GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



ieb:!Uaky 1, 1914 



^. I %; ^ 





V- **. 



Members in attendance at the Iowa Stale Convention, Des Moines, December 12-13, 1913. 



very high on the hives. Before building a 

 high tight board fence back of the hives in 

 our apiary the direction the snow generally 

 drifts from, most of the hives were fre- 

 quently completely buried in the snow ; con- 

 sequently the bees in those hives would com- 

 mence to breed too early, which greatly 

 excited them, causing a greater consumption 

 of honey, which, with the dampness and 



sweat, would generally bring on dysentery, 

 etc., while the bees in other hives where the 

 snow did not drift on them were entirely 

 free from the disease, and wintered in fine 

 shape. By the way, not much has been 

 written lately about the above disease and 

 the pollen theory since the days of the late 

 James Heddon. 



Honeoye Falls, N. Y. 



THE SECOND ANNUAL CONVENTION OF THE IOWA STATE 

 BEEKEEPERS' ASSOCIATION 



BY H. H. ROOT 



When a few Iowa beekeepers first became 

 enthusiastic over the possibility of an organ- 

 ization among the beekeepers of the State 

 they were told that there were too few bee- 

 keepers, and that they were too widely sep- 

 arated to make the plan a success — that it 

 had been tried before and abandoned, etc. 

 Nothing daunted, however, they started in 

 to do their best at perfecting an organiza- 

 tion on the assumption that " where there 

 is a will there is a way." How well their 

 efforts and the efforts of others who helped 

 succeeded is best told by the convention 

 picture which appears above, but the picture 

 does not show all the members in attendance 

 by any means. In all there are now about 

 double the members of a year ago. Good 

 for Iowa ! The second annual meeting was 

 a success in every way, both in point of 

 attendance and enthusiasm. 



A large amount of honey was contributed 

 by the members for the Salvation Army 

 Chi-istmas dinner, and a jar of honey was 

 also sent to Governor Clark for his Christ- 

 mas table. To encourage the use of honey 

 at Christmas time, large display cards were 

 furnished all who desired them, bearing the 

 words, " Eat Honey for Christmas Dinner." 



As I was able to be present at but one 

 session, I shall make no effort to give a 

 general report of the convention beyond the 

 synopsis of the president's address and a 

 brief report by J. W. Stine, which follows. 

 T secured several papers that had been read, 

 parts of which will appear in later issues. 



SYNOPSIS OF ADDRESS OP PRESIDENT FRANK C. 

 PELLET. 



1. Only one State of equal area ranks 

 ahead of Iowa in the value of her bees. 



Iowa far outranks Colorado, Idaho, and 

 other western States of greater area whose 

 possibilities are so widely advertised. 



2. With proper encouragement Iowa can 

 soon rank first, area considered, as a honey- 

 producing State. Only California and Texas, 

 with their great size, are now far in ad- 

 vance. 



3. The society has secured the passage of 

 a foul-brood quarantine law, and better sup- 

 port for the inspection work the past year. 

 Also greatly increased attention in the way 

 of better premiums and facilities at the 

 State and county fairs. 



4. The greatest need of the beekeeping 

 industry in Iowa now is a better under- 

 standing on the part of the public of its 

 importance to the State, and better methods 

 of production and marketing on the part 

 of the beekeepers. 



5. Instead of asking for increased sup- 

 port for the bee-inspectors' office the bee- 

 keepers should begin a campaign of educa- 

 tion to the end that the treatment and pre- 

 vention of diseases be better understood and 

 tliat inspection be less needed as a result. 



6. The use of second-hand honey-contain- 

 ers and other equipment should be discour- 

 aged unless thoroughly disinfected, as tliis 

 lias been a source of much of the spread of 

 foul brood. 



7. The society should endeavor to work 

 out some system of crop distribution that 

 would net the producer better prices witb- 

 ''ut injury to the consumer. Too much 

 honey is shipped to commission merchants 



in Chicago to be sold to jobbers, who in 

 turn sell it back to grocers near at hand. 

 The securing of a list of all persons who 

 desire to purchase honey, by the secretary 

 of the association, who will place said list 

 at the disposal of every member of the 

 association, will be a step in this direction. 

 If grocers wishing to buy honey knew that, 

 by writing the secretary, their wants would 

 be placed before all the leading beekeepers 

 of Iowa, they would readily take advantage 

 of the opportunity. 



8. A system of regular crop reports from 

 each county should be developed, to the end 

 that the probable production may be as- 

 certained early, and prices governed accord- 

 ingly. 



9. The society should appoint a commit- 

 tee to look into the possibilities of co-oper- 

 ative marketing by members of this asso- 

 ciation. 



10. The beekeepers should endeavor to 

 secure an extensive campaign of education 

 through the State Department of Agi-icul- 

 ture, the ag:i'icultural college, and other ave- 

 nues, rather than to attempt to secure fur- 

 ther increase in the support of bee-inspec- 

 tion work at present. Better undei-stand- 

 ing, on the part of the beekeepers, of bee 

 diseases will largely reduce the necessity for 

 inspection by a State official. 



11. Beekeepers should begin a campaign 

 to establish the use of honey on every table 

 for the Christmas dinner. The Salvation 

 Army and other charities should be provid- 

 ed with honey for the poor who are un.^ble 



