1921 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



485 



American Honey Producers' League 



The League will meet at Salt Lake 

 City, January 30 and 31, 1922. It is 

 of great importance that each state 

 or district association be represented 

 at this meeting, if we expect to have 

 combined action in the sale of our 

 products and wish to be heard on 

 matters of interest to all beekeepers, 

 such as railroad rates, laws, etc. Don't 

 forget this meeting. For additional 

 information write H. B. Parks, Secre- 

 tary, of San Antonio, Texas. 



Georgia to License 

 Queen Breeders 



The State of Georgia has adopted a 

 rather novel method of supervising 

 the business of queen rearing and 

 package bees. An amendment to thi 

 Georgia bee disease law was adopted 

 at the last session of the Legislature 

 which goes into effect the 1st of 

 January, 1922, providing for a li- 

 cense to be issued to all persons en- 

 gaged in such an enterprise. Appli- 

 cation must be made to the Staie 

 Board of Entomology with a fee of 

 $25. The Board, after investigating 

 the applicant, may issue a license, if 

 he is found worthy. The license may 

 be revoked at any time if the appli- 

 cant fails to comply with the law or 

 the rules established by the Board. 



This looks like a step in the right 

 direction. There has been much 

 complaint of irresponsible breeders, 

 and a careful supervision seems to be 

 the only way to safeguard the inter- 

 ests of the public. If the Board sets 

 a high standard it will be to the inter- 

 est of every breeder as well as to the 

 interest of their customers. In most 

 of the States similar supervision is 

 established for nurserymen to in- 

 sure that no trees or vines will be sent 

 out which can-y insect pests or plant 

 diseases. Some will regard the fee as 

 too high. 



We hope that the regulations o+' 

 the Georgia Board of Entomolonv 

 will not only insure that every 

 breeder must maintain his yards 

 free from disease, but that pure mat- 

 ings must also be insured as far as 

 such a thing is possible, and that busi- 

 ness-like methods of attending I) 

 correspondence and filling orders be 

 followed. This will, of course, make 

 queens a trifle more expensive. 



Drugs for Treating Foulbrood 



We would call the attention of our 

 readers to the article on the Lewis 

 treatment of European Foulbrood, by 

 W. J. Sheppard, in our November 

 issue, and to the comments which 

 Arthur C. Miller adds in this issue. 

 Let us add that this method of treat- 

 ment is still in the experimental stage 

 and while these reports look promis- 

 ing, it is too soon for the average bee- 

 keeper to risk any extended depend- 

 ence upon drugs. General Labora- 

 tories, the manufacturers of B. K., 

 advise us that their experiments have 

 not as yet gone far enough to war- 

 rant them in asserting that the colo- 

 nies can be rid of disease without dis- 

 astrous results to the bees. They 

 state that some special foi-m of the 

 hypochlorite may, and probably will 

 be, necessary to make it safe to rec- 

 ommend for general use for this pur- 



pose. 



We are further advised that most 

 sodium hpyochlorites differ widely in 

 their characteristics and effects and 

 that different forms might give very 

 different results. This being the case 

 it would be difficult, if not impossible, 

 for the beekeeper to make a solution 

 twice alike. Again it should be used 

 with great care, since some forms 

 have characteristics which are likely 

 to cause injurious effects. 



While we are hopeful that good re- 

 sults will follow the experiments now 

 under way, beekeepers should be ad- 

 vised to act cautiously and not under- 

 take any treatment in a wholesale 

 way without first making sure that the 

 chemicals are properly prepared. It 

 is only necessai-y to state that should 

 this treatment prove entirely success- 

 ful, the proper material will soon be 

 available to the beekeepers in a con- 

 venient form. In the meantime we 

 will watch with interest the progress 

 of further experiments. 



That Prize Contest 



Letters regarding the prize contest 

 announced in our November number 

 began coming in at once. What we 

 want is to know what particular fea- 

 ture of the last year's Journal was 

 most interesting and valuable to you. 

 We are not asking for articles for 

 publication, but your frank opinion. 

 We want to make a better publica- 

 tion, so let us know what kind of ma- 

 terial you like best. Read the an- 

 nouncement on page 437 of the No- 

 vember number and write us. You 

 may win the $10. Address Contest 

 Editor. 



