December. 1910. 



American Hoe Journal 



plenty of air to meet the needs of the 

 bees in winter, while in a clay soil 

 there will be wet and mold in the hives. 

 To be sure, ventilation may be pro- 

 vided in clay soils, but not to equal the 

 slow and gentle entrance of air through 

 the soil at all points. 



President'.s Address at Albany 



It seems the Address of the President 

 delivered at the Albany National con- 

 vention struck a popular chord. It was 

 well received at the convention, and 

 created considerable discussion. We 

 have felt for some time that radical 

 changes are necessary in order to put 

 the National Bee-Keepers' Association 

 in a position so that it may be of more 

 practical value to its membership. We 

 are hoping that our address at Albany 

 may be but the beginning of better 

 things. If we have been able to get it 

 started, we shall feel well repaid for 

 our efforts. However, we hope to be 

 able to help along in any way where it 

 is possible for us to help. A few com- 

 ments that have come in on this mat- 

 ter may not be amiss. They are as fol- 

 lows ; 



Bro. York:— Of all the good things you 

 have written, I think your Address at .Albany 

 is the best. It is timely and true. I would 

 be glad to copy the whole of it in the De- 

 cember Review, but the index crowds 

 things. 1 will make a digest of it. I shall do 

 all I can to bring about these changes. 



Yours truly. W. Z. Hutchinson, 



The foregoing was written from tiie 

 University Hospital at Ann Arbor, 

 Mich., where Mr. Hutchinson has been 

 compelled to be for sometime. He re- 

 turned to his home in Flint, but had a 

 relapse and had to go back to the hos- 

 pital. When the above was written 

 (Nov. Id) heexpectedto be home again 

 very soon. Surely all of Mr. Hutchin- 

 son's friends will join with us in the 

 hope that his good health may soon be 

 restored. 



An active member of the Colorado 

 Honey- Producers' Association writes 

 thus : 



Mr. George W. York— 



ZJijr .S';>.— I want to congratulate you on 

 your ,\ddress at the National convention. 

 Whenever you want real help in the way of 

 stock-taking. I believe you will find Western 

 bee-men right there with the money. I have 

 sold all my crop through the Colorado .Asso- 

 ciation, and I know that co*operation pays. 

 The fact is. outsiders do not reaUze what 

 really is being accomplished. I have re- 

 ceived $2,85 to $3. 15. per case, for comb honey. 

 and others in the same locality received 

 S2. 50 to $2.65. They ///i>«W;/ they could get as 

 much as the Association could, and they 

 //lini so still. The Association charges 10 

 percent commission, but the proceeds, after 

 bottling honey and selling supplies, have 

 paid expenses, so it has cost us nothing to 

 sell our honey except one year, and that 

 year it cost us only 2!2 percent. The surplus 

 is rebated back to members after paying a 

 dividend on the stock of 10 percent yearly. 



Any time you want any more facts about 

 the trade-building possibilities through co- 

 operation, and the low cost of operation 

 through this method, just write me. All the 

 fruit associations of the West, or most of 

 them, arc managed in much tiic same way, 

 and they are even more successful than ours. 

 Colorado BeeKeei'Ek, 



' '. following comes from Mr. Wm. 

 Iiitney, one of the oldest mem- 

 13 of the Chicago-Northwestern Bee- 

 Keepers' Association : 



Krienu York:— I don't know which to 

 congratulate most on account of the Presi- 

 dent's Address before the Albany meeting — 

 .\ou or the National Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion, It certainly is the best address of the 

 kind I have ever read. It should cause the 



bee-keepers of the country to take notice, 

 and do something. I have often wondered 

 why the National was not a delegated body 

 instead of such as it has been. More impor- 

 tant busines. should be considered than 

 threshing "old straw" that local associa- 

 tions have pounded fine enough for bee-hive 

 packing. 



Of course. I'm out, but I'm just as inter- 

 ested as ever in the success of those in the 

 business. Had I begun when young, I can 

 scarcely guess how far I might have gone, 

 I never failed to secure good prices for bees 

 or honey. Honey at S4-oo per case, and bees 

 at $10 per single colony, and $8,00 per colony 

 for a whole apiary, is not a bad showing. I 

 sold many a colony for $10. 



I shall try to be at the Chicago-Northwest- 

 ern convention Nov. 30 and Dec. i. 

 Very truly yours, 



Batavia, III,, Nov. 15. Wm. M, Whitney, 



We are hoping that as the annual 

 election is now over, the Board of 

 Directors will take hold of matters en- 

 ergetically, and see what can be done. 

