AmcFlcan ^ee JoornaJj 



We. the undersiened beiiiB among the 

 largest shippers in the Pecos Valley, and 

 dealint^ quite extensively in honey ourselves, 

 are interested in securing for our bee-keep- 

 ers an outlet for their surplus honey, and wi- 

 cladly join them in askin!; that their petition 

 be granted. 



.Tovce-Pruit Co.. 



RoswEi.i. Seed Co.. 

 /'<■;- J. E. Gill. 



Tafka-Pkacer Co.. 



RoswELL Trading Co.. 



ROSWEI.I. H.-\RDWARE CO.. 



E. A. Caiioon. 



Cashier First National Bank. 



The foregoing petition was given to 

 Pres. R. B. Slease and G. E. Dudley. 

 with the request that they secure the 

 names of the large honey-shippers 

 from the Valley, which they did. 



The following is the petition to the 

 County Commissioners: 

 PETITION. 

 T<i the Honorable Board of Count},' Commission- 

 ers oj Chaves Couiitv: 



Gentlemen-.— At a convention of the Pe- 

 cos Valley Bee-Keepers' Association, held 

 in Roswell. Oct. 5. i"io'- , ,, , , 



We hereby petition your honorable body 

 to fix the price of colonies of bees for taxa- 

 tion at Si.i'O per colony. We look in vain 

 over the various States of the West to find 

 where thev are taxed for more than Si.oo per 

 colony. In many of the States they are not 

 taxed at all. Like poultry, they are looked 

 upon as a small industry that needs the en- 

 courauement of the local government, and 

 are seldom taxed. Our market here is slow 

 and uncertain for sclliinr honey except in 

 small lots, and the railroad tariff prohibits 

 sendine it to the large cities of our country 

 for a market. 



The hive containing the bees is the only 

 thing about a colony of bees that could be 

 well considered as taxable; for bees are in- 

 sects, and have been repeatedly passed upon 

 by the courts of several States as non-tax- 

 able. However, we are willing to be taxed, 

 and as hives average, we think Si.oo per col- 

 ony would be fair, and by this petition we 

 ask that that valuation be placed upon each 

 colony. , , , , ... 



All of the members of the Association, 

 with hardly an exception, own real estate 

 or other taxable property in this county, 

 and we believe that in granting this petition 

 vou will be encouraging an infant industry 

 that may develop into larger proportions as 

 the years roll by and yield good results. 

 R. B. Slease. Pres. 

 Henry C. Barron. See. 



A committee composed of Messrs. 

 J. W. E. Basham, Robert Beers, and 

 Arthur J. Stevens was directed to pre- 

 sent the foregoing to the commission- 

 ers at once. 



Colonies of bees are now assessed at 

 $2.00, which would make their actual 

 value $8.00, considering that taxation 

 is based on '4 actual valuation. In many 

 States bees are not assessed at all, be- 

 ing classed with poultry and other 

 small industries. 



The freight-rate on honey to Chi- 

 cago is $1.30 per 100 pounds, which pro- 

 hibits its shipment from the Pecos Val- 

 ley, consequently the local market is 

 flooded with honey. 



John E. Gill, of theRoswell Seed Co., 

 asked that the bee-keepers of the or- 

 ganization arrange to make their pur- 

 chases from his establishment, or if 

 the association desired to handle all the 

 bee-supplies themselves, he suggested 

 that they buy the stock he now has on 

 hand, which'amounted to about $10,000. 



After a thorough discussion, it was 

 decided to recommend Mr. Gill to con- 

 tinue their branch of his business, but 

 the members of the association would 

 not bind themselves individually or 

 collectively to make their purchases 

 from his house. This decision was 

 made for the reason that a number of 

 members were partial to other dealers 

 in bee-keepers' supplies. 



.Some i\U-,.\iiiERS oi' THE Pecos Valley Bee-Keepers' Association. 



Commencing on the left)— Seated -.—i. George E. Dudley. 2. Ernest Nelson. 3. J. W. E. 



Basham. 4. William N. Green. 5. N. A Palmer. 6. R. B. Slease. 7. Henry C. Barron. 



