Olbanmgs tn Titt (Unltnxt 



Published by The A. I. Root Co., Medina, Ohio. 



H. H. Root, Assistant Editor E. R. Root, Editor A. L. Boyden, Advertising Managei 



A. I. Root, Editor Home Department J. T. Calvert, Business Manager 



Entered at the Postoffice. Medina. Ohio, as Second-class Matter 



VOL. XXXIX 



APRIL 15, 1911 



NO. 8 



Editorial 



THE SOURCE OP THE SOUR ODOR NOTICED 

 IN THE FALL. 



In response to our request we have re- 

 ceived quite a large number of explanations 

 of the sour odor from fall-gathered nectar, 

 only part of which we will be able to use. 

 The greater number believe that the aster 

 is usually the source, although goldenrod 

 sometimes accounts for it. 



THE NEXT NATIONAL CONVENTION AT 

 MINNEAPOLIS. 



From N. E. France, General Manager 

 of the National Bee-keepers' Association, 

 we learn that the Executive Board by vote 

 decided on Aug. 30-31 for the next annual 

 meeting of the National Bee-keepers' Asso- 

 ciation, said meeting to take place in the 

 Court-house at Minneapolis, Minn. This 

 is just before the Minnesota State Fair, so 

 that those who wish to attend both can do 

 so. Board and lodging can be secured at 

 75 cts. to $3.00 per day. 



BEE-DISEASE LAW IN KANSAS. 



Largely through the efforts of Dr. G. 

 Bohrer, of Lyons, Kansas, that old veteran 

 who has hit the nail on the head so many 

 times at conventions, Kansas at last has a 

 foul-brood law modeled after the one drawn 

 up by Dr. E. F. Phillips, although some 

 changes have been made in some of the 

 details. For instance, in the matter of pen- 

 alties, both fine and imprisonment were 

 provided for, because of the fact that a fine 

 could not always be collected, some parties 

 not being responsible. Only one thousand 

 dollars for two years was asked for, as Dr. 

 Bohrer feared that a larger amount would 

 only mean the defeat of the measure. 



Mr. J. D. Fair, of Sterling, Kansas, Rep- 

 resentative from Rice Co., the home of Dr. 

 Bohrer, deserves credit also for his interest 

 in the matter, and for carefully considering 

 the whole proposition in a businesslike way. 

 For one knowing nothing about bees at all, 

 he certainly grasped the situation in a man- 

 ner that was surprising. He looked up the 



statistics regarding the number of colonies 

 in the State, the amount and value of 

 honey and wax produced, and succeeded in 

 having the measure carried through both 

 branches of the legislature. It passed the 

 House by a large majority, and the Senate 

 unanimously. Would that the majority of 

 oar legislators were as devoted to the inter- 

 ests of the people ! 



Our readers who know Dr. Bohrer will be 

 pained to learn that his eyesight is failing 

 very fast. He will not be able to read these 

 lines, but we trust that they may be read to 

 him so that he may know that his efforts 

 have been appreciated. 



bee-keeping in AUSTRALIA. 



Australian bee-keepers are to be con- 

 gratulated on the very fine treatise on fruit 

 fertilization as given in the January num- 

 ber of The Journal of the Department of 

 Agriculture of Victoria. Bees are given 

 full credit for the valuable service that they 

 perform, and an interesting explanation is 

 advanced of the general subject of pollina- 

 tion and fertilization, in which the results 

 of many practical experiments are brought 

 out. 



Under the sub-heading, " Relation of In- 

 sects to the Work of Cross-pollination," the 

 following occurs: 



There can be no doubt that insects play a most 

 Important part in the life of plants and flowers. 

 Moths and wasps, bees, and many other insects, all 

 assist in carrying the pollen from flower to flower: 

 but of all insects for this purpose, the bee is as- 

 suredly the most useful. The first object a bee has 

 in visiting a blossom is to collect or feed on the 

 flower honey, or nectar, which is always lower in 

 the flower than the pistils or stamens. In passing 

 through the flower the pollen grains attach them- 

 selves to the numerous hairs on the body of the bee; 

 and as the Insect flies from flower to flower it is 

 easy to conceive that some pollen grains will be 

 transferred as the bee brushes against the stig- 

 ma. The same result occurs when the bee is gath- 

 ering the pollen, and thus every flower that the bee 

 visits must be pollinated from other blooms. The 

 usefulness and the importance of this work of the 

 bee can hardly be overestimated; and successful or- 

 chard practice will never result until the work of 

 the bee Is recognized practically by the establish- 

 ment of bee colonies in every orchard district. 



An article entitled "Bees and Fruit Fer- 

 tilization," by F. R. Beuhne, who is well 

 known to our readers, was published in The 

 Journal for November, 1909, and it is rec- 

 ommended that this be read in conjunction 

 with the present discussion. 



Some very beautiful engravings are pre- 

 sented, showing bees actually at work on 



