724 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Oct. 27, 1904. 



placed among the genuine flowers, the artificial flower will 

 be visited at least often enough to show that the bees are 

 guided by the looks, for scent there is none. Look at the 

 bees working on a linden tree when there is a breeze from 

 the south. The bees will approach the tree on the north 

 side and scarcely be seen on the south side. It might be 

 supposed that the wind blows the bees to the north side, 

 but the same thing takes place when the breeze is too slight 

 to produce such an efi^ect. In the fall, let honey be stored 

 in a room having a screen door on the north and one on 

 the south. When the wind is from the south the bees will 

 gather at the north door, and when the wind is from the 

 qorth they will gather at the south door, always gathering 

 at the door whence the odor comes. 



The following conclusions of J. Perez, as given in the 

 "Experimental Station Record" of the Department of 

 Agriculture at Washington, are in point, and are worth 

 considering ; 



Based upon extensive experiments and observations the 

 author has reaffirmed his opinion expressed in 1894, that 

 insects are not attracted to flowers by their color alone. 



After reviewing some recent literature regarding the 

 attraction of insects by flowers, an account is given of 

 observations on the attraction of various species of Bom- 

 bus, Apis, Sphinx, etc., by plants growing under natural 

 conditions, and of experiments carried on with flowers 

 o-rown under conditions capable of control. As a result, it 

 is concluded that insects are guided from a distance to 

 masses of flowers by their perfume alone. Where flowers 

 are grown singly, insects are attracted generally by color, 

 and where the distance is small the odor also assists in 

 attracting and directing the movements of the flying in- 

 sects. In the case of apetalous flowers, the perfume alone 

 is a directive agent. 



The Proper Place to Keep Honey. 



The time of year has come when honey, either extracted 

 or comb, may be spoiled by being kept in the wrong place. 

 Perhaps no bee-keeper need be told that honey should not 

 be kept in a cellar, but the novice is in danger of some- 

 thing just about as bad. He does not keep his honey in the 

 kitchen, because there is too much steam there, but in a 

 room opening off from the kitchen, where there is no fire, 

 hence no steam except the little that comes from the kitchen 

 through the door which is much of the time open. If he 

 will try some in each place he will find that the kitchen is 

 the better place of the two. 



Indeed a kitchen, even with all its steam, is not a bad 

 place to keep honey. Steam, to be sure, but the fire over- 

 balances the steam. The loom adjoining is one of the 

 worst places. Even if not so very much steam comes from 

 the kitchen, the coldness of the room allows that little to be 

 deposited upon the honey, and once deposited it stays there. 



A place where salt will keep dry is likely to be a good 

 place to keep honey. 



Influence of the Size of Hives on Swarming. 



G. M. Doolittle, in Gleanings in Bee-Culture, says that 

 9 Gallup frames, equal in capacity to about 6}^ Langstroth 

 frames, are sufificient to entertain the best queen to her full 

 capacity as to egg-laying. He says further, "with those 9- 

 frame Gallup hives I have had fully as little swarming as I 

 have had with the 10-frame I,angstroth hives, and the aver- 

 age of the swarms was not materially difl^erent as to size in 

 either case". 



It would be interesting, and probably instructive, to 

 hear Mr. Doolittle discuss this matter with C. P. Dadant. 



ITltsccUancous Ticxvs Items 



Nomination and Election of National Offleers.— On 



this subject, Mr. C. P. Dadant, the present vice-president 

 of the National Association, sends us the following : 



Mr. Editor : — Reading your remarks in the editorial 

 on page 692, prompts me to say something in regard to the 

 same matter — the nominations and election of officers of 

 the National Bee-Keepers' Association. 



It is very important to have good officers, and to elect 

 men who will thoroughly respond to the expectations of the 

 majority of members. 



The ruling of the Board, that nominations be called 

 for and published previous to election, is a good measure, 

 but I think it ceases to be good when it says that the two 

 persons having the greatest number of votes shall be con- 

 sidered as the candidates for that office. If I am not mis- 

 taken this is the substance of the ruling. 



The nominations in this way would give a fair idea of 

 what the members want, if these nominations were sponta- 

 neous. But some persons may solicit nominations while 

 others will allow them to come without solicitation. The 

 one who writes his friends and asks them to nominate him 

 will be easily nominated above others, and although SO or 

 60 votes may thus come for one person, a very meritorious 

 man may be left out, because he has not seen fit to do any 

 electioneering, and has been nominated by only a half- 

 dozen men who know his worth and want him elected. 



I, therefore, believe that it would be better if the Board 

 will remove from its ruling the condition of considering 

 the two nominees having the most votes as the actual candi- 

 dates. Let each one nominate the man he thinks fit for the 

 office, and let these names be published in the way in which 

 you published on page 692, for I was glad to see that not 

 only the first two names, but also the other nominees, were 

 given in the American Bee Journal, and I wish that the 

 other bee-papers had followed the same course. 



Although, perhaps, the views I express here will not be 

 approved by all, I feel that I represent the wishes of a great 

 number of members in making these remarks. I have 

 talked with several about this matter, and especially with 

 Dr. C. C. Miller, whose ideas on the subject concurred en- 

 tirely with mine. 



I am glad to see that there is no longer any strife in the 

 Association. Our meeting in St. Louis was all that could 

 be wished in the way of harmony. We must now maintain 

 things in this condition, and try to be as fair to all as pos- 

 sible. 



Our President refused to entertain a nomination at the 

 St. Louis convention for the position of director, and I 

 think he was entirely right. Had any one been nominated, 

 at a time when no nominations were expected or in order, 

 there would have been some feelings on the part of friends 

 or other candidates whose names could not be thus brought 

 to public notice in a report that is to be published. The 

 decision of the Board to call for nominations by mail is the 

 best thing for all, and if they will only remove the part 

 calling for only two candidates, it will make everything 

 more satisfactory. 



What we must seek above all things is the avoidance 

 of measures that will give occasion for dissatisfaction on 

 the part of either the candidates or the voters. 



Turning to another subject, I wish to congratulate you, 

 Mr. Editor, on the stand you take concerning " Candor in 

 Dealing with Customers ", on the same page as the editorial 

 referred to above. It is very important in our dealings with 

 the public that there is no misunderstanding, and the man 

 who knowingly allows any false impression to be formed is 

 in a very poor way to take his own part when he is falsely 

 accused. Hancock Co., 111. 



We, too, are rejoiced that a more harmonious spirit is 

 getting back into the Association. We trust it will be en- 

 couraged by every member doing only those things that 



