At the close of the essay Pres. Taylor remarked: "I suppose it is known that no appropriation has been made to continue this work for more than one year, and whether it is to be continued will depend somewhat upon the action taken by this meeting. It would also be well to have a committee appointed to decide in regard to the line of experiments that are to be conducted."
M. H. Hunt—In regard to the experiments of foundation, I would suggest that there is a great difference in wax, and this alone might account for much of the difference reported.
Pres. Taylor—I know that there is a difference in wax, but I could have all of the foundation made from the same batch. I could make some from it, and then send some to you, some to Dadant, and to others.
Wm. Anderson—There is a great need of experiments in regard to wintering. There is no drawback so great as this, here in the North.
L. A. Aspinwall—I have experimented for 20 years with machinery, and the profits for the last five years have paid for all the experiments. If we could learn how to successfully winter our bees, there would be a saving of thousands of dollars.
Upon motion of Mr. Hunt a committee of three (W. Z. Hutchinson, L. A. Aspinwall and Wm. Anderson) was appointed to draft a resolution expressing the views of the convention, in regard to the desirability of having the experimental work continued, the selection of a man to do the work, and the appointment of a committee to decide in regard to the line of work to be done.
Next came an essay from the Hon. Geo. E. Hilton, on the
Advantages of Northern Michigan for
Honey-Production.
That Northern Michigan has advantages over the southern or older portions of the State, none familiar with the productions of honey can deny. But to know the advantages of any locality one must be familiar with the flora. The first advantage to be derived from these newer localities is the early flow. In springs following winters of deep snows our bees are bringing in pollen and some from the willows before the snow is all gone. The soft maples soon follow, then the hard or sugar maple, from which we get large quantities of honey. I have said that I believed were the bees in as good condition to store honey as during the basswood flow, it would come in nearly as fast. The honey very much resembles maple syrup. I think, however, that it gets its color from the mixture of dandelion that comes in at the same time. As I prefer to have this all used in the brood-nest, I do not put on the surplus cases until the raspberry bloom opens, but I have extracted from the stronger colonies' brood-nests to give the queen room, and fed to the weaker ones, and if you have never tried it you would be surprised at the results with the weak colony.
From what I have already written, you will readily see that our bees are in the very best possible condition to store surplus at the opening of the raspberry bloom. The blackberry comes before this is gone, and lasts until clover, and clover lasts until basswood, so you see it gives a continuous flow of white honey from berry bloom to close of basswood.