1895 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



845 



Mr. C. was born among the cloud-capped gran- 

 ite hills of old New Hampshire, and he did not 

 propose to turn off one foreigner at the com- 

 mand of other foreigners, and had the indepen- 

 dence to say so. Things looked a little squally 

 for a while, and Hop trembled in his brogans; 

 but Mr. C. stood firmly by his word, and the 

 Chinaman Hop still eats rice with chop-sticks 

 in the little cabin shown in the photo, between 

 the apiary and the residence. 



In an interview with Hop in relation to bee- 

 stings he said, "Him blee heep stling; heep 

 stling Mr. Chandler; heep stling horshes; me 

 nolilkehira; mestlayin tlurn honey-extractor; 

 get heep honey; pleek thro wire windlo; slee 

 Mr. Chandler get stlung; me ha-ha; him slap 

 his hands; him no swear Hike some Melican 

 men. Mr. Chandler heep glood man; me no 

 swear too. Me feel heep comfble in honey- 

 house." 



We camped over Sunday with Mr. Chandler, 

 and found them to be good Salvation Army 

 people. The daughter, holding the position of 

 lieutenant, is earnestly holding out the rescuing 

 hand in the various places to which she is as- 

 signed in Southern California. 



Early Monday forenoon we turned into the 

 San Gabriel Valley, and saw in the distance 

 the snow-capped peaks of the San Bernardino 

 range of mountains. Our ponies here caught 

 some enthusiasm. They evidently knew the 

 landmarks, and put in a good day's travel on 

 the home stretch, and in the early evening of 

 the 11th of December we arrived at the resi- 

 dence of our friend and near neighbor, Mr. 

 Clark, and considered our journey at an end. 



For six months our home had been, in every 

 sense of the word, migratory. New scenes and 

 experiences had been our pleasure from day to 

 day; and even after six months of it we were 

 loth to return to the quiet every-day duties of 

 every-day life. 



When we repaired to our respective bachelor's 

 cabins v/e were for a time oppressed with a 

 sense of dullness. During the many rainy days 

 that followed we fell decidedly more comfort- 

 able under a shingle roof than we did under 

 the dripping tent roof. Then the raindrops 

 brought consoling thoughts of big honey-yields 

 for the coming season. 



No man is born into the world whose work 

 Is not born with him; there is always work, 

 And tools to work withal, for those wlio will; 

 And blessed are the horny hands of toll. 



Our work is to produce honey. Our tools are 

 the busy bees and the hives. In preparing 

 them for the prospective good season, dull- 

 ness soon left our cabins, and the imagined 

 pleasures of producing tons of honey took pos- 

 session of us. 



Though our work did not produce the horny 

 hands, it was blessed with good results, the 

 Account of which will appear later. 



THE NORTH AMERICAN AND THE UNION. 



SHALI, WE HAVE LARGE MEMBEKSHIP AND 



SMALL FEE, OR SMALL MEMBERSHIP AND 



LARGE FEE? WHY WE SHOULD HAVE THE 

 FORMER. 



Bti Dr. C. C. Miller. 



I'm looking for good to result from the action 

 at Toronto with regard to the North American 

 and the Bee-keepers' Union. Rev. W. F. Clarke 

 is right in saying the North American has al- 

 ways been local — at least nearly right — and it 

 always will be mainly a local affair just so long 

 as it is so managed that only those who attend 

 have any inducement to become members. So 

 far the effort has been to secure attendance, not 

 membership. That must be entirely changed 

 if it is ever to be any thing more than a local 

 affair. When comparing the membership of 

 our societies with that of societies across the 

 sea, it has been the custom to say that the great 

 distances in our country preclude the possibili- 

 ty of having a large membership. That's all 

 bosh. A man may be a member without at- 

 tending; and if he doesn't attend, it's just as 

 easy for him to become a member a thousand 

 miles away as a hundred. 



But I confess I don't understand Mr. Clarke 

 when he says the North American has always 

 been a " primary class of bee-keepers." I wish 

 he would explain what he means. Is it the 

 character of the men who have been in attend- 

 ance, or is it the character of the discussions 

 and deliberations that makes him classify it as 

 he does ? If the latter, what change would he 

 recommend to make it " a high court or parlia- 

 ment of bee-keeping " ? 



MEMBERSHIP FEES. 



At Toronto, Mr. Clarke said of the North 

 American, " When we get down so that we have 

 to pay only 25 cts. a year I don't want to belong 

 to it." Why? I think both Mr. Clarke and 

 myself have got down so we don't have to pay 

 even 35 cents a year. Is that any reason we do 

 not want to belong to it? 



Mr. Newman thinks nothing will kill a socie- 

 ty sooner than an insignificant membership fee. 

 A small fee doesn't seem to have killed the 

 many societies in foreign lands. What do we 

 want of a fee larger than sufhcient to pay ex- 

 penses? He says, " The Bee-keepers' Union is 

 respected, not because it has a membership of 

 300 or 400, but because it has a good bank ac- 

 count." Part of that is true. It is respected 

 for its bank account, and that respect is neither 

 increased nor diminished by the fact that the 

 amount in bank came in large or small sums. 

 But the intimation that numbers count for 

 nothing is hardly correct. An organization of 

 1000 receives, as a rule, more consideration than 

 one of 100. Now, suppose the membership is 

 increased from 300 or 400 to 600 or 800, and the 

 membership fee cut in two, leaving the bank ac- 

 count the same, will not the larger membership 



