January, 1918 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



47 



ed selling prices varying from 10 to 25 cts. 

 a pound. 



All interested in receiving reports and 

 price recommendations of the committee 

 should write to Mr. Bull. 



E. S. MILLER, Pres. 



Valparaiso, Ind., Dec. 6, 1917. 

 * * » 



Recent. State Beekeepers' Conventions. 



With tho oxcej^tion of two, the Editor of 

 Gleaniij<;:s lias attended all the state conven- 

 tions up to the first of January. Generally 

 speaking, the attendance was a little below 

 that of last year, owing perhaps to the fact 

 that the honey yield was not as large in 1917 

 as in 1916. It is a very noticeable fact 

 that the attendance at conventions bears 

 an almost direct ratio to the amount of 

 honey secured during the season. Another 

 factor which worked against large attend- 

 ance this year was the difficulty of travel on 

 account of so many trains being taken off 

 and others overloaded. Practically every 

 train that took us to conventions was any- 

 where from two to five hours late; and the 

 result was that we were able to be present 

 at only one or two sessions of each, and had 

 to skip two conventions altogether. 



The Ohio meeting held at Lima, that of 

 the Ohio Beekeepers' Association, was the 

 smallest of any of the conventions we at- 

 tended — but the enthusiasm was good. 



The attendance was larger as we went 

 westward, as the honey yield had been. The 

 convention at Des Moines was about the 

 same in size as that of last year. The Min- 

 nesota meeting was the largest one of this 

 winter, some of the sessions having an at- 

 tendance of 300. The convention at Madison 

 was not quite as large, but in point of en- 

 thusiasm and papers read it was one of 

 the best we attended. This association has 

 started out on a propaganda of cleaning 

 foul brood out of the state. 



The Indiana State Beekeepers 'Association 

 held its annual meeting in the State House 

 in Indianapolis on Nov. 26 and 27. Owing 

 to the short crop and bad weather the at- 

 tendance was not as large as expected. 

 However, it was an enthusiastic meeting 

 and several interesting talks were given. 

 The writer was unable to attend, but was 

 represented by J. A. Warren, who gave a 

 very interesting talk on ' ' Markets. ' ' 

 Prof. D. A. Rothrock, after making a care- 

 ful investigation on honey production, gave 

 figures that would seem to indicate that the 

 government estimate of 49 lbs. for Indiana 

 was too high. 



The Michigan Beekeepers' Association 

 meeting was held at Saginaw, Nov. 27 and 

 28. The number of members attending was 

 small for Michigan, owing to poor train serv- 

 ice, nearness to Thanksgiving, and the short 

 crop this year. Floyd Markham, of Ypsi- 

 lanti, won the manufacturers ' gold medal 

 for the third time, and it thus became his 

 permanently. Upon solicitation of Mr. Tyr- 

 rell, of Detroit, a committee was appointed 



who will have charge of the making of an 

 exhibit of bees and honey at the state fair. 

 Tiie exliibit will be furnished by members; 

 and aftei' tlic fair it will be sold and the 

 money returned to those who furnish the ex- 

 hibit. All exhibits of honey will be made 

 in uniform containers which will be furnish- 

 ed by the committee. A banquet was enjoy- 

 ed on the evening of Nov. 27. The next an- 

 nual meeting will be held at Battle Oreek. 



The Syracuse meeting of the New York 

 state beekeepers we were not able to at- 

 tend, because it came in direct conflict with 

 the dates we had previously made for Min- 

 neapolis and Des Moines, but we are in- 

 formed that the attendance was good. 



The last meeting of the series was held at 

 Toronto, Canada. The number present was 

 about the same as that of last year, and the 

 enthusiasm was above par. The Toronto 

 meeting had its usual banquet that was one 

 of the best we have ever attended. The 

 province of Ontario is doubtless ahead of any 

 state in the Union in the amount of honey 

 produced, and also in the number of large 

 producers, unless it be California. 



At all the meetings that we attended there 

 was a feeling that 1918 is going to be a big 

 year for high honey prices, and possibly for 

 a large yield. Every beekeeper present 

 seemed to feel the importance of speeding 

 up, because it is a case of now or never. 



The newly elected officers of the various 

 state conventions, so far as we have been 

 able to get them, are as follows: Ohio — E. M. 

 Caldwell, Defiance, president; J. E. Varnard, 

 Wilmington, secretary. Illinois — Dr. A. C. 

 Baxter, Springfield, president; James A. 

 Stone, Springfield, secretary. Indiana — 

 Mason J. Niblack, Viiicennes, president; R. 

 B. Scott, LaGrange, secretary. Iowa — B. T. 

 Bleasdale, Des Moines, president; Hamblin 

 B. [^Tiller, Marciialltown, secretary. Min- 

 nesota — Prof. A. W. Rankin, Minneapolis, 

 president; L. V. France, St. Paul, secretary. 

 Wisconsin — N. E. France, Platteville, presi- 

 dent; E. D. Hassenger, secretary. Michigan 

 — B. F. Kindig, East Lansing, secretary. 

 Ontario — James Armstrong, Selkirk, presi- 

 dent; P. W. Hodges, secretary. 

 « » * 



An increase of $15,000 to the regular ap- 

 propriation for the apicultural department 

 of the U. S. Dep't of Agriculture was grant- 

 ed by the Secretary of Agriculture last fall, 

 to stimulate honey production as a war-^o"l 

 measure. This action has enabled Dr. E. F. 

 Phillips to appoint a number of special field 

 agents, who will carry on extension work 

 thruout the country, and especially in the 

 West and Pacific Coast region. E. F. At- 

 water of Meridian, Ida., is one of the a'l- 

 ditional field agents appointed, and will have 

 his special field in California, Arizona, and 

 New Mexico. We understand that P. C. 

 Chadwick, of Redlands, Cal., and Mr. Er- 

 baugh, of Indiana, are among other appoint- 

 ments made, the latter to do work in Il- 

 linois, 



