ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS ASSOCIATION. 



27 



has been very watchful, too, and whenever 

 he has been informed of the incompetence 

 of anybody, he has refused to appoint. 



I want to see this society progress. I am 

 glad to see the number of members present 

 this morning; I should like to have seen 

 four or five times as many. I do not see 

 why we could not have had two or three 

 hundred at these meetings. I know it 

 would be to the advantage of every one 

 that attends. The bee-keeping industry is 

 not receding, it is progressing and it should 

 progress at a more rapid rate during these 

 times of high prices than it has at any 

 other time. Certainly I do not know what 

 falling it is where a person could make as 

 much money as out of bee-keeping with as 

 little capital. There is no other calling 

 that I know of and I have been in other 

 Knes enough and I have investigated long 

 enough to state that as a positive fact. 

 It seems strange to me that our State 

 University has not put a course of practical 

 bee-keeping into the Agricultural Depart- 

 ment of the University. I think if the 

 calling was brought to the attention of 

 the young men who are at school over there 

 and they were shoi^Ti the possibilities of 

 what is to be made out of it, especially as 

 a beginning vocation, that there would be 

 a great many more that would engage in 

 it. The bee-keeper is not a selfish man, 

 really hke the horticulturist. They belong 

 to the same class, they are very liberal 

 people. I have never met a bee-keeper 

 yet, nor a horticulturist, I might say, but 

 what was willing to teach the secrets of 

 their calling to others so that they could 

 profit by them. This is not like some 

 other lines of business and surely we are 

 already large enough and broad enough to 

 consume everything that we can produce. 

 At the present time there is a call for 

 thousands upon thousands, yes, hundreds 

 of thousands of pounds of honey to be 

 used over in the trenches. They are using 

 lots of it, but they cannot begin to get 

 what they need and there is no food, as 

 my predecessor just said, so proper under 

 those circumstances, with the hard trials 

 that they have to endure. Honey is a 

 health food and it is a food which creates 

 energy, that is what they need. I should 

 like to see the calling greatly increased 

 and more interest taken in it. 



Probably there will be some other points 

 that you may bring up as we progress 

 with our work. I may wish to call your 

 attention to several things that ought to be 

 done, but just now I do not recall them. I 

 thank you very much. 



(Mr. Baxter then resumed the chair.) 



The President — The next number v/ill 

 be the reading of the minutes of the last 



meeting, or such portions as may give us 

 fSome knowledge of what was done, com- 

 mittees appointed, etc. Have you a 

 condensed report? 



The Secretarj' — Yes, it is very con- 

 densed. 



Dr. Baxter — Move that we dispense 

 with the reading of the minutes of the 

 last meeting. They have been printed, all 

 the members have read them; why read 

 them again? (Motion seconded and 

 passed.) 



The Secretary — The Auditing Committee 

 was Dadant, Pyles and King. The Reso- 

 lutions Committee: Dadant, Coppin and 

 Kildow. Committee on Obituary for Col. 

 Mills: Dadant, Prather and Stone. Com- 

 mittee on Reference to State Superinten- 

 dent of Schools — that was for putting the 

 Bee-Keepers' avocation before the public 

 schools — that committee was King, Dr. 

 Baxter and Withrow. Committee on 

 Buildings — that pertained to the building 

 that we were seeking for at the Fair — Dr. 

 Baxter, Kildow and Coppin. Committees 

 on Premiums: Dr. Baxter, Stone, and E. 

 J. Baxter. Committee on Exhibit: Dr. 

 Baxter, Williams, Kildow and Pyles. 

 Committee to act on medals for display at 

 our meeting was Dadant, Dr. Baxter, 

 Newbum and Stone. r 



Membership of the Illinois State Bee- 

 Keepers' Association, 1917: 



To the State Association direct 196 



Through the Chicago-Northwestern . . 34 



Through the Northern Illinois 11 



Members received at the State Fair 



for 1918 73 



Not counted in the above list: 



The actual membeiship at this date is 314 



The cloth bound copies of our report 

 ran so short that we gave out the paper 

 bound at the Fair, and came near running 

 out of them. 



With this kind of showing we will be 

 compelled to increase the number of our 

 reports for next year. 



The President — I think we may just as 

 well have the Secretary's financial report 

 and also the Treasurer's financial report 

 and then I will appoint the committees, 

 and they will have a chance to work. 



The Secretary — Our report was cut very 

 short this year, because of our ftmd being 

 kept back by the State, we did not have 

 it turned over to our Treasurer and all 

 the fimds in the Treasurer's hands will 

 be the fund that comes through our mem- 

 bership fee. Up to July 1, — this is the 

 report that went the old way through 

 our treasury and after July 1, then our 

 accounts are sent in through the Auditor: 



