February, ipn. 



American l^ee JonrnaT | 



Convention ^ Proceedings 



The Michigan State Convention 



The -ISth annual convention of the 

 Michigan Bee-Keepers' Association was 

 held in Grand Rapids, Nov. 9-10, 1910. 



Were you there ? Well, wasn't it 

 one of "the conventions ?" Not a dull 

 minute during the whole session. And 

 then look at the attendance — nearly 100 

 live bee-keepers present, and among 

 them some of the " big guns," too. 

 Missed it if you weren't there. 



The first session began at 1 A'j p.m., 

 with Pres. Aspinwall in the chair. The 

 meeting was opened with prayer, and 

 "America" sung by all present. 



A committee on resolutions was 

 appointed, after which the Secretary 

 gave his financial report, and also a 

 verbal report of the work done the 

 past year; 121 members being reported 

 in good standing, located in 14 States. 



Dr. E. F. Phillips, of Washington, D. 

 C, gave an interesting and instructive 

 address on the question of Foul Brood, 

 and what Uncle Sam is doing to help 

 bee-keepers. He reported American 

 foul brood in 3.5 counties of Lower 

 Michigan, and European foul brood in 

 8. The Department at Washington has 

 nearly 4000 names of Michigan bee- 

 keepers. These names have all been 

 compiled during the past year. The 

 census taken 18 years ago gave 18,000 

 bee-keepers in the State. Dr. Phillips 

 estimated that there are 9000 bee-keep- 

 ers in the State whose bees need in- 

 spection ; and that 'o percent of all the 

 bees in Michigan are in reach of foul 

 brood. These figures, while startling, 

 are important in showing the true con- 

 dition of the disease. The Secretary 

 was instructed to prosecute a campaign 

 along the lines suggested bv Dr. 

 Phillips. 



An advisory committee of three was 

 appointed to work and advise with 

 Hon. Geo. E. Hilton, who is to repre- 

 sent us before the next Legislature. 

 This committee is J. E. Morse, E. D. 

 Townsend, and E. M. Hunt. Prof. R. 

 H. Pettitt, of the Michigan Agricultural 

 College, and Hon. Geo. E. Hilton, were 

 made ex-officio members of the com- 

 mittee. 



Hon. Colon C. Little, State Dairy 

 and Food Inspector, was present and 

 added some valuable suggestions re- 

 garding the work of inspection of bees. 

 The election of officers resulted as 

 follows: President, E. D. Townsend, 

 of Remus ; Vice-President, L. A. Aspin- 

 wall, of Jackson; and Secretary-Treas- 

 urer, E. B. Tyrrell, of Detroit. 



The evening session began at 7:1.5 

 o'clock. H. C. Ahlers, of Wisconsin, 

 gave a very interesting address on "A 

 Mail Order Honey Trade." This was 

 followed by an interesting address on 

 " Uniform Sections and Shipping- 

 Cases," by Hon. Geo. E. Hilton. Both 

 addresses brought out lively discus- 

 sions. 



By request, George W. York gave 

 part of his Annual Address as Presi- 

 dent of the "National," which he de- 



livered at Albany. This brought out 

 the following motion, which was 

 adopted : 



"Moved and seconded that it be the 

 sense of this Association, and that we 

 recommend other State Associations 

 to become a Division or State Branch 

 of the National Association as soon as 

 the necessary plans be perfected." 



The Thursday morning session be- 

 gan at 9 a.m., with the report of the 

 judges on exhibits as follows: 



Best 10 Sections of Comb Honey— ist. Oscar 

 Smith; 2d, A. Coppin. of Illinois; 3d. W. E. 

 Forbes 



Best 10 Jars of Extracted Honey— ist. H. 

 A. Rushton; 2d. S Coulthard; 3d. Frank 

 Rasmussen. 



Best 3 Sections of White Comb Honey— ist 

 C. S. Foote; 2d. Oscar Smith; 3d. Wesley 

 Noegrle. 



Cleanest Sample of 10 Pounds of Beeswax 

 —ist. S. Coulthard; 2d. Frank Rasmussen; 

 3d. H. A. Rushton. 



Sweepstakes— H. A. Rushton. 



Judges— E. D Townsend. Mrs. S. Wilber 

 Frey. and George W. York. 



After this report on exhibits, the fol- 

 lowing addresses were given, each 

 bringing out its particular discussion, 

 and all interesting and instructive : 

 " The Aspinwall Hive," by L. A. Aspin- 

 wall ; ""The Pearce Method of Bee- 

 Keeping," by J. A. Pearce; "The Un- 

 capping Machine," by E. D. Townsend ; 

 "Developing a Home Market," by W. 