Bees Transporting Eggs 



Mr. A. H. Pering, Secretary of the 

 Monroe County, Indiana, Beekeepers' 

 Association, reports two cases of 

 queens accidentally confined several 

 days in cages, in colonies that were 

 otherwise hopelessly queenless, the 

 queens dropping the eggs in empty 

 cells and caring for them, so that they 

 hatched. 



Have any other beekeepers noticed 

 such performances? In every case 

 where eggs were found in cells, in 

 queenless hives, in our experience, 

 these were laid by drone-laying work- 

 ers and hatched into drones. We do 

 not believe that either Huber or 

 Langstroth ever witnessed anything 

 of this kind. 



What is the sex of eggs dropped 

 aimlessly by a queen? This question 

 has never yet been elucidated. 



We read in the British Bee Journal 

 of October 20: 



"Fellow readers will remember the 

 report, giving us the information re 

 that veteran apiarist, Mr. T. W. 

 Cowan, being present at a vei'y im- 

 portant gathering, I believe the first 

 time he had spent the day away from 

 his wife on the anniversary of their 

 wedding, and that was drawn to the 

 notice of the gathering; it was. the 

 golden wedding anniversary, though 

 nobody seems to have referred to it in 

 the numerous and interesting contri- 

 butions; doubtless all are with mo in 

 wishing Mr. and Mrs. Cowan many 



more happy returns of the day." 



Here, too; the editor and the read- 

 ers of the American Bee Journal join 

 in wishing Mr. and Mrs. Cowan 

 "many happy returns of the day." 



To the Various 

 Beekeepers' Associations 



You are all aware of the subscrip- 

 tion organized to establish a me- 

 morial of Dr. C. C. Miller, in view of 

 the numerous services he rendered to 

 beekeepers, without ever enriching 

 himself. 



The committee in charge is com- 

 posed of Messrs. E. R. Root, Dr. E. F. 

 Phillips, B. F. Kindig, E. G. LeStour- 

 geon and C. P. Dadant. At the sug- 

 gestion of Dr. Phillips, it was decided 

 to establish a memorial bee library 

 and place it in one of the Colleges of 

 Agriculture, probably the one that 

 would offer the best inducements for 

 it. 



Several bee associations have sub- 

 scribed liberally to this fund. The 

 committee now suggest that each Sec- 

 retary or President of an association 

 present the matter at your next meet- 

 ing and help make this memorial wor- 

 thy of the great man whom it will 

 represent in future years. Even for- 

 eign beekeepers have appreciated the 

 services of Dr. Miller and have sent 

 their help. But we should get to- 

 gether a worth-while sum, and trust 

 each of you may take pride in help- 

 ing this along. 



Associations already having sub- 

 scribed through the American Bee 

 Journal are, Montgomery County, 

 Pa., Wisconsin, Connecticut, Massa- 

 chusetts and Texas. 



All subscriptions will later be pub- 

 lished in the American Bee Journal. 



Southern Italy Beekeepers' Conven- 

 tion 



"Allevamenti," a stock breeders' 

 journal, of Palermo, Sicily, in its Oc- 

 tober 1st number, reports the meet- 

 ing of the First Meridional CongrL'ss 

 of Beekeepers, in Palermo, Septem- 

 ber 22, 1921. In this Congi-ess, great 

 stress was placed upon the import- 

 ance of the industry of beekeeping in 

 the United States, and the necessity 

 for Southern Italy to increase the 

 cultivation of bees in its meridional 

 parts. The same magazine contains a 

 very interesting description of an ex- 

 perimental station for beekeeping in 

 Bavaria, managed by Dr. Zander, 

 with cuts of apiaries of different sorts. 



Latham Gets Publicity 



Allen Latham, President of the 

 Connecticut Beekeepers' Association, 

 is getting some free advertising. At 

 some eastern meeting he got off some 

 kind of a joke about bees and prohi- 

 bition. A wide-awake reporter saw 

 material for a good story, and now 

 Latham's name may be seen in most 

 any paper which you pick up, from 

 Arkansas to Maine. The story quotes 

 Latham as saying that prohibition has 

 reformed the bees that formerly hung 

 around the brewei-ies and got drunk 

 on the mash. There are several dif- 

 ferent turns to the stoi-y, as it ap- 

 pears in different localities, but it is 

 all based on the bees getting drunk 

 at the back door of the brewei-y. 



