February, loi; 



American l^ee Journal 



that their dues are paid up in the Na- 

 tional, and, therefore, they will delay 

 sending their dues to the State Asso- 

 ciation ; please do not do this, but send 

 in your dues at once, and your mem- 

 bership in the National will be ex- 

 tended. 



The new .Association needs funds 

 with which to begin work at once. 

 The first business will be to arrange 

 for a l)ig convention to be held at a 

 time that will be most convenient for 

 the largest nvmiber of bee-keepers, 

 when the organization will be per- 

 fected and immediate steps taken to 

 secure legislation to assist in checkins 

 the spread of bee-diseases in the State. 



No State in the Union can produce 

 better honey than Iowa, and by mutual 

 assistance the bee-keepers can greatly 

 increase their yields, and improve mar- 

 ket conditions. 



Let every one interested in bee-cul- 

 ture join the big cluster at once by 

 sending in his name and any sugges- 

 tion that he has to offer. Rfporter. 



The Northern Michigan Bee-Keepers' 

 .Association will hold its next annual 

 meeting at Traverse Citv. Mich., March 

 l:i and 14, llHl Whiting Hotel will be 

 the headquarters. Special rates have 

 been arranged for, and also the Hotel's 

 parlor on the second floor has been 

 ottered to us for the meetings. A good 

 program will be provided, and we 

 would like to see many new faces. If 

 vou are so you can come, better do so. 

 We are sure you will have a pleasant 

 time. Ir.-^ D. B.\rti.ett, .sVc. 



East Jordan, Mich. 



Ventura Co., Bee-Keepers' Club .At 



a meeting of the Ventura County Bee- 

 Keepers' Club, held at Fillmore, Calif., 

 Jan. tl, 1912, it was unanimously voted 

 to join in a body the California State 

 l!ee-Keepers' Association. 



Inspector .Allen was tipheld in the 

 matter of quarantining all f|ueens and 

 bees from outside of the county on ac- 

 count of bee-diseases. All queens and 

 bees shipped into Ventura coimty must 

 bear an inspector's certificate, or they 

 will be destrcjycd when they arrive. 



E. F. McDi)N.\Lii, Set-. 



Santa Paula, Calif. 



Northern California Convention. — The 



Northern California Bee-Keepers' .As- 

 sociation held its (ith annual meeting 

 at Sacramentn, Calif., on Wednesday 

 and Thursday, Dec. -JT and -JS, llMl. The 

 sessions were fairly well attended, 

 and had a good representation from all 

 parts of the State, the north and central 

 parts especially. 



The topic, " 'The Value of Organiza- 

 tion,'' was thoroughly discussed, and a 

 committee was appointed to meet witli 

 a committee from the California State 

 Bee-Keepers' Association from Los 

 .Angeles, and see if it could not be ar- 

 ranged to have one State organization. 



Both organizations were requested 

 to make some alterations in their con- 

 stitutions, and report at the next meet- 

 ing for final hearing. 



.A State .Inspector was agreed upon, 

 and the necessary steps taken to have 

 such an olVice created; and all societies 



were urged to co-operate and prepare 

 a bill to present to the Legislature 

 some time this session. 



Prof. A. J. Cook was present, and 

 gave an hour's talk, and one and all 

 desired that he go on longer, as his 

 discourse was very interesting, and the 

 only regret was that there were not 

 more present to enjoy the important 

 facts that he brought out. 



C. Ha\iser was elected president, L. 

 D. Walker, vice-president ; Win Gear, 

 of \'orden, secretary and treasurer; 

 and Mrs. L. D. Walker and Harry Hill 

 directors. 



The meeting proved a benefit to all 

 present, and the other counties in the 

 State were urged to organize similar 

 associations, then to have inspectors 

 appointed, and all to agree upon the 

 State Inspectors' Bill. 



J. C. Frohlicer. 



Berkeley, Calif.. Dec. 20. 



The National Association. — F'i nally 

 we have something of great interest to 

 present to our readers concerning the 

 proposed work of the National Bee- 

 Keepers' .\ssociation under its new 

 Constitution, adopted last November, 

 and as interpreted by the Board of 

 Directors elected at the same time. 



