^STABUs 



0^ BEE^PAPc;^ 



^IN AMERICA J^ 



42dYEAR. 



CHICAGO, ILL, JUNE 26, 1902, 



No. 26. 



^ Editorial Comments. >i^ ! 



The Season is a rather discouraging' one in some parts 

 of the North. Cold weather continued late in spring, re- 

 tarding brood-rearing, and up to the middle of June, in 

 spite of occasional hot days, cool weather has ruled. Instead 

 of being busied putting on additional supers, some have 

 been obliged to feed to keep the bees from starving. 



Mistakes in Queen-Rearing are likely to be made by 

 beginners. One mistake is in thinking that good queens 

 can be reared at times when the weather is chilly, or when 

 bees are not busy bringing in nectar. Rightly managed, 

 feeding may be made to take the place of a natural harvest, 

 but there is nothing the bee-keeper can do to make up for 

 the lack of good weather. Another mistake it is to think 

 that a weak nucleus can produce good queen-cells. The 

 royal larva should be flooded with royal jelly, and this is 

 best attained in a strong colony. Up to the time the young 

 queen is about ready to emerge, there is no better place for 

 her than in a strong colony, and at no time before she be- 

 gins to lay should there be any risk of her being chilled. 



General Manager of the National. — We have received 

 the following announcement from Emerson T. Abbott, 

 which is self-explanatory : 



St. Joseph, Mo.. June 17, 1902. 

 Editor American Bee Journ.\i. — 



Dear Sir : — The notice of Acting Chairman Root (see 

 page 387) with regard to the General Manager of the Na- 

 tional Bee-Keepers' Association seems to call for a state- 

 ment from me. 



First, the Board has or has not a right to receive Mr. 

 Secor's resignation and elect his successor. If they have a 

 right to do this, then one was elected some time ago, for 

 eight members of the Board voted to elect his successor, 

 and seven of them voted for one man. The three New York 

 directors and myself refrained from voting. The vote was 

 declared, and Mr. Secor was duly notified by the Acting 

 Chairman as to the result, and was requested to turn the 

 funds over to the newly elected General Manager, and he 

 wrote that he would do so. However, later, at the solicita- 

 tion of a disgruntled member of the Board in New York, he 

 refused to do so. If the Board has any authority to act in 

 a case like this, then every member of it who voted to elect 

 a successor to Mr. Secor, formally voted at the same time to 

 receive his resignation. As a majority of the Board so 

 voted, of course he is out, and it is all nonsense to talk 

 about reviewing a vote which has been canvassed and the 

 returns announced. Therefore, Mr. Secor is not .General 

 Manager, and has not been since the day th^ vote was 

 announced. 



Mr. Abbott was not " supposed " to be elected — he was 

 legally and clearly elected by a majority of the members 

 voting, and is the only legal General Manager in existence 

 to-day, if the Board has any authority to act on the ques- 

 tion. If it does not (and I am inclined to doubt if it has), 

 then Mr. Secor's resignation is before the membership, and 



they should be given an opportunity to elect his successor 

 at once. As soon as the membership selects another (ien- 

 eral Manager, the funds in my hands will be turned over to 

 him, but they will not be turned over to Mr. Secor unless he 

 is elected by the membership. The majority of those vot- 

 ing elects a General Manager, according to the Constitution. 



The Buffalo amendment, in my opinion, gives the Board 

 authority to remove a General Manager only for cause, and 

 then to fill his place, but it does not give them authority to 

 fill his place in any other case. If it does, then all the 

 members of the Board having received notice of his resig- 

 nation, and eight of them having voted for his successor — 

 in fact, nine of the twelve, if my vote should be counted — 

 that ended the matter so far as the Board was concerned. 



A deliberative body may review a vote, but any sane 

 man knows that a vote by ballot is final, if anyone receives 

 a majority of the votes cast. 



It seems from the statement of the Acting Chairman, 

 that the Board has decided that they have a right to act on 

 Mr. Secor's resignation. If so, then I am General Manager. 



This is all I care to say at present. 



Emerson T. Abbott. 



Prevention of Increase comes sooner or later to be a 

 desirable thing for every bee-keeper who is very successful 

 in wintering and does not wish to sell bees, unless his bees 

 do not swarm to any appreciable extent. What may best 

 suit one may not suit another. One of the old ways to limit 

 increase — so old that it may be new to some — may be worth 

 repeating here : 



When the first colony swarms, hive the swarm in the 

 usual way. When the second colony swarms, hive the 

 swarm in No. 1, that is, in the hive of the colony that first 

 swarmed. Then as each successive colony swarms, hive 

 the swarm in the hive of the colony that previously 

 swarmed. 



The question arises, however. How long must a colony 

 have swarmed before it is ready to receive another swarm ? 

 If a swarm is immediately returned to its own hive, it will 

 only result in the swarm issuing again the same day or the 

 day following, and it would seem that the same result would 

 follow putting in a swarm from some other colony. Will 

 some one who has had experience in the matter tell us how 

 long it is necessary to wait after a colony has swarmed 

 before a swarm can be given to it without the danger of 

 having the swarm reissue ? Or is the plan one not to be 

 commended ? 



I * The Weekly Budget. » I 



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Mr. Thomas G. Newman, who for so many years previ- 

 ous to June, 1892, edited this journal, had the following 

 paragraphs concerning the condition of his eyes, in his 

 Philosophical Journal, under date of June 14 : 



Kind inquirers ask for news concerning the editor's 

 vision, as nothing has been printed about it for several 