 The Constitution of the Association 

 needs to be revised, but this can not be 

 done legally until the next election 

 (November, 1911). All amendments 

 should be agreed upon at the next an- 

 nual convention, which must be held at 

 least 45 days before the election month 

 (November) in order that the Constitu- 

 tion may be amended in accordance 

 with its present provisions. But there 

 is much that the Board of Directors 

 and officers can do, even under the 

 present Constitution, between now and 

 the next annual meeting. All the nec- 

 essary amendments can be prepared so 

 that they may be approved at the next 

 annual meeting. 



We do not wish to " run things " our- 

 selves, but would be glad to do what 

 little we can to make the National a 

 success in every way. 



Bees Cleaiiiug Up Combs 



Two or three times of late we have en- 

 tered a caution against letting hees clean up 

 exposed wet extracting-combs in the vicinity 

 of a common highway, or in a locality where 

 neighboring dwellings are very close to each 

 other. While we still think the caution is a 

 wise one to put before beginners, we are 

 convinced that under some conditions, an 



expert can have his combs cleaned out in 

 this way to advantage.— G/fa«/«^j in Bee Cul- 

 ture. 



Have you not noticed that when the 

 combs are cleaned up outside that there is 

 a considerable amount of damage done to 

 the comb, and that a great waste of wax 

 takes place? On the other hand, when the 

 combs are cleaned up on the hive, the bees 

 rather improve them, and there is no waste 

 of wax. — Catiadiau Bee fonrnal. 



All that is said by both authorities is 

 true, or at least may be true. But the 

 experienced bee-keeper who puts his 

 combs out in the open to be cleaned 

 up, is on his guard against any waste 

 of wax, and very little of it occurs. He 

 may give the bees so small an entrance 

 to the combs that the bees will not 

 tear them, or if he has a large amount 

 of comb to be cleaned up he may go to 

 the other extreme, and give such free 

 access to the combs that the bees will 

 not be crowded on any part of them; 

 for it is the crowding upon the combs 

 that makes the bees tear them. 



Old and tough extracting combs are 

 not very likely to be torn. The trouble 

 comes with new, tender combs, and 

 especially with partly-filled sections. 



But why not, in any case, take the 

 safer way, and let all combs be cleaned 

 up on the hive ? The difficulty in the 

 case is that the bees may not take a 

 notion to empty out the combs at all. 

 They may clean wet extracting combs, 

 but emptying them is another matter. 

 For the combs may be licked up dry, 

 and the licked-up honey put back in a 

 few cells in the same comb. With un- 

 finished sections there is nothing wet 

 to clean up, and probably in the great 

 majority of cases very slow work will 

 be made of carrying the honey down 

 into the brood-chamber. So in most 

 cases the expert, whatever he does 

 with his extracting combs, has his 

 unfinished sections cleaned up away 

 from the hive, even if there be a very 

 little tearing of the comb, thinking it 

 better to have them emptied with a 

 little tearing than not to have them 

 emptied at all. 



=^ 



Niscellaneous News-Items 



Merr.v Christinas — Happy New 

 Year ! 



/ gain we have come to the last num- 

 ber of the year, and not only Christmas 

 will soon be here, but the opening of 

 another new year as well. Our heart- 

 iest good wishes are extended to all 

 our readers and their families, for a 

 very Merry Christmas and the happiest 

 New Year they have ever experienced. 

 This is the season of exchanging not 

 only gifts prompted by love and friend- 

 ship, but for the indulgence of feelings 

 of genuine good fellowship all around. 

 On looking about us we can always 

 find some one who is less favored than 

 ourselves, so there is always cause for 

 thanksgiving and happiness. Bee-keep- 

 ers, like the honey they produce, should 

 impart somewhat of the sweetness and 

 joy to the lives of others with whom 

 they come in contact from time to titne. 

 We hope that our thousands of readers 



may have a thoroughly enjoyable Holi- 

 day season. 



• 



lUiuois State Convention 



The annual meeting of the Illinois 

 Bee-Keepers' Association was held at 

 Springfield Nov. 17 and 18. On account 

 of the temporary illiness of Pres. C. P. 

 Dadant, he was unable to be present. 

 But as this Association has "a bunch" 

 of o vice-presidents, it was never en- 

 tirely without a presiding officer. 

 Messrs. W. B. Moore and J. W. Bowen, 

 alternately, filled the chair very accept- 

 ably. 



While the attendance was not as 

 large as it should have been, still the 

 interest was very good. Perhaps the 

 most important action was that look- 

 ing toward placing the apiary inspec- 

 tion work of the State in charge of the 

 Department of Entomology, with Mr. 



