1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



69 



GLEANINGS FOR 1904 ; OFR INCREASING 

 SUBSCRIPTION- LIST. 



The big- boost we are fretting- in our sub- 

 scription-list assures us that our efforts to 

 g-ive a good readable magazine are appreci- 

 ated. Our subscription-list is now work- 

 ing' toward the 17. (00 mark. Just now we 

 are printing- 20,000 copies to take care of 

 the demand for samples. So great has been 

 ihe jump in our subscription-list that we 

 have been compelled to advance our adver- 

 tisings rates in order to prevent our reading-- 

 columnsfrom being- swamped. As it is, we 

 are putting in from 8 to i6 pages extra; and 

 it now seems that Gleanings will have to 

 be enlarged by at least 16 pages, making 

 in all 52 pages, or 104 per month. 



As in the past, we shall endeavor to give 

 our readers matter carefully sifted, and 

 easy to read. We believe in head-lines, 

 lots of them, so that our friends can pick 

 out just the information they desire most. 



A strong feature of our journal for the 

 coming year will be half tone illustrations 

 and zinc etchings. The average person can 

 catch ideas at a glance through the medi- 

 um of pictures, when he would not take the 

 lime to go through several columns of read- 

 ing-matter that would require ten times the 

 mental effort to get the same amount of in- 

 formation. 



During the coming year there will be 

 times when there will be less of illustra- 

 tions and more Heads of Grain; and at oth- 

 er times there will be a preponderance of 

 common articles. We sometimes get a sur- 

 feit of back matter for some particular de- 

 partment, and therefore give a larger pro- 

 portion of some one department to equalize. 



THE amended constitution OF THE 



national. 



All the amendments proposed by the com- 

 mittee at the Los Angeles convention, to the 

 constitution of the National, have been car- 

 ried. Two of the most important changes 

 are as follows: 



The General Manager, President, Vice- 

 presidents, and Secretary, shall be elected 

 by ballot in November of each year, by a 

 plurality vote. The old constitution provid- 

 ed that the General Manager and Directors 

 should be elected by a majority vote of all 

 voles cast. Whenever there were several 

 candidates for one office, it made it practi- 

 cally imp ssible to secure an election, be- 

 cause there would not be time to call for 

 another vote within the limits prescribed. 

 The constitution as now amended does away 

 with this by making an election based on a 

 plurality vote — in other words, the one re- 

 ceiving the highest number of votes will be 

 elected. Formerly, too, the President, Vice- 

 presidents, and Secretary, wereelected at the 

 regular annual meetings. As a natural re- 

 sult, they were the selection of a local and 

 not of the entire membership. 



Then there is arother important change 

 in the matter of new amendmeots. The 

 constitution as amended provides that it 



may be amended by a majority vote of all 

 the members voting, providing that such pro- 

 posed iimendments have been approved b}' 

 a majority vote of the members present at 

 the last annual meeting, and providing that 

 copies of them shall have been mailed to 

 each member at least 45 days before each 

 annual election. If such a provision had 

 been in force, in the old constitution some 

 of the complications that have arisen in the 

 past would have been avoided. 



THE national ELECTION; A TRAINLOAD 

 OF HONEY 25 MILES LONG. 



General Manager N. E. France, by a 

 large majority, was re-elected; this was a 

 foregone conclusion. For Directors, R. C. 

 Aikin, and P. H. Elwood, wereelected, and 

 E. R. Root holds over. For the amendments 

 there were 491 votes, and 10 against. By a 

 provision of the old constitution, it was nec- 

 essary to have a majority of all votes cast 

 to declare an election. By another provi- 

 sion, the old officer hold over until his 

 successor is elected and qualified. 



A short time ago I announced to the pub- 

 lic that I could not be a candidate for re- 

 election, and would be compelled to resign 

 if elected. The vote shows that W. McEvoy 

 received 268 votes while I received 195. The 

 number of votes necessary to declare an 

 election was 277, which is just one more 

 than half of all the votes cast. According 

 to this, Mr. McEvoy lacked just 9 votes of 

 being elected. The Chairman of the Board 

 of Directors, therefore, declares that, no one 

 having received a majority vote of all the 

 members voting, E. R. Root will hold over 

 as provided by the constitution under which 

 this election was held. 



In accordance with a previous declaration 

 made by me, to the effect that I could not 

 serve if elected again, I have sent in my 

 resignation as a member of the Board, to 

 the Executive Committee, of which J. U. 

 Harris is chairman. 



I regret very much the necessity of tak- 

 ing this step; but pressure of other work— 

 and that meT.ns too many irons in the fire — 

 as well as some private reasons, makes this 

 course unavoidable; but in saying this I 

 wish to state, as I have done before, that 

 my relations with the officers of the Nation- 

 al — in fact, with all of its members — have 

 been very pleasant; but I believe I can work 

 as well for the Association in the rank and 

 file as I can among the officers. I expect, 

 as before, to put the whole influence of 

 Gleanings back of the Association, as far 

 as I am able. I believe it is the best-man- 

 aged organization, in the interests of the 

 bee keeper, that exists in the world; and I 

 am not sure but it has the largest member- 

 ship. Certainly no other bee-keepers' so- 

 ciet}^ whatst ever exerts so wide and extend- 

 ed an in fluence as the National Bee-keepers' 

 Association of the United States, and it has 

 only just begun its splendid career. W^hen 

 one can secure all the benefits by joining 

 through his local association, for the paltry 



