Feb. 14, 1901. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



105 



more of the principal bee-keepers of the county harvested 

 318.400 pounds, and altog-ether the county has produced 

 about 500,000 pounds the past season. 



After a discussion on how to increase honey-producing- 

 plants the meeting- adjourned, subject to the call of the 

 president. A. F. Stevenson, Reporter. 



Salt Lake Co., Utah, Oct. 27, 1900. 



"The President's Message" to the Ontario Co., 

 (N. Y.) Convention. 



BY \V. F. MARKS. 



ANOTHER year has past since last we met, and left us, 

 as honey-producers, richer only in experience, the past 

 season being the poorest season for honey ever known 

 in our county if not thruout a large portion of the conti- 

 nent. But altho the past season has been the poorest of 

 several poor seasons with us in the production of honey; 

 altho our bees have failed to gather us any surplus, we can 

 feel that our labor has not been in vain, for our pets have 

 never yet failed to fulfil faithfully the prime purpose for 

 which they were created, whereby all are benefitted. 



Miss Morley says, "The Vedic poets sang of honey 

 and the dawn at the same moment, and all the succeeding 

 generations of India have chanted honey and its maker into 

 their mythologies, their religions and their loves." 



" The philosophers of Greece esteemed the bee. And 

 without hone)' and the bee the poets of Hellas would have 

 lackt expressions of sweetness that all succeeding ages 

 have seized upon as consummate." 



"The Latin writers studied the bee not only for its use- 

 fulness as a honey-maker, but because of its unique char- 

 acter for industry, for its skill as a builder, and for its won- 

 derful sagacity in its social organization." 



"Modern writers are principally concerned with the 

 structure and habits of the bee as revealed by modern 

 science, and particularly with the part played by it as a fer- 

 tilizer of the fruits and flowers." 



" To fertilize the flowers has always been the office of 

 the bee, as we can see now that the processes of nature are 

 understood." 



" At the present time sugar has superseded honey as an 

 article of every-day use. Honey has lost most of its im- 

 portance in the family life, but not so the bee, for we know 

 that it does inestimable service in perfecting the fruits of 

 the earth, and that without it our orchards would be lean 

 and our gardens barren." 



Notwithstanding the acknowledged importance and ne- 

 cessity of the bee as a factor in agriculture and the arts, 

 we are to this day called upon to fight for its very exist- 

 ence. 



At the last session of the legislature the opposition, I 

 have reason to believe, started in to repeal our excellent 

 spraying law ; but, finding that its friends were awake and 

 ready for the fray, they contented themselves by asking for 

 an amendment to the law to allow experiments by the di- 

 rectors of the experimental stations at Ithaca and Geneva. 

 Originally the amendment had the words, " whenever and 

 wherever desired in this State : " we had these words 

 stricken out. As finally amended, believing that the pro- 

 posed experiments would sustain the bee and strengthen 

 the law, it was allowed to pass without further opposition. 

 These experiments have not yet been publisht. Perhaps it 

 will not be proper for me to anticipate the result of these 

 experiments, but I have reason to believe, from what I can 

 learn, that we have nothing to fear from them, and that 

 they will only emphasize the fact that it is not only unnec- 

 essary but absolutely injurious to spray during bloom. I 

 learn that in one of the experiments of spraying in bloom, 

 the yield of fruit was just one-half of what it was where 

 the spraying was done just before the blossoms opened. 

 That certainly is not " making two blades of grass grow 

 where one grew before," but the very reverse. The result 

 in all the experiments may not have been as emphatic as 

 this one ; it could hardly be expected. 



Plato in his laws written 370, 1!. C, makes it a crime to 

 poison bees. His law translated reads as follows: "He 

 who employs poison to do an injury, not fatal, to a man 

 himself, or to his servants, or any injury, whether fatal or 

 not, to his cattle or his bees, if he be a physician, and be 

 convicted of poisoning, shall be punisht with death ; or if 

 he be a private person the court shall determine what he is 

 to pay or suffer." Thus it will be seen that we have a prec- 

 edent that was eslablisht nearly 2300 years ago. 



