1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



7S7 



will say, everj' day. No matter how cool 

 the weather nor how late the season, the 

 strong colon}' below will keep the bees 

 warm above; then when the season is actu- 

 ally over, withdraw the wire cloth, closing- 

 the subsidiary entrances, putting- all the 

 bees into one colony. 



THE GREAT NATIONAL CONVENTION AT LOS 

 ANGELES. 



The great meeting of the National Bee- 

 keepers' Association took place at Los An- 

 geles, Aug. 18 — 20, as scheduled. Judging 

 from the newspaper reports which have 

 come, and a photo of the whole convention 

 that have been published in one of the dai- 

 lies, this was a grand conclave of bee-keep- 

 ers. The papers saj' that every State in 

 the Union was represented; but I fear this 

 was a little overdrawn. But I know there 

 were representatives from several of the 

 Eastern States, including, of course, a 

 large number from the Western States. 

 Every thing passed off lovely with one ex- 

 ception, and that was a "hot debate" at 

 one of the sessions. There is no one who 

 attends these bee conventions who likes to 

 hear and see these "scraps;" and many 

 are inclined to say thej^ do not pay their 

 good dollars and take a long railroad ride 

 to witness anj' thing of the kind, and that 

 if it is to be repeated they will keep away. 



Dr. C. C. Miller and A. I. Root were 

 styled the "Fathers of the Colonies," be- 

 cause both have spent over forty years in 

 the culture of bees and the study of possi- 

 ble improvements. At one of the impromp- 

 tu receptions for the leading men of the 

 convention, these "old-timers" "were 

 loosened up " to an extent that they told 

 stories on each other. From a clipping 

 from one of the papers I take the following: 



" Over forty j-ears ago," said Dr. Miller as he settled 

 himself in the pillows of the bed, " that mau A. I. Root 

 slept in the same bed with nie. and kept me awake un- 

 til midnight telling me how he was going to make a 

 fortune at bee raising. He had a scheme to tap the 

 maple-trees, and run the sap direct into the bee-hives 

 and supply honey with a maple flavor. Last night, 

 forty yeais later, he told me of another scheme until I 

 had counted thirteen passing milk-wagons." 



Mr. Root flushed quickly at the hearty laugh of the 

 bee-circle, but came back at his accuser. " That is all 

 right. I worked the sap scheme, and can taste that 

 honey now. Dr. Miller was just a drummer for a niu- 

 sic-hou'-e then, and did not know a drone from a work- 

 er. I was just starting up my plant, having sold out a 

 small jewelry shop to go into the business. I had just 

 paid twentj- dollars for one Italian queen bee, and the 

 neighbors thought I was getting daffv on the subject. 

 But I was in the business to stay, and it was not long 

 until I made a record of thirtj- pounds of honey from 

 one colony in two days. One year I had so much hon- 

 ey that I had to borrow all the' wash-tubs in the neigh- 

 borhood to hold it ; and when wash-day came, and my 

 barrels had not yet arrived, I was almost forced to 

 dump the honey into the cistern by the impatient 

 housewives " 



But there were at this convention two 

 other veterans, old-timers on the coast, in 

 the persons of J. G. Corey, of cold-blast- 

 smoker fame — one who, aside from his con- 

 nection with this implement, was a success- 

 ful and extensive bee-keeper, and Mr. J. S. 

 Harbison, of San Diego, who at one time 

 enjoyed the reputation of being the most 



extensive bee-keeper in the world; and, in-- 

 deed, I think it is a little doubtful if to-day 

 the man lives who has produced larger av- 

 erages or larger crops of honey than this 

 veteran of the Golden State during its ear- 

 ly history. The new officers are as follows: 



President, J. U. Harris, of Grand Junc- 

 tion, Col. ; Vice-president, C. P. Dadant, of 

 Hamilton, 111. ; Secretary, George W. Brod- 

 beck, of Los Angeles, Cal. 



No more satisfactory or deserved selec- 

 tions could have been made; and under the 

 leadership of these men the next conven- 

 tion, wherever it may be held, is sure to be 

 a success. Mr. Harris has been one of the 

 leading bee-keepers on the western slopes 

 of the Rockies. He is president and one of 

 the leading members of the Colorado Bee- 

 keepers' Association; and in parliamentary 

 work no better man has ever been put in 

 the place. He is an excellent organizer, a 

 natural and forcible speaker on the floor, 

 and a bee-keeper of no mean repute. 



Mr. C. P. Dadant, of foundation fame, is 

 almost too well known to need any intro- 

 duction to our readers. He and his much- 

 respected father were, perhaps, the best- 

 known of any two bee-keepers in both hem- 

 ispheres; and his election to the position 

 will be hailed with delight by his many 

 European admirers who have long looked 

 to him and his father as the Gamaliels of 

 modern apiculture. 



Mr. G. W. Brodbeck is president of the 

 California State Association — an organiza- 

 tion that bids fair to be as successful as the 

 one in Colorado. It has already started 

 out with flying colors. Indeed, with such 

 a president at the head of it, it could hard- 

 ly be other than a success. My correspon- 

 dence with Mr. Brodbeck has been of the 

 pleasantest kind; and if I may judge any 

 thing from passing references in letters and . 

 in public print he is one of the most popu- 

 lar bee-keepers in California. He, like his 

 fellow-workers, will give the grand old Na- 

 tional another upward boost. 



There was also present Prof. A. J. Cook, 

 of Claremont College, and formerly of Mich- 

 igan; and if there is any one man among 

 all the bee-keepers who is at home in con- 

 vention work, it is Prof. Cook. 



Then there were some other men like Mr. 

 J. F. Mclntyre, whose beautiful apiary I 

 have shown, and N. E. France, of Wiscon- 

 sin, General Manager of the Association. 

 Both added much to the interest of this 

 great meeting. Then there was Mr. W. F. 

 Marks, President of the New York State 

 Association; Prof. Frank Benton, of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture, Washington, D. 

 C, and — well, dozens of others of promi- 

 nence from all over this great and beautiful 

 countrj'. 



I am convinced from the press reports 

 that it will go down in the history of the 

 Association as one of the most notable, in- 

 teresting, and profitable meetings the As- 

 sociation has ever held, and that Los An- 

 geles is an ideal place for holding a big 

 convention. 



