1902 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



507 



may be that modem practice in the future 

 will show that to be the best plan, all things 

 considered. It certainly would result in a 

 reduction of swarms, because the two and 

 three jear old queens are more inclined to 

 swarm than those that are only one year 

 old. A. E. Manum once said that he found 

 it profitable, on the average, to requeen 

 every two years; and as the years go by I 

 find that that is getting to be more and 

 more a practice among honey-producers. 

 Of course, there are exceptional queens 

 that should be preserved. 



As to the matter of letting- young queens 

 fight it out, and having second swarms, I 

 am not surprised that the practice was 

 criticised. It might work with you, prob- 

 ably, but not with others. The greatest 

 objection is that the continuous after-swarm- 

 ing has a tendency to demoralize the other 

 bees in the apiary, even if it lasted only 

 four days per colony. Notwithstanding you 

 have traps, you would not always be able 

 to determine whether some virgin did not 

 get through the zinc and so go with the lit- 

 tle swarm to parts unknown; or, perhaps, 

 worse still, go into some colony where you 

 have a valuable queen, and kill her. — Ed.] 



feDlTpRIAC 



^ C.R HOoT 



A NEW edition, not a new revision, as I 

 understand it, of " Advanced Bee Culture,'' 

 by W. Z. Hutchinson, is out. The regular 

 price is SO cents, and we can now supply it 

 from this office. This edition is tastily 

 printed, and in the general printing and 

 binding it is neat. Mr. Hutchinson has the 

 true printer's taste for the artistic and 

 beautiful. 



Mr. W. K. Morrison, an employee of 

 the British government, now located in the 

 West Indies, in the leading article in this 

 issue contributes some valuable facts. I 

 believe myself that bee-keepers have been 

 holding up before their eyes a scarecrow 

 that never existed except in their imagina- 

 tion. Other writers who have been in po- 

 sition to know the facts, and who are not 

 influenced by trade interests, have practi- 

 cally taken the same position as that given 

 by Mr. Morrison. 



HELP FROM SUBSCRIBERS IN GATHERING 

 REPORTS OF HONEY PROSPECTS. 



I SHALL be obliged if our subscribers 

 from all portions of the United States will 

 send us postal cards telling us briefly 

 about the season. Do not write long letters, 

 as it is almost impossible to summarize all 

 such; but we can handle very satisfactorily 

 hundreds of short ones or postals. You will 

 confer a favor on yourself and fellow bee- 

 keepers if you will keep us posted in regard 

 to the honey-flow and the market. Keep 



the cards flying in all the time throughout 

 the entire season. A proper knowledge of 

 the honey-flow and of the market is worth 

 thousands of dollars to the bee-keepers of 

 the country. 



ELECTING OFFICERS FOR THE NATIONAL 

 ASSOCIATION. 



In the Bee-keepers'' Review, Editor W. Z. 

 Hutchinson has this to offer on the matter 

 of how oflicers for the National Association 

 shall be elected. As the suggestions are 

 all so good we copy the editorial entire: 



The National Association of Bee-keepers has been 

 prospering of late in a way that it has never before 

 prospered. It has been increasing in numbers and 

 wealth. It is to be hoped that the end is not j^et ; that 

 it will go on and on, and not only increase in numbers 

 and wealth, but do more and more for the good of bee- 

 keepers. Naturally, as its numbers and responsibili- 

 ties increase, new features come up. Methods that 

 answered every purpose when the members were few, 

 are now lacking in some particular. Several changes 

 were made l-^.st year at Buffalo, or, rather, suggested 

 there, and afterward carried at the annual election. 

 One thing that received much discussion, but upon 

 which no vote was taken, was that of making nomi- 

 nations in advance of election. Since the organization 

 of the Association, I believe everj' officer has succeed- 

 ed himself. So far as I know, no harm has yet result- 

 ed from such a practice. Some have said, if no harm 

 has resulted from this course, why not allow it to go 

 on in this same way ? Of course, there is good sense 

 in the old .saying of " letting well enough alone ; " but 

 nearly all of these old saws have their counterpart ; 

 for instance, there is one that says, " In time of peace 

 prepare for war." Because we have never seen the ne- 

 cessity of electing a successor to a director or general 

 manager, that is no sign we never shall. It may be- 

 come very apparent that some man is not fit for the 

 position ihat he occupies, or circumstances may exhib- 

 it some other man's qualities in such a light as to show 

 decidedly that he is the best possible man for a di- 

 rector or a manager. With our present system it 

 would be simply impossible to vote the undesirable 

 man out of office, and vote in the better man. We can 

 not come out publicly and say that Mr. Blank is be- 

 hind the times, or too slow, or lacking in business 

 methods, or neglects his business, or has this or that 

 fault. It would be too cruel, and could not be thought 

 of for an instant ; but if we were in the habit, each 

 year, of nominating, say, two candidates for each of- 

 fice, there would then be an opportunity of voting this 

 man out of office and electing his successor. When 

 tvyo men are nominated for the same office, it is not 

 considered a reflection upon the one not elected, as it 

 is simply imp .ssible to elect them both. The weak 

 point, or. at least, one of the weak points, in the man- 

 agement of the National As.sociation, is that no nomi- 

 nations are made in advance of election. I believe 

 that the ballot, the actual power of electing these of- 

 ficers, should remain right where it is —in the hands 

 of all the members ; but so long as no one knows how 

 or for whom his neighbor will vote, each officer will 

 simply succeed himself. 



It has been suggested that nominations be made 

 through the bee journals ; but what is everybody's 

 business is nobody's business, and it would not, or 

 might not, be done The most feasible plan, to my 

 mind, that has yet been suggested, is that candidates 

 be nominated at the annual convention. Against this 

 plan it has been urged that a nomination by the con- 

 vention would virtually be an e ection. If only one 

 candidate were named, it would ; but let us nominate 

 two candidates. Usually there would be no objection 

 to the nomination of the man whose office was about 

 to expire, and then nominate another man, and let the 

 votes at the annual election decide between the two. 

 It is true that a large local element is usually in at- 

 tendance at each annual convention ; but the leaders 

 are also always present, and the likelihood of an un- 

 desirable man being nominated is not very great. I 

 think that this plan is at least worthy of a trial. If it 

 does not prove desirable it can be modified or dropped. 

 A trial of some plan is more desirable than to go on as 

 we are doing with this sort of endless-chain method. 

 This question is bound to oome up at the Denver meet- 

 ing, and let up discu.ss it in advance of the meeting. 

 What objections do you see to this plan? Let's have 

 them fir.st. 



