March, 1913. 



American Vee Journal 



Convention m) Proceedings 



Sidelights on the National 

 Meeting 



The meeting at Cincinnati Feb. 12 

 and 13 was not very largey attended, 

 only about 60 bee-Iteepers being pres- 

 ent. But the meeting was harmonious. 

 Changes were made in the Constitu- 

 tion according to the needs of present 

 conditions. Tlie committees selected 

 to pa.ss on the publication of the Re- 

 view made some kindly criticisms, 

 but recommended to accept the pur- 

 chase of the publication. It was very 

 evident every move taken by the 

 Board of Directors was made in good 

 faith and without profit to them- 

 selves, and that an honest manage- 

 ment is carried on. All are willing to 

 continue on the same footing. So no 

 great opposition was shown by any 

 one of the delegates. 



In addition to the changes in the 

 Constitution, which will be published 

 in our next number, we will also 

 publish a new set of honey grading 

 rules as proposed by two committtes 

 appointed by the Board of Directors, 

 a committee of producers and a com- 

 mittee of dealers. 



A resolution was passed to ascer- 

 tain whether the former incorporation 

 of the association is still in force. It 

 it has been outlawed the Secretary is 

 to secure a fresh incorporation, pro- 

 vided the cost is less that $.50. 

 The officers elected are as follows: 



President, Burton N. Gates, of Mas- 

 sachusetts; vice-president, H. A. Sur- 

 face, of Pennsylvania; secretary, E. 

 B. Tyrrell, of Michigan; treasurer, C. 

 P. Dadant, of Illinois. Directors for 

 three years, E. D. Townsend, of Mich- 

 igan, Wilmon Newell of Texas and 

 Wesley Poster, of Colorado; for two 

 years, J. M. Buchanan of Tennessee; 

 P. B. Cavanagh, of Indiana. 



An enthusiastic resolution was 

 passed to extend a vote of thanks to 

 the former General Manager, N. E. 

 France, for his devoted and disinter- 

 ested management in past years and 

 a committee appointed to receive sub- 

 scriptions for a lasting present to be 

 given him in token of the esteem in 

 which he is held. Although many of 

 the delegates had already left for 

 their homes, subscriptions to the 

 amount of $48 were received in a few 

 minutes and a committee composed of 

 Dadant of Illinois, Cavanagh of In- 

 diana and Allen of Wisconsin, was ap- 

 pointed to handle all subscriptions 

 for this purpose and select a durable 

 present. 



Mr. France is very modest and for 

 this reason the committee does not see 

 fit to solicit any one. Those who are in 

 favor of this action will please send 

 their subscriptions to this fund at 

 once to the chairman of the commit- 

 tee C. P. Dadant. Hamilton, 111. A list 

 of the subscription and the use to 



which it will be put, will be sent on re- 

 quest to any one of the subscribers. 



A very decided expression was 

 given to the advisability of holding at 

 least one meeting a year in which 

 only bee-keeping subjects will be dis- 

 cussed, where every one present will 

 be on an equal footing with everybody 

 else, without delegate privileges as to 

 votes and where actual business will 

 therefore be tabooed. A resolution 

 was passed instructing the executive 

 board to prepare at least one such 

 meeting. 



In the afternoon of the second day 

 the Chamber of Commerce of Cincin- 

 nati treated the members to a trolley 

 ride and a visit to the Rockwood Clay 

 Works and the Cut Glass factory. 

 The last session of the convention 

 reached well into the night of the 

 second day. 



Report of the Washington 

 State Convention 



The Washington State Bee-Keepers 

 Association met at North Yakima, 

 January 8 and 9, 1913. There were 

 present some of the most extensive 

 specialist bee-l^eepers of the state 

 numbering their colonies by the 400 

 and ."lOO and more. 



The opening session was at about 11 

 a. m. and Judge Milroy welcomed the 

 convention to the city in a very pleas- 

 ing address. 



SPRING MANAGEMENT OF BEES. 



