694 



AMERICAISi BEE lOURNAI, 



Oct. 31, 1901. 



on you." A business man sometimes 

 is known by a letter-head. If I get a 

 letter from a business house on a Cheap 

 John piece of paper I generally chuck 

 it into the fire and pay no attention to 

 it. But if I get a neat letter, printed 

 nicely, on good paper, written in good 

 style, proposing something in a busi- 

 ness way, I say, " There is a firm that 

 stands for something," and I write to 

 them. These things tell in the world, 

 and we want to use the things that are 

 used by other business men. The 

 spending of a few dollars for a report 

 will do more, in my opinion, to help 

 the bee-keepers of the United States 

 than anything else we can possibly do. 

 Dr. Miller — I am convinced by some 

 of the arguments presented now, as 

 well as some other things, that the use 

 of such a report might be an excellent 

 investment; that, even if it does cost 

 something, it will bring in more than 

 goes out, and on that same line I en- 

 dorse the thought that we don't want 

 it on the Cheap John line. We have 

 taken in the money and can get out a 

 clean report. 1 believe if we are going 

 to go on the dignity order, we would 

 better keep it clear of everything but 

 the reading. 



Dr. Mason — Mr. York informs me 

 that a thousand copies of the proceed- 

 ings can be published in pamphlet 

 form, and a copy mailed to each mem- 

 ber, for $100. 



N. D. West, of New York— If we get 

 the pamphlets printed, would it not be 

 a good plan to have more printed than 

 our membership, so that others could 

 obtain them for a certain stated price, 

 the amount to be thrown into the treas- 

 ury to help maintain this organization? 

 And notwithstanding the report is 

 printed in pamphlet form, we would 

 expect it and want it in the American 

 Bee Journal just the same. In regard 

 to the advertising in the back part of 

 the book, I do not see that that would 

 materially injure our pamphlet, if it 

 was gotten up in a neat and attractive 

 shape. It is necessary for us to save 

 all the expense we can in regard to 

 these things, and yet we do not want 

 to do anything that would be any in- 

 jury or injustice to the pamphlet itself; 

 but there are a great many not here 

 today that would like a pamphlet that 

 belong to this Association, and which 

 might be an encouragement to get 

 others to join the Association later on. 

 Mr. Hershiser — I move that this con- 

 vention request the Board of Directors 

 to print the proceedings of this con- 

 vention in pamphlet form, and to issue 

 a sufficient number to supply each 

 member with a copy, and such addi- 

 tional number as they may think best. 

 Dr. Miller — I second that motion. 

 The motion was carried. 

 Dr. Lee H. Smith, President of the 

 Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, 

 was then introduced to the convention, 

 and gave the following- address of 

 welcome: 



Dr. Smith's Address of Welcome. 



Mr. President, Ladies and Gentle- 

 men: — I trust you will continue to re- 

 member me as plain Smith, not the one 

 who adulterates honey, but the one 

 who is doing all he can for the advance- 

 ment of information and of science in 

 the city of Buffalo. It was with very 

 great pleasure that we received infor- 

 mation from the National Bee-Keepers' 

 Association that they would meet in 



Buffalo, as we desired very much to 

 entertain this organization, and hence 

 we wish to state to j'ou that these 

 rooms are yours during your stay here. 

 We have this meeting room, and also 

 several other rooms in connection 

 therewith, in which your directors and 

 committees may meet, and, of course, 

 anything that we can do to render your 

 stay here agreeable and pleasant we 

 will be very happy to do. 



Nearly 20 years ago the citizens of 

 Buffalo subscribed nearly three quar- 

 ters of a million of dollars for the erec- 

 tion of this building. It was to be the 

 home of the Public Library, of the 

 Academy of Arts, of the Historical 

 Society, and of the Society of Natural 

 Sciences. Since then the Fine Arts 

 have outgrown the limits of the build- 

 ing, and a public-spirited citizen of 

 Buffalo, Mr. Albright, has provided 

 them with a very beautiful building, 

 which you will notice as you enter the 

 Pan-American grounds. This will be 

 the headquarters of the Fine Arts. 

 Their place in this building has been 

 taken by the Public Library, which 

 was formerly supported entirely by 

 private subscription and membership, 

 but within the last ten years it has 

 grown so great that the city has fath- 

 ered it, and now devotes nearly $75,000 

 per year for its maintenance. The 

 ground upon which this building 

 stands was donated by the city. 



