26 



FIFTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



and plans, shall not altogether com- 

 mercialize the bee, but that they shall 

 recognize today, and as they go back 

 to work midst the bees, that there is 

 that in them .that should teach men 

 something of a better and higher life. 

 Let Thy richest benediction rest upon 

 this conference; bless us in our rela- 

 tionships and help us to know that 

 Thou hast planted great, deep lessons 

 all about us if we will but open our 

 hearts and minds to their reception, 

 and we will not go through life blind- 

 ly but will have our souls stirred and 

 thrilled within us because of the mar- 

 velous manifestations of the goodness 

 of God. Bless every man and woman 

 here, and God grant that, by reason 

 of their association with this mighty 

 worker, this splendid type of all that 

 is co-operative in the world, they may 

 be better citizens by reason of this 

 association; sanctify, we pray Thee, 

 every theme that is discussed, and we 

 pray Thee that from these days to- 

 gether these men shall go out to live 

 closer to Thee as they shall devote 

 themselves to the business to which 

 they have given themselves. 



We ask it in the name of Jesus 

 Christ who while he was upon earth 

 looked around and saw in the flower 

 the evidence of God and the manifes- 

 tation of his goodness. 



Mr. Baxter — The next thing in order 

 will be the welcome address. 



Mr. Stone — Mr. President, when we 

 began to look around for a place of 

 meeting, a place to hold our Conven- 

 tion this year, we did not .like to go 

 anywhere but the Senate Chamber 

 where we were last year, but we saw 

 that the Legislature was going to be 

 called again. It worried us some to 

 know where we would go. We went 

 to the Secretary of State and he sug- 

 gested the Comrriercial Association, 

 and we got on the right track at once, 

 and through the kindness of the Com- 

 mercial Association, of which our 

 friend, Mr. Conkling, is the Secretary, 

 we have received this nice room, and 

 we will all have every accommodation 

 they can give us, and they give it to 

 us willingly and gladly. 



We now have the pleasure of intro- 

 ducing Mr. Conkling, who will give us 

 the welcome address. 



ADDRESS OF WELCOME. 



Mr. President and Members of the 



Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion: 



Springfield is always glad of the op- 

 portunity to welcome its visitors. While 

 your Convention is not as large as 

 probably many Conventions that meet 

 here, yet I want to assure you that 

 the welcome that we extend to you is 

 as hearty as any we could extend to 

 the largest Convention that meets here. 

 It has been said that a hive of bees 

 numbers many thousands; that 97 per 

 cent of them are workers; 3 per cent 

 of them are drones. That being the 

 case, it seems to me that the bee in- 

 dustry should be in the front ranks of 

 the industrial workers of the world. 

 The bee and its occupation is also a 

 by-word for the business man. If you 

 meet the business man on the street 

 and you ask him relative to his busi- 

 ness, if his business is good he will in- 

 variably say that "We are as busy as 

 a bee," thus showing that the industry 

 of the bee is used as a very high mark. 



We are glad that you have selected 

 Springfield before as your meeting 

 place. We are very glad that you are 

 here today; and I assure you that we 

 extend to you a hearty welcome and a 

 cordial invitation to come again next 

 year. 



Our Commercial Association is lo- 

 cated upon the third fioor (City Hall 

 Building) where we have a nice rest 

 room of moderate size, and we have 

 accommodations for you in the way of 

 stationery which you may have for 

 your own use, and, if j-ou do not feel 

 like writing your own letters, the ste- 

 nographers will' do it for you. 



We have nothing there except the 

 good old ice water so if you have an 

 appetite for anything stronger than 

 that you will have to bring your grape 

 juice along with you. 



We 3ffer you the services of our 

 officers and members of the Commer- 

 cial Association, and they join with m& 

 in extending to you oiir hearty welcome 

 today and the earnest desire that you 

 may come back next year and we will 

 be glad to see you. 



Mr. Stone — It now comes our turn to 

 introduce the President. The next on 

 our program is the President's Address 

 and the response to the welcome ad- 

 dress. — Mr. Baxter. 



