(Entered as aeoond-clasa matter Jaly 30, 1907, at the Post-office at Chicago, 111., nnder Act of March 3, 1879.) 



Published Monthly at $1.00 a Year, by George W. York & Company, 117 North Jefferson Street, 



GEORGE W. YORK. Editor. 



DR. C. C. MILLER. Associate Editor. 



CHICAGO, ILL, MAY, 1911 



Vol. LI- -No. 5 



National Couveution at 3Iiuiie- 

 apolis 



As announced last month, the next 

 meeting of the National Bee-Keepers' 

 Association will be held in the Court 

 House at Minneapolis, Minn., Aug. 30 

 and 31, 1911. This will indeed be a fine 

 opportunity for the bee-keepers of the 

 Northwest to show how large and en- 

 thusiastic a gathering they will be able 

 to have at Minneapolis. The National 

 convention has never met in that part 

 of the country, although it has been 

 almost everywhere else during its over 

 40 years' existence. 



We would not be at all surprised if 

 the Minneapolis meeting would be the 

 largest ever held by the National. The 

 Albany convention of last year was 

 certainly well attended, and it was a 

 good meeting, according to the expres- 

 sions of many who were there. We 

 understand that the Convention Hall 

 in Minneapolis will hold something 

 like .jOO people, and we would not be 

 surprised if it would be crowded, as 

 there certainly are many convention- 

 going bee-keepers in that section of 

 the country. Besides, there will no 

 doubt be many bee-keepers who have 

 never before been in the region of 

 Minneapolis who will want to go there, 

 especially at that season of the year 

 when it will be cooler than the south- 

 ern portion of our country. If we can 

 have a program equal to the one at 

 Albany — and it may be that it will be 

 even superior — it will be a memorable 

 meeting of bee-keepers of this conti- 

 nent. 



It is held thus early on account of 

 the requirement of the Association's 

 Constitution for amending and revis- 

 ing ; in order to do this the National 

 meeting must be held at least 4.5 days 

 before the National election, which is 

 Nov. 1st. So this next meeting of the 

 National will be a very important one, 

 and it is hoped that the best ability in 

 the ranks of beedom will be there. 



Just following the convention the 



Minnesota State Fair will be held in 

 Minneapolis. No doubt a good many 

 bee-keepers will wish to stay over so 

 as to see the wonderful bee and honey 

 exhibit that the Minnesota bee-folks 

 always put up at their State Fair. 



The time and place of this year's 

 National bee - convention being fixed 

 thus early, the bee-keepers from every- 

 where will have time to plan to attend. 

 There ought to be special cars of bee- 

 keepers from different parts of the 

 country, as that is one of the most en- 

 joyable ways of traveling to conven- 

 tions. We would suggest that it is 

 time that the South get together at least 

 one carload and attend the Minneapo- 

 lis convention. California and some 

 other Western States ought also be 

 able to rally a carload each. From the 

 East, beginning with New York State, 

 there ought easily to be several car- 

 loads of bee-keepers who would be 

 glad to come to the National conven- 

 tion and see something of the great 

 West, although, of course, Minneapolis 

 can hardly be called a Western city. 



It seems to us that this meeting of 

 of the National might easily be tbe best 

 attended and most interesting and 

 profitable of any the National has ever 

 held. It ought to take some advance 

 steps in the way of revising the Con- 

 stitution so that the borders of its work 

 and value to its membership will be 

 enlarged, and that honey-production 

 may be put upon a better business 

 basis. To do this there will be need of 

 the attendance of a large number who 

 have real faith in the future of bee- 

 keeping, and who will be willing to 

 render all the assistance possible in 

 order to inaugurate new departures 

 along the lines of better organization 

 and a more general co-operation 

 among the membership. 



We are sure that the Executive Com- 

 mittee, which is composed of the Presi- 

 dent, Vice-President, Secretary and 

 Treasurer, will be very glad to receive 

 suggestions for improving the Asso- 



ciation, from any and all members who 

 think they have some ideas that would 

 help if carried out. Such suggestions 

 could be considered at the convention, 

 and no doubt from the combined wis- 

 dom of all there would result a more 

 perfect organization and better results 

 than have been possible heretofore 

 from the National Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation. 



Full Sheets of Foundation in 

 Sectiou.s Prolitable 



Some use small starters of founda- 

 tion in sections and some fill the sec- 

 tion full. If these latter are asked why 

 they use full sheets of foundation in sec- 

 tions, very likely the majority of them 

 would answer that the sections are 

 filled out in better shape, and the comb 

 is better fastened. If those who use 

 small starters were asked why they do 

 so, very likely nearly all of them would 

 answer that the small starters are less 

 expensive. But that may be mistaken 

 economy. Leo E. Gately made the 

 statement in Gleanings that when full 

 sheets of foundation are used there is 

 a gain in the amount of honey pro- 

 duced over that obtained with small 

 starters that varies from 5 to 25 percent. 

 Commenting on this in the same paper, 

 J. E. Crane says : 



"If we call it 15 percent (and my own ex- 

 perience would place this estimate as con- 

 servatives on a crop of 50 pounds per hive, it 

 would make ^]^ pounds, which, at 14 cents, 

 would be $1.05; and if we take out 25 cents 

 for the value of the full sheets of foundation 

 we still have 80 cents per hive as above, 

 where starters are used, to say nothing of 

 the improved appearance of the sections." 



According to that, one is losing ' 

 money by using small starters. 



The Poi.soii -Spray Problem 



Being a constant reader of bee-papers, I 

 have noticed a number of complaints of 

 bees being poisoned through careless spray- 

 ing of fruit-trees, or, rather, spraying at the 

 wrong time. I believe the best thing to do 

 is to educate the fruit-growers. My idea is 

 for the bee-keepers to choose some good 

 publication on fruit-growing, then see to it 

 that some one who understands spraying 

 thoroughly, both from the fruit-growers* 

 point of view and also from the bee-keepers' 

 way of looking at the question, write some 

 good, short articles giving plain directions 

 now to sprav, and especially what time to 

 spray, but not to mention bees, as some peo- 



F»le may be prejudiced against bees. Then 

 et each and every bee-keeper that has 

 cause to believe there will be spraying at 



