February, 191- 



American l^ee Journal 



1 wouM call the attention of tin- 

 members to the fact that the new Con- 

 stitution ilrawn up and approved at the 

 Minneapolis meeting uf the National, 

 is somewhat of an experiment, as there 

 was no precedent to go by, and that 

 no member need hesitate about voting 

 for it's adoption on account of some 

 niindr defect it may contain, for ample 

 provisions have been made in the new 

 Constitution for adjusting any defects. 



If we decide to become an au.xiliary 

 to the National. I would advise that 

 local members be elected to fill the 

 several oflices of this branch of the 

 National for the ensuing year. I woubl 

 .ilso advise that the oflices be of an 

 honorary nature, /. e., without compen- 

 sation. The members will see the ad- 

 visability of this when I say that I shall 

 use my influence to make this branch 

 a permanent one, with annual meetings, 

 or oftener, as the members see fit. 



I would also recommend that this 

 -•Kssociation consider at this meeting 

 the matter of appointing an organizing 

 committee of two in each of the follow- 

 ing centers : Detroit. Lansing. Jack- 

 son. Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, and 

 Traverse City — with the idea of organ- 

 izing a branch of the National at each 

 of these locations durin.c; the month of 

 January next. 



This .'\ssociation was the first, I be- 

 lieve, to offer its service to the Na- 

 tional as an auxiliary, so let Michigan 

 be the first to be thoroughly organized 

 along these lines. 



There are other locations that need 

 to be organized, and these can be seen 

 to in the future. If Michigan can start 

 the year with seven auxiliaries, we 

 ought to be satisfied. 



This (lllll) has been a very disas- 

 trous year with us, in as much as we 

 have lost two of our most prominent 

 members since our last meeting in 

 (irand Rapids, a year ago. The com- 

 mittee I will appoint upon resolutions 

 will kindly give this matter its due 

 attention. I recommend that suitable 

 resolutions of regret be mailed to the 

 widows of the two departed members — 

 Mr. Hutchinson and Mv. Hilton. 



The year 1911 has not been up to the 

 average from the honey-producers' 

 standpoint. Many will be tempted to 

 sell their bees after such a discouraging 

 year. I would advise the members to 

 "stick to the bees." Further, I would 

 suggest that this would be just the time 

 to buy more bees, as likely many will 

 be offered for sale, and at satisfactory 

 prices. 



We need a new law upon bee-dis- 

 eases in this State. Whether anything 

 ought to be done at this session of our 

 Association toward this end I will leave 

 to the members to decide. 



In conclusion, I want to impress 

 upon the minds of the members the 

 importance of being well organized 

 when in need of anything from our 

 Legislature. If the scheme I have out- 

 lined heretofore in this paper is car- 

 ried out, that of organizing in all the 

 main centers of the Slate, I predict it 

 will double our membership in the 

 State. This larger number of members 

 will have a great influence upon our 

 Legislature and Governor. 

 R.mus, Mich.. Dec. I, liMl. 



Order and Tidiness in Apiary 



BY (;. M. nOOI.ITTLE. 



"Order is heaven's first law," is an 

 expression we often hear used. But 

 w'hen some of us travel about and visit 

 the apiaries of dilTerent bee-keepers, 

 we are compelled to admit that all do 

 not have this matter of suitable neat- 

 ness and order established in their 

 minds. Brother and sister bee-keeper. 

 1 wish to impress upon you that ours 

 is a noble jnirsuit. and therefore we 

 should deal with it as such. Let us not 

 degrade it bv slipshod and slovenly 

 work. 



Our methods need not be of the 

 poorest kind, even though we do not 

 feel justified in having palace hives for 

 our bees to occupy. Ther^ is no busi- 

 ness that compares more favorably, nor 

 that is more capable of being carried 

 out in a beautiful way than is apicul- 

 ture. Apiculture is sometimes called 

 " the poetry of agriculture." .-\nd from 

 this standpoint it seems almost like a 

 desecration to see hives at all angles, 

 and at all points of the compass, as 

 though some "joy rider" had lost con- 

 trol of his automobile when passing 

 near the apiary, and the liives had been 

 tossed about in all directions by some 

 intruder who hail "lost his head." 



I know that there are those who 

 claim that a promiscuous placing of 

 hives is necessary in order to secure 

 the safe return llight. when the young 

 queens go out to mate, but with a prac- 

 tical demonstration of this matter dur- 

 ing over 311 years of rearing queens 

 both for home consumption and to 

 supply the trade, I consider this more 

 of the fancy, or from relying on an oft- 

 repeated dogmatism, rather than hav- 

 ing any foundation on fact. Especially 

 is this true where a proper distance is 

 given between each hive or colony. 