8. Dr. M. M, Brayshaw. 0. R. H. Crawford. 

 Standing;— I. B. H. Crawford. 2. N. C. Smith. 3. C. Vanden Bout. 4. S.T.Crawford. 5. 



Robert N. Beers. 6. W. H. Crawford. 7. A. J. Crawford. 8. Mrs. A. J. Crawford. 0. 



Miss Irene Basham. 10. Henry Adams. 

 On Porch of Hotel;— i. C. M. Hester and son "Clay." 2. Bryan Foster. 



In the course of Mr. Gill's remarks, 

 he suggested that the convention en- 

 deavor to secure a special express-rate 

 on all their bee-supply shipments, 

 products, etc., which was done. Mr. 

 W. M. Baldwin, the local Wells-Fargo 

 agent, suggested that the secretary of 

 the association write him a letter giv- 

 ing the volume of business and amount 

 of shipment of supplies, products, etc., 

 in and out of the Vallej'. The secre- 

 tary was instructed to do this. 



Thursday afternoon a question-box 

 was conducted, and the time was 

 largely spent in discussing subjects per- 

 taining to bee-culture. The fact de- 

 veloped that there is no foul brood in 

 this Valley. 



The request to the County Commis- 

 sioners to appoint a bee-inspector was 

 deferred until their meeting, which 

 will occur the first Wednesday in 

 March, 1011. 



What Size Hive Shall We Use ? 



■ W. H. Crawford favored the 8-frame 

 hive, confining the queen to one hive- 

 body by the use of a honey-board. 



Pres. Slease said as the two outside 

 frames are not used for brood-rearing, 

 he would prefer the 10-frame hive, 

 thereby building up the colony more 

 rapidly. 



A. j! Crawford favored the 10-frame 

 hive for either comb or extracted 

 honey, giving the queen a range of the 

 entire hive. He has produced .366 

 pounds of honey per colony in one 

 season. 



Mr. Basham prefers the 10-frame hive 

 for all purposes. 



Messrs. Dudley, Adams, R. H. Craw- 

 ford and Marabee favored the 8-frame 

 hive. 



Mr. Nelson purchased bees in 8-frame 

 hives and transferred them to 10-frame. 



Mr. Barron has used a diversity of 

 hives, and for many reasons would 

 select for this part of New Mexico the 

 Massie divisible hive for extracting, 

 and the 10-frame Jumbo double-walled 

 hive for queen-rearing. 



The subject of queen rearing and 

 mating was very intelligently handled 

 in detail. 



Best Breed or Strain of Bees. 



The convention was about equally 

 divided in support of 3-banded Italians, 

 Carniolans, and the hustling goldens, 

 while the German-browns, Banats and 

 Cyprians were favored in many in- 

 stances. By continued breeding from 

 selected individual colonies of these 

 named, a superior bee in markings, 

 comb-cappings, and energy, will result. 

 The strains already in the Valley are 

 pure. 



Owing to the danger of importing 

 bee-diseases being great, it was thought 

 advisable to ship no more bees into 

 Chaves and Eddy counties. 



Early spring stimulating was not 

 strongly advocated, but it was admit- 

 ted that it was necessary to feed be- 

 tween the close of fruit-bloom and the 

 opening of alfalfa. 



Absorbent cushions or sealed covers 

 received marked attention, and seem- 

 ingly were about equally favored when 

 considered as to the individual location 

 of the apiary, strength of colonies, etc. 



The new steam-heated uncapping- 

 knife met with favor, and several bee- 

 keepers will, if possible, use it during 

 the season of 1911. 



Wednesday noon the convention en- 

 joyed an elegant banquet prepared by 

 the genial host of the Roswell Hotel. 



Bee-Industry in the Valley. 



The membership of the convention 

 represented 3185 colonies of bees, 

 which, at an average of 80 pounds of 

 honev to the colony, would amount to 

 254,000 pounds, or !) carloads of 30,000 

 pounds each. It is a safe average to 

 consider 12 pounds of honey to the 

 gallon, which will bring the bee-keeper 

 $1.00, and reducing the total amount to 

 gallons at the value here given would 

 make the tidy income of $21,233. 



The convention agreed that 25 per- 

 cent of the production is profit. 



