Jan. 11, 1900. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



25 



help prepare the papers and to produce numerous witnesses. 

 Mr. Moore and Mr. York spent a good deal of time, and did 

 faithful and valuable work for the Association, the latter 

 without any compensation whatever. 



I have written 9S letters on a variety of subjects per- 

 taining' to tlie work of the Association, besides the receipts 

 for membership fees. Among- these have been articles for 

 the press, trying- to correct erroneous impressions refjarding- 

 the manufacture of comb honey ; letters in the interest of 

 pure-food legislation ; advice to bee-keepers who were likely 

 to suffer by the untimely spraying of orchards; advice to 

 other bee-keepers who had been ordered to remove their 

 bees from town, or from the proximity of fruit-farms ; 

 legal advice regarding the ownership of absconding 

 swarms; the settlement of disputed accounts, bad debts, 

 etc. None of these matters have required legal procedure 

 or defense at the expense of the Association. It has been 

 the aim of the General Manager to avoid litigation when- 

 ever possible to effect an honorable settlement. 



It seems our Canadian brethren have the same troubles 

 that we of the States do. G. A. Deadman, of Ontario, was 

 annoyed by a quarrelsome neighbor who brought suit to 

 coinpel him to move his bees. On my advice he employed 

 an able attorney and resisted the suit, promising to write 

 me if anything unusual developt. As I heard nothing from 

 him I infer that his touchy neighbor has not succeeded in 

 getting the court to declare bees a nuisance. With my letter 

 of advice in this case, I sent him a copy of the decision in 

 the celebrated " Arkadelphia case," which Mr. Newman de- 

 fended and won with such signal ability. 



At the annual meeting of the United States Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association held at Philadelphia last September, Mr. 

 Newman, General Manager of the National Bee-Keepers' 

 Union, and Dr. Mason, representing our society, submitted 

 a new constitution to be voted on by both societies with a 

 view to unite the two if the members of both societies so 

 vote. There will be mailed, therefore, with this report the 

 new constitution to be voted upon by all persons who are 

 eligible to vote. It is to be hoped that the project so favor- 

 ably started may be carried thru, thus uniting all the bee- 

 keepers in one strong organization. 



Mr. Newman has exercised a large influence in build- 

 ing up an organization of bee-keepers, and has done much 

 valuable service in their behalf. The relations between him 

 and the writer hereof have been most pleasant. The appre- 

 ciation for his good work can not be too cordiallj' exprest. 



The financial statement herewith submitted shows a 

 a small balance in the treasury, but if we carry forward the 

 work which we are expected to do another year toward en- 

 forcing the laws against the adulteration of honey, it is 

 needful that all bee-keepers cast in their inite to aid in the 

 good work. Fraternally yours, 



Eugene Secor, General lifanagcr. 



The cew constitution referred to by Mr. Secor was pub- 

 lisht on page 707 of this journal for 1899. 



The treasurer's statement shows a balance in the treas- 

 ury of $131.22. 



The present list of members, the names of whom ac- 

 companied the annual report, shows 400. There ought to 

 be at least five times that number. Why can't there be? 

 Surely, bee-keepers cannot expect their national organiza- 

 tion to do much for them and their industry when they give 

 it so small support. With a membership of 2,000, and the 

 consequent enlarged treasury fund, there is no telling what 

 good things might be accomplisht. We wish the ofiRcers 

 might have the opportunity to show what they could do 

 with ample funds and large membership. 



Lace=Paper Edgings for Sections of honey are much 

 used in England. Any imperfections about the outer part 

 of the comb are thus hidden from view. The British Bee 

 Journal, in order to show to what extent this matter is car- 

 ried, gives a fine picture of a section bought in a store out 

 of a large lot similarly gotten up. The actual surface left 

 uncovered by the paper is 2; s inches square; that is, the 

 purchaser is able to see a little more than one-fourth of the 

 surface. No wonder the British Bee Journal calls a halt. 



The Premiums offered on page 27 are well worth work- 

 ing for. Look at them. 



Your Bee. Keeping Experiences Wanted. — We are al- 

 ways glad to publish the good things that our subscribers 

 send in, drawn from their actual work with the bees. Many 

 a little short cut or kink that you u.se would help some other 

 bee-keeper if you would write it out and send it in for your 

 bee-paper to publish. 



We do not ask this as would a beggar, but simply sug- 

 gest that as you have been helpt by the writings and ex- 

 periences of others, it is no more than fair that you should 

 contribute your share as a slight token of your appreciation 

 of the aid you have received from those who have been glad 

 to give what they could to make your efforts more success- 

 ful in the apiary. 



Talking Care of Things.— Somnambulist, of the Pro- 

 gressive Bee-Keeper, has had his dreams disturbed by the 

 reckless way in which some bee-keepers let apicultural ap- 

 purtenances go to waste. Hive-bottoms are allowed to rest 

 immediately upon the ground ; wax-extractors have the 

 glass exposed to accident all the year round ; and then he 

 goes out of his way to shy a stone at Farmer Shiftless who 

 allows all his farm implements to become toughened by 

 exposure to the weather. 



yi®. 



Mr. M. H. Mendleson, of Ventura Co., Calif., writing 

 us Dec. 16, said : " At present we are having a good rain, 

 but it is the late rains that decide the season." 



* * * * * 



A New Organiz.\Tion among the bee-keepers of South 

 Dakota will be formed at Yankton, Jan. 25. We hope it 

 will have the support of all the bee-keepers in that region. 



* # ♦ » ♦ 



"A Certain ChinE.se Fi.ower," it is said, ."is red in 

 the sunlight and white in the moonlight." If it yields nec- 

 tar, we presume it would have to be gathered bj' the bees at 

 night in order to produce white honey. 



Mr. Albert GeisE, of Idaho, sends us a newspaper 

 clipping telling of a swarm of bees that settled on a bicy- 

 clist, and when the wheeler retreated the bees located on 

 the saddle of his wheel. They were then scoopt in a box 

 by a colored man — about a peck of bees. 



# ♦ ♦ ♦ * 



Mr. a. L. McFarlane, of Wallawalla Co., Wash., 

 wrote us recently expressing the wish that some Western 

 bee-supply dealer would advertise in the Bee Journal, as 

 the freight rates from the East are very high to that State. 

 We should think it would pay some Pacific Coast dealer to 

 keep a standing advertisement in these columns. 



# * * » » 



Mrs. Thos. S. Wallace, of Adams Co., 111., died with 

 consumption Dec. 31, 1899. She was nearly 61 years of age. 

 Mr. Wallace has been an exhibitor of bees at the Illinois 

 State Fair the past few years, and one of our subscribers 

 for a long time. We extend to him sincerest sj'mpathy in 

 his bereavement, and are glad to know that he mourns not 

 as those who have no hope of a reunion by-and-by. 

 * ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ 



Editor Ernest R. Root attended the annual conven- 

 tion of the Colorado bee-keepers, held in Denver last 

 month. He says it was a success in every way, with an 

 attendance of 'from SO to 80. Those Colorado bee-folks 

 know how. They generally have one of the very best State 

 bee-keepers' meetings that can possibly be gotten up. But, 

 then, they are always " Akin " for the best of everything, 

 or else " Rauchfussing " around after it. Hurrah for those 

 get-there Coloradoans I 



