1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



124i) 



uecerisary iu their phic-es, but how few ami 

 far between are articles dealing with the 

 real vital siil)jeet — au improved inseetl 



Great strides have lieeu made iu the past 

 eentviry in animal-breeding. Plant-breeding 

 in less than a decade has become a science; 

 but bee-breeding? Has the bee been im- 

 proved within the past fifty years? Some 

 may think so. Init there are solid I'easons for 

 believing that it is actually deteriorating. 



In St. Louis, in December, 1908. thei"e was 

 a meeting of a company of gentlemen, and 

 the result was the organization of the Amer- 

 ean Breeders' Association. Its President is 

 Hon. James Wilson. Secretary of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture, Washington. Its 

 officials and membership include the names 

 of those ranking high in scientific and prac- 

 tical life all over the world — men who have 

 these interests at heart. 



They recognized that, in dealing with ani- 

 mals and plants, the methods varied greatly; 

 still the same basic laws of life were the 

 same, ami animal and plant breeders have 

 much in coiumon. and can gain much by co- 

 operating; hence with a common president 

 and attendant officials they established an 

 animal and plant division with resj^ective 

 chairmen. 



The proceedings and papers read at this 

 meeting and the one following, in February, 

 1905. are jjublished in a cloth-bound book of 

 over 200 pages. Any one at all interested in 

 this subject will find this volume worth many 

 times its cost. This liook may be obtained 

 by sending sSl.OO to the secretary of the soci- 

 ety. Prof. W. M. Hayes. American Breeders' 

 Association, Washington. D. C, asking for 

 Vol. L. A. B. A. 



It is interesting to note iu this book that 

 among its over 700 members there is only 

 one name given as l)eing interested in })ees, 

 and this bee-keeper is from the far West — 

 Oregon. 



On Jan. 19. 190(>. at Lincoln, Neb., oc- 

 curred the third meeting of the society. A 

 change of plans was decided upon. Instead 

 of splitting the membership into two divi- 

 sions, separate committees were formed, rep- 

 I'esenting the different prol^lems that needed 

 attention. Among these committees is one 

 on "breeding bees and other insects." Be- 

 low is a list of the members of this commit- 

 tee and the objects in view. 



Dr. L. O. Howard. Department of Agri- 

 culture, Washington. D. C, Chairman. 



Prof. A. J. Cook. Berkeley, Cal. 



Dr. Herbert Osborne. Columbus, Ohio. 



E. F. Phillips, Washington, D. C. 



S. N. Green. Medina. Ohio. 



A. I. Root, Medina. Ohio. 



Louis P. .Alagid, Tailulah Falls, Ga. 



J. P. Moore. Morgan. Ky. 



G. M. Doolittle, Borodino, N. Y. 



The duties of this committee are, fii'st. to 

 iuvestigate and report on methods and tech- 

 nique of breeding bees and other economic 

 insects: second, to tlevise and help make ef- 

 fective broad plans for encouraging those 

 who engage in this work, that improved 

 forms maybe made available to all growers. 



The problems of the silk-raisers are simi- 

 lar to those of the l)ee-])reeder. IVIr. Magid, 

 a member of the committee, and also the 

 president of the Silk-culture League of Amer- 

 ica, states that silk-raisers would gladlj' join 

 with bee-raisers iji dealing with their com- 

 mon problems. It seems to me that both the 

 Silk League and the National Bee-keepers' 

 Association should draw up resolutions com- 

 mending the work of the American Breed- 

 ers' Association, as well as the institutions 

 themselves, liecoming members. 



At the Lincoln meeting there was a paper 

 read on bee-breeding, by Dr. E. F. Phillips. 

 This paper, together with others on different 

 subjects, will Ije incorporated into a volume 

 which is sent free to all members of the as- 

 sociation. This volume will also contain a 

 list of members as well as a breeders' direc- 

 tory, in which will he listed the names of 

 those interested in cattle-breeding, ]>ee cul- 

 ture, etc., each under its respective head. 



Surely every jjee-keeper owning ten colo- 

 nies or more of liees is enough affected by 

 this movement to invest with profit a dollar 

 in this work. To have before you the writ- 

 ten results of the ablest minds." whose work 

 touches so closely your occupation is well 

 worth your consideration. Honey-produc- 

 ers, queen-breeders, supply-houses, "and their 

 ageuts give this associati'on their support. 

 Send one dollar to Prof. W. A. Hays, Amer- 

 ican Breeders' Association, Washington, D. 

 C.. ami in due time you will receive the vol- 

 uiue referred to above. By this you will 

 help bee-l)reeding to be pushed to the front 

 witli the rest, and in time the results accom- 

 plished by the work will be most gratifying. 



Program announcement of the 1907 meet- 

 ing of this association has just been i-eceiv- 

 ed. The meeting will be held at Columbus, 

 Ohio, January 15. 10. 17, and IS, 1907. No 

 doubt a very interesting program is being 

 prepared, and the meeting will be attended 

 by those interested from ail over the United 

 States. 



I might add that neither Gleanings nor 

 myself receive in any manner a commission 

 for dues sent in. It "is only with the desire 

 to forward this great work" that this article 

 was written. 



Medina. O. 



HOW TO BUILD A BEE-CELLAR. 



How to Winter Bees in a Cellar. 



BY N. D. WEST. 



Continued from last issue. 



"Mr. West, if you were going to Iniild a 

 new bee-cellar not conuecteil with a house 

 that has a stove in it how would you ilo it?" 



"Mr. Jones. I would suggest iligging a cel- 

 lar 8 feet deep. 14X24 feet for l.jO stands of 

 bees. I woukl have the bottom so drained 

 with a four-inch tile that it could not till up 

 with water. This will also help to ventilate 

 the cellar. I would rather have a spring of 

 good live water in one corner of tlie cellar. 



