41st YEAR. 



CHICAGO, ILL., FEBRUARY 14, 1901, 



No, 7, 



\ ^ Editorial. ^ I 



Only One National Association. — 



Rev. A. B. Mettler, of Will Co., 111., wrote us 

 as follows, Feb. 1st: 



1. Is the National Bee-Keepers" Association 

 now in actual existence as the embodiment of 

 the National Bee-Keepers' Union, the United 

 .States Bee-Keepers' Union, and the North 

 American Bee-Keepers' Association * 



'I. And in consequence have these last three 

 pone out of existence < Your quotation of 

 Editor Root, on pafje 67, seems to imply this 

 much. 



3. And if so, when was it effected, where is 

 its headtiuarters, and who are its officers '. 



If an amalgamation exists so that there 

 is but one truly National Society instead of 

 two or three or more, I think I would like to 

 unite with it : for then something could be 

 done efficiently, as all will pull together, and 

 not pull somewhat together and somewhat 

 apart, as must be the case where several 

 societies are organized as "'National " in the 

 same interests. 



4. What is the admission fee '. 



a. The American Bee .Journal for .Jan. 31st 

 has arrived. I congratulate you upon removal 

 of your office to a more convenient place. But 

 say, do street cars run up Wells street to Erie 

 street ! If not, how near do they go ? 



6. I am .57 years old to-day, but have had 

 only one birthday. If you can't guess how it 

 is I can tell you later on, if you wish to know. 

 A. B. Mettlek. 



AsswEHs.— 1. The National Bee-Keepers' 

 Association is now the only national organi- 

 zation of bee-keepers in existence. The Na- 

 tional Bee-Keepers' Union was organized some 

 1.5 years ago for the special purpose of de- 

 fense, never held a meeting, but did success- 

 ful work until about a year ago, when it was 

 amalgamated with the United States Bee- 

 Keepers' Union, and the organization result- 

 ing called the National Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion. About five years ago the original 

 national bee-keepers' organization, which was 

 started over 30 years ago, changed its name to 

 the North American Bee-Keepers' Association. 

 Then at the Lincoln, Nebr., convention in 

 1898 the name was changed to the United 

 States Bee-Keepers' Union. This left two 

 bee-keepers' unions in the Held, both being 

 national in character, and were the two that 

 united into one society about a year ago. 



•2. So, as before stated, there is just one — 

 the National Bee-Keepers' Association— now in 

 America. 



3. Its headquarters are at Forest City, Iowa, 

 where its general manager, Eugene Secor, re- 

 sides. The full list of officers was publisht on 

 the tirst editorial page of last week's Bee 

 Journal. 



4. The annual dues, or admission fee, is 

 Sl.OO. ■ 



5. Yes, the street cars run within one-half 

 block of our new olHce, at 144 and 14(1 Erie 

 street. The Wells streetcars can be taken on 

 what is known as the down-town loop, and 

 for 5 cents you can come to our office from 

 the center or main Ijusiness part of Chicago. 

 If one happens to get on a North Clark street 

 car there will be no harm done, as this line 

 crosses Erie street two and one-half blocks 

 east of our office. But the least walking will 

 be done by taking the Wells street cars. 



(). We are usually not very good guessers, 

 and so you will have to explain about your 

 having had " only one birthday.'' 



Management for Comb Honey. — Mr. 



L. Stachelhauseu gives his method of produc- 

 ing comb honey as follows, in Cileanings in 

 Bee-Culture: 



As soon as the honey-flow commences, and 

 the time arrives when we think it is best to 

 set supers with sections on top of our hives, a 

 hive is prepared with starters onl.v. We bring 

 it to the hive selected for the new manipula- 

 tion. The old hive is removed from the bot- 

 tom-board, and set aside to be handy for the 

 following manipulation. The new hive is .set 

 on the old stand, and an empty hive-body on 

 top i>t it. In all these operations I use smoke, 

 and handle the bees somewhat roughly to 

 cause them to fill themselves with honey. 

 One of the brood-combs, with bees and all, 

 is put into the new hive, and then all the bees 

 brusht from every frame into this hive. The 

 most important thing in this operation is, that 

 the bees fill themselves with honey. A little 

 sprinkling with a solution of sugar in water 

 can be used if the bees do not suck up the 

 open honey. 



