Dec. 29, 1904. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



885 



press is not familiar with the matter. If we had some 

 way to reach the local as well as the general press and 

 get these fellows to retract, I believe we would have no 

 trouble. This committee that has been suggested, I be- 

 lieve would co-operate with the National. Another 

 thought that occurred to my mind was in regard to the 

 syrups being fed to the bees and their storing it away. 

 The production in that way of anything that resembles 

 natural honey never has in my experience been accom- 

 plished. You can't anj- more produce honey that looks 

 like natural in that way than }'ou could by taking a hen 

 and tieing her down onto her nest undertake to hatch 

 out a "set" of chickens. 



Dr. Miller — With regard to one point, that of try- 

 ing to get a proper sort of retraction, we had two in- 

 stances latelj' in the Ladies' Home Journal, one with re- 

 gard to-honey and the other with regard to a proprietary 

 medicine. The two retractions were very unlike. In the 

 case of the honey there was this statement and that 

 statement, and part of it had no bearing on the subject 

 at all, but the whole thing had the look that perhaps 

 honey was not adulterated, that perhaps comb-honey 

 was genuine; that was the general impression. One of 

 the things, and the strongest one, perhaps there, had no 

 bearing whatever upon the subject, because it referred 

 entirely to extracted honey, and extracted honey was not 

 in qustion at all. With regard to the proprietary medi- 

 cine it was a clean, solid, uncompromising retraction of 

 the whole thing; an abject apology. I tell you what I 

 thin'K made the difference. I think the proprietor of that 

 medicine went to them and said, "You retract that in 

 the most unqualified manner or we will sue you and col- 

 lect from you all we can." I don't know enough about 

 this thing, but I suspect that damages might be ob- 

 tained from some one of these, and if in any single case 

 a suit were instituted and damages obtained, that would 

 be a thing that would tell more than all the letters that 

 would snow them under. I believe if our General Man- 

 ager could obtain damages in one case from any one of 

 these publishers, or even a retraction, it would help 

 us in the other cases. 



Mr. Abbott — I fear some of our members have a 

 wrong idea about suing. I want to say that the g:eneral 

 manager of this association has not any standing in any 

 court of the United States; that the general manager 

 of this Association cannot sue anybody. This Association 

 as an association has no legal standing in any court in the 

 United States, because it is not a corporate body. If 

 we want to be able to sue as an association, this body 

 must be incorporated. The individual person damaged 

 must show the damages. We are not as a body an 

 entity and you cannot damage a thing that is not an 

 entity in law. 



Dr. Miller — There was an incorporation. Isn't this 

 the thing that was incorporated? 



Mr. Abbott — If this body is incorporated, and has a 

 standing in law, then this body can sue, but we must 

 not lose sight of the fact that it has no standing unless 

 it is an entity in law. All the suits made by the general 

 manager are not made in his name but in the name of 

 the individual injured, and the general manager must 

 stand behind him and you must stand as individual men. 

 In this case it was in the name of Dr. Pierce, and he said, 

 I will sue you for $200,000, and they knew he would 

 keep his word, but they do not pay any attention to this 

 Association because it is not incorporated. 



Prof. Benton — I wrote to Ernest Root that the time 

 had come when a suit should be instituted when there 

 was a good case, and I was in favor of sensational things, 

 yellow journalism in general — the most successful thing 

 that you could have to go from the Atlantic to the Pacific 

 that would reach the journalists. That is what we want; 

 and when there is a good case somebody should go right 

 straight to the man and say, "We have $2,000, and there 

 are men that will bring forward more thousands, and we 

 will put the thing right through if you don't come out 

 squarely and retract." 



Dr. Bohrer — In regard to this body not being in a 

 position to be sued or to sue, I agree with Mr. Abbott. 

 If it is deemed necessary to have it incorporated let us do 

 so. I move this body be incorporated. 



Mr. Weber — I second that. 