So many times have I seen apiaries 

 kept in slovenly shape that I wish to 

 make a plea for system, neatness and 

 orderliness. I remember going, some 

 years ago, to the apiary of one of "our 

 great lights" in bee-keeping, and find- 

 ing the hives not only standing at all 

 angles, and in all directions of facing, 

 but from .J to HI would be "thrown" 

 together in a clump, while the vacant 

 places in the enclosure for the apiary 

 would have accommodated all the hives, 

 had they been properly spaced, with an 

 abundance of room sufficient to war- 

 rant the safe return of every queen. 

 Not only this, but the grass and weeds 

 were nearly nr quite as high as the tops 

 I if the hives, while pnor, pollen-laden 

 bees were struggling and losing their 

 Iliads by trying to crawl thmugh the 

 grass to reach the entrance of their 

 home. Then in several places in the 

 vard, and in the corners of the same, 

 were piles of rubbish mixed in with 

 hives, covers, ami bottom-boards that 

 had gotten out of repair, the same be- 

 ing allowed to lie there and rot instead 

 of being stcired in the repair-shop 

 ready for a profitable entertainment for 

 the apiarist on some stormy day. 



Then it almost made my heart ache 

 to find in another corner a pile of sev- 

 eral hundred frames of comb which 

 had too much pollen or drone-comb in 

 them to be considered worthy of keep- 

 ing longer, as they were in the liives 



all thrown in togetlier, many of the 

 combs already being more or less con- 

 sumed bv the larvc-e of ' the wax-moth, 

 while the rain and the weather were 

 twisting and rotting the frames which 

 held these combs. Besides this waste, 

 this slovenly manner of affairs was 

 breeding more wax-moths then inu 

 careful and tidy bee-keepers would do, 

 while these same moths would go out 

 to inconvenience and annoy those who 

 had with great pains gotten their api- 

 aries nearly or quite free from the same. 

 Then on going to his shop and 

 honey-house, the shop-floor was cov- 

 ered with sawdust, shavings and dirt 

 to the depth of an inch or two. with 

 pieces of hive-stuff thrown in promis- 

 cuously, while the honey-house part of 

 the same was littered up with all sorts 

 of odds and ends, and every available 

 space piled full of a miscellaneous col- 

 lection of "traps and calamities." 



The reader may say that it takes time 

 and money to keep things tidy and or- 

 derly. But I wish to say that it: does 

 not take nearly so much time in the 

 long run to do our work, as it did this 

 noted apiarist, who was so noted by 

 his writings and words on the floors of 

 our bee-conventions. In our beginning, 

 it may take a little more time and 

 monev to fix or make an appropriate 

 place for everything; and it may take a 

 little more time always to put every- 

 thing in its proper place, thus having a 

 place for everything, and having every- 

 thing in its place, instead of dropping 

 them where they are last used. It does 

 take a little time to keep the grass 

 mowed in the bee-yard. All of this I 

 am willing to admit, but this is but a 

 " drop in the bucket " when compared 

 with the waste of both time and money 

 which comes to the one who has no 

 place for anything, and allows his bees 

 to wade through " standing timber" 

 before they can get home with their 

 loads of honey; while the moths are 

 eating up and ruining the wax in the 

 combs which are of much money value, 

 even when turned into wax. Therefore, 

 in the end, it is time and money saved, 

 and something which I consider of far 

 more importance, it is temper saved. 



.•\ man can accomplish much more 

 work when he is in a contented, good- 

 natured, happy frame of mind. And 

 even from a dollars-aud-cents point of 

 view, such a frame of mind contributes 

 to a more profitable investment. And 

 nothing is more conducive to this 

 frame of mind than always to find 

 everything in its place. Of course, the 

 money part of our business must be 

 kept in view; otherwise, in this day 

 and age of the world, it is " over the 

 hill to the poor-house." Hut in my 

 over 4(1 vears of bee-keeping life I have 

 noticed this : The must profitable honey 

 crop is never obtained in a slovenly 

 manner. And this can be said equally 

 when speaking of farming, manufactur- 

 ing, merchandizing, or what not. 



I know that neatness and order in 

 and of themselves alone do not insure 

 success; but that trait of character 

 that does everything along these lines 

 so thoroughly, so tidily and so orderly, 

 is the trait which brings success. Prop- 

 erly spacing the hives, keeping the bee- 

 yard mown at the right time, cleaning 

 out the shop and honey-house, will not 

 of themselves bring success; but the 



