23S 



July, 1914. 



American IB^e Journal 



licity man, and is able to get the ear of 

 the daily press as no one else in our 

 association can. In consequence, we 

 get good write- ups, and the public 

 knows something about us, while the 

 beekeeper becomes curious and finally 

 joins, which is just what the society 

 wants. No matter how good a man 

 you may have for the presi lent's chair, 

 unless he has good, loyal, and enthusi- 

 astic junior officers he can do but little. 

 Too often this important department 

 of organization is filled by persons 

 totally unfit for such positions. 



Our society has in the past kept the 

 secretary " on the jump," keeping up 

 with its plans, projects, etc. Then the 

 papers, discussions, etc., are an impor- 

 tant department of the work of the 

 executive. If a program is poorly 

 " made up," some members will not at- 

 tend. Their absence gives an impres- 

 sion of dissatisfaction, and soon the 

 feeling spreads that the society is going 

 down, and from then on it surely will 

 go down. So make your subjects as in- 

 teresting and inviting as possible. Get 

 good men ; men who are up in beedom 

 to be present and discuss subjects. 

 This will bring a full house every time. 



.Idi'erlise. Spread it abroad that you 

 are having a meeting, and tell who is 

 going to be there, and what the bill of 

 fare is. 



Third. Good papers lead to good dis- 

 cussions. If you assign a subject to 

 some person, be sure he can entertain 

 as well as "talk bees." Then there are 

 numerous topics to handle. In five 

 minutes our e,xecutive proposed enough 

 subjects for two weeks' sessions, morn- 

 ing and afternoon, as well as evening. 



And, finally, make your announce- 

 ments early. A short notice of a meet 

 ing means few members. Give them 

 at least 10 days' time. Don't forget, 

 Mr. Secretary, when you write to that 

 long absent member, give him a nice 

 little "josh." It helps, oh! wonder- 

 fully. Paint for him a picture that will 

 make him wish the meeting were right 

 away. When he comes, give liim some- 

 thing to do, or he may not return so 

 eagerly ne.xt time. 



I enclose a photograph of the man 

 who has done more for the Toronto 

 Beekeepers' Association than any other 

 person in it. He is /Tcsidtiil. 



Toronto, Ont. 



Two Essentials in Honey-Pro- 

 duction 



BY DR. E. F. PHILLIPS. 



U'.xlraits I rum an address read at the Xcw Jcrscv 

 iiinTi'tifuu/.] 



N the American Bee Journal for De- 

 cember, 1013 {page 405 407), Miss 

 I''mma M. Wilson reports on the 



work and results of the season of IDIH 

 in the apiary of Dr. C. C. Miller, in 

 which she is a most efficient helper. 

 Briefly the results are as follows : 

 From 7'J colonies, spring count, the 

 average crop was 26().47 sections. One 

 colony produced 402 sections, while 

 only 10 colonies produced less than 

 200. Doctor Miller's previous high 

 record was iiilO sections, but 2(1 colo- 

 nies surpassed this, l.'i producing be- 

 tween ;J00 and -ifiO, while the last <i had 



George R. Chap.man. of Ontario. 



records of 383, 384, 384, 390, 395 and 

 402 respectively. 



This is a wonderful record. Several 

 factors combined to produce this re- 

 sult, and we may first of all give due 

 credit to an exceptional flow of nectar, 

 weather suitable for gathering, and to 

 a most efficient lot of bees. "The bees 

 are really entitled to more attention 

 than they will receive at this time, for 

 they are the result of breeding carried 

 on by Dr. Miller for about 5 years, and 

 in this he has had encouraging success. 

 However, assuming a great flow of 

 honey and good beesthere is one other 

 factor which in importance overtops 

 the rest. This factor is Dr. Miller. 

 Other beekeepers were in localities 

 where there was a flow of nectar just 

 as good, others had good bees, perhaps 

 not so good in most cases as his, but 

 the others did not produce this crop. It 

 will pay us, perhaps, to find out how he 

 did it, for there can be little doubt that 

 there are other beekeepers who can do 

 as well if their efforts were as well 

 systematized. 



The two essentials in honey produc- 

 tion to which reference is made in the 

 subject announced are ( 1 ) getting bees 

 of the right age in time for the harvest 

 and (2) keeping these bees in the proper 

 physiological condition so that they 

 get the maximum crop. These two 

 essentials are so overwhelming and 

 comprehensive that they include many 

 manipulations. 



I. GETTING Bees for the Harvest. — 

 Bees breed in the summer provided 

 nectar and pollen are available, but a 

 colony does not always reach its full 

 strength in time to get the maximum 

 amount from the earlier of the large 

 flows. Plenty of northern beekeepers 

 find strong, vigorous colonies at the 



close of the clover flow when they do 

 little good (unlessthere is a later flow), 

 but usually it is only in the apiaries of 

 good beekeepers that we find strong 

 colonies on time. This problem is 

 essentially a northern one, for in the 

 South and in the tropics there is less 

 difficulty of this kind. To some extent 

 the problem is confined to the comb- 

 honey regions, for comb honey is best 

 produced under conditions of heavy, 

 rather short flows such as are found in 

 the North. 



A beekeeper cannot decide on May 

 1 that he will solve this problem. This 

 decision must be made the August be- 

 fore, and, in fact, some of the most im- 

 portant steps are taken in the fall. 

 Adequate stores must be provided so 

 that breeding may continue rather late 

 to permit the colony to go into winter 

 strong in young bees. 



The winter problem next confronts 

 the beekeeper. No other problem is 

 so full of seeming contradictions and 

 perplexities, and no other is so diffi- 

 cult of solution, because of the difii- 

 culty of studying the needs and activi- 

 ties of the bees without producing ab- 

 normalities. Likewise no other prob- 

 lem in the ordinary routine of the api- 

 ary is so important when we consider 

 the enormous loss in numbers and 

 vitality of colonies that beekeepers ex- 

 perience every year. 



However much I should like to tell 

 you the key-note to success in winter- 

 ing, I cannot. There are a few practi- 

 cal considerations which can perhaps 

 be put in a new way. There are two 

 ways to winter bees, outof doors 

 where they are free to fly in good 

 weather and indoors where they are 

 protected from violent changes in tem- 

 perature, but have no opportunity for 



