^^^^^ERICAgr^^^ 



43d YEAR. 



CHICAGO, ILL, JAN. 22, 1903, 



Na4. 



^ Editorial. ^ I 



The Pure-Footl Bill has passed the 

 National House of Representatives by a vote 

 ol 73 to 21. It prohibits the introduction into 

 any State or Territory of any article of food 

 or drug which is adulterated or misbranded. 

 Having gone through the House with so little 

 opposition, it ought to go through the Senate 

 with a whoop; but just by way of making a 

 sure thing doubly sure, it would be a good 

 thing for each bee-keeper to sit him down as 

 soon as he reads this, and compose a short 

 epistle to his Senator, urging the passage of 



the bill. 



*■ 



Bees Working in a Tent.— In the 



American Agriculturist we are told that Mr. 

 Bunce tried growing cucumbers in a tent, 

 and not a cucumber set until the doors of the 

 tent were opened to allow -the entrance of 

 bees, and then some grew large enough for 

 small pickles. It says further: 



" The presence of bees in a tent is consid- 

 ered by Mr. Bunce indispensable to success. 

 He thinks if the doors of the tent were left 

 open in the middle of the day, bees would 

 come in. When asked if other and unwel- 

 come insects would not also enter, he replied 

 that the moth producing the tobacco-worm 

 flies only at night. He says strawhern'e.'< have 

 been (J row II iiiiiier rlot/i on Long Island with 

 brilliant success, the fruit maturing two 

 weeks earlier than in the open. But bees 

 must be allowed free entrance." 



Southern Honey.— Some of the bee- 

 keepers in the South object in vigorous 

 terms to having their product called " south- 

 ern " honey. And why not call it so ? Is not 

 all honey produced in the South ''southern 

 honey V And yet it sometimes happens that 

 a thing that looks all right on the face of it 

 may be all wrong. If the term " southern '' 

 honey has come to mean honey of a decidedly 

 inferior character, one can hardh- wonder that 

 a man who produces what he knows to be 

 honey of a superior character, even though it 

 be produced in the South, should object to 

 having applied to it a term that labels it of 

 inferior quality. 



Editor Hill, at present himself a Southerner, 

 voices the sentiment of up-to-date Southern 

 bee-keepers, by saying among other things- 



'' It is doubtless a fact that the South puts 

 upon the market a larger percentage of low- 

 grade honey than any other section of the 

 country. The unprogressiveness of many 

 sections of the South is well known. The 

 product of the ' bee-keeping' element in such 

 localities, as well as that of other branches, is 



necessarily inferior: but this is no reason 

 why the up-to-date producer of the South 

 should have to suffer the stigma which be- 

 longs, obviously, to a product which he has 

 not been guilty of placing upon the market." 



And this time he is right. 



Butter and Honey. — " Honey," says the 

 American Bee-Keeper, "is frequently recom- 

 mended as a substitute for butter, to spread 

 on bread ; but no one appears to have ob- 

 served the fact that butter and honey consti- 

 tute a combination that's not at all disagree- 

 able to take." 



Yes, that's a combination not to be des- 

 pised, one that was held in high esteem cen- 

 turies ago. Said an ancient writer (Isaiah i, 

 " Butter and honey shall he eat, when he 

 knoweth to refuse the evil, and choose the 



good." 



*■ 



General 3Ianager's Explanation. — 



On page 20 is an editorial on "The Election 

 of the Xational," in which we called attention 

 to several errors and irregularities, besides 

 giving a letter from Mr. N. E. France, who 

 also asked that a new ballot be taken. The 

 reasons why a new ballot was called for were 

 stated. 



We have now received the following letter 

 from Mr. Secor to President Hutchinson, the 

 latter saying, " I think, in justice to him 

 [Secor], it ought to be published:" 



Forest City, Iowa, Jan. .5, 190.3. 

 W. Z. IlrTCHiNSON. Hres. NaflB.-K. Ass'n. 



Jiy iJeiir Sir: — I have your recent letter in 

 which you state that there is some dissatis- 

 faction among some of the members of the 

 Association in regard to the form of the bal- 

 lot recently sent out, and because there were 

 no constitutional amendments submitted. 



