836 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Dec. IS, 1904. 



equaled — probably nothing ever will equal — a bee-conven- 

 tion. 



To be an entire success, however, there must be a 

 chance for profit during- the actual sessions of the conven- 

 tion, aside from the pleasure and profit to be obtained from 

 the earnest discussions of little groups during the recesses. 

 Just how the time shall be occupied during these sessions is 

 a matter of moment, and like most things in bee-keeping it 

 is, so to speak, more or less a matter of " locality ". The 

 time may be taken up largely with business matters ; it 

 may be taken up entirely with the reading of papers ; it may 

 be taken up entirely with a question-box ; it may be divided. 



One who was in attendance at the recent convention in 

 Chicago, thus writes : 



"That Chicago convention was a success. There was lots of bee- 

 talk; that is the stuff to suit beginners, and it seems the older ones 

 like it, too. One of the veterans who had come more than a hundred 

 miles, said to me: ' Say what you will, the thing to make a live con- 

 vention is the (juestion-box '. 



" But it seems a question-box will not run itself, for another said : 

 es, a question-box is all right if you have the right man to run it. 

 If you have a stick for a presiding officer you are likely to have some 

 of those awful pauses that occur in a prayer-meeting when the leader 

 sayS: 'The meeting is now in your hands'. Or, the discussion may 

 run oft into some trifling matter of no consequence, using up a whole 

 lot of time for nothing. The president must be wide-awake, keeping 

 things closely in hand, ready to draw the reins when some one strays 

 from the question, but wisely allowing leeway when such straying is 

 likely to lead to somethingof value, and having the knowledge and 

 skill to call out sometimes those members who have had experience 

 upon the subject in hand with little inclination to get on their feet. 



" At any rate, that Chicago convention was all right, for I heard 



more than one say that he had gotten more from it than from the St. 

 Louis convention." 



One thing seems pretty clear, that the time will likely 

 never come when live discussions will cease to be for the 

 veteran as well as the novice the most interesting part of a 

 convention. Business matters can not be barred out in all 

 cases — they may be of first importance, but they should 

 occupy only the time that necessity requires. Essays can 

 be read in the bee-papers ; their claim to a place on a con- 

 vention program is doubtful, except in some cases when a 

 short and crisp presentation of a subject opens the discus- 

 sion ; with the right men convened there is no need for 

 such opening. 



No other where can the same points be so well brought 

 out as in the sharp face-to-face convention discussion, and 

 just so far as possible such discussion should have the right 

 of way. 



Foreign Bee-Keepers' Societies. 



In Europe bee-keepers seem more given to organization 

 than bee-keepers in this country. There are more societies, 

 they have more conventions, and larger attendance. In 

 Praktischer Wegweiser mention is made of the Central 

 Association of German bee-keepers, with a membership of 

 about 40,000—37,242 in 1903 being reported. 



Those of us who talk about our National being the 

 largest association of bee-keepers in the world evidently 

 know little about what is going on abroad. 



IHtsccUancoiis Hcu^s Items 



Among the Callers at this office immediately preced- 

 ing and after the meeting of the Chicago-Northwestern 

 were the following : W. Z. Hutchinson and E. S. Griggs, 

 of Michigan ; Gus Dittmer and Nicholas Jacob, of Wiscon- 

 sin ; J. J. Baumgardner, of Illinois ; and Mr. Ellis, of Ver- 

 mont. We are always glad to have our bee-keeping friends 

 call when they are in Chicago. We are at 334 Dearborn 

 Street, in case you ever want to call on us. 



The MaPShfleld Mfg. Co.— On Thursday, Oct. 20, we 

 arrived at Marshfield, Wis., at 2 : IS p.m. We at once in- 

 quired for the oflSce of Hafer & Kalsched, and found it after 

 a fiive minutes' walk up town. Messrs. Adam Hafer and 

 Henry Kalsched, his nephew, are the Marshfield Mfg. Co. 

 Both are energetic business men. Mr. Hafer, however, is 

 much the older, and having accumulated enough desires 

 very much to retire. He was a brave soldier in the Civil 

 War, having passed through 20 engagements, being one of 

 about ISO that escaped death in his regiment of over 1000 

 men. He is president of the First National Bank of Marsh- 

 field, and has large interests not only in the mill at that 

 place, but in timber land elsewhere. During the winter 

 they, run a logging camp of about 80 men and 40 teams. 

 Had it not rained they had expected to start for the camp 

 the day we were there. For once we were glad it rained, 

 else we would likely have missed seeing Mr. Hafer. He 

 has been in the lumber and logging business all his life, 

 and seems never quite so happy as when engaged in that 

 work. 



As we entered the office of Hafer & Kalsched we met 

 Mr. Wm. Eggebrecht, a genial gentleman who for 12 years 

 has been in their office and employ. 



In about an hour Mr. Hafer drove us over to the mill in 

 his buggy. This mill is located about I'i miles away, just 

 at the edge of the town. There we met Mr. Kalsched, who 

 is manager of the establishment. He is a very pleasant 

 man to meet, and took much interest in showing us the bee- 

 supply part of their factory. They were making sections 

 at the rate of about 30,000 a day, also hives, supers, fences, 

 etc. Heretofore they have made only sections, but now 

 they will manufacture everything that is made of wood in 

 the bee-supply line. They had on hand several million 

 feet of the finest basswood lumber for making sections from 

 their own lumber camps. They use the best quality of 

 lumber in all their bee-supplies. They are also manu- 

 facturers of all kinds of stuff for building a complete house. 

 The material for many of the beautiful houses of Marsh- 

 field was turned out at their mill and factory. 



After inspecting the mill Mr. Hafer drove us around 

 the town, which has about 7000 population. It has excel- 

 lent schools, churches, and everything else that goes toward 

 making a thriving little city. It is situated in a splendid 

 agricultural region, and gives promise of continued growth 

 and prosperity. Mr. Hafer is one of the oldest residents, 

 having come there from a lumbering district in Michigan 

 many years ago. He has seen Marshfield grow from prac- 

 tically nothing in the woods to what it is to-day. 



The Marshfield Mfg. Co. is now in a position to com- 

 pete with any of the bee-supply factories anywhere. They 

 are near the sources of supply of the most and best lumber 

 used in making sections, hives, eti-. They have the latest 

 improved machinery for turning out the work rapidly and 

 well. They are a reliable firm to deal with, and mean to 

 push out for their share of the patronage of the keepers of 

 bees in this country. 



