June, I 



American Hee Journal 



Legislature twice before, arc very anx- 

 ious to see this resolution passed, by 

 the bee-keepers of the Chicago-North- 

 western, because we should have behind 

 us not only the example of other States, 

 but the opinion of the bee-keepers who 

 rcDresent the industry in Illinois. 



Mr. Wheeler — Does this body repre- 

 sent the bee-keepers of Northern Illi- 

 nois? 



Mr. Kimmey — The committee consid- 

 ered this matter, and while there may 

 be force in the argument that this Asso- 

 ciation consists of bee-keepers from 

 other States, and that it perhaps may 

 seem a little outof place that the bee- 

 keepers from adjoining States should 

 call upon the Legislature, still bees know 

 no State lines. The man from Wiscon- 

 sin is interested in Illinois. So are the 

 States of Iowa and Missouri which ad- 

 join our borders. If any objection be 

 made to these territorial bounds, we 

 have this to say, that we shall call upon 

 the Legislatures of all States. We 

 should pass this resolution to strengthen 

 the hands of the legislators. 



Mr. Reynolds — How many bee-keep- 

 ers are there in Illinois? [About 35,- 

 000.] Do the bee-keepers know this? 



Mr. Anderson — The bee-keepers should 

 be at this convention. The Chicago- 

 Northwestern, the Illinois State, and an- 

 other Association in the southern part 

 of the State, represent the bee-keepers 

 of this State, and if they are not here, 

 it is not our fault. We represent a 

 good share of the bee-keepers of Illi- 

 nois. 



Mr. Reynolds — How many have heard 

 of it? What papers have advertised it? 



Mr. Kimmey — We don't pretend to 

 represent the bee-keepers of Illinois. 

 Simply the opinion of this Association. 

 We are simply speaking for ourselves. 



Mr. Reynolds — In regard to this reso- 

 lution being put before the Legislature — 

 where, in case of disease you were given 

 24 hours to clean up or burn, would it 

 be to your advantage? Simply for the 

 manufacturer ; simply that we should 

 have to buy new supplies. 



Mr. Kannenburg — The law did not 

 say that an apiary must be burned up 

 if the bee-keeper is willing to cure it. 



Mr. Whitney — The point is: Do we 

 want to cast our influence in favor of a 

 good foul brood law? It seems to me 

 that designating what kind of a law 

 the Legislature shall pass, is out of the 

 question. Shall we adopt a resolution 

 putting ourselves on record that we are 

 in favor of a good foul brood law? I 

 am in favor of the resolution. 



Mr. Moore^ust one word of in- 

 formation. The only organization that 

 is recognized by the Legislature of Illi- 

 nois, is the Illinois State Bee-Keepers' 

 Association. Anytning we do is purely 

 advisory. After a talk with Mr. Stone, 

 Mr. Smith, and Mr. Becker, I know 

 their views entirely. They would like 

 to get a law through that is perfect in 

 all of its parts. It has been impossible 

 to get any law at all. We need a law 

 based on the Wisconsin law. We can 

 say nothing as to what shall be put in 

 that law. They will have to do the 

 best they can, but this is old and is thor- 

 oughly understood by the bee-keeping 

 fraternity. 



Mr. Wilcox — This resolution simply 

 savs that we are in favor of a foul 



brood law. I had something to do with 

 the Wisconsin foul brood law. One of 

 the objections raised by one legislator 

 was, What is to hinder shipping in foul 

 brood from other States? Our answer 

 was that we hoped to have similar laws 

 passed in other States. We hope to 

 have. ■• A law patterned after the Wis- 

 consin law will be appropriate to Illi- 

 nois. There is nothing objectionable 

 about it. It is strong in its provisions, 

 but never resorting to extreme. No 

 rash measures have ever been employed 

 by Mr. France, who is the inspector 

 for Wisconsin. 



Mr. Kimmey — We should not be hasty 

 in so important a matter. If there is 

 any danger of this law being passed for 

 the advantage of manufacturers, we 

 should stop and investigate. Is there 

 any danger of this law being turned to- 

 ward the manufacturers? How many 

 Wisconsin bee-keepers are there here ? 

