414 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



SEC;^ETARIES ARE FURTHER NOTIFIED THAT THE FOLLOWING 

 RULES WILL BE ACTED UPON AT THE NEXT DELEGATE MEET- 

 ING IN FEBRUARY 



Rule No. — There shall be an annual 

 fee of fifty cents collected from each 

 member of the National Beekeepers' 

 Association; said dues to be receipted 

 for by the Secretary, and receipts 

 turned in to the geneial fund of the 

 National to be used the same as other 

 funds of this Department. Said fifty 

 cents paying the annual dues of the 

 member one year from date of his re- 

 ceipt card. 



Rule No. — Annual receipts from mem- 

 bers residing- in states, territories, or 

 D. C. where there is no affiliated asso- 



ciation shall be turned into the gen- 

 eral fund of the NATIONAL, BEE-KEEP 

 ERS' ASSOCIATION. 



Rule No. — That officers and directors 

 of the NATIONAL BEE-KEPJPERS' AS- 

 SOCIATION all be elected by a direct 

 vote of the members, by a mail ballot 

 furniuhed for that purpose; and tliat no 

 delegate ineeting shall be called, ex- 

 cept, as may be deemed necssary by 

 the board of directors. Said meeting, 

 and place of meeting to be decided upon 

 by said board of directors. 



The Secretary's Corner 



GEO. W. WILLIAMS, Redkey, Ind. 



There is always a bright side to the 

 darkest cloud, and our wonderful fall 

 flow, coming as it does after a bad sea- 

 son is right welcome, for it is giving 

 us abundant stores for winter, and 

 stimulating brood-rearing so as to in- 

 sure good strong colonies of young 

 bees, to go into winter quarters. We 

 are having a second dandelion crop, 

 a little golden-rod, and since Sept- 

 15th, a wonderful flow from the little 

 white heath aster, aster ericoides. 

 There are probably 300 varieties of the 

 aster family, and most of them yield 

 as much or more honey than this var- 

 iety, but in this locality it is the only 

 one that is of much value to the bee- 

 keeper, as it is the only one that is 

 prolific and persistent enough to 

 amount to much. It is not a bad weed, 

 as it is very modest and not the least 

 in the way all spring and summer un- 

 til about the first of September, when 

 it rapidly springs into bud and bloom, 

 and gives an abundant flow of dark, 

 strong honey, not very desirable for 

 table use but excellent for wintering 

 in this climate. I doubt if it would 

 be the best for extremely Northern 

 latitudes, however, as it seems to have 

 some pollen mixed with it. 



We have noticed it for many years, 

 but it has only been in the last few 

 seasons that it has been plentiful 

 enough to amount to much. We have 

 encouraged it in waste places and it 

 responds quickly. Once established, it 

 spreads rapidly. It seems to love old 

 meadows, orchards, waste corners, and 

 is equally at home on poor clay knobs 



or fertile ground. 



Coming as it does at the right time, 

 just before the close of good weather, 

 and not being an undesirable pest like 

 many other honey plants, makes it 

 among the most valuable of our flora. 

 For the beekeeper who has no fall flow 

 and who has to feed for winter, this 

 is well worthy of planting. 



It is easy to start, and is a peren- 

 nial, starting new shoots in the fall, 

 and each plant bearing thousands of 

 seeds that are so small and light that 

 the wind and stock scatter them every- 

 where so that when once introduced, 

 it rapidly spreads over the adjoining 

 territory. As I stated above, however, 

 it is an extremely modest plant, and 

 seeks retired and waste places, and 

 is rarely found in fields that are culti- 

 vated. I paid 50c per ounce for 4 

 ounces of seed 15 years ago, and the 

 last four seasons there has been gath- 

 ered from the resulting flowers, many 

 tons of splendid wintering honey. 

 Previous to this, I fed a great deal, 

 and then lost heavily, frequently, as 

 the fall dearth prevented late brood- 

 rearing. 



This is all changed, now, and I 

 sometimes have quite a surplus. 



I came across a little square dish in 

 the glass factory some time ago, made 

 just the right size for a 4x4 or 4x5 

 chunk of honey. In fact they called 

 it a honey dish. You all know that I 

 am something of a "crank" on adver- 

 tising honey, and I immediately made 

 it my business to investigate the mat- 



