(Entered a3 second-class mail-matter at the Chica>;o, III., Post-Ofllce.; 

 Published Monthly at 50 cts. a Year, by George \V. York & Co., 118 W. Jackson Blvd. 



GEOIIGE W. YORK, Editor 



CHICAGO, ILL, NOVEMBER, 1907 



VoL XLVII— No, 31 



editorial ^ofes 

 Commenfs 



I 



k 



The Harrisburg National Convention 



It was held on Oct. 30 and 31 as per 

 announcement. There were about lOO 

 present, perhaps the smallest meeting 

 in many years. This may be accounted 

 for by reason of the discouraging honey 

 season this year. 



In the main the Harrisburg meeting 

 was a very good one. Some excellent 

 things were said and done, all of which 

 will appear in the published report, 

 which will probably be issued about De- 

 cember 1st. 



There are now over 2500 members in 

 the National Bee-Keepers' Association. 

 There ought to be 25,000 at least. We 

 wish that all of our readers were mem- 

 bers. The annual dues are only $1.00, 

 and just one of the papers read at the 

 Harrisburg meeting is worth many dol- 

 lars to any bee-keeper who wishes to 

 make something out of his bees. In fact, 

 one of the leading members present said 

 it would have been worth $200 to him 

 had he been able to hear such a paper 

 when he began with bees. It pays to 

 knozu the best there is to be known, if 

 one would succeed in any business. And 

 bee-keeping is no exception. 



At the evening session on Wednes- 

 day, Oct. 30th, General Manager N. E. 

 France was presented with a beautiful 

 gold watch and chain, which had been 

 purchased with money contributed by 

 many members, in amounts of 10 cents 

 to $5 each. It was a worthy tribute to 

 a worthy and self-sacrificing man. As 

 there was more than needed to pay for 

 the watch and chain, a dozen silver tea- 

 spoons were bought and sent to Mrs. 

 France, who so devotedly has stood 

 back of Mr. France these many years, 

 and thus has helped him do things for 

 bee-keepers more successfully than 



probably he otherwise could have done. 

 These presentations were made in most 

 appropriate words, by Mr. Hutchinson, 

 and so touched the heart of the General 

 Manager that it was not until the fol- 

 lowing morning that he was able to ex- 

 press his gratitude audibly. 



We hope that all of our readers who 

 are not already members of the Na- 

 tional will each send $i.oo at once, to 

 N. E. France, Platteville, Wis., and thus 

 be in line not only for a copy of the 

 next annual report, but also for the 

 other benefits to be derived from mem- 

 bership in the largest and best organi- 

 zation of bee-keepers in America. 



Flouring Bees When Uniting 



The British Bee Journal speaks very 

 approvingly of dusting bees with flour 

 when uniting late in the season. This 

 plan has been before the public for some 

 years, but never seems to have been 

 practised much in this country, although 

 perhaps no one has reported adversely 

 as to its use. Sometimes things go by 

 fashion — perhaps too much so. 



Selecting the Best Queen 



In keeping tally of the yield of differ- 

 ent colonies so as to select best queens 

 from which to breed, one trouble is that 

 when by any means the queen of a col- 

 ony is changed during the season it is 

 hard to say what portion of the yield 

 is to be credited to each queen. If the 

 second queen comes in not more than a 

 month before the close of the harvest, 

 of course her workers have nothing to 

 do with the season's storing. Close ob- 

 servation w'ill perhaps show that in any 

 case the second queen has less to do than 



might be supposed with the amount 

 stored. Take a colony of best charac- 

 ters as storers, and another of the poor- 

 est, in a white clover region, and ex- 

 change queens before the beginning of 

 the harvest, but after the colonies are 

 brought up to full strength, and see if 

 the result is not much the same as if no 

 such exchange had been made. 



There is a field here for exact ob- 

 servations by careful observers. 



Is Foul Brood Honey Fit for Table? 



In reply to this question, the British 

 Bee Journal, page 357, says: 



"No, it is not fit for human food un- 

 less boiled, to destroy all the germs." 



It has generally been held (has it 

 not?) that no harm would result to the 

 human family from eating honey stored 

 by a foul-broody colony. Of course, 

 one would not think honey thrown out 

 of combs containing decayed larva; 

 would be fit for table use, but would it 

 be any fitter for boiling? Is there any 

 proof that germs of foul brood in honey 

 otherwise unobjectionable is injurious 

 to the human stomach? Possibly the 

 generally accepted view on this subject 

 needs revising. Can Mr. McEvoy tell 

 us anything about it? 



Some Misunderstandings About Ital- 

 ians 



In the American Bee Journal for 1906, 

 page 862, the question was raised, "What 

 is a tested Italian queen?" To the state- 

 ment there made, "Subscriber" took ex- 

 ception, in the Journal for 1907, page 

 138. The position of "Subscriber" was 

 objected to by Mr. Doolittle, page 259; 

 by ]Mr. Anderson, page 266; and by 

 Dr. Miller, page 318. 



In proof of his position, "Subscriber" 

 has sent to this office specimens of his 

 drones, and says he has thousands like 

 them, and has queens whose workers 

 have abdomens that are yellow to the 

 tip. The drones are what would be 

 easily called solid yellow, and one of 

 the veterans to whom they were shown, 

 said, "I think I never saw drones quite 

 so yellow ; and it must be a beautiful 

 sight to see a large number of them 

 in flight, with workers to correspond." 



The whole trouble lies in the fact that 



