41st YEAR. 



CHICAGO, ILL, OCTOBER 31, 1901, 



No, 44, 



i ^ Editorial. ^ I 



National Association Elections are 



held annuallj' in December, that is, the elec- 

 tion of general manager and the successors to 

 three members of the board of directors, 

 whose terms expire with the end of each year. 

 The executive committee (composed of the 

 president, vice-president and secretary) are 

 elected at the annual meeting of the organi- 

 zation. 



Referring to this subject, though more par- 

 ticularly to nominations in advance of the 

 election. Editor Hutchinson said this in the 

 Bee-Keepers' Review : 



Nominations in advance of the election of 

 a general manager, and the directors of the 

 National Bee-Keepers' Association, would be 

 very desirable. As it is now, when a member 

 receives a voting-blank, he does not know 

 for whom any other member will vote. In 

 his desperation he voles for the man whose 

 term of office is about to expire. As a result, 

 each officer succeeds himself, year after year. 

 Should it ever become desirable to elect a 

 new man, it would be well-nigh impossible 

 with the present system. This question was 

 discussed by the directors present at Buffalo, 

 but they were unable to devise a plan that 

 seemed wholly satisfactory, and it was finally 

 decided to have the matter taken up in the 

 bee-journals for discussion. 



The foregoing was sent to E. R. Root, one 

 of the directors, for his criticisms or sugges- 

 tions. He considered it brief and to the 

 point, and passed it on to Bro. Abbott, who 

 is chairman of the board of directors. He 

 penciled on the back of the sheet the follow- 

 ing: 



"While it is desirable to keep the same 

 parties in office as long as they attend to 

 business, and give satisfaction, yet it is impor- 

 tant not to have too many directors in one 

 locality, and to place in ollice men who will 

 attend the annual meeting as often as possi- 

 ble." 



The suggestion that we put in directors and 

 a general manager who will attend the annual 

 conventions as often as possible, is worthy of 

 consideration. At the Buffalo convention six 

 of the directors were present (one more would 

 have given us a tiuorum), and we did more 

 business than could have been transacted in 

 weeks or months of correspondence. There 

 is nothing like a face to face discussion of a 

 knotty question. Other things being equal, 

 we should give our preference to those men 

 who are usually present at the annual con- 

 vention. 



This is a matter that we fear will never be 

 satisfactorily arranged. To nominate a cer- 

 tain man (or men) in the bee-papers in 

 advance of the election will hardly do. Who 

 will name them I How many nominations 

 are there to be i Suppose a hundred mem- 

 bers nominate as many different candidates, 

 what is to be done ? 



We noticed last year that some of those 



whose terms of otlice did not expire at that 

 time received quite a number of votes. This, 

 of course, was useless. It might be well to 

 print the list of holdover directors, and above 

 them put this: 



'■Don't vote for any of the following, as 

 their terms of office do not expire this year." 



Nothing need be said about those whose 

 terms do expire — not even mentioning their 

 names ; then let the members vote for whom 

 thej- please. 



It might not be a bad idea for each annual 

 convention to nominate three candidates for 

 general manager, and nine candidates to suc- 

 ceed the three whose terms expire with the 

 following December. Then these nomina- 

 tions could be announced to the members 

 when sending out the voting blanks. Of 

 course, any others could be voted for if pre- 

 ferred, but very likely one of the three would 

 be elected general manager, and three of the 

 nine would be elected directors. 



We commend the foregoing suggestion to 

 the consideration of the membership of the 

 Association, to be acted upon next year, if 

 thought best. Of course it is too late to 

 make use of it this year. The old method 

 will likely have to prevail once more. 



We feel perfectly free to speak out on this 

 subject, as we are not now an officer, nor are 

 we seeking any office in the Association, be- 

 lieving that the more prominent and wiser 

 ones should manage its important affairs. 



Long Tongues I'er Se. — In the Bee- 

 Keepers' Review for September, F. B. Simp- 

 son disclaims the intention of teaching that 

 long tongues are of no value per «c. It was 

 said On page 451 of this journal that it was 

 doubtful if he meant to teach just that thing. 

 But his words — "I believe the long tongues 

 are of no value only so far as they represent 

 an increase of vigor'" — seem to teach just 

 that thing, at least a Straw in Gleanings in 

 Bee-Culture, and an " Afterthought" in this 

 journal, show that others so understood. But 

 a man who is doing as good work as Mr. 

 Simpson may easily be forgiven for failing in 

 a single case to make mimself rightly under- 

 stood. 



-*■ 



Deficiencies of Bee-Books. — Every 

 now and again the novice makes the charge 

 against his text-bnok that it lacks the very 

 thing he most wants tn know. The text-book 

 on bee-culture that is perfect is yet to be 

 written, and the pri)l)ability is that it will 

 never be written. Yet it is doubtful that 

 more truth about bee-keeping could well be 

 gotten into the same space. It must be re- 

 membered that no matter how full and com- 

 plete a bee-book may be within the limit of a 



certain number of pages, there can not of 

 necessity be full minuti^ upon all points that 

 may arise. New complications will always 

 be arising that will raise questions which can 

 only be answered by some one of experience, 

 and for the very purpose of answering such 

 questions a department in the American Bee 

 Journal and in some other journals is con- 

 stantly maintained. The readers of this jour- 

 nal need never hesitate to make free use of 

 the department of "'Questions and Answers." 

 Especially are questions allowed, and even 

 solicited, from our regular subscribers who 

 have made careful study of the text-books. 



Study carefully your text-book, and be- 

 come familiar with it; for the question 

 department is not intended to take the place 

 of the text-book, and after you are familiar 

 with the contents of any good work on bee- 

 culture, you will ask intelligently questions 

 whose answers will be useful to many others. 

 But don't ask too much of the text-books, 

 and don't expect' a study of them ever to 

 leave you without some question that needs 

 answering. 



Warming Combs. — When Wm. McEvoy 

 gives additional combs of honey in the spring, 

 he takes the precaution to have these combs 

 warmed before being put in the hive, by 

 keeping them in a very warm room until they 

 are warmed clear through, as he relates in the 

 Bee-Keepers' Review. If one stops to think, 

 this will appear a rational proceedicg. The 

 combs in the hive, whether full or empty,, 

 will be of about the same temperature as the; 

 cluster of bees, so far as the combs are in- 

 cluded in the cluster or touching the sides of 

 cluster. Now suppose the cluster is divided 

 to receive a fresh comb of honey, or even if 

 it be placed close up against the cluster, it is 

 easy to see that the bees would be thereby 

 chilled, and perhaps serious damage done. 

 Mr. McEvoy is doing a wise and paying thing 

 to warm the combs that he gives. Of course 

 these combs are given in the evening, and 

 then there will be little fear of robbing. 



Hairy Vetch was mentioned on page 611 

 as a possible new honey-plant. Mr. M. M. 

 Baldridge, of Kane Co., 111., called recently 

 and brought with him a sample of the vetch, 

 which was still in bloom. It is a sort of 

 trailing or vine-like plant, growing as much 

 as four feet in length, and has long, purple 

 flowers. He has not seen a bee on the bloom, 

 so is inclined to doubt its value as a honey- 

 plant in his locality. 



Mr. Baldridge says the vetch is the same 

 plant as tares referred to in th» Bible as hav- 

 ing been sown among the wheat by the Evil 

 One. It is almost impossible to separate the 