Robert Cissna, talking on this sub- 

 ject, advised a careful examination of 

 the apiary. He marks only the weak 

 and queenless colonies, and unites, 

 putting the colony with the queen on 

 top. Be sure the bees have enough 

 honey to carry them along. More 

 loss is occasioned through starvation 

 in winter than from any other cause. 

 Peed the weak colonies if worth sav- 

 ing, with combs of honey taken from 

 stronger colonies, if you have no extra 

 combs of honey on hand from the 

 previous season. 



THE NATIONAL ANLl ADVERTISING HONEY 



Mr. George W. York, of Sandpolnt, 

 Idaho, former president of the Na- 

 tional Bee-Keepers' Association, then 

 spoke on the National Association, 

 what it is doing, and proposes to do. 

 He urged that every bee-keeper's or- 

 ganization become affiliated with the 

 National, for "In union there is ^ 

 strength"; and there should be the. 

 fullest spirit of co-operation on the. 

 part of all. 



Pres. Burdick spoke of the Wash-? 

 ington Honey Producers' Association,! 

 of which he is manager. They handled! 

 over a carload of honey the past sea-J 

 son at an expense of 10 per cent tol 

 the Association. He believes that! 



the parcel post will help when it once 

 gets under full headway, but it will 

 need some improvement over its pres- 

 ent plan of operation. In a co-oper- 

 ative organization, it is essential that 

 every member be absolutely loyal, 

 even if at times they may lose a 

 little. In the end, success would be 

 assured. 



PREPARING BEES FOR WINTER. 



Mr. Virgil Sires said that a goodly 

 portion of young bees, a good queen, 

 with plenty of good stores, and 

 a hive-cover that insures the bees 

 against dampness, are the essentials 

 for good wintering. 



He favors providing slight upward 

 ventilation, through a quilt or pack- 

 ing of some kind. He places at least 

 four thicknesses of burlap over the 

 frames, putting the cover on this, and 

 leaving an air space between the cloth 

 and the cover. Never place the cover 

 down tight on the cloth, far better, 

 use no cloth at all, for when the cloth 

 gets damp it does not dry out easily. 

 If there is a space between cloth and 

 hive-cover dampness more easily es- 

 capes. 



Mr. Sires prepares his bees for win- 

 ter at the last extracting; or if comb- 

 honey colonies, when removing the 

 last supers. If everything is in normal 

 condition in the brood-chamber at 

 that time, the hive is covered up for 

 the winter. There should be at least 

 2.5 pounds of good honey in the hive, 

 30 or 40 pounds would be better. If 

 the brood-chamber has not enough 

 stores, he removes empty combs ami 

 replaces them with combs of honey. 



In the locality of North Yakima Mr. 

 Sires believes chaif-hives, or protec- 

 tion to the hive-body, is a needless 

 expense. 



BEE-KEEPING AT THE STATE COLLEGE. 



Prof. A. Melander, the Washington 

 State Entomologist, of Pullman, Wash- 

 ington, addressed the convention, say- 

 ing the agricultural college would be 

 glad to help the bee-keepers of the 

 state. He desired to know just what 

 they would like the college to do for 

 them. The prospect is that a course 

 in practical bee-keeping will soon be 

 installed, and a thoroughly competent 

 expert employed throughout the year. 

 Prof. Melander captivated the conven- 

 tion with his pleasing manner and 

 evident desire to get in touch with the 

 bee-keepers of Washington. 



I LIQUEFYING HONEY. 



,i 



1 Mr. A. G. Kuykendall described his 



method of liquefying honey, using a 



j.tank with steam-pipes running 



jithrough it. Mr. York also explained 



;Min detail the methods and equipments 



which he used in Chicago, when he 



bottled some three car-loads of honey 



'during the winter. 



Mr. Cissna said he heated his ex- 

 tracted honey and bottled or canned 

 t just as fast as it was extracted. It 

 takes less heat at that time. He 

 thinks that more honey is consumed 

 if sold in the liquid form. He uses 

 I three burner gasoline stove under 

 ^ jacketed can into which the honey 