As announced in last month's Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, the Board met, and 

 the following is a condensed report of 

 the work they e.xpect to undertake for 

 the members of the National Associa- 

 tion during 1912, as reported by Secre- 

 tary Tyrrell, who was also elected as 

 secretary of the Board for the Detroit 

 meeting : 



What the National Bee-Keepers' 

 Association Will Do this Year 



The meeting of the Board of Direc- 

 tors held in Detroit, Mich., Jan. 2'6, 

 1912, was probably the most important 

 of any Board meeting held in the his- 

 tory of the .Association. Plans of re- 

 organization had tij be considered, as 

 well as just what the Association would 

 and should do for its members. 



Honey-Croi' Reports. 



One of the most important needs of 

 the bee-keepers, as it appeared to the 

 Directors, was an accurate knowledge 

 of crop conditions. To get this, it was 

 decided to send out crop reports early 

 in the season to every member, and 

 from the information so obtained, ad- 

 vise the members, cither direct or 

 through the bee-papers, as to the con- 

 ditions. 



P.\l K.VCES K(IR Ho.vev. 



The Board also found that the ques- 

 tion of honey-packages was an impor- 

 tant one. At the present time there is 

 not near the uniformity there should 

 be. No special weight of tin or size of 

 can has been adopted in the past, and 

 many shippers were using a tin en- 

 tirely too light. Samples of lioney- 

 cans were inspected by the Board, with 

 the decision that the Secretary be in- 

 structed to make the best possible ar- 

 rangements for furnishing the mem- 

 bers with the tin honey-packages the 

 coming season. The orders will be 



handled directly through the Associa- 

 tion office, and will not be sent by the 

 member to the can manufacturers as in 

 the past. 



In discussing the question of pack- 

 ages for comb honey, and realizing that 

 there are a number of different kinds 

 and shapes in the market, it was thought 

 best that in order to promote uniform- 

 ity of a comb-honey package the Asso- 

 ciation should take steps to secure for 

 its members, at the lowest possible 

 prices, the double-tier 24-pound ship- 

 ping-case, which was adopted by the 

 Association at its last convention. 



These cases could be furnished ac- 

 cording to specifications so that every 

 member buying through the National 

 would be using e.xactly the same case 

 as every other member. In order to 

 induce a more general adoption, it was 

 thought advisable to furnish them at a 

 low price. 



The Secretary was also instructed to 

 investigate paper shipping-cases, as 

 well as glass packages. This action 

 was not taken with an idea of getting 

 into the bee-supply liusiness, but to 

 promote the using of uniform pack- 

 ages by the members, which, then, will 

 simplify the question of marketing, and 

 eventually raise the price the bee-keep- 

 ers can obtain for their honey. 



M.\RKETiN(; Honey. 

 The question of marketing honey 

 was thoroughly considered, and many 

 plans presented. The one finally de- 

 cided upon was that for the coming 

 season the National .Association should 

 act in the capacity of a broker for its 

 members where desired. It is not ex- 

 pected or desired that all members will 

 ship their honey through the .Associa- 

 tion, but realizing that many are not 

 in tcuicli with the best markets, it was 

 thought that no better move could be 

 made than to assist these members in 

 obtaining the proper returns for their 

 honey crop. To do this, selling agen- 

 cies will be established in several of 

 the larger cities, and the sales will be 

 directed through the .Association. A 

 member having honey to : ell could 

 first get instructions from the Secretary, 

 who is e.xpected to keep in close touch 

 with market conditions, take into con- 

 sideration the freight-rates, and then 

 give the member full instructions as to 

 shipment. The .Association does not 

 intend to buy and sell honey, but simply 

 to assist the producers in finding the 

 l)est possible market. 



Organizing Loc.m. Br.\.ni.hes. 



Tlie promotion of local branches 

 will be encouraged, and wherever a 

 local branch desires to get out a book- 

 let, such as has teen used by the Michi- 

 gan .Association, assistance will be 

 given by the National Association. 

 This feature will be encouraged. The 

 advertising of this booklet will be cared 

 for by the National, but will probably 

 be confined to the four bee-papers on 

 the start. I'^ B. Tvrrkli., SW. 



2:!0 Woodland .Ave., Detroit, Mich. 



We hope that every member of the 

 .Assciation who has not as yet paid his 

 dues for 1912, either direct or through 

 his local organization or branch, will 

 do so at once. 



Perhaps it will be well for us to give 