 (3.) Is this law a beneficial thing in 

 your State ? 



Mr. Wilcox — I am sure it is a benefit 

 to the bee-keepers of Wisconsin. It 

 subdues and prevents foul brood. It 

 does not benefit the supply-dealer, di- 

 rectly or indirectly. 



Mr. Whitney — I think it is a great 

 benefit. We feel perfectly safe in Wis- 

 consin. It is well known that I have 

 sold bees to come into Illinois. Before 

 I concluded to send them 1 wrote to 

 Mr. France and asked him if he knew 

 if there was foul brood in the neighbor- 

 hood. If there was any, I would not 

 send them to Illinois. He said, "No." 

 So I felt safe to send them. I feel 

 very anxious that everybody should do 

 what he can to get a foul brood law 

 that is as effective as it is in Wisconsin. 

 I think it is all right. It has not added 

 one penny to the manufacturers. 



Miss Candler — I have always felt that 

 it would help me. I am very glad to 

 have it there. 



Mr. Reynolds — If the foul brood law 



is right, it will be all right. 



Mr. Dadant — Is any one present who 

 knows of any one in a State where they 

 have a foul brood law that has caused 

 discontent among bee-keepers. 



Mr. Taylor — I am a foul brood in- 

 spector myself. We have a foul brood 

 law in Michigan. The former inspector 

 had been so busy that he used all the 

 funds. More funds were supplied about 

 July I. During August and September 

 I visited 40 or 50 apiaries. Any one 

 would be surprised to go into a neigh- 

 borhood and see the condition of the 

 bees. I went where almost every apiary 

 was rotten with it. In all my experience 

 I found only one man who was dissat- 

 isfied. Most were glad to have me come. 

 Bee-keepers generally are glad to have 

 their bees looked into. 



Mr. Reynolds — There was another 

 clause that said if you had a colony 

 of bees in one yard that was afifected, 

 you could sell no honey from that yard. 

 The law should be fair — one that will 

 work both ways. V 



Mr. Taylor — We have nothing to do 

 with the nature of the law. The ques- 

 tion is simply, Shall we have a law? 



Mr. Wheeler — We have a foul brood 

 law. The bee-papers say so. 



Dr. Miller — 'There never has been a 

 foul brood law. That bee-paper was 

 mistaken. 



Mr. Wheeler— We say there have been 

 inspectors of the highest type. We 

 don't know what they will be in the 

 future. I understand that people know 

 what Mr. France and Mr. Taylor are. 

 We don't know what the future has in 

 store for us. What we want to do is to 

 ward oflf unfair people. We want to 

 protect ourselves. We do not want to 

 put ourselves in the hands of people 

 who care nothing for us except what 

 they can get out of us. 



The resolution was passed unanimous- 



ly. 



{Continued next month) 



Rcfleclioiiif 



California Bcc-Kceper ^'^^^^ 



By W. A. PRVAL. Alden Station, Oakland. Calif. 



'Twas a Dry Old Time. 



At the beginning of April I wrote that 

 the indications were good for a fine crop 

 of honey, with the proviso, however, if 

 the atmospheric conditions during the 

 honey-secreting period, would be propi- 

 tious. The growth of all vegetation was 

 never better than it was up to near the 

 middle of April. But as there had been 

 no rain since the first week in March to 

 amount to any thing, plant life living 

 on the outer crust of the earth, began to 

 wane, and by the end of the third week 

 in April the verdure of the hills com- 

 menced to parch — the drouth was being 

 seen on every hand. All late crops even 

 in the low lands were not what they 



should have been. And some of these 

 April days were really summery — they 

 were such days when the heat starts 

 pitch a-running from fence-rails. 



Of course, such a dry spell had a bad 

 influence upon the duration of the early 

 honey-flora. But the flow of nectar was 

 splendid : not in 30 years, as far as I am 

 able to recall without consulting data, 

 did we have such a flow of fine honey — 

 it was nectar fit for the gods. It was a 

 flow that comes but seldom in a genera- 

 tion in these parts, but when it comes 

 it will be remembered. The honey was 

 not only clear, but the flavor was deli- 

 cious, and the aroma was delightful. 

 In short, it was ambrosial, if we mortals 



