler — The matter of honey-dew is important.
If there was any honey-due in our honey we might be ac-
cused of adulterating our honey.

Mr. Root — Mr. Selser and Prof. Eaton agree exactly as
to the proper definition for honey, but this point raised by
Mr. Wheeler is really most important. Suppose I am a
beginner, and I unknowingly put honey-dew upon the mar-
ket, there is danger of prosecution, in which injustice will
be done.

Prof. Eaton — I might say that I do not agree with
Prof. Cook in every point. One point is that I do not be-
lieve that when bees are fed cane-sugar the result is true
honey. It would be lacking in the natural flavor of true
honey. In regard to the best definition for honey I think
that practical bee-keepers are the best judges as to what
this definition should be. The matter is really important,
however, as decisions in important suits may turn upon the
definition that the courts are guided by.

It was moved by Mr. Moore that the chair appoint a
committee of three to look after this matter of securing a
proper definition for honey. Dr. Miller, C. P. Dadant and
E. T. Abbott were appointed.

Upon motion of Mr. Horstmann it was voted the Asso-
ciation pay the Secretary $20 for his services.

DEFINITION AND STANDARD FOR HONEY.

In reply to a question, Prof. Eaton said that he con-
sidered 25 percent of water in honey was a high percentage
for a standard. About 22 percent is as much water as was
ever found, but he thought it better to be safe, and put it
at 25 percent. Eight percent sucrose is also a high per-
centage. He had no objections to offer to the standard as
proposed for honey.

Mr. France — I suppose that these standards will become
authority. If they do, and the proposed definition is also
made authentic, then I am ready to quit bee-keeping. My
honey this year would be pronounced adulterated if judged
by the proposed definition.

Upon motion of Mr. Moore, a vote of thanks was given
Prof. Eaton for his paper. Thanks were also tendered the
proprietor of the Revere house for his courtesy and kindness
in furnishing a room for the meeting. Mr. Root was also
remembered with a vote of thanks for his entertainment with
the stereopticon.

The convention then adjourned to meet at the call of
the Executive Committee.

-I- ::.-i.:::ii,n-5\^^

190 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

INDEX.

Absconding of Shook Swarms 89

Advantage of Shook-Swarming 112

Advantages of the " Wisconsin Hive " 91

Advertising Honey as a Health Food 136

Alfalfa Honey Candies Readily 182

Baby Nuclei and Mating Queens %

Bee-Keeping for Women , 168

Bees as Property, and Assessable 155

Black Brood 26, 159

Breaking Down Prices of Honey 136

Brick Honey 100, 184

Can Honey- Vinegar be Made at a Profit ? 183

Cash for Proof of Adulterated Comb Honey 127

Constitution and By-Laws State Association 9

Co-operation Among Bee-Keepers 34

Definition and Standard of Honey 189

Detecting Adulteration of Beeswax 119

Detecting Foul ^rood 160

Dispensing with the Bee-Veil 110

Effect of Market Reports on Honey-Prices 114

Exhibits and Prizes at Conventions 174

Experience with Alfalfa Honey 182

Extracting from Combs Having Brood 117

Food Frauds and Food Officials 185

Formaldehyde Experiments 27

Formation State Association 12

Foul Brood and Other Bee-Diseases 17

STATE bee-keepers' ASSOCIATION. 1^

Fruit-Tree Blight and Bees 67

Guarding Against Foul Brood 62

Has Alfalfa Honey Special Medicinal Qualities ? 183

Horizontal Wiring of Comb Foundation 116

How Shall We Best Market Comb Honey ? 184

Increasing the Circulation of Bee-Papers 123

Is Pure Alfalfa Honey Hard to Get ? 183

Keeping Brood Out of Sections 63

Labeling Section Honey 181

Laws on Bee-Keeping 103

Mailing Infectious Material 168

National Honey Exchange 126

Ought Bees to be Assessed ? 64

Outdoor Wintering of Bees 114

Paper Pails as Retail Packages for Honey 182

Pickled Brood 24, 159

Pressure of the German Wax-Press , 171

Preventing Adulteration of Extracted Honey 66

Prevention of Robbing During a Honey-Flow 117

Proposed Apiary Bills 14, 16

Protecting Hives from Sun Heat 175

Queens Killed when Introducing. ." , 119

Queen's Wing and Leg Growing 113

Regulating Prices of Honey , 65

Re-introducing a Balled Queen 106

Report Illinois State Convention 29

Report of Chicago-Northwestern Convention 81

Report of State Inspector 78, 140

Samples of Honey 184

Selling Honey Through Grocers 76

Sheep for Keeping Down Grass in the Apiary 183

" Shook " or " Shaken " Swarm Ill

Shook-Swarming- 102

Size of Colonies of Bees in Spring 117

Stanley Method of Queen-Rearing 104

Starting with Bees 114

State Inspection of Apiaries in Illinois 38

Sweet Clover Honey 179

Talk on Foul Brood Among Bees 40

Thermometer in the Bee-Cellar 82

What is an Up-to-Date Apiary ? 183

Wintering Bees 68

Wiring Brood-Frames with Starters 177

Working for Comb Honey 71

rrV..-^^ '^fTi?;^- '-■■-•*■ '>s'--'^..-_-. " -7.. ^^*■J-'■vlf.>. .^-js,-*^'- .■■-;«■■ X''-.

192 FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT

ILLUSTRATIONS.

Abbott, Emerson T 188

Baby Nuclei and Queen Mating 98, 99, 100

Becker, Chas^ 55

Dadant, C. P 36

Detecting Foul Brood 162

Dittmer, Gus 167

Eaton, E. N 186

Prance, N. E 41

Harrison, Mrs. L 146

Hutchinson, W. Z 176

Miller, Dr. C. C 141

Moore, Herman F 95

Newman, Thomas G 148

Observation Hive for Sitting-Room Window 80

Root, Ernest R 172

Smith, J. Q 31

Stone, Jas. A 48

Stow, Mrs. N. L 88

Sweet Clover— White 178

Sweet Clover — Yellow 180

Wilcox, F , 151

Wilson, Miss Emma M 170

York, George W 83

rv ?^SSS?"eBf=^K^ '