(Entered as second-class mail-matter at the Chicago, 111., Post-Offlce.) 

 Published Monthly at 50 cts. a Year, by George W. York & Co., 118 W. Jackson Blvd. 



GEORGE W. YORK, Editor 



CHICAGO, ILL,, MAY, 1908 



Vol. XLVni— No, 5 



itorial ^o 



and Comments 



The National Convention at Detroit 



It seems to us that it needs only a 

 good honey crop to insure the largest 

 and best gathering of bee-keepers this 

 country ever saw, next Oct. 13, 14, and 

 15, at Detroit, Mich. Surely Secretary 

 Hutchinson is doing his part to get up 

 an interesting and profitable program. 

 The Michigan State Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation is also putting forth special ef- 

 fort not only to insure a large attend- 

 ance at its own meeting, but also that of 

 the National. The Michigan State bee- 

 keepers will hold their annual meeting 

 at the same time and place. 



We hope that all who can do so will 

 trj' to arrange their work so as to at- 

 tend the National convention. Mr. and 

 Mrs. Hall, of Iowa, who were at the 

 Denver National convention, expect to 

 be at Detroit. It will be a fine oppor- 

 tunity for every bee-keeper who is so 

 fortunate as to have a wife, to take her 

 next October to the great annual "bee- 

 fest," where it is expected that there 

 will be such a "swarm" of the apiarian 

 clans as heretofore has not been thought 

 possible. Let's all go to the ''big bee- 

 meetin'." 



Bee-Keeping in New Zealand 



We have received a letter from Mr. 

 W. B. Bray, of New Zealand, who has 

 been appointed inspector of apiaries for 

 the South Island of New Zealand. A 

 law was passed in 1906, but under it the 

 box-hive was safe unless it could be 

 shown that it contained disease. The 

 three words — "which are diseased" — 

 spoiled the whole law. so in 1907 the bee- 

 keepers made a fight for it and secured 

 the present law, a copy of which Mr. 

 Bray has sent us. 



Mr. Robert Gibb is the other inspector, 

 taking the North Island. Mr. Gibb was 



secretary of the Southland Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association, while Mr. Bray was 

 secretary of the Canterbury Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association. There are two other 

 organizations of bee-keepers in New 

 Zealand — the Hawkes Bay and Wai- 

 kato. 



Mr. Bray has promised to send for 

 publication occasional items of interest 

 to bee-keepers from his part of the 

 globe. We doubt not that, he will prove 

 to be an ideal inspector, and do his 

 part in getting rid of the bee-diseases 

 in his jurisdiction. 



Honey Crop Reports for 1908 



The honey crop prospects for this year 

 that have come into this office agree 

 exactly with those that have been sent in 

 elsewhere, a good sample of w-hich is 

 the following taken from Gleanings in 

 Bee Culture for April 15 : 



"We have just gone over a large num- 

 ber of reports that have accumulated 

 within the last few days. The prospects 

 for a good honey crop are favorable. 



"For the North the winter has been 

 mild, and spring not so early as to start 

 brood-rearing out of season to be chilled 

 later on. 



"Reports from California are some- 

 what conflicting. Early in the spring 

 bountiful rains had come, seeming to in- 

 sure a good honey crop ; but since that 

 time conditions have been less favorable 

 in some sections. As it is, we judge 

 there will be from a light to a fair crop ; 

 and should the situation change for the 

 better, the crop may be a good one. 



"Conditions are exceedingly good for 

 a flow in Texas. It begins to look as if 

 the Lone Star State would redeem its 

 reputation. Its bee-keepers could once 

 boast of a certain crop year after year; 



but during the last two years it has been 

 a failure in many sections. 



"Reports from other portions of the 

 South are favorable. It is too early to 

 predict any results in the central and 

 northern States." 



The Canadian Bee Journal for April 

 contains this paragraph : 



"Reports that have come to us thus 

 far give the pleasing assurance that bees 

 are coming out of winter quarters in 

 splendid shape. It is to be hoped that 

 the weather from now on will be favor- 

 orable for rapid breeding. The heavy 

 and continued snow of this winter, and 

 its manner of melting this spring, was 

 most favorable to the hay and clover 

 crop, in that the frost has not done 

 much heaving, the snow remaining as a 

 protection right up almost to the first of 

 April. The indications all point to a 

 bumper year." 



We hope that the "bumper year" for 

 hee-keepers indicated in Canada for 1908 

 may not only be realized there, but that 

 it may extend all over the United States 

 and other lands as well. The "lean 

 years" in bee-keeping have become rather 

 monotonous of late, and somewhat dis- 

 couraging, but perhaps 1908 may be the 

 beginning of the "fat years" that honey- 

 producers have been hoping for so long. 



Shallow Hives and Pollen in Sections 



One objection that has been urged 

 against hives with shallow frames is that 

 bees are more likely to store pollen in 

 sections over them than over deeper 

 hives. Discussing this subject. Editor 

 Hutchinson says this in the Review : 



"Actual experience, however, is worth 

 a whole lot of theorizing. I have used 

 brood-frame? 12 inches square, also the 

 Langstroth frame, and the Heddon 

 frame whicli is only a little over 5 inches 

 deep. I never had any pollen stored in 

 the sections in using the frame 12 inches 

 square. With the Langstroth frame I 

 have had some pollen stored in the sec- 

 tions, but it was not a serious matter. 

 With the Heddon frames, extra precau- 

 tions had to be taken, or there were 

 whole supers of sections spoiled by pol- 

 len. For instance, a super filled with 

 sections having partly drawn combs, that 

 is, dry combs with no honey in them, 

 could not be given immediately to a 