 S. Frazeur, Sr. Jenner E. Morse also 

 added to the last subject. 



The members were asked what 

 smoker they use, 'and why, and what 

 uncapping-knife they use, and why. 

 The discussion this brought out would 

 have been interesting to manufacturers. 

 Several uncapping-knives were exhib- 

 ited, some of them rather aged. 



Saginaw was selected as the next 

 place of meeting. Invitations were 

 presented from Saginaw and Detroit. 



A number of resolutions were adopt- 

 ed, thanking various persons and insti- 

 tutions for their assistance in making 

 the convention the splendid success 

 that it was. The members appeared to 

 be well pleased with the interest the 

 United States Government is taking in 

 bee-culture, and the assistance it is 

 giving in the fight against foul brood. 



The convention adjourned at 3 p.m., 

 Thursday, Nov. 10th. 



Detroit, Mich. E. B. Tyrrell, Sec. 



enrollment of 95 bee-keepers as mem- 

 bers, 34 of whom joined during the year. 



The Treasurer's report showed a 

 favorable condition of the treasury, 

 with a handsome balance on hand. 



On motion of C. B. Loomis, the Sec- 

 retary was directed to address a com- 

 munication to Collier's Weekly, to re- 

 fute the canard concerning artificial 

 comb honey. 



W. D. Wright as president, S. Daven- 

 port as secretary, and M. A. Kingman 

 as treasurer, were re-elected to their 

 respective offices. Audubon Johnson 

 was elected 1st vice-president, and C. 

 W. Hayes ■2d vice-president. 



S. Davenport and W. D. Wright were 

 elected delegates to the annual conven- 

 tion of the New York State Association 

 of Bee-Keepers' Societies. 



The contents of the question-box 

 were quite limited ; but there was ani- 

 mated discussion of the few questions 

 presented, interspersed with wit and 

 humor to the entertainment of the au- 

 dience. 



In answer to one query, the presi- 

 dent stated that the best time to put 

 bees into the cellar, from his experi- 

 ence, was from Nov. 1st to 10th. 



The question was asked if a larger 

 hive than the 8-frame Langstroth were 

 not more desirable ? This led to a 

 lengthy consideration of the subject of 

 the best hive for practical use, during 

 which the Adams hive of 16 Gallup 

 frames parallel with the entrance, was 

 suggested and described by G. H. Ad- 

 ams. He had used this hive for 25 

 years with the best results, and but lit- 

 tle swarming. The merits of this hive 

 were ably advocated by H. Lansing. 



It seemed to be fully conceded that a 

 larger hive than the 8-frame Langstroth 

 is more desirable. 



It was decided that the next semi- 

 annual convention be held in Albany 

 in the spring. 



There had been repeated disappoint- 

 ment in the elTorts to secure addresses 

 or papers on specific subjects for this 

 occasion, and much anxiety was felt 

 for the success of the convention ; but 

 it proved to be one of the most enjoy- 

 able conventions in which the associa- 

 tion had ever assembled. 



S. Davenport, Sec. 



The Eastern New York Convention 



The third annual convention of the 

 Eastern New York Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation was held Dec. 8, 1910, at Albany. 

 President W. D. Wright occupied the 

 chair. 



Owing to the recent National con- 

 vention at Albany, the attendance was 

 not as large as otherwise would be ex- 

 pected. Many who are usually present, 

 and who attended the National conven- 

 tion, were absent at this time. And yet 

 there was a larger attendance than at 

 the last annual convention. 



The Secretary's report showed an 



South Dakota Convention 



The South Dakota Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation met at Soux Falls Jan. 27, 

 1911. While the meeting was not 

 largely attended, nevertheless it was 

 very interesting to those present. 



Miss Rhoda Carey gave an excellent 

 address on "What I Know About the 

 Bee-Hive and Its Occupants." Mr. W. 

 P. Southworth, of Iowa, furnished a 

 lot of instructive hints on " Disposing 

 of Our Honey Crop to the Best Advan- 

 tage." Pres. Ginsback gave a few points 

 on "Management of Bees to Get the 

 Most Honey." Secretary L. A. Syverud 

 talked on " Foul Brood." Discussions 

 followed the different topics and were 

 entered into with interest by all present. 



The officers for the ensuing year are 

 as follows: President, R. A. Morgan; 

 Vice-President, C. Pabst; Secretary- 

 Treasurer, A. L. Syverud. 



It was decided to hold a field-meet- 

 ing during the forepart of July. 



Geo. F. Webster. 



