(Entered as second-class matter Jnly 30, 1907. at the Post-Offlce at Chicago, III., ander 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, DECEMBER, 1911 



Vol. LI -No. 12 



National A.s.sooiatiou aud Keport 



We have received a copy of the 42d 

 Annual Report of the Xational Bee- 

 Keepers' Association, which includes, 

 besides the proceedings of the conven- 

 tion held at Minneapolis. Minn., Aug. 

 30 and .31, 1911, a complete list of the 

 membership, the Treasurer's report, 

 and copies of both the old and the new 

 Constitution. It has also about 2.5 

 pages of advertising at the back. In 

 all, there are 144 pages besides the 

 cover. The financial statement made 

 by the general manager and treasurer, 

 N. E. France, shows a balance of $604.16 

 on hand in the Honey - Producers' 

 League fund, and $43'J.70 in the general 

 fund of the Association, but we learn 

 privately that there is not enough 

 money in this general fund to pay all 

 the expenses to the end of this year. 



It may be just possible that before this 

 number of the American Bee Journal 

 goes to press, we will have a report of 

 the election of officers held last month 

 (November), and also the vote on the 

 new Constitution. All, of course, will 

 be interested to know whether or not 

 the new Constitution is approved, for 

 it would mean quite a change in the 

 way the National Association is to be 

 conducted in the future. 



If the new Constitution is voted into 

 effect, there will be -i Directors instead 

 of 12, and the annual meeting will be 

 mainly executive, those attending being 

 delegates elected by the local branches 

 or associations. Then those delegates 

 who attend the annual meeting will 

 elect the officers and directors of the 

 Association. This will make a thor- 

 oughly representative body, and it 

 would seem that more business can be 

 done at the annual meetings than here- 

 tofore, for every delegate will be sent 

 with authority to carry out the wishes 

 of the local branch or association so 

 far as possible. 



There is progress and advancement 

 in every line of business and associa- 



tion effort, and it is a good time now 

 for the National Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation to advance a little also. Of 

 course, it may not be possible to do all 

 the first year that needs to be done, but 

 if things can be started now, it may not 

 be many months until the effect of the 

 provisions of the new Constitution will 

 be felt among the members of the Asso- 

 ciation. As Secretary Tyrrell well says : 



"The present fee of the National just 

 about provides for the expenses of the Na- 

 tional convention and getting out the .Annual 

 Report. iManager France will tell you he 

 must economize to do that. This leaves 

 nothing for the larger work of the organiza- 

 tion, looking up market conditions, advising 

 members regarding their honey-sales, assist- 

 ing States in getting foul-brood laws, and 

 many other things that might be mentioned." 



In order to secure more funds with 

 which to do more for its members, it is 

 proposed that the National member- 

 ship fee be increased to $1..50 per year. 

 A third of this amount is to go to the 

 local branch or association affiliating 

 with the National. The annual dues 

 of the Michigan Association have been 

 for several years $1..50, and instead of 

 its membership growing less it has in- 

 creased, and the Association has pros- 

 pered beyond anything known hereto- 

 fore in tiiat State. Mr. Tyrrell further 

 says : 



"It may seem to some that this raise is a 

 mistake, and that bee-keepers will not pay 

 the advanced price. Tint we must not forget 

 that sometimes a small fee is really more 

 expensive than a larger one. It is not so 

 much what we pay. as what jct- ecf for what we 

 I'av. If our fee is so small that the whole 

 amount is necessary for the running ex- 

 penses and nothing left for progress, that 

 fee is apt to be expensive: while a larger 

 one. leaving a surplus for doing something 

 extra for the members, might be really 

 cheaper." 



But whether the new Constitution is 

 approved or not, there will still be 

 much that the National can do under 

 its fr)rmer Constitution. Its officiary 

 should devise some method by which 

 the balance of the League fund could 

 be used to good advantage in trying to 

 create a greater general demand for 



honey. Perhaps a small advertisement 

 run in a few select magazines of large 

 circulation might be a good thing. It 

 would be much better, however, if the 

 National Association were in a posi- 

 tion to offer a standard brand of honey 

 in response to such advertising. This, 

 of course, opens up a very large sub- 

 ject, but we hope the time may come 

 when, if the National Association is 

 not able to handle the honey-business 

 on a large scale, that some other or- 

 ganization or company will be formed 

 that will be sufficiently strong to do 

 something worth while along the line 

 indicated. 



Houey Used by a Colony in a Year 



It is not difficult to determine just 

 how much honey is obtained from a 

 colony as surplus ; but the larger 

 amount that a colony appropriates to 

 its own use is not so easy to determine. 

 It seems rather strange that so little 

 should be known about a matter of so 

 much interest. Adrian Getaz says that 

 where the winters are cold a colony 

 needs for its annual consumption about 

 200 pounds of honey. In the warmer 

 latitudes, where bees are active every 

 month in the year, more stores are 

 needed, and Editor Root thinks the 

 consumption may be from 200 to 400 

 pounds. It would be of interest to 

 know just how much of these estimates 

 is based on reliable data, and how 

 much on guessing. 



The question, " How much honey 

 does an average colony need in the 

 course of a year for its own consump- 

 tion ?" is one that may be commended 

 to our officials at Washington when- 

 ever the Government affords them 

 enough money to meddle with any new 

 questions, and also to the institutions 

 of the few different States that give 

 some attention to matters apicultural. 



Que.stionable Advice About Bees 



Some of the agricultural journals are 

 wise enough to secure articles about 

 bees that are reliable; but some of 

 them are not so careful, and in the lat- 

 ter case the farmer who depends upon 

 his farm paper for instruction about 

 bees is in danger of being misled. 



In Rural Life it is correctly stated 



