April, 1910. 



(American Hee Jonrnal 



There is not the slightest doubt in 

 my own mind that insect pests would 

 be beyond our control but for the hor- 

 nets. It is a sad fact that their worth 

 is little known, and, when it is learned, 

 is not much more than half believed. 

 It does seem that a bee-keeper should 

 not feel so strongly against the sting 

 of a hornet that he thereafter counts 

 that insect his mortal enemy. I almost 

 have to laugh at the attitude which Mr. 

 Pryal has taken, for it is almost iden- 

 tically the attitude the public takes on 

 the subject of honey-bees — and Mr. 

 Pryal is a bee-keeper. But if Mr. 

 Pryal continues to set his trap for hor- 

 nets he deserves to be put out of the 

 brotherhood. 



The hornets — and by that term I 

 mean both yellow and black — are car- 

 nivorous insects, rarely paying much 

 attention to honey. Still, the yellow- 

 jacket shows its kinship to the bee by 

 filling up with honey when the cater- 

 pillar season is slow. The queen hor- 

 nets, too, not infrequently try to get at 

 the honey of the hive in early spring. 

 The main food supply, however, is meat. 

 They are insect scavengers and tigers. 

 They accept living or dead insects. A 

 single nest with its hundreds must de- 

 stroy unnumbered larvse of many kinds. 

 It takes by preference the naked larvae, 

 such as the cabbage-worm, the larvs 

 of the Cecropia, Polyphemus, and other 

 large moths, and the cankerworm, etc. 

 These are taken while small, and car- 



ried off bodily. This hornet will carry 

 off the larv;e of the Imperial moth — a 

 beautiful moth, but most destructive as 

 are all the moths in their larval stages. 

 I have known an adult larva of this 

 moth to consume 19 leaves of the Eu- 

 ropean linden in the space of one night, 

 by actual count. This larva grows to 

 be the size of a man's finger. A single 

 moth lays over 200 eggs. Suppose the 

 caterpillars were not taken care of, what 

 then? How much has Massachusetts 

 spent in trying to keep in check the 

 gypsy moth? Probably over one mil- 

 lion dollars — and the end is not yet. 

 The gypsy moth comes from a foreign 

 shore, and has no natural enemies here, 

 hence it muliplies as moths can multi- 

 ply. Our own native moths are kept in 

 check by natural means. 



Let every bee-keeper spread the truth 

 in regard to hornets of all kinds. T/iey 

 arc oitrfrieiids. Let them alone and 

 they will let you alone. Many an hour 

 have I spent with my face in close 

 proximity to their nests, studying their 

 habits. They resent any molestation 

 of their nests. Who would not? They 

 sometimes resent sudden motions near 

 their nests. Long experience has taught 

 them that sudden motions are fre- 

 quently followed by nest destruction. 

 They never resent gentle motions, and 

 pay no more attention to a man than to 

 a tree, if the man knows his business. 



Deliver us from the plague of ignor- 

 ance. Norwich, Conn. 



Convention Proceedings 



Report of the Michigan Convention 



The Michigan Bee-Keepers' conven- 

 tion was held Feb. 23 and 24, 1910, at 

 Lansing, and was pronounced by all 

 present to be one of the liveliest the 

 Association ever held. Not a dead 

 minute during the two days' session. 

 President Aspinwall kept things mov- 

 ing every minute. 



Affili.\tion With the Nation.al. 



The convention started out with the 

 Secretary's report, which brought out 

 some good, live discussions right from 

 the start. The question of continuing 

 in affiliation with the National was dis- 

 cussed, with arguments put up both for 

 and against it. It was finally decided 

 to remain as before ; but as it was 

 deemed advisable that the Association 

 should have a larger working capital, 

 the dues of the Michigan were placed 

 at one dollar per year, with an extra 

 half dollar to go to the National, or 

 $1.50 for the two. Of course, a person 

 already holding membership in the 

 National could become a member of 

 the Michigan by paying the dollar. It 

 was also voted that the membership of 

 each should expire on Jan. 1st of each 

 year. This brings the renewals all at 

 one time. 



Wiring Frames — Making Comb Foun- 

 dation. 



The question of wiring frames to 

 prevent sagging came up as a result of 



the paper sent by Manager N. E. 

