November, 1908. 



American Hee Journal 



ness and deliberation of the practiced 

 politican, presided over every session. 

 His opening address was an eloquent 

 effort, and closed with a beautiful senti- 



ing picture show the second evening, 

 but also at the first evening session 

 bandied bees in a wire-cloth cage. The 

 object was to show bee-keepers how 



4i $^ ^ 



Exhibit of Chas. Becker, at Illinois State Fair. 



ment in which both the Stars and Stripes 

 and the Union Jack blended most effec- 

 tively. It struck a responsive chord in 

 all hearts, and there was great applause. 



Secretary Hutchinson, as of old, was 

 present, and had with him his usual 

 peaceful and quiet expression of coun- 

 tenance. He had done his best to get 

 up an entertaining program, including 

 apiarian exhibits, and succeeded. 



M. E. DarDy was there also, who, 

 even if he does live in Missouri, doesn't 

 need to "be shown" very much. He is 

 the State inspector of apiaries. 



Mr. and Mrs. R. A. Holecamp were 

 on hand from St. Louis. They also at- 

 tended the San .Antonio convention in 

 1906. "Mama" Holecamp was very popu- 

 lar on that trip, for when the train was 

 some 4 hours late, and many of us were 

 hungry, she very generously distributed 

 the "goodies" from her large lunch-bas- 

 ket. Seems to us some one has aptly 

 said that the way to a man's heart is 

 through his stomach. Perhaps that was 

 one of the ways she captured "R. A." 

 And he won a good cook, too. 



Then there was General Manager N. 

 E. France, with Mrs. France and only 

 daughter, also youngest son, "Lawrence." 

 It will be remembered that at the Harris- 

 burg convention last year, a gold watch 

 was presented to Mr. France ; and, with 

 the extra money, some beautiful solid 

 silver spoons were sent to Mrs. France. 

 To be "watched" while "spooning'' — well, 

 all was deserved and thoroughly appre- 

 ciated by both Mr. and Mrs. France. 



Drs. Phillips, White, and Snodgrass, 

 representing the bee-keeping interests of 

 the U. S. Department of .\griculture, 

 gave splendid addresses. Dr. Phillips 

 also showed many pictures of apiaries 

 in Hawaii, with the aid of the stereopti- 

 con. 



Ernest R. Root, editor of Gleanings in 

 Bee-Culture, not only handled the mov- 



such a demonstration could be used ef- 

 fectively at fairs and elsewhere in crea- 

 ting a larger demand for honey. Mr. 

 Root took off his coat, vest, and collar, 

 rolled up his sleeves, tucked his trousers 

 in his stockings, and then with neither 

 gloves nor veil — simply a bee-smoker — 

 he went. into the cage and lifted the 

 frames of bees from the hive, shook 

 them off into a large tin dishpan, and 

 then shook them again as in a corn-pop- 

 per until they didn't know "where they 

 were at." He took them very gently out 



put them back into the pan. And he 

 didn't receive a single sting. It was an 

 interesting demonstration, especially at 

 night with the electric light. Of course, 

 all the time he was manipulating the 

 bees, he talked. It is certainly a very 

 good way to interest a popular audience, 

 who know practically nothing about bees 

 or bee-keeping. And we imagined it 

 was exceedingly interesting to many of 

 the bee-keepers present. At any rate, 

 no one offered to enter the cage with 

 Mr. Root, although there may have been 

 some in the room who would have en- 

 joyed (?) the bee-cage experience. 



A. G. Woodman Co., of Grand Rapids, 

 representing the G. B. Lewis Co., and 

 M. H. Hunt & Son, of Lansing, with the 

 Root Co.'s bee-supplies, had good dis- 

 plays. Of course, sample copies of the 

 4 bee-papers published in the United 

 States and Canada were free to all. 



Canada was represented by some of 

 her best bee-keepers, among them being, 

 Wm. McEvoy, J. L. Byer, R. F. Holter- 

 mann, H. G. Sibbald, Jas. Armstrong, 

 F. J. Miller, and Editor Jas. J. Hurley, 

 of the Canadian Bee Journal. 



Detroit is a beautiful city, but the 

 hall in which the convention was held, 

 was still under construction, so that the 

 hammering and sawing was most annoy- 

 ing. At times it was utterly impossible 

 to hear the words of any speaker. Of 

 course the night sessions were quiet. 



It seems to us that while there may not 

 be a growing lack of interest in conven- 

 tions, some radical changes are needed 

 somewhere to make them more entertain- 

 ing and profitable to those who attend. It 

 means a good deal to keep up the proper 

 interest in order to make them worth 

 while year after year. Secretary Hutch- 

 inson did well, during the past few 

 months, in arousing interest in the De- 

 troit meeting. Perhaps there was not 

 enough of the question-box. This was 

 most unfortunate, as there were present 



Apiary of A. H. Shelton, of Goodwill. W. Va. 



of the pan in handfuls, "washed his face," 

 and "combed his hair" with them, and 

 then afterward gathered them off his 

 face, hands, and clothing, and carefully 



some of the greatest bee-keepers in the 

 world. No doubt they would have been 

 glad to contribute to the general fund 

 of apiarian information, had ample Op- 