Of course, this is simply an idea of 

 what the spirit of the citizens of Buf- 

 falo is in regard to educational and 

 scientific work. Everything is being 

 done by the city that they can to favor 

 and further the work of such organiza- 

 tions as this. The presence of the 

 bee-keepers is simply another step in 

 the interest that is felt in this city in 

 the subject of bees. Nearly ten years 

 ago one of our most lovely members, 

 the Hon. David F. Day, a man of great 

 learning and of ability, a botanist, 

 perhaps without equal in the United 

 States and in the world, suggested 

 that it would be a very interesting and 

 valuable thing if the subject of the 

 honey-bee could be brought more 

 nearly to the understanding of the pub- 

 lic. The matter was canvassed by the 

 board of directors of the Society of 

 Natural Sciences, and it was thought 

 that possibly the general public was 

 too busy with other affairs, and had 

 lost interest in such matters, and that 

 it would, be better to begin with the 

 young. After considerable considera- 

 tion, the question of giving an exhibi- 

 tion, in these rooms, of the- honey-bee, 

 to the children of the advanced grades 

 in the public schools was taken up. 

 The Society made the offer to the Su- 

 perintendent of Education, and to the 

 Board of Education, and it was very 

 agreeable to them. 



We had long known Mr. Sleeper, 

 who was familiar with the bee from A 

 to Z. I entered into correspondence 

 with him, suggesting that he bring 

 here some bees and give a public dem- 

 onstration to these children of the dif- 

 ferent classes, answer questions, and 

 give them an idea of the interest, the 

 usefulness and the wonderful instinct 

 of the honey-bee. Mr. Sleeper very 

 kindly accepted this invitation, and 

 came on here in winter and these 

 rooms were thronged with the pupils 

 of the public schools in the 8th and '>th 

 grades, with special classes from the 

 high school, and with classes from the 



various private schools. At that time 

 we had in the city also a school of ped- 

 ^go^y in which advanced teachers 

 were given courses. This school also 

 came down here and went over the ex- 

 hibit very carefully. The result was a 

 profound success of the enterprise. I 

 don't think that any departure made 

 by the Society of Natural Sciences' 

 brought it more valuable returns in 

 the way of interest of the public in its 

 work. We extended that system of 

 teaching to other departments. We 

 sent, for instance, collections of Indian 

 relics, of animals, of birds. We have 

 classes here from the schools that meet 

 to study birds. But it began with the 

 honey-bee. It was a case where the 

 sting of the bee opened the ball, and 

 our department in this line is the most 

 successful of the branches of the So- 

 ciety of Natural Sciences. 



Mr. Sleeper, I may say, almost made 

 himself a martyr to this cause of 

 science, in that one of the very coldest 

 days he was due here to lecture at the 

 rooms, and in getting his bees to the 

 station and in getting them in here he 

 was taken with pneumonia, and lay at 

 death's door for some time. It was a 

 matter of very serious sorrow to us all, 

 and we had then to call upon Mr. Her- 

 shiser, who very kindly offered to con- 

 tinue the course of lectures, owing to 

 the illness of Mr. Sleeper. This de- 

 partment will steadily be continued. 



You see, therefore, that we owe a 

 great debt to the bee-keepers, and in 

 inviting you among us, and being able 

 to offer you some little entertainment 

 — a place to meet, or some few little 

 things — we can. in some measure, give 

 you an idea of the debt of gratitude we 

 owe to the bee-keepers. I have also 

 given you a little suggestion of what 

 is being done here in regard to the 

 study of the honey-bee. of what great 

 interest the study of this subject is to 

 the general public, and I hope to see 

 the time when every school shall have 

 in its course a study of the honey-bee, 

 with a practical demonstration. It is a 

 wonderful creature and the subject is 

 fraught with the greatest scientific in- 

 terest in all its departments. 



The diseases of the honey-bee are 

 something that every scientist views 

 with the greatest interest, and you 

 gentlemen with practical knowledge 

 of those subjects can do so much to 

 advance the scientific inquiry in regard 

 to the diseases that are common to the 

 lower orders of insect life. Of course, 

 the same general line of diseases that 

 kill the honey-bee kill many of the in- 

 sects that are destructive to vegetation, 

 and a whole world of inquirv is opened 

 up by the study of this one little insect 

 whose cunning- is so marvellous. 



I wish to thank you most kindly for 

 your attention, and again I wish to 

 welcome you most heartily to our 

 rooms. 



(Continued next week.) 



Kequeening Kvery Year is couimg 

 more in favor all the time with Adrian Getaz 

 (Bee-Keepers' Review), although bee-keepers 

 quite commonly prefer to leave to the bees 

 the task of requeeuing. With young queens 

 he has fewer drones and less swarming. But 

 some will object that annual requeening 

 gives less chance tor thorough establishment 

 of a reputation tor queens to breed from. 



