Published Weekly at »1.00 a Vear by Oeorge W^. York & Co., 334 Uearborn 8t. 



Entered at the Post-Office at Chicago as Second-Class Mail-Matter. 



QBOROB W. YORK, Editor. 



CHICAGO, ILL,, DEC, 22, 1904. 



VoL XLIV— No. 51. 



Bee-Keepers' Convention Dates. 



So far as it may be desirable for the same persons to 

 attend two different conventions it is desirable that dates 

 do not conflict. Editor Root's suggestion in Gleanings in 

 Bee Culture may be worth considering. He says : 



It would be a good thing if those who have to do with 

 fixing dates for conventions would arrange them so they 

 will not conflict with some other convention date, so that 

 one or more speakers can attend them all. For example, 

 the Illinois State convention conflicted with the one at 

 Toronto, Canada. Editor York had intended to go to both, 

 but of course could go to only one. I am arranging to go 

 to Chicago to attend the Northwestern Nov. 30, and go to 

 Cincinnati Dec. 2, then am compelled to retrace my steps 

 and go back to Chicago to get to Minneapolis the 7th and 

 8th, making double mileage. If the matter were put in the 

 hands say of the General Manager of the National, he might 

 suggest a set of dates so that he himself and the editors of 

 all the bee-papers could attend all the conventions, and at 

 the same time get the mileage down to a minimum. Such 

 an arrangement would often make it possible for an asso- 

 ciation to get an outside speaker when it could not other- 

 wise. 



We are glad Mr. Root took up this question of conven- 

 tion dates. Especially if several conventions are to be held 

 in fairly close proximity as to place, it is desirable that 

 their dates be a reasonable time apart. It is often desired, 

 and very desirable, that certain good convention bee-keepers 

 attend as many conventions as possible. Such men as N. 

 E. France, Dr. C. C. Miller, E. R. Root, E. T. Abbott, C. P. 

 Dadant, and many others who might be mentioned, are 

 always a big help to any bee-keepers' convention. And 

 often they would like to attend several such meetings but 

 can not do so on account of a conflict of dates. 



Perhaps those who have charge of the arrangement of 

 convention dates can help a little. We believe the annual 

 State Fairs are planned so as to accommodate exhibitors 

 who wish to attend as many of them as possible. 



What is honey ?— A Question of Definition. 



Some may think that a very simple question, possibly a 

 foolish question to put in a bee-paper, while others who 

 have given the matter some thought will, no doubt, hesitate 

 before attempting to give a correct answer. 



Just now, when the pure food question is a live one, the 

 government is tryintr to get a correct definition. If the 



bees store sugar syrup, should it be called honey ? Is it 

 honey when they store honey-dew ? Editor Root favors the 

 view of Chemist Selser, that nothing should be included in 

 the definition except " the nectar of flowers only, gathered 

 and stored by the bees ". The definition seemingly most 

 in favor at Washington at the present time includes that 

 gathered " from flowers and from the exudations of plants ". 

 This would rule out honey-dew, which is not an exudation 

 of plants, but of plant-lice. It would, however, admit what 

 Editor Root would reject— nectar from parts of plants other 

 than flowers. 



Cheshire tells us. Vol. I, page 264, " in vegetative or- 

 gans, quite apart from the inflorescence, nectaries are occa- 

 sionally present — e. g the stipules (or leaflets on the 



leaf-stalk) of beans are nectariferous ", and that the visits 

 of the bees to these stipules is quite the common thing. 



Must California bee-keepers be forbidden to visit the 

 bean-fields with their bees in order that their product shall 

 be allowed upon the market as honey ? May not honey in- 

 clude all that the bees manufacture from the nectar of 

 plants, from whatever part of the plant that nectar be 

 obtained ? 



Advertising Honey Better than Lawing. 



Regarding the use of money in the treasury of the Na- 

 tional Association, the following from an editorial in the 

 Bee-Keepers' Review is in line with views heretofore ex- 

 pressed in the American Bee Journal : 



It is rapidly becoming apparent that there are other 

 things of more importance than that of spending money 

 on what are often little more than neighborhood squabbles 

 in which the bees are made an excuse for a lawsuit. Too 

 many are not careful with their bees to avoid trouble : not 

 so careful as they would be were they not members of the 

 Association ; as they expect to be helped if they get into 

 trouble. The helping of a man out of trouble does not, as 

 as a rule, greatly benefit the membership. I would not say 

 that no member should be helped when suit is brought 

 against him in regard to his bees, as there will probably 

 arise cases in which it will be highly important that help 

 be given, but it is very important that, in some way, the 

 reins be drawn tighter upon the using of money for this 

 class of work. Not only does it use money, but these little 

 wrangles take the time and energies of the Manager, and 

 they can be used to better advantage in other ways. For 

 instance, the advertising and popularizing of honey would 

 be of value to the entire membership. 



