E 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



1 



EDITORIAL 



FROM TIME TO TIME, there have come 

 suggestions to Gleanings that the beekeep-"- 

 ers of America 

 If We Can might well set 



Do It Well. about raising a 



fund to relieve the 

 sufforiiigs and losses of the beekeepers in 

 the devastated war regions of Europe. These 

 suggestions have come of kind hearts and 

 broail sympathies. Very many beekeepers 

 in America doubtless would be glad to con- 

 tribute, for as much as has already been 

 given by America to relieve the awful suf- 

 fering of Europe, more needs to be given, 

 and many of our beekeejiing brothers across 

 the Atlantic are sorely in need of help. 



May we observe that if a beekeepers ' 

 fund is to be raised in America for the re- 

 lief of beekeeping sufferers in Europe, it 

 should be a generous sum. The beekeepers 

 who have met with war disaster in Belgium, 

 France, and the Balkans must number many 

 thousands. An American beekeepers ' war- 

 relief fund should accordingly foot up to 

 many tliou^ands, if any substantial relief 

 is to be afforded. To ac;omplish this 

 requires organization and large effort. The 

 appeal will have to be wide and thoro. A 

 considerable executive force will need to be 

 organized in America. On the other side of 

 the Atlantic a trustworthy distributing 

 agency must be found or provided. It is a 

 big work and needs to be done quickly. Yet, 

 so far as any suggestion has reached us, it 

 has con'^isted only of suggestion and en- 

 thusiastic approval of the idea, without of- 

 fering any practical plan of procedure on 

 which the big work may be got under way. 

 Merely approving and asking what is to be 

 done about it, doesn 't get anything done nor 

 does it give evidence of comprehending the 

 size of the job. 



Gleanings does approve of any practical 

 plan to aiil our brother beekeepers in Eu- 

 rope. But, if it is to be done, it should be 

 well done, for otherwise it would prove a 

 discredit to us as American beekeepers. 

 Therefore we suggest that the National Bee- 

 keepers ' Association consider the whole sub- 

 ject at the annual meeting to be held within 

 a few days. If, after considering all fac- 

 tors in the case and all other relief agencies 

 now at work, it is thought best to make a 

 distinct nation-wide apjieal to the beekeep- 

 ers to give to this beekeepers' cause, it 



seems to us the appeal could come from no 

 lother source so appropriately as from the 

 National organization. 



From a letter just received from Dr. E. F. 

 Phillips of Washington, we learn that Mr. 

 Graham-Burtt, Mission Anglo-Americaine 

 de la Societe des Amis, 53 Eue de Rivoli, 

 Paris, France, is interested in this work. 

 We suggested to the officers of the National 

 Beekeepers ' Association to get in touch 

 with Mr. Graham-Burtt in advance of the 

 meeting to be held Feb. 18 to 20 in Chicago, 

 learn what aid is needed by our suffering 

 beekeeper brothers ' ' over there, ' ' how it 

 can best be given, and how it can be most 

 economically and surely distributed. 



We are for helping our beekeejDer broth- 

 ers in Europe and doing it as a body of bee- 

 keeping brothers in America — if it can best 

 be done this way and can be well and 

 creditably done. Othei'wise, we are not. 

 Our sincere hope is that it can be creditably 

 done. 



THE ARTICLES on bees and fire blight by 

 Prof. Troop and John H. Lovell printed in 

 this and the Janu- 

 Combat This ary issues should 

 Hurtful be carefully read 



Fallacy. by beekeepers in 



order that the 

 facts an<l reasoning submitted in defense of 

 the bees may be clearly kept in mind. Al- 

 tlio the bees are among the best and most 

 valuable friends of the fruit-growers, yet 

 many of them don 't know it — in fact, are 

 hostile to bees and beekeepers. Beekeepers 

 should be able to dispel this hostility. 



THE CALIFORNIA Honey Producers' Co- 

 operative P]xchange, with headquarters at 

 Los Angeles, of 



The California 



Honey 



Exchange. 



which mention has 

 already been made 

 in Gleanings, now 

 has 700 members 

 comprising an aggregate of over 100,000 

 colonies. Each member pays in at the 

 rate of .50 cents per colony, a part of which 

 is turned in as actual cash and the balance 

 in the form of a note to be liquidated at a 

 future time. Every member is pledged to 

 sell his honey thru the Exchange, thus in- 



