16 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 1 



him, and possibly would not have heard of 

 him even now but for the fact that editori- 

 ally I spoke of the Caucasians as being dis- 

 inclined to take feed out of feeders, and 

 that we were fearful they were too good- 

 natured to be good for any thing. 



Dear Mr. Root: — Allow me to say a few words con- 

 cerning- the Caucasian bees. In your editorial in the 

 Nov. 1st issue you claimed that Caucasian bees were 

 not able to get food from the feeders. From the expe- 

 rience I have had with them I must say I have found it 

 not so. Last summer I received a number of queens 

 from Caucasus; successfully introduced them, and, be- 

 fore winter came, I had some colonies of Caucasian 

 bees. To six of these colonies I was foiced to give a 

 syrup as they had not enough honey in storage. I fed 

 them from the division-board feeder (made of galvan- 

 ized iron). To each colony was given about 12 lbs. of 

 syrup, and all this food was taken in a very short time. 

 This shows that Caucasians are not only smart enough 

 to get food, but they will accomplish it without sacri- 

 fice—not one bee was drowned in the syrup. 



In your case I think there was some other cause for 

 not eating food, but not a peculiarity of this race of 

 bees. 



As for the color of bees, there are three kinds of Cau- 

 casians: The yellow, the dark yellow, and the dark. 

 From your words on page 1180 I conclude that you have 

 in your apiary the dark Caucasians. The yellow Cau- 

 casian bees are not much different from Italians in color. 



Los Angeles, Cal., Dec. 8. A. Titoff. 



I have asked Mr. Titoff to tell us more 

 about the Caucasians in Russia, especially 

 the yellow stock of that blood. As there 

 seems to be some conflict of opinion in this 

 country, a statement from a native of Rus- 

 sia, who probably knows as much about 

 these bees as we do of Italians, would be of 

 more than ordinary interest. 



THE NATIONAL CONVKNTION AT CHICAGO. 



This has come and gone. While it was 

 not as large or representative as some of our 

 previous conventions, yet what it lacked in 

 these respects was fully made up in the 

 the high quality of the discussions and the 

 men present. Indeed, I believe that they 

 were of a higher order than we ever had at 

 any previous meeting. For example, the 

 discussion on the subject of swarm control, 

 at the first session, brought out men and 

 methods in a way that had never before 

 been done. As I sat at the feet of the Ga- 

 maliels who handled this subject in a mas- 

 terly way, I was impressed with the feel- 

 ing of how little of the science of swarming 

 I actually knew. 



This discussion was only a sample of other 

 good things we had at this convention. I 

 will endeavor to give a brief digest of it in 

 later issues of this journal. In the mean 

 time, those who are not already members of 

 the National should enroll at once in order 

 to secure the official report, taken by the 

 official stenographer in full. This report 

 will be well worth a dollar, to say nothing of 

 all the other benefits that one may secure 

 through an organization that is now nearly 

 2500 strong. Send your dollar to Mr. N. E. 

 France, Platteville, Wis. 



Unfortunately there was at this conven- 

 tion a prolonged discussion over a proposed 

 amendment to the constitution; and when 

 we got through we were almost where we 

 started. This seems to be unavoidable un- 

 der our present rules. Bat this convention 



was in this respect no worse than some of 

 our other ones— indeed, I believe it was far 

 better; but several at the various conven- 

 tions have at various times expressed them- 

 selves as being very sore because they are 

 compelled to hear wrangling over amend- 

 ments and parliamentary tactics when they 

 had come hundreds of miles to learn some- 

 thing from their brothers about bees. I re- 

 spectfully suggest to the board of Direct- 

 ors and to the management in general that 

 some plan be formulated whereby proposed 

 amendments may be discussed in the bee 

 journals, where those not interested are not 

 compelled to give up any of their valuable 

 time, and where, too, the whole membership, 

 or so much of it as is interested, can have a 

 hand in it. It would be well to take into 

 consideration that it costs each one who at- 

 tends these conventions anywhere from 50 

 cents to $2. 00 per hour for the two and a 

 half days of the convention. 



Mr. Dadant made a good presiding officer 

 —strictly impartial and absolutely fair, and 

 no blame attaches to him for the length of 

 the discussion referred to. But, more anon. 



Regarding the question as to whether I 

 should accept the office of Director of the 

 National, to which I have been recently 

 elected, I have finally decided to take the 

 advice of my wife, and have, therefore, 

 tendered my resignation. There are plenty 

 of strong available men who can serve in 

 the capacity of Director far better than I ; 

 and I feel satisfied that the Executive Com- 

 mittee will make a wise appointment. As 

 before stated, this action is not based on 

 any dissatisfaction with the policies of the 

 National nor toward its officers. Indeed, I 

 most heartily approve of that magnificent 

 organization, and shall do all I can to help it. 



Mr. and Mrs. A. I. Root are now settled 

 on an island off Osprey, on the west coast of 

 Florida. He has taken with him a select 

 breeding-queen, and is going to try some 

 experiments in breeding select drones. 



■•9y» •^^ 



METAL-SPACED HOFFMAN FRAMES. 



For some years we have been looking for 

 a metal-spaced Hoffman frame that would 

 retain practically the advantages of the one 

 all of wood, and yet sacrifice none of its 

 good features. We believe we have now se- 

 cured it. We asked the foreman of our ma- 

 chine-shop, Mr. Frank G. Marbach, to devise 

 some form of metal spacer, preferably of 

 stamping, that could be attached to a reg- 

 ular standard thick- top frame having end- 

 bars the same width from top to bottom, 

 and the same width as the top-bar itself. 

 How well he succeeded will be made plain 

 by the illustration herewith. 



