1901 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



115 



One object of the Association is to en- 

 tourage tilio or^janization of bee-keepers' 

 societies in every county in the State. I 

 urge yon, one and all, to persevere ; do 

 not wait or expect your officers to do it 

 all ; you should help, it is a duty you 

 owe the organization, your pursuit and 

 yourselves. 



The enforcement of the law prohibit- 

 ing the manufacture and sale of adulter- 

 ated honey is a matter that should re- 

 ceive our attention sooner or later — and 

 the sooner the better. This is known as 

 a pure-food law, and it is one of the duties 

 of the State Board of Health to enforce 

 it. I saw a statement in Olainings for 

 April, 1900, stating that a "new enter- 

 prise had started on the East side of New 

 York in which they were adulterating 

 honey by the carload ; that twelve car- 

 loads had been turned out in sixty days." 

 I immediately wrote the Secretary of 

 State Board of Health calling his atten- 

 tion to the matter, but never received 

 any reply. I wrote him again recently 

 on the subject requesting an early reply. 

 I have received a reply to this letter, 

 dated January 3d, which I will lay before 

 you. Judging from what I have learned, 

 the State Board of Health has never 

 made an attempt to enforce the law ; 

 hence the Legislature declines to vote it 

 any appropriation for the purpose. It 

 is the duty of the Department of Agri- 

 culture to enforce that portion of the 

 pure-food laws relating to butter. The 

 Department has shown its willingness 

 and ability to enforce this law ; and I 

 would recommend that the enforcement 

 of the law relating to adulterated honey 

 be put under its control, if the Depart- 

 ment will consent, and tliat prompt and 

 necessary steps be taken to accomplish 

 this result. 



This Association is entitled to one del- 

 egate to the Pure-food Congress, which 

 meets at Washington soon ; do not neg- 

 lect to take advantage of this opportunity 

 to be represented at that Congress. 



I would again respectfully call your 

 attention to the Pan-American Exposi- 

 tion, to be held at Buffalo this year. I 

 trust you will aid in securing and making 

 a creditable exhibit in the Apiarian De- 

 partment. It is also proposed to hold 

 the annual convention of the National 

 Bee-keepers' Association at Buffalo, 

 during the Exposition ; if so, I would 

 recommend and urge you all to attend 

 that convention. Let us give it an 

 attendance thnt will be creditable to 

 this, the Empire State. 



One object of this meeting is to confer 

 and lay out work for the coming year. 



It is your first duty to do this in order 

 that your officers may act promptly and 

 intelligently upon the many questions 

 facing us, knowing that they voice your 

 views on these questions. 



The busy bee is now engaged 



In storing tons of lioney; 

 And man, anon, will busy be 



In turning it to money. 



— Exchange. 



ARTIFICIAL SWARMING. 

 A Scientific Analysis of Proper Methods. 



BY ABTHLTB C. MILLER. 



THE wisdom or unwisdom of prac- 

 ticing artificial swarming depends 

 chiefly upon your ability to observe 

 the many conditions necessary.to suc- 

 cess. The conditions are in the order of 

 their importance : Population of the 

 colony; its size and constitution; relative 

 proportion of sealed and unsealed brood; 

 present or prospective honey-flow. These 

 may be analyzed a-^ follows: 



Population of colony, is it medium, 

 large or very large ? Do young or old 

 bees predominate, or wiiat is their rela- 

 tive proportion ? If the colony is large 

 to very large, seldom any effort need be 

 made to add to the " swarm " the young 

 bees as they hatch from the old combs. 

 This, however, is modified by the near- 

 ness of the honey-flow and its probable 

 duration. If the flow be distant or pro- 

 tracted, it is best to follow some plan 

 which will unite them. If the colony is 

 but medium in size it is decidedly an ad- 

 vantage to give to it all the young bees 

 possible ; but this, too, is qualified by 

 the honey-flow. 



Do young or old bees predominate ? 

 By young bees I mean those under three 

 weeks from the cell. If old bees pre- 

 dominate, the forced swarm will not be 

 a success unless the flow is short and 

 sharp or is far enough distant to permit 

 the brood in the old combs to become 

 available workers. But with such a 

 colony 'twere better not to swarm it 

 until it is in proper condition; and then 

 the honey-flow may not coincide. 



