1917 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



25 



public where there is no congress, no 

 laws except natural laws and no loafers, 

 each individual using its ability to the 

 utmost for the common good. The 

 bee teaches man a valuable lesson. 



Mr. Geo. Demuth, of the Bureau of 

 Entomology, working under the direc- 

 tion of Dr. E. F. Phillips, was present 

 and spoke of the continuance of the 

 experiments on wintering made at 

 Washington for the past few years. It 

 will be remembered that very positive 

 facts were ascertained concerning the 

 temperature of the hive cluster in win- 

 ter. But there is much yet to learn on 

 this subject. The relation of the size 

 of the colony to the production of heat, 

 of the consumption of honey to the 

 temperature, etc., will prove of great 

 benefit. These matters are being inves- 

 tigated and the results cannot fail to 

 prove very useful in the wintering of 

 bees in cold climates. 



Essays by Miss Piel, of Columbus, 

 Mr. Erbaugh, of Onward, Mr. Swails, 

 of Lebanon and others, helped to in- 

 crease the interest. It was a well man- 

 aged meeting which deserved to be 

 attended by hundreds of Indiana api- 

 arists, instead of by scores. The 

 beekeepers of Indiana need to remem- 

 ber that such meetings are arranged 

 to promote their industry, and should 

 give their association their hearty sup- 

 port. The same criticism might be 

 applied to Illinois, where the meeting 

 of a very efficient beekeepers' associa- 

 tion is not attended usually by more 

 than 40 or 50 members, when several 

 hundred might profit by attendance 

 both in pleasure and increased knowl- 

 edge. 



^ • »■ 



The Iowa Convention 



The fifth annual convention of the 

 Iowa State Beekeepers' Association, 

 which was held in DesMoines Dec. 5 

 and 6. was the most successful in its 

 history. It was estimated that 200 

 were in attendance. E. R. Root, editor 

 of Gleanings, Dr. E. F. Phillips, of 

 Washington, D.C., Prof. Francis Jager, 

 of Minnesota, George W. Williams, of 

 Indiana, and M. G. Dadant, of this 

 office were in attendance from outside 

 the State. The rooms furnished by the 

 Chamber of commerce were conven- 

 ient and accessible, and the interest did 

 not lag for a minute from start to 

 finish. 



Prof. Bartholomew, the president, 

 was unable to be present, having re- 

 cently taken up work for the govern- 

 ment in the State of Tennessee. In his 

 absence Vice-president Bleasdale pre- 

 sided. 



President Jager, of the National, was 

 warmly greeted in spite of the fact that 

 at its last meeting the Iowa association 

 voted to withdraw from the National 

 affiliation. Prof. Jager outlined mat- 

 ters which could hardly be undertaken 

 except by a national organization, and 

 it was apparent that the Iowa folks are 

 behind the kind of organization that 

 he proposes to develop. 



Doctor Phillips outlined the exten- 

 sion work which is being undertaken 

 in the South and the advantages that 

 are likelv to come as a result of it. At 

 the 1915 meeting a resolution was 

 adopted asking for such work, and Mr. 

 Pellett was appointed as a special rep- 

 resentative of the association to go to 

 Washington and present the matter to 



congress. Dr. Phillip's plans for the 

 extension work which has been under- 

 taken as a result of the special appro- 

 priation seemed to meet with the en- 

 tire approval of the beekeepers present. 

 It will be remembered that the National 

 took action similar to that of the Iowa 

 convention, and that Mr. Root also went 

 to Washington in the interest of the 

 appropriation. 



Mr. Root's discussion of the market- 

 ing problem brought out the fact that 

 extracted honey in carlots is no longer 

 to be had although the past season's 

 crop was unusually large in the clover 

 region. Several factors have contrib- 

 uted to bring about this condition. The 

 great rise in price in other food prod- 

 ucts has helped the demand. The gen- 

 eral publicity given to honey by the 

 Airline advertising has also had no 

 little effect. 



Space will not permit a mention of 

 the various papers and discussions 

 which filled the time very fully for the 

 two days. Fortunately the papers will 

 be published in book form in connec- 

 tion with the inspector's report, and 

 will later be available to those who 

 apply to the secretary for membership. 

 Secretary Miller has been pushing the 

 membership up rapidly and the inter- 

 est in the organization is increasing 

 as a result. Provision is made to bind 

 enough copies of the report in cloth 

 covers to supply the members of the 

 association. 



The resolutions adopted approved 

 the change in the office of the State 

 inspector as recommended by Mr. Pel- 

 lett, placing the work in charge of the 

 extension department of the Agricul- 

 tural College at Ames. They also con- 

 ferred honorary life membership upon 

 the retiring inspector. 



