242 



August, 191 1. 



American Hee Journal 



E. F. Atwater, who is one of the 

 largest bee-owners of Idaho, stated that 

 he believed the several vicinities for 

 keeping bees in the State were fully 

 occupied at present. He thought that 

 no inducements should be offered to 

 outside apiarists until the new, unde- 

 veloped land was opened up. 



Every bee-keeper present agreed that 

 while a man has the legal right to start 

 an apiary wherever he has the same 

 right to plant a potato patch, he by no 

 means has a moral right to do so ; and 

 that a bee-keeper who thus unscrupu- 

 lously takes advantage of the law and 

 his fellow bee-keepers justly deserves 

 some such punishment as the apiarists 

 of the Imperial Valley Association of 

 California propose to inflict upon any 

 bee-keeper who encroaches upon the 

 rights of another — that of " smoking 

 out" the intruder even though it takes 

 10 percent of the colonies of bees — and 

 there are several thousand of them — in 

 Imperial Valley. No definite action in 

 regard to this plan, however, was taken. 



Two or three members favored the 

 suggestion of appealing to the State 

 Legislature in order to obtain the pas- 

 sage of a law to regulate this matter. 

 But this plan was immediately ruled 

 out of order, owing to its impracti- 

 cability. 



As a result of the lively discussion of 

 priority rights, a committee of three 

 was appointed for the purpose of greet- 

 ing new bee-keepers, and pointing out 

 to them the unoccupied territory for 

 bees, with the object in view, of course, 

 of preventing overstocking in any one 

 locality. Since it is estimated that be- 

 tween 2 and 3 carloads of bees will be 

 shipped into Idaho during 1911, such 

 a committee will undoubtedly prove 

 beneficial to all concerned. 



M.\RKETING AND OrG.\NIZATI0N. 



This topic was next taken up, and 

 opened a broad field for discussion. 

 Mr. McClanahan's talk on this subject 

 was as practical as it was entertaining. 

 Opinion was general that there should 

 be some system arranged whereby 

 prices could be maintained ; but as the 

 noon hour was so near, action was de- 

 ferred until afternoon. Before adjourn- 

 ing several members rightly urged the 

 necessity for proper grading of honey ; 

 for the price buyers will pay, they said, 

 is largely determined by the quality of 

 the grade. 



Election of Officers. 



During the afternoon session the 

 business of the convention was taken 

 up. The following were elected officers 

 for the ensuing year: President, J. E. 

 Lyon, of Boise ; vice-president, A. I. 

 McClanahan, of Payette; and secre- 

 tary and treasurer, E. F. Atwater. of 

 Meridian. 



Shortly after the opening of the after- 

 noon session the two tiny daughters of 

 Mr. Roseman entertained the audience 

 with a song, entitled, " The Hum of the 

 Bees," which was well received. 



Foul Brood. 



The question of controlling and 

 eradicating foul brood was informally 

 discussed. T. J. Yodergave his experi- 

 ence in handling this dread disease, 

 and stated that foul brood was fast get- 

 ting a foothold in Idaho; that unless 



radical measures were taken, the dis- 

 ease would ultimately destroy the bee- 

 keeping industry in Idaho. A com- 

 mittee of 6 was then selected to wait 

 upon the legislature — or rather, the 

 Committee on Appropriations, perhaps 

 $1000, for the thorough enforcement of 

 the foul brood law. Although Idaho 

 has had for some years a satisfactory 

 foul brood law, the bee-keepers have 

 had to hire an inspector themselves in 

 the past, and the principal part of this 

 appropriation, if granted, will be ex- 

 pended in employing one or more foul 

 brood inspectors. 



Mr. Bradshaw and the Nelson broth- 

 ers then spoke upon " Sections and 

 Section Supers," after which various 

 minor phases of bee-culture were taken 

 up. 



To Keep Up Honey Prices. 



The matter of organization and mar- 

 keting again being brought up, the-bee 

 keepers determined to bind themselves 

 more closely together in order to up- 

 hold prices in marketing honey, and 

 therefore agreed to sell all their honey 

 during the coming year through one 

 medium. J. E. Lyon, of Boise, was 

 unanimously selected to take charge of 

 this important task — of selling in car- 

 load lots whatever honey the bee-keep- 

 ers of the Association produce the 

 coming summer. This, perhaps, is the 

 most important step the apiarists of 

 Idaho have yet taken, for it means the 

 establishment of an even price, with 

 the bright prospect that carload after 

 carload of well-put-up and properly 

 packed honey — the proud product of 

 the Gem State — will be shipped East 

 and West — in fact, to markets all over 

 the United States. 



