(gbamttgs tn Tin (Unltmt 



Published by The A. I. Root Co., Medina, Ohio. 



H. H. Root, Assistant Editor E. R, Root, Editor A. L. Boyden, Advertising Manager 



A. I. Root, Editor Home Department J. T. Calvert, Business Manager 



Entered at the Postoffice, Medina, Ohio, as Second-class Matter 



VOL. XXXVIII 



MAY 15, 1910 



NO. 10 



EDITORIAL 



By E. R. ROOT 



MILLER S PATENT AUTOMATIC SWARM- 

 CATCHER. 



On the front cover of this issue we take 

 pleasure in i>resenting a swarm-catcher that 

 is absolutely automatic. We do not know 

 whether it "works for nothing and boards 

 itself," but we are inclined to think not. 

 The inventor tells of it in this wise: 



The illustration shows an experience I had in hiv- 

 ing a swarm of bees. I had had but little experi- 

 ence with bees, but had learned that, if I caught the 

 queen. I could get the bees where I wanted them. 1 

 walked up from quite a distance down in the field 

 with this swarm, and my wife took my jjicture. I 

 like to be on friendly terms with the bees, but this 

 was a little greater display of intimacy than I was 

 expecting. 



Denver, Col. W. L. Miller. 



NEW JERSEY GETS A FOUL-BROOD BILL 



PASSED. AND THEN THE GOVERNOR 



VETOES IT. 



The following letter, just received from 

 the Secretary of the New .Jersey Bee-keep- 

 ers' Association, will explain: 



The bee-keepers of New .Jersey, through their 

 .State Association, succeeded in getting a foul-brood 

 bill passed, with practically no opi)osition ; but 

 when it came before the TJovernor for his approval 

 he vetoed it on April 12. We do not know his rea- 

 sons, but understand he considered it too drastic. 



( )ur bill was modeled after the one recommended 

 by Dr. K. F. Phillips, and was considered a good one 

 by all who saw it. 



We think it was rather from a lack of under- 

 standing of the whole matter more than any thing 

 else on the part of the Oovernor that he vetoed it. 

 We spent all our efforts to get a bill on the assem- 

 blymen and senators, thinking the r4overnor would 

 surely approve. 



To say that we are highly disappointed is ex))ress- 

 ing it mildly. After working so hard to get a bill 

 passed, and then have it stabbed by the Governor, 

 was the least of our expectations. But then, there 

 is no use in fretting. We shall simply haA^e to stay 

 sweet, and try again. I suppose we shall have to 

 frame a bill to meet the Governor's objections, and 

 try again next winter. This is our individual opin- 

 ion, and will have to be approved by the associa- 

 tion. In the mean time we should like to have 

 more bee-keepers join the association. Dues are 50 

 cts. a year. We know some bee-keepers who have 

 held aloof from the association, thinking we could 

 never get a bill passed. The .stronger our .a.ssocia- 

 tion. the stronger the show we can make next 

 winter. 



Pittstown, N. .1. Albert G. Hann. ,Sec. 



The New .Jersey bee-keepers have been 

 working long and hard to get a foul-brood 

 bill passed. There was most urgent need of 

 it, and it is unfortunate that the New .Jer- 

 sey bee-keepers did not see the \ery great 

 importance of informing the Governor of 



its importance. Oov. Folk, of Missouri, 

 ^■etoed a foul-brood l)ill after it had passed 

 both houses, simply because he did not 

 know any thing about the bee-keeping in- 

 dustry nor the dangers that were threaten- 

 ing it. These two cases ought to be a lesson 

 to other States that are working strenuously 

 to get foul-brood laws on their statute-books. 



"SELLING THE HONEY CROP TO THE BEST 

 ADVANTAGE. ' ' 



Under the above caption, Mr. Hutchin- 

 son, of the Bee-keeper'' s Bevieu\ in his is- 

 sue for -May, has quite an extended editorial. 

 In the first two j)aragraphs he says: 



■' Did you ever stop to think that you spend all of 

 your season producing your crop of honey, and then 

 sell it in about fifteen minute.s?" I came across the 

 foregoing sentence in a circular just sent out by the 

 energetic, enterprising secretary of our Michigan 

 .State Bee-keepers' Association. It is true that we 

 bend every energy to the successful wintering of 

 our bees: we make chaff hives, or protect the bees 

 with some kind of packing, or we put them in the 

 cellar and then watch the temperature as a mother 

 watches her sleeping child: we feed the bees in the 

 .spring if they need it; we coax them into the supers 

 by means of " bait " sections: we lift and sweat, and 

 suffer stings; and, finally, crate up our beautiful 

 product with loving care, and then, as Bro. Tyrrell 

 says, some of us sell it in about fifteen minutes. 



The indifference exhibited by some producers in 

 disposing of their crop is certainly exasperating. 

 We can not all peddle our honey: we can not all 

 sell it to retailers: we can not all build up a mail- 

 order trade. Some of us must .sell to wholesale 

 dealers, or consign to commisson men; but in any 

 case there is no excu.se for the lack of interest, the 

 utter indifference, the "'fll-take-whatever-you'll- 

 give-me " spirit. 



Further on he says, "In other lines of 

 business, production is looked upon as only 

 half the problem." . . . "The selling 

 end has been shamefully neglected." . . 

 "It is quite likely that niany men are now 

 following the plan that is best for them: 

 but it is equally evident that thousands of 

 men are not — men who might materially 

 increase the revenue from their crops by 

 some change in their plan of selling." . . 

 ''^Not every producer can become a success- 

 ful retail salesman." . . . " It is safe to 

 admit that men who are now retailing their 

 honey might find it much more profitable 

 to increase their production until it reached 

 the carload stage, abandon the retail trade, 

 and turn their whole attention to produc- 

 tion." . . . "Selling should be only a 

 j)art of a plan that is the most perfect for 

 some particular man and his environments. 

 What I am pleading for is the proper recog- 

 nition of the importance of the selling fac- 

 tor." 



It is probably true, as M\. Hutchinson 

 says, that Vjee-keepers ha\e not been giving 

 enough attention to the "selling factor," 