"The mills of the gods grind slowly." It is thus with 

 the Apis dorsata enterprise that you have so persistently 

 advocated. I can assure you, however, that this undertak- 

 ing is certainly making progress ; one thing is certain, 

 Providence is on our side, and, altho he has not yet suc- 

 ceeded in importing these bees, he has given us their na- 

 tive land, and dorsata is getting accustomed to the 

 star-spangled banner. I believe they are willing subjects, 

 as there are no reports of their having joined the insur- 

 gents ! I trust the opposition will not start such a report, 

 and that they have stung, perhaps killed, one-half, more or 

 less, of our little army, and driven the balance into the 

 China Sea 1 Yet such a story would be just as reasonable 

 as manv that have been circulated in relation to this bee. 



Perhaps the subject of marketing honey is quite out of 

 place this season, owing to the fact that we have none to 

 market : but if we should be fortunate enough to secure a 

 crop again we should endeavor to maintain prices now that 

 they have advanced. 



The National Association has recently issued a pamph- 

 let, larger and more complete but similar to the one we pub- 

 lisht over a year and one-half ago. Such pamphlets are 

 very useful. I wish that all this matter— showing the rela- 

 tion of bees to horticulture — that has been publisht by the 

 Department of Agriculture, the various experimental sta- 

 tions, and other recognized authorities, with the experi- 

 ments now being made at Ithaca and Geneva, in relation to 

 spraying in bloom, with accompanying illustrations, could 

 be publisht in one bulletin. This matter of the bee and 

 its importance to agriculture can not be proclaimed too 

 much — the people should be made to realize their obliga- 

 tions to the honey-bee. 



I will briefly call your attention to Article 3, Section 2, 

 of the Constitution of the National Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion, which read as follows: 



"Whenever a local bee-keepers' association shall decide 

 to unite with this Association as a body, it will be received 

 upon payment by the local secretary of SO cents per mem- 

 ber per annum, provided that the local association's mem- 

 bership dues are at least SI. 00." 



This is carrying out the ideas embodied in our State or- 

 ganization, and, if adopted by our association, would admit 

 us to membership not only in our county and State associ- 

 ations, but in the National also, and all for the small price 

 of $1.00 per annum. I would recommend that our constitu- 

 tion be amended so as to enable us to take advantage of 

 this provision of the National Bee-Keepers' Association. 



In my several previous messages, with which you have 

 been afflicted, I have by turns coaxt and scolded the bee- 

 keepers of the county for carelessness, or indifference, 

 shown by them for not taking greater interest in these 

 meetings. The fact that you have realized but little from 

 your bees for a couple of seasons should not deter you from 

 aiding and strengthening our organization. The more in- 

 terest you take in it the more pleasure and benefit you will 

 derive from it. Do not wait for the secretary to urge you. 

 Each of you has some subject — perhaps several — relating 

 to our pursuit, upon which you have well-founded ideas. 

 Notify the secretary, and let him put you on the program. 

 Take pride in our organization and pride in our pursuit ; it 

 may not be the largest industry, but it is just as honorable 

 as any. Bees are said " to have been the heralds of civili- 

 zation, steadily preceding it as it advanced." That they 

 have always been held in high esteem by man can not be 

 questioned, as they are mentioned as far back as history ex- 

 tends. They figured in the symbolical history of Egypt 

 nearly 4,000 years B. C, showing with what esteem they 

 were held nearly 6,000 years ago. Let me repeat, take 

 pride and interest in your pursuit, that the bee may ever re- 

 main where history and science place it — the most interest- 

 ing and important member of the animal kingdom. 



The Chicajro Convention Picture is a fine one. It is 

 nearly 8x10 inches in size, mounted on heavy cardboard 

 10x12 inches. It is, we believe, the largest group of bee- 

 keepers ever taken in one picture. It is sent, postpaid, for 

 75 cents ; or we can send the American Bee Journal one 

 year and the picture — both for SI. 60. It would be a nice 

 picture to frame. We have not counted them, but think 

 there are nearly 200 bee-keepers shown. 



The American Fruit and Vegetable Journal is just 

 what its name indicates. Tells all about growing- fruits 

 and vegetables. It is a fine monthly, at 50 cents a year. 

 We can mail you a free sample copy of it, if you ask for it. 

 We club it with the American Bee Journal — both for $1.10. 