The combs from which the bees are brusht 

 into the new hive are assorted into different 

 empty bodies near by — brood-combs, honey- 

 combs, or empty ones separately. It is not 

 necessary to look for the queen. She is brusht 

 into the hive with the other bees. 



At last we remove tJie empty body, lay a 

 queen-excluding honey-board on top of the 

 new hive; and a super with sections (con- 

 taining preferably full sheets of foundation 

 and some bait-comlis) is set on top of this, 

 and the hive is closed. 



The next day the frame of brood is re- 

 moved, and more super room given if needed. 



Fropolisin. — As there is a possibility that 

 propolis may yet become an article of com- 

 merce, the following from a report of a con- 

 versazione reported in the British Bee Jour- 

 nal will be of interest: 



" Fropolisin '' w 

 medically used in 

 many supposed, 

 wonderful antisept 

 successfully for wc 

 was supposed to 1:i 

 some experiments : 

 percent emulsion u 

 were killed off in t 

 teria in three mil 

 was stated to !« 



as a remarkable iiroduct, 

 liquid, not salve form as 

 It was consiiliTi'd to be a 

 ic, and hail lu'cii cMiiployed 

 lunds in Sovith Africa. It 

 lie the place of iodine, and 

 -bowed that with about 3 

 f the li(|uid certain bacteria 

 MO minutes, and other bac- 

 lutes. This ■• propolisin " 

 very useful for foot and 



mouth diseases. The mixture was also said 

 to be very rich in oxygen and carbonic acid 

 gas in a liquid form, and contained another 

 alkaloid at present unknown. With regard 

 to "propolisin." Mr. Harris would like to 

 know, seeing that its antiseiJtic properties 

 had been proved, what the general opinion 

 was as to its efficacy in the treatment of foul 

 brood. 



Mr. Reid, who had examined the bottle and 

 smelt its contents, said that the liquid smelt 

 of benzoline, and might be a germicide. Mr. 

 Brlee suggested that the germicidal pro])er- 

 ties probably existed, if at all, in the "un- 

 known alkaloid." 



Mr. Reid said that propolis, when taken out 

 of the hive, always contained wax; generally 

 it was nearly half wax, and wax invariably 

 contained propolis, except when just secreted. 

 It was possible to separate five or six different 

 substances by the use of various solvents, but 

 what those substances would do, or whether 

 they were specific antiseptics, it was difficult 

 to say. The bees themselves used propolis 

 as their chief antiseptic. They would cover 

 over objects of aversion (such as a dead 

 mouse), which got by any means into their 

 hive with wax and propolis — always the latter 

 — and they would cover over the antiseptic 

 provided for them with their own, which was 

 better. A large percentage of propolis would 

 be found in the dark cappings of cells con- 

 taining foul brood. 



Mr. Hamlyn-Harris, in concluding the dis- 

 cussion on " propolisin," stated that the re- 

 searches made by the inventor of the com- 

 pound in question was sent up to the Medical 

 Officer of Health for Prussia, and the latter 

 gave his certificate that all the chemical and 

 bacteriological properties thereof were as 

 claimed. 



A Suggestion for the National. — At 



the last meeting of the Chicago Bee-Keepers' 

 Association the following was unanimously 

 adopted : 



Whereas, The National Bee-Keeepers' A.s- 

 sociation has provided that local as.sociations 

 may join it in a body by payment of 50 cents 

 for each local member; and, , 



Whereas, Abundant advertising is neces- 

 sary for the success of any enterprise; there- 

 fore, be it 



Mesolved, That we, the Chicago Bee-Keepers' 

 Association, do hereby request and urge the 

 National Bee-Keepers' Association to provide 

 all local associations in America with printed 

 matter setting forth the objects and aims of 

 the National Association, so that the secre- 

 taries of such local associations may be able 

 to put such printed matter into the hands of 

 all bee-keepers in their territory and juris- 

 diction. 



From the fact that there has been some call 

 for information concerning the objects and 

 work of the National Association, It would 

 seem that there should l)e something printed 

 for free distribution — that it fiu-nish the de- 

 sired information — so that it would not be so 

 difficult for the officers of the local associa- 

 tions to get members. 



It was at our suggestion that the provision 

 was made in the constitution of the National 

 Association to admit the members of the 

 local associations at .50 cents each. We still 