This plan, it is believed, will prove 

 more successful in Idaho than would 

 one, such as the bee-keepers of Colo- 

 rado have adopted in their organzation ; 

 because the apiarists of Idaho, unlike 

 those of Colorado, who are clustered 

 mainly around Denver, are scattered 

 here and there all over the State, so 

 that it will be an easier matter to make 

 up car-lots of honey at various points — 

 such as Boise, Payette, Weiser, Ontario, 

 and other centers of honey-producing 

 territories — than to attempt to bring all 

 the honey produced into one city be- 

 fore final shipment is made, as is done 

 in Denver. Next year, therefore, there 

 will be but one price of honey in Idaho. 

 The State may well feel proud of what 

 the bee-keepers here have done in the 

 past, and hope to do in the future. 



The Best Convention Yet. 



The bee-keepers adjourned at a late 

 hour in the afternoon, every one pro- 

 nouncing the convention a grand suc- 

 cess. Not only were the sessions ex- 

 ceptionally fine — the discussions and 

 addresses — but the social part of the 

 convention was a success. Every one 

 seemed to enjoy himself thoroughly — 

 especially in meeting his fellow bee- 

 keepers. Throughout the meetings 

 good-will and harmony reigned; a 

 feeling of brotherhood — and we may 

 also say sisterhood — prevailed, for sev- 

 eral of the sister bee-keepers attending 

 lent a refining atmosphere to the ses- 

 sions. Without doubt, the convention 

 was the best attended and the best en- 

 joyed the Association has yet held. 



The Bee-Industry in Idaho. 



It does not seem to be out of place 

 in a report of this kind to conclude by 

 speaking briefly of the bee-keeping in- 

 dustry in Idaho. Its magnitude here 

 can, in a measure, be realized when it 

 is known that the apiarists present at 

 the convention represented some 800O 

 colonies of bees, without counting the 

 3000 or 4000 colonies owned by bee- 

 keepers who did not attend. It will 

 thus be seen that the bees of Idaho 

 constitute about one-sixtieth of all the 

 colonies in the United States. 



Idaho is destined, we bee-keepers be- 

 lieve, to become a wonderful honey- 

 producing State. A bright future is 

 undoubtedly in store for the bee-indus- 

 try of this State. The seasons are long, 

 the country is well supplied with honey- 

 plants — alfalfa, sweet and white clover 

 and yellow mustard — these plants can 

 generally be depended upon to yield a 

 fair secretion every year; the summer 

 days are long and hot, the nights warm 

 — all conditions, in fact, seem to favor 

 the production of honey, although in 

 this country, as in all others, there are 

 certain drawbacks, such as occasional 

 late June rains, which cause dampness- 

 in the hive, from which the bees fre- 

 quently contract paralysis, and thus 

 cause a shortage in honey. Foul brood 

 is another drawback here; but on the 

 whole, Idaho has the natural conditions 

 for successful bee-keeping. But at 

 present the honey-producing territory 

 of Idaho, as Mr. Atwater reported in 

 the convention, is fully occupied; in 

 fact, some parts of the State are already 

 overstocked with bees. Do not think 

 for a moment that the bee-keepers of 

 Idaho are selfish, for they are as fine a 

 class of men as are to be found any- 

 where ; they want all to share the 

 benefits of a good honey-producing 

 State — indeed they do — but at present 

 they justly feel that the bee-keeping 

 localities here have all the bees they 

 can now support. The opportunities 

 for an outside bee-keeper are therefore 

 not very inviting, the inducements of- 

 fered to him are not particularly allur- 

 ing, although it must be said in fair- 

 ness to all that here and there through- 

 out the State a fair location for bees 

 can be found. 



But Idaho has acres and acres of un- 

 developed sage-brush land, which will 

 be opened up, it is hoped, in the near 

 future. Most of this land will undoubt- 

 edly be put into alfalfa, since hay is the 

 one great crop of Idaho; and when 

 ' that is done, ideal bee-pasture will be 

 available to any who care to occupy 

 the new territory. Therefore, luitil the 

 new land of Idaho is opened up and 

 cultivated, the Eastern bee-keeper 

 should not be encouraged to settle in 

 this State. Albert J. Lynn. 



-* The Amateur Bee-Keeper " 



This is a booklet of 86 pages, written 

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 mainly for beginners — amateur bee- 

 keepers — as its name indicates. It is a 

 valuable little work, revised this year, 

 and contains the methods of a practical, 

 up-to-date bee-keeper of many years' 

 experience. It is fully illustrated. Price, 

 postpaid, 25 cents; or with the Ameri- 

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 $1.10. Send all orders to the office of 

 the American Bee Journal. - 