 France, of the National, and caused a 

 lively discussion. The concensus of 

 opinion, however, seemed to be that no 

 matter how your wired, the foundation 

 would sag as long as it is made as at 

 present. The following resolution was 

 the result of this discussion : 



" Be it resolved by the Michigan Bee-Keep- 

 ers in convention assembled, tliatthe manu- 

 facturers of comb foundation be asked to 

 consider the question of making brood foun- 

 dation so it will hang just opposite to the 

 way it is made now. the object being to pre- 

 vent sagging.'" 



Foul Brood. 



Ira D. Bartlett, of East Jordan, was 

 also on the program for a paper on 

 "Foul Brood," but owing to sickness in 

 the family, was unable to be present. 

 His paper was read, however, by the 

 Secretary, and created much favorable 

 discussion. 



Honey — Its Use and Advertising. 



The convention was favored by the 

 presence of Pres. George W. York, of 

 the National, also L. W. Boyden, of the 

 A. I. Root Co. Mr. York read a paper 

 on " Honey, Its Marketing and Staple 

 Use," and Mr. Boyden contributed 

 some valuable suggestions to the dis- 

 cussion on the advertising of honey. 

 Among other things he suggested that 

 the use of honey be demonstrated at 

 pure food shows; also suggested hav- 

 ing samples of the different flavors of 



honey put up in such a way that the 

 public could sample the same. 



Various Paters and Discussions. 



Among the addresses given were 

 "The Bee-Keepers' Real Problem," by 

 the Secretary; President's .A.ddress by 

 L. A. Aspinwall ; " Science and Theory 

 of Bee-Keeping," by Hon. Geo. E. Hil- 

 ton ; and "Some of My Experiences 

 as a Farmer Bee-Keeper," by W. J. 

 Manley. These all brought discussions 

 along their various lines. 



Michigan Members' Booklet. 



It was decided to continue the publi- 

 cation of the booklet which gives the 

 names and addresses of the members 

 in good standing having honey for sale. 

 This year it is to be gotten out about 

 .Aug. Ist, and there is to be 1500 printed. 

 This booklet has been a big help to the 

 members in selling their honey. Last 

 year it was sent all over the United 

 States, and the great cry at the conven- 

 tion was that the members could not 

 supply the demand for honey. One 

 bee-keeper who produces probably at 

 least 10,000 pounds of honey annually, 

 stated that he could sell ten times that 

 amount, and gives the entire credit to 

 the booklet. 



Next Convention — Selling Honey. 



The next convention is to be held in 

 the fall, in Grand Rapids. The Associa- 

 tion now has nearly 200 members, and 

 a strong efTort is to be made to in- 

 crease this number greatly by the next 

 convention. This Association is car- 

 rying out a practical plan of co-opera- 

 tive selling with no expense to the 

 members other than their annual dues. 



The old officers were elected to suc- 

 ceed themselves, and are as follows: 

 President, L. A. Aspinwall, of Jackson; 

 Vice-President, E. D. Townsend, of 

 Remus ; Secretary-Treasurer, E. B. "Tyr- 

 rell, of Detroit. 



Hon. Geo. E. Hilton was elected to 

 represent the Association at the State 

 Legislature on foul brood legislation. 



The Executive Board was authorized 

 to appoint a representative to attend 

 the next National meeting. 



The books of the Secretary were also 

 audited by an Auditing Committee, and 

 the following report made: Total re- 

 ceipts, $200.41 ; total expenditures, $158,- 

 80. Balance on hand, $41.61. 



Aw.ARDS ON Exhibits. 



Prizes were won as follows : Best 10 

 pounds of comb honey — 1st, C. S. Foote, 

 of Ridgeway; 2d, L. C. Wheeler, of 

 Barrj-ton. Best 10 pounds of extracted 

 —1st, A. D. D. Wood, of Lansing; 2d, 

 L. C. Wheeler. Three pounds of ex- 

 tracted containing least water — 1st, L. 

 C. Wheeler ; 2d, A. D. D. Wood. Best 

 10 pounds of beeswax — 1st, A. D. D. 

 Wood; 2d, J. H. Peters, of Detroit; 3d, 

 L. C. Wheeler. E. B. Tyrrell, Sec. 



Worth the Money. 



With reference to the advance from 75 

 cents to $1 a year for the American Bee 

 Journal, I think, considering what we get, 

 no subscriber should raise any objection. I 

 consider "Dr. Miller's Question-Box" alone is 

 worth the money, to say nothing of the Jour- 

 nal as a whole. Walter Newell. 



