October, 1909. 



327 



American Hee Jonrnalj 



to begin work first in the center of the 

 super," so they will begin work sooner 

 in a bait in the center of the super 

 than in one that is in the corner. Still 

 more will they be inclined to begin on 

 a single central bait than to' begin sim- 

 ultaneously on 4 outside baits located 

 at 4 different points. The difference of 

 time of starting, short though it be, 

 may make all the difference between 

 promptly starting in the super and 

 swarming. 



As the so/e object of the bait is to 

 start the bees at work promptly, there 

 will no doubt be many who will con- 

 sider promptness of starting of more 

 consequence than evenness of finish, 

 and who will say, " Put the bait in the 

 center, every time." 



SgETFTSTTFT' 



O)lsc!eiiane0 



Does Shaking Bees Increase the 

 Crop? 



Xot so much has been said lately 

 about the matter. Adrian Getaz, after 

 having tried it the past season, reports 

 this in the Bee-Keepers' Review: 



The results, so far as I am concerned, are 

 a complete failure. I cannot see that any of 

 the shaken colonies have done an.v better 

 than the others in any case. Furthermore. 

 I <lo not find the process as easy and as well 

 adapted to green hands as Mr. Williams 

 does. .4 part of my bees are Italians, mostly 

 j-banded. descended from Doolittle stock. 

 though the queens were orisrinally bought 

 from a Southern breeder. These do not 

 shake worth a cent. They cling tenaciously 

 to their combs. 



Others are hybrids of all degrees, some 

 nearly black, and most of them rather 

 vicious. They fall off the combs easily, but 

 often resent it. and undertake to " shake " 

 the apiarist very pointedly. 



But leading bee-keepers report suc- 

 cess with shaking, and others express 

 belief in it from the nature of things. 

 In each case where success is reported, 

 however, the shaking has always been 

 done in connection with some change 

 of conditions. Without taking one side 

 or the other, it may be pertinent to ask 

 whether in any case shaking alone has 

 produced increased activity. It ought 

 not to be a difficult thing to give the 

 matter a test. Let all the colonies of 

 an apiary be treated alike in every re- 

 spect except that one-half shall have 

 the bees shaken off the combs once in 

 so often, and the other half left un- 

 shaken ; then note results. Mr. Getaz 

 seems to have tried something of the 

 kind, and reports failure. Has any one 

 else made it a success? 



"Xot Worth Patenting" 



D. M. Macdonald quotes Editor Root 

 as saying : 



" Wc would not give one cent for a patent 

 on any kind of feeder, because there are too 

 many good unpatented feeders, so that any 

 one who gets out a patent on a feeder is 

 wasting his good money for nothing." 



Mr. Macdonald then asks: 



"Are not patent hives also much in the 

 same category?" 



Weight of IJees 



Ten bees were caught at the hive-en- 

 trance. The average weight was at 

 the rate of 4.j40 to the pound. Three 

 were fully laden with nectar, 3 half- 

 taden, and 4 had empty sacs. The 

 weight of the load where the sac was 

 fully laden was about one-fifth the 

 average weight of a bee. — Prakt. Weg- 

 ■weiser. 



National Conventiouat Sioux City 



The 40th annual convention of the 

 National Bee-Keepers' Association was 

 held, as per announcement, in Sioux 

 City, Iowa, September 22 and 23 — last 

 month. The attendance was not so 

 large as anticipated, as there were only 

 about 100 bee-keepers present. As was 

 to be expected, there were a number of 

 new faces, and all the sessions were 

 very interesting and harmonious. 

 There was a good feeling throughout 

 the entire two days. 



Perhaps the principal discussion was 

 on the subject of foul brood, which 

 was introduced bv several papers, one 

 by W. D. Wright.' of New York State, 

 and one by R. L, Taylor, of Michigan, 

 which were followed by another which 

 was quite e.xhaustive, written and read 

 by Dr. E. E. Phillips, of Washington, 

 D. C. A general discussion followed 

 the reading of these papers in which 

 practically every phase of the subject 

 was treated. It certainly was a live 

 topic. This brood disease among bees 

 has been spreading so very rapidly 

 throughout the country that some very 

 drastic measures must be taken soon, 

 or else the whole bee-keeping industry 

 will be "wiped off the map." 