I am sure that any fair-minded member, 

 when he learns the facts in the case, will ex- 

 onerate the General Manager from blame in 

 both cases. 



The reason why Mr. France's name was 

 mentioned on the voting blank was that he 

 was the uiihj prmon nominated in a proper 

 manner. His name had been regularly pre- 

 sented to the Chairman of the Board, and 

 seconded by at least half a dozen members. 

 It, therefore, came to me officially, and I was 

 obliged to notice it. 



It may be said that other names were men- 

 tioned through the bee-journals. Granted. 

 I now think I remember one person who 

 nominated thrrr or four meinlxr.i for tlie snine 

 offlre in this manner. By what constitutional 

 provision is the Board of Directors, or the 

 (general Manager, retiuired to take cognizance 

 of every suggestion that every person may 

 write to periodicals published in the United 

 States ; Why were not these nominations 

 made to the proper officials of the Associa- 

 tion ? Unless these matters are brought to 

 ijie officially I can not take the responsibility 

 of indorsing thein. 



Now, as to the constitutional amendments 

 offered at the Dt-nver convention. How 

 could I submit so important a matter as that 

 to a vote without a word from the Secretary '. 



In tact, I never saw a copy of them until 

 after the voting blanks had been sent out. 

 and then only a stenographer's report of 

 them. Cf J 



Dr. Mason wrote me, just before his death, 

 that he had no copy of the proposed amend- 

 ments; that they had never been turned over 

 to him. If the Secretary of the Association 

 conld not certify what the proposed amend- 

 ments were, how could I be expected to take 

 the responsibility of interpreting them ? I 

 said before, and now repeat, that I did not 

 see even a purported copy of tne amendments 

 till after the voting blanks had been printed 

 and mailed. 



If we do not wish to be governed by con- 

 stitutional authority why have a constitution < 



If we do not practice business methods, and 

 follow parliamentary usages, our Association 

 is but a rope of sand, and not worth saving. 



I hope soon to turn over to my successor 

 the records and funds of the largest and most 

 prosperous bee-keepers' association in the 

 world; and if we will stop our quibbling 

 about unimportant matters, and put our 

 shoulders to the wheel in the spirit of frater- 

 nal helpfulness, the future of the Association 

 will be brighter than ever; but if factionalism 

 and love of office prevail, it will be rent in 

 twain and die a premature death. 

 Sincerely yours, 



Eugene Secor, Oen. Man. 



There are several points in Mr. Secor's let- 

 ter of explanation which we would like to 

 touch on in full, but we must be brief. 



In the first place, we contend that Mr. 

 France's name should have been omitted from 

 the ballot, for it was not necessary that any 

 one be nominated at all, nor necessary to 

 print names of nominees on the ballot. Why, 

 a person not previously nominated might 

 have been elected, so the nomination cuts no 

 figure whatever. We can not account for the 

 naming of Mr. France in any other manner, 

 than that some one thought it would be an 

 excellent way to defeat Mr. Abbott, whom the 

 majority of the Board of Directors did elect 

 General Manager last summer. 



As to the omission of the amendments 

 from the ballot, Mr. Secor's excuse is rather 

 weak, for he says Dr. Mason wrote him, be- 

 fore he died, about the amendments. It seems 

 to us that a General Manager knowing there 

 were amendments to be presented on the bal- 

 lot would make at least a little effort to get 

 them. Dr. Mason died the forepart of 

 November, and we did not get our ballot 

 until Dec. 20— surely ample time to find a 

 copy of the amendments if they were really 

 wanted for voting purposes. 



We have reason to believe that the inten- 

 tion was not to present the amendments at 

 all, as they were not favored by some in 

 authority. It was the Secretary's duty to get 

 a copy of the amendments before the Denver 

 convention closed, and see that they were 

 forwarded to the General Manager in time for 

 balloting. The General Manager, knowing 

 there were amendments to be voted on, should 



