4IstYEAR. 



CHICAGO, ILL,, DECEMBER 12, 1901, 



No. 50, 



\ * Editorial. * I 



The Chicago Convention held its best 

 meetiug last week. It was also the most 

 largely attended, the room being crowded at 

 every session — about 100 present. There were 

 bee-keepers from three or four different 

 States. The discussions were taken in short- 

 hand, so we will be able to place before our 

 readers a comple.te report later on. It will 

 easily be worth a year's subscription to the 

 American Bee Journal. There was only one 

 pai)er read, all else being interesting ques- 

 tions, which were discussed in a manner equal 

 to the Buffalo convention, which report is 

 now appearing in these columns. 



Can We Have Better Gatherers? — 



Mr. Getaz, in this journal, having expressed 

 the opinion that, although we might increase 

 the size of bees and length of tongue, yet 

 there was little prospect of increasing honey- 

 gathering qualities, F. B. Simpson says in the 

 Bee-Keepers' Review : 



" The bee is not a domestic animal, or even 

 domesticated; and we have done little to 

 change her condition of lifeexceptto give her 

 a better home ; but by most careful selection 

 I think we will be able to continue to increase 

 gradually the average honey-yield until we 

 obtain great uniformity, and. possihiy. an 

 average very near our • present maximum 

 yield." 



Bee-keepers will probably wish that Mr. 

 Simpson may prove the better prophet. 



The Directors' Meetings at the Buf- 

 falo convention were held during the sessions 

 of the convention, and a Straw in Gleanings 

 in Bee-Culture reads thus upon the subject: 



I want to say in language somewhat em- 

 phatic, that some better way should be pro- 

 vided than to have Directors' meetings that 

 keep directors out of the sessions of the an- 

 nual convention of the National. It isn't fair 

 to the directors; and if they are good for 

 anything, it isn't fair to the convention. 



Kditor Root then follows with this com 

 nient: 



Vou are right; but the time of our National 

 conventions is so much taken up by general 

 convention work that it is often difficult to 

 squeeze in a little side-committee work be- 

 tween the sessions. 1 think the time will 

 have to come when the directors will have to 

 consult by letter, and that ilic discussion of 

 these questions will have to be done through 

 correspondence. Such a plan is unsatisfac- 

 tory, in that it gives the chairman of the 

 Board almost exclusive power to direct, it he 

 chooses, the work of the entire Board. (I 

 speak from an experience Ijased on the time 

 I was chairman of the Bo;iril ; and at that 



time I saw how easy it was to get indorsed 

 any plan I had. ) If he suggests, for instance, 

 that such and such a thing ought to be done, 

 and gives his reasons therefor, in the absence 

 of any counter-argument, his proposed policy 

 is sure to carry, when it may not always be 

 wise. 



There is good ground for the objection 

 raised, especially when, at Buffalo, the presi- 

 dent happens to be one of the directors. If 

 the interests of the Association seem to 

 demand a meeting of the directors' in person, 

 it might not be a bad plan for them to con- 

 vene a day or so in advance of the convention, 

 so that all their business might be concluded 

 before the opening session of the convention. 

 This would be asking, perhaps, rather more 

 than is reasonable from men whose time may 

 be of considerable value, and who in any case 

 give their services gratuitously as directors, 

 and it would not be a very great wonder if in 

 some cases, since directors are only human, a 

 director or general manager might be led to 

 say; 



" I don't want to appear mean, but attending 

 the convention is rather expensive business at 

 best, and since this extra burden is put on, I 

 can hardly afford to attend this year." 



Certainly it would be nothing more than 

 fair that an allowance should be made from 

 the treasury to reimburse at "least the expenses 

 of the extra time. 



A New White Clover is praised in the 

 foreign bee-journals. It originated in Ger- 

 many, is called ruloxxal hidino, and is said to 

 yield a much larger amount of fodder than the 

 common white clover. Nothing is said of its 

 value as a honey-plant. 



The Poison of the Sting is still 

 spoken of as being formic acid, and it is even 

 said sometimes that formic acid from the 

 sting is dropped into the honey in the cell; 

 but Dr. Langer's investigations have shown 

 that the poison is a different matter alto- 

 gether, having a mere trace of formic acid 



in it. 



■* 



Carbolineuni for Hive-Paint. — This 

 new acquaintance comes from Germany, 

 where it is highly spoken of. An editorial in 

 Gleanings in Bee-Culture gives considerable 

 information regarding it. Instead of forming 

 a coating on the surface like other paints, 

 carbolineum strikes clear through the wood, 

 so that when one side of a '„-inch board is 

 painted with it a splinter from the opposite 

 side will taste of the material 24 hours later. 

 It costs only half as much as good lead paint, 

 and it is said that railroad ties saturated with 

 it last three times- as long as when not so 

 treated. 



Mr. (). O. I'lippleton thinks it objectionable 



for hives because of the strong odor of creo- 

 sote, and because of its almost black color, 

 yet he has used it for some years to preserve 

 his hive-bottoms. The dark color would 

 make little difference where hives are kept 

 in the shade, although objectionable where 

 they stand in the hot sun. Even if it be not 

 desirable to use it for anything but hive-bot- 

 toms, it may be quite an acquisition for that 

 purpose, for it is the bottom of a hive that 

 rots first, and in some places the bottom is 

 ruined by ants, which would be kept at bay 

 by the carbolineum. 



Those " National " Conventions. — A 



Straw in Gleanings in Bee-Culture reads as 

 follows: 



'• It might not be a bad idea for each annual 

 convention to nominate three candidates lor 

 general manager, and nine candidates to suc- 

 ceed the three directors whose terms expire 

 with the following December.'' That's a sug- 

 gestion of Editor York as to the National. 

 It's worth considering for the future. 



The following paragraph contains Editor 

 Root's opinion on this subject: 



I do not believe it would be wise to bring 

 about conditions or a precedent whereby the 

 office of general manager, at least, should be 

 changed as often as once in two or three 

 years. When we get a good man. as in the 

 case of our present general manager, we 

 ought to hang on to him. One who has been 

 in the harness, and knows how to pul), 

 should not be made to give place to one who 

 may be merely popular in the eyes of bee- 

 keepers or members of the Association, and 

 yet possibly be entirely unfitted for the exact- 

 ing and important duties of the office. But I 

 do believe Bro. York's suggestion is all right 

 for the Board of Directors. Some of us who 

 have been so long on that Board could just as 

 well get out, and thus place the responsibility 

 for the success of the organization on other 

 men whose help we need. 



In the suggestion made in this journal 

 there was no contemplation of bringing' about 

 any condition or precedent looking toward 

 any change in the office of general manager. 

 As the matter now stands, the manager is 

 elected or re-elected every year. His being 

 nominated in advance at the annual meeting 

 would not be likely to make any change. So 

 long as the man already in office was regarded 

 as the best man for the place, he would be 

 sure of nomination at the annual meeting as 

 he would be sure of election if there had been 

 no i)revious nomination. In general, there 

 would be no need of any nomination. But 

 there is need of nominations for directors, 

 and as the election of manager occurs at the 

 same time as the election of directors, the 

 nominations should be made at the same time. 

 There will, however, come times when it may 

 be necessary to elect a new manager, either 

 because the old one dies or will not longer 

 serve, or because it is thought some other 