]\Ir. France — I don't like to occupy a great deal of 

 your time, but as an illustration, I was asked, as you all 

 recollect, to replv to that article in the Ladies' Home 



Journal on behalf of your Association. I did so to the 

 editor, and it was suggested that unless retraction in 

 some form was made, satisfactorily, it might be possible 

 the Association would take the matter up in the court, 

 and I got a reply immediately, "Are you an incorporated 

 body?" I had to say "No." 



Mr. Abbott — -I wish to say to you that you have to 

 go a little cautious about these things. There are two 

 sides to all questions. Sometimes it is an advantage to 

 be an entity and sometimes it is not. If you are no- 

 body you are not likely to get licked. If you are some- 

 body you r-iay drop up against a fellow that will give you 

 a fearful licking. You are responsible for what you say 

 and do when you get to be somebody. To get to be some- 

 body we must get to be somebody at some special place; 

 we must have an ofiice and be identified with some special 

 place under State laws. Are you going to be incorpor- 

 ated? Now most of them go to New Jersey when they 

 want to swell their stock. Will you go to New Jersey, 

 or will you work it under the laws of Pennsylvania 

 where you can inflate and blow and bust anything in the 

 shape of a trust, or in the State of Missouri where they 

 are pretty hard on corporations, or where do you intend 

 to incorporate? Mr. Hershiser is better prepared to talk 

 on this than anybody, but I spent two years studying 

 law, and I got all these fool notions in my head. I think 

 I am correct, but if not I will stand corrected. 



Dr. Bohrer — Couldn't it be done under National 

 law? 



Mr. Abbott — No, sir; there is no such thing as Na- 

 tional incorporation. 



Dr. Miller — -I thought that was a pretty good speech 

 I made a while ago, and I don't want to lose it all. If we 

 can get the incorporation then the thing won't fall to the 

 ground. In my answer to Mr. Abbott. I was acting on 

 the idea that there had been incorporation and there was, 

 but that was something else and this thing is some- 

 thing different, and if we get as near doing what was 

 done before, perhaps that will be well, and if we could 

 be incorporated in the State of Illinois, being central, I 

 don't know as there would be anything better. 



Mr. Pressler — I would like to move that this matter 

 be referred to the proper committee, because it is a deli- 

 cate matter, and should be carefully considered in the 

 committee room. 



The President put the motion, which on a vote hav- 

 ing been taken was declared carried. 



FEEDING BEES TO PRODUCE HONEY. 



Mr. Rhees — The idea has gone out that it was nos- 

 sible that honey-comb could be filled with some sub- 

 stance besides honey by the the bees themselves. I 

 don't think this thing is possible for several reasons. I 

 tried to feed my bees some overheated honey and they 

 wouldn't take it. and I very much doubt if they would 

 take glucose under any circumstances; and from what I 

 have read I don't believe that honey-producers have made 

 a success in even getting honey stored in the honey- 

 comb. So far as sugar is concerned, in my locality the 

 wholesale price of sugar is a great deal higher than the 

 wholesale price of honey, and no sane man would think 

 of feeding sugar and having it stored for honey. No 

 bee-keeper will ever make a success of putting honey on 

 the market unless he is a man of sound judgment. I think 

 this idea that has been advanced, that it may be possible 

 for people to feed a mixture to the bees and have them 

 store it and then sell it as comb-honey should fade, it is 

 impossible. It is impossible for me to buy sugar at six 

 cents a pound and go to all the trouble of feeding it, 

 and then sell the honey at five cents a pound. 



Mr. Abbott moved, seconded by Mr. York, that the 

 committee to consider the matter of incorporation con- 

 sist of five members appointed by the chair. 



The President put the motion, which, on a vote hav- 

 ing been taken, was declared carried, and the President 

 appointed as a committee Messrs. Abbott, Hershiser, 

 France, Benton and Miller. 



Dr. Miller — In reference to the remarks just made 

 in reference to making comb-honey from feeding sugar 

 we must be a little careful and not go too far, and it will 

 hardly do to say that we cannot feed sugar and get comb- 

 honey because the price is too much. I can feed sugar 

 and get comb-honey made and the price of comb-honey 

 will be nearly three times as much as the price I can get 

 sugar for. I don't know whether there is any profit in it 



