®®«®e®®®e® e® ®®®®®«^®® ®® ®® ®« ®®®®^®®®®«®®e® ©€> @^^^&&&&&&&&r. 



1861 ^ 



'^l^ERICA^ 



^- y„r^tsT M^Pr,- 



Ealered at the Post-OfBce at Chicago as Second-Class Mail-Matter. 



aeOROe W. YORK, Editor. 



CHICAGO, DLL, JAN. 14, 1904, 



Vol, XLIV— No. 2. 





Editorial Comments 





Work of the National Association. 



In the report of the General Manager, issued last month, 35 cases 

 are enumerated that were looked after and defended by the Associa- 

 tion during 1903 ; of which one was in Arizona, 4 in California, 3 in 

 Canada, 3 in Colorado, 3 in Illinois, 1 in Indiana, 4 in Iowa, 3 in 

 Michigan, 2 in Minnesota, 3 in New Jersey, 1 in New Mexico, 4 in New 

 York, 1 in South Dakota, 2 in Texas, 1 in Utah, and 3 in Wisconsin. 

 Details are given of live ot the more important cases. 



General Manager France urges that members should be careful 

 about getting into trouble with neighbors on account of bees, saying 

 that from the scores of letters he has received he is satisfied that in 

 many cases the owners of the bees could have avoided the trouble. 

 He says: " Members must not assume any obligation expecting the 

 Association to reimburse them, without first getting the advice and 

 consent of the General Manager.'' 



The General Manager seems to agree with those who think it 

 would be as well to have a smaller number of directors; saying, "The 

 number of members on Board of Directors is none too small, as ex- 

 perience has proven in many cases."' 



From the last United States census is given for each State the 

 number of colonies of bees June 1, 1900, and the pounds of honey for 

 1899. For the whole United States the number of colonies was 4,Ui9,- 

 626, valued at $10,186,573; honey 61,196,160 pounds, value of honey 

 and wax being 5^6,664,904. 



The part of the Report, however, which will be studied with great- 

 est interest by many is the statistical report that accompanies most of 

 the names in the list of members; and, no doubt, many will regret 

 that some have failed to send in any report. The headings of the 

 columns in the report are: Fall Count 1902; May Count 1903; Win. 

 tered in Cellar; Taxed Valuation; Comb Honey Produced; Extracted 

 Honey Produced. 



All in all, the outlook for the future of the Association is most 

 promising. 



Honey of the Baekwood's Bee-Keeper. 



Mr. Allen Latham, of New London Co., Cjnn., sends us the fol- 

 lowing: 



Dear Mr. York : — It would interest you to see some ot the honey 

 exposed for sale here in our best stores. Connecticut is still primitive 

 in certain respects. There are farmers about here who still brimstone 

 their bees and take the honey, bee-bread, cocoons and all to the store, 

 where it is laid in great slabs of tough comb on a platter, sometimes 

 under a glass, sometimes exposed to dust and dirt. And the price at 

 which it is retailed out is — what do you guess? — 22 cents! It almost 

 took my breath away when I saw it, for I was retailing the choicest 

 chunk honey at 15 cents; honey thai would command the very fan- 

 ciest price were it only in sections. How it happened not to be in 

 sections may be the subject of an article later on. 



Allen Latuam. 



There is a large amount of public education to be done by up-to- 

 date bee-keepers, not only among some of those who attempt to pro- 

 duce and market honey, but among grocers and storekeepers. 

 Really, in many ways, bee-keeping and honey-production are only in 



their infancy. Mr. Latham's experience can be duplicated all over 

 the country, 'tis sad to say. There are doubtless many bee-keepers 

 who dump their honey on the city market, who could realize much 

 more out of it by selling it near home. There are many grocers who 

 never have handled honey put up in present-day style. 



Certain very good people are urging bee-keepers to " keep more 

 bees." That is all right for some, but we believe what the majority 

 of bee-keepers need first is to develop a better and more remunerative 

 market or demand for the honey their present number of colonies 

 produce. Better prices may often more than equal more bees, and 

 with less risk and work. 



Some Big Bee-Keepers of Oup Country. 



In the Natianal Association's Annual Report appear 30 names of 

 bee-keepers haying 500 colonies or more each. Unfortunately, some 

 among the largest bee-keepers on the list give no figures. Those that 

 do appear are as follows : 



Thirty bee-keepers with 24,549 colonies of bees, an average of 

 more than 800 each, is probably not to be matched in any other coun- 

 try in the world. It must be noted, however, that in a number of 

 cases fall count is given. 



Why Do Honey-Plants Vary in Nectar-Yielding? 



Can any one tell us why it is that some years a honey-plant, white 

 clover for instance, yields bountifully, while another year, with even 

 a greater abundance of bloom, it seems utterly barren ot nectar? Pos- 

 sibly the knowledge would be of no practical value to us, but one can 

 not help asking. Again, why is it that some plants are good honey- 

 yielders in one locality and not in another; This was referred to on 

 page 739 (1903) , and curiously enough more than one seems to have 

 understood that it was there taught that bacteria were needed on the 

 roots of asters and goldenrods. A more careful reading will show 

 that the exact reverse was meant. Surely, the presence or absence of 

 bacteria can not account tor the presence or absence ot nectar— what 

 will account for it? Who has the answer? 



The Life of Bees— A Correction. 



On page 820 (1903) occur the following words: "If we assume 

 that the black queen was removed June 6, that makes 61 days as the 

 lite of her latest descendant, supposing it died Aug. 6." That piece 

 ot bad arithmetic might have slumbered quietly in peace had not a 

 number ot letters promptly been written by intelligent readers of the 

 Bee Journal, calling attention to the error. Of course, when a queen 

 ceases to lay June 6, the young bees from the last day's laying will 

 not emerge from their cells till 21 days later, and instead of being Ul 