It was decided to hold the next meet- 

 ing at the same location in DesMoines 

 the first week in December, and leav- 

 ing the extra dates to be chosen by the 

 secretary and president. B. T. Bleas- 

 dale was elected to the office of presi- 

 dent; H. E. Roth, vice-president; Ham 

 B. Miller was re-elected secretary- 

 treasurer, and Miss Belle McConnell, 

 D. A. Davis and B A. Aldrich were 

 elected directors. The matter of a 

 hive products' show in connection with 

 the next convention is under consid- 

 eration and will probably be under- 

 taken if the beekeepers are willing to 

 supply a sufficient amount of honey and 

 wax to make a creditable display. Pro- 

 vision was made to supply honey to the 

 charity organizations of DesMoines 

 for the Christmas dinners of the poor. 



Arkansas Valley Beekeepers Organize 



The Arkansas Valley Beekeepers' 

 Association held its first annual meet- 

 ing Dec. 2 at Mt. Hope, Kan. There 

 were present about 25 live-wire bee- 

 keepers, coming from Pratt, Chase, 

 Nickerson, Hutchinson, Burrton, Au- 

 gusta, Colwich, Wichita, Haven, and 

 Mt. Hope. 



In the forenoon visits were made to 

 the apiaries of E. W. Jewell and C. D. 

 Mize. These gentlemen served a ban- 

 quet at the local hotel. 



Immediately after the banquet the 

 meeting was called to order in the 

 Town Hall. While the main purpose 

 of the meeting was to perfect the or- 

 ganization, some time was taken to 



discuss the American foulbrood dis- 

 ease of bees, which is now so prevalent 

 throughout the entire State. 



Mr. O. J. [ones, of Wichita, C. D. 

 Mize, of Mt. Hope, and J. A. Nininger, 

 of Nickerson, were appointed a com- 

 mittee to confer with the several fair 

 boards in an endeavor to have a more 

 favorable premium list for the Apiary 

 Department of all fairs held in the 

 State. 



The following officers were elected 

 for 1917: President, Dr. A. G. Raffing- 

 ton, of Hutchinson ; vice-president, J. 

 A. Nininger, of Nickerson ; secretary- 

 treasurer, J. L. Pelham, of Hutchinson. 

 Directors, O. J. Jones, of Wichita, and 

 Carl F. Buck, of Augusta. 



Mr. J. A. Nininger and the Reno 

 County High School, cooperating, in- 

 vited the association to a Field Meet 

 to be held at Nickerson sometime in 

 May. 



The next annual meeting will be held 

 sometime during the first week of next 

 November at Wichita. 



J. L. Pelham, Sec. 



ISome Northern Meetings 



One of the most interesting features 

 of the Chicago-Northwestern meeting, 

 was the taking of a census or an esti- 

 mate of the different prices at which its 

 members have sold their honey during 

 the past season. Extracted honey was 

 sold at retail prices ranging from 9 

 cents to 25 cents per pound. This is 

 too wide a variation, although in some 

 cases there would be some justification 

 for a variation of 5 or 6 cents. 



On motion of Mr. J. C. Bull, a com- 

 mittee was appointed to get into com- 

 munication with all the members dur- 

 ing the summer, also with other bee- 

 keepers who could be conveniently 

 reached and investigate crop and mar- 

 ket conditions. On getting this infor- 

 mation, the committee would recom- 

 mend a minimum price at which honey 

 should be sold ; this to be in the form 

 of a recommendation and not dicta- 

 tory. The chairman appointed John C. 

 Bull, E. S. Miller, N. E. France, E. D. 

 Townsend and L. C. Dadant. 



This work will, of course, be very 

 valuable to beekeepers, but previous 

 experience shows that it is very difficult 

 to get correct information and secure 

 it in time to be of great value. The 

 work, however, is along the right lines. 

 The officers elected for the coming 

 year were E. S. Miller president, and 

 John C. Bull secretary-treasurer. 



At the Wisconsin meeting at Madi- 

 son Dr. E. F. Phillips gave a very in- 

 teresting paper on " Extension Work 

 in Beekeeping in the South." Although 

 the South has more bees than the 

 North, its honey production per colony 

 is much lower. With proper guidance, 

 we have no doubt that the honey pro- 

 duction in the southern States can be 

 greatly augmented, which will greatly 

 add to its resources. 



E. R. Root explained the "Establijh- 

 ing of a Trade Name for Honey." His 

 pointers on the effects of general adver- 

 tising and the manner in which it is to 

 be carried out were educational. 



The beekeepers of Wisconsin, under 

 the guidance of inspector N. E. France, 

 are doing good work in controlling 

 foulbrood. With the help of the courses 

 of instruction at the University there 

 should be an invigoration of bee- 



