Oct. 13, 1904. 



TH£ AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



693 



Mendlesou, A. Carmichael, Wm. Stolley, E. Gannson, M. 

 Dearby. 



For Director (to succeed W. Z. Hutchinson) — R. L. 

 Taylor and J. Q. Smith. Others : W. Z. Hutchinson, Geo. 

 W. Brodbeck, F. W. Muth, M. A. Gill, W. L. Coggshall, 

 George W. York, Eugene Secor. C. P. Dadant, H. Surface, 

 J. W. Rouse. E. S. Lovesy, Wm. Gary, J. U. Harris, H. 

 Mendleson, C. Stewart, E. Alexander, F. Rauchfuss. 



For Director (to succeed Udo Toepperwein) — Udo 

 Toepperwein and E. S. Lovesv. Others : Dr. C. C. Miller, 

 H. H. Hyde, J. Q. Smith. E. T. Abbott, F. L. Allen, L. H. 

 Scholl. Ernest R. Root, F. Brown. W. H. Laws, W. Victor, 

 H. S. Ferry, Frank Benton, E. J. Atchley, Gus. Dittmer, H. 

 Lathrop, Emma Wilson, C. Stewart, L. Stachelhausen, E. 

 F. Atwater. 



While the two persons receiving the highest number of 

 votes on this informal ballot are to be the candidates, that 

 does not prevent members from voting for any of the others 

 named, or any one else not named, who is a member. 



In the case of a successor to W. Z. Hutchinson as direc- 

 tor, we understand that he has requested that members vote > 

 for R. L. Taylor, who also is from Michigan. Mr. Taylor 

 is an able man in every way, and also a practical bee- 

 keeper, and would be a real addition to the Board of Direc- 

 tors, we think. 



These Missing Volumes and Copies of the American 

 Bee Journal are wanted by the Periodical Division of The 

 Library of Congress, Washington, D. C, in order to com- 

 plete their files : 



Volumes 2 to 5 ; Vol. 6, No. 1, July, 1870 ; Vol. 7, Nos. 2 

 to 11, August, 1871, to May, 1872 ; Vols. 8 to 13 ; Vol. 14, 

 2 to 12, Feb. to Dec, 1878 ; Vol. 15 ; Vol. 16, Nos. 1 to 6, 8 to 

 12, 1880; Vol. 17; Vol. 18, all except No. 46, Nov. IS, 1882 ; 

 Vols. 18 to 37 ; Vol. 38, Nos. 1 to 39, January to September, 

 1898. 



If there are any of our readers who have any or all of 

 the foregoing, we trust they will communicate at once with 



Mr. Herbert Putnam, Librarian, Washington, D. C, as he 

 is very desirous of getting all the missing volumes and 

 copies indicated by the list mentioned above, so that there 

 may be deposited in the National Library a complete set of 

 the volumes of the old American Bee Journal. 



Mf. 0. D. Edwards, of Cooper Co., Mo., and a sample of 

 the peculiar work done by his bees, are shown on the first 

 page this week. When sending the photograph, Mr. Ed- 

 wards wrote as follows : 



I have 26 colonies of bees, and they have been doing 

 very well this year. I had the first swarm June 1, and from 

 this swarm on July 18 I took 24 pounds of fine honey. In 

 taking off honey from one of the old colonies, I found I had 

 some educated bees that manufactured a perfect mitten as 

 well as any artist could do. I enclose a picture showing 

 what it is possible for bees to do. I'll bet it is the only 

 hand that was ever manufactured by bees. 



O. D. Edwards. 



Mr. 0. 0. Poppleton, of Dade Co., Fla., called at our 

 otKce both coming and going to the St. Louis convention. 

 He has also been visiting a few weeks in Iowa. Mr. Pop- 

 pleton is looking and feeling better now than in years past. 

 He is one of America's best bee-keepers, but on account of 

 poor health hitherto he has not been able to write much for 

 the bee-papers. We hope he will continue to improve, and 

 that with voice and pen he may help for many years to 

 place apiculture on a more sure and enduring foundation. 



Mp. F. W. Hall, of Sioux Co., Iowa, with two of his 

 daughters, and also a neighbor's daughter, made us a short 

 office call last week when on their way home from the St. 

 Louis convention. It's a good thing to take the older chil- 

 dren along on such a trip when it can be done. Mr. Hall 

 has set a good example. 



Contnbuteb Special Ctrttcles 



Freaks in Nectar-Secretion— Alfalfa and 

 Cleome. 



BY PROF. A. ]. cook. 



I HAVE a letter from the veteran bee-keeper of Ventura 

 Co., Calif. — our friend Mr. Cory — which leads me to 

 write something further about growing alfalfa as a 

 honey-plant. Mr. Cory is a man of wide experience, and a 

 very intelligent observer, and his judgment regarding any 

 matters relating to bees, or their economy, will never be dis- 

 regarded by one who knows him well. 



It will be remembered that I spoke of alfalfa very 

 highly as a honey-plant, and called attention to the possi- 

 bility of added success if bee-keepers would study the mat- 

 ter of location, and by moving their bees secure the nectar 

 from alfalfa, and thus replace a honey dearth with fair if 

 not a bounteous yield. 



Mr. Cory criticises this position — in a kindly way. of 

 course, as Mr. Cory is always a gentleman. He says that 

 while alfalfa in certain regions secretes nectar and adds 

 largely to the honey-yield, in other sections, especially near 

 the coast in Ventura County, it seems of no value at all as 

 a honey-plant. This is certainly a very important matter. 

 Since coming to California I have never lived near enough 

 to alfalfa fields — though there is an extensive area of this 

 valued forage-plant within a few miles of Claremont — to 

 form an opinion as to its value from my own personal ob- 

 servation. It is a fact that nearly all our honey-plants 

 seem very erratic in this matter of nectar-secretion. Thus, 

 in our region of Southern California, a little more or less 

 ain makes the whole difference between a wondrous suc- 



cess and an absolute failure in the securing of a honey crop 

 from the sages. 



In the East, we use to notice that a season of drouth 

 would utterly cut off the profits of the apiary. It may be 

 true, and very likely is, that atmospheric conditions, as well 

 as soil moisture and make-up, also affect secretion. It 

 seems to me that we need extended observations regarding 

 this whole matter of nectar-secretion. What effect has 

 moisture on the atmosphere or dryness ? What is the limit 

 of soil moisture ? What is the effect of winds, if any ? in 

 fact, the entire relation of environment, both above and be- 

 low ground, in relation to presence of nectar in the bloom. 



It is well known that Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, 

 Arizona, and the great San Joaquin Valley in California, 

 are regions of great heat, and also that all of them have a 

 very dry atmosphere. In all of these places, if I am rightly 

 informed, alfalfa, when well irrigated, proves an excellent 

 honey-plant. It would seem, then, that a dry atmosphere 

 and warmth are both favorable to honey-secretion. In some 

 parts of Southern California, like Orange County, Los An- 

 geles County, Ventura and Santa Barbara, the weather is 

 much cooler, and the atmosphere much more moist. Now, 

 if, as Mr. Cory says, the alfalfa does not secrete in these 

 regions, though the soil may be as moist and the growth as 

 luxuriant, then we must conclude that either the warmth or 

 the dryness of the atmosphere is the real cause of the pres- 

 ence of the nectar in the blossom. 



I think we may safely conclude that the new and famous 

 regions which are becoming deservedly so noted and popu- 

 lar, of Imperial and Coachells, in San Diego and Riverside 

 Counties of California, may safely be counted on as pros- 

 pectively excellent for honey. They are very like the 