A shorthand report was taken of all 

 discussions, which will be published in 

 pamphlet form in due time, so that each 

 member of the Association will be able 

 to know all that was said and done at 

 this 40th annual meeting of the bee- 

 keepers of .\nierica. There are now 

 something like .3.'>00 members in tlie 

 National .Association. There really 

 ought to be 20,000, at least. 



For some time the officers of the 

 Association have seen the weakness 

 of the method of nominating the 

 candidates for the annual election. 

 The constitution provides that they 

 shall be nominated by mail ballot in 

 September, and there are so few of the 

 whole membership that really know 

 who would make the best officers, that 

 it is very difficult for them to select. 

 Thus it has come to pass that the nomi- 

 nation ballots have been so very scat- 

 tering. Out of the total membership 

 there are perhaps not more than 10 

 percent who respond when invited to 

 assist in nominating candidates. This 

 provision of the constitution was sup- 

 plemented at the Sioux City convention 

 by the appointment of a committee 

 made up of one from each State repre- 

 sented, which committee was authorized 

 to nominate two candidates for each 

 office, to be placed before the inember- 

 ship for Ifalloting in addition to the 

 nominees made through the prescribed 

 mail ballot. In this way there will be 

 three names to select from for each 

 office at the election in November — 



next month. That is, tlicre will be 

 3 candidates for President, 3 for Vice- 

 President, 3 for Secretary, 3 for each 

 of three directors, or 9 candidates in 

 all for directors, as 3 of the 12 directors 

 are elected each year for a term of 4 

 years. There was an exception made 

 in the case of the General Manager, as 

 practically all the members were in 

 favor of retaining Mr. France so long 

 as he will consent to accept the posi- 

 tion and do the work so satisfactorily 

 as he has done for many years. 



Personally, we believe that this new 

 departure is a wise move, and would 

 favor an amendment to the constitution 

 so as to provide for such nomination 

 at each annual meeting, rather than 

 what is now required by the constitu- 

 tion. At least, we would recommend 

 this for the nominations for the three 

 directors whose terms expire each 

 year, and also for the General Manager 

 and Treasurer, in case Mr. France 

 should decide to drop out at some 

 future time. 



However, we believe that the offices 

 of President, Vice-President, and Sec- 

 retary should be filled at each annual 

 meeting, as those three officers have 

 to do only with the annual meetings. 

 The Board of Directors with the Gen- 

 eral Manager and Treasurer conduct 

 the business of the Association between 

 the annual meetings. This was the 

 plan followed regarding the three offi- 

 cers named, before the last change in 

 the constitution, which put the election 

 of all officers and directors in the 

 hands of the whole membership, by 

 mail. It has proven to be quite un- 

 satisfactory, or at least the method of 

 nomination has been more than un- 

 satisfactory. 



Next month we hope to have room 

 to refer more at length to this last 

 meeting of the National Bee-Keepers' 

 Association, including a picture of 

 most of the members present at Sioux 

 City, and other matters of personal ob- 

 servation. 



New Bee-liocations in the West 



It is our intention, when we get our 

 new office into smooth working order, 

 to devote more time to the interests 

 of bee-keepers. We shall be able to 

 furnish reliable information about new 

 bee-localities in the great Southwest, in 

 Western Oklahoma, West Texas, New 

 Mexico, Arizona, and California, in the 

 territory served by the vast Santa Fe 

 railway system. Great developments 

 are also taking place in the Northwest, 

 along the Burlington, Chicago North- 

 western, and Chicago, Milwaukee & St. 

 I'aul roads. These lines have, within 

 the last few months, made great exten- 

 sions of their rails, so that much new 



