April, 1916. 



*^_rVi.--4 



American Hee Journal i 



Mr. G. C. Spencer, .of Vergennes, is 

 president, and J. 1*2. Crane, of Middle- 

 bury, secretary and treasurer. The 

 membership of 40 is but a small pro- 

 portion of the honey producers of the 

 State. Mr. J. E. Crane tells me that in 

 Addison county alone there are over 

 3000 colonies of bees. 



If Vermont has more bees and pro- 

 duces more honey than the rest of New 

 England, Massachusetts produces 

 more beekeepers' societies. There are 

 six associations flourishing in the old 

 Bay State. The oldest of these is the 

 Worcester County Beekeepers' Asso- 

 ciation, organized April 14, 1900 — the 

 membership then being about 25 bee- 

 keepers—all from Worcester county, 

 in accordance with a by-law in the con- 

 stitution which limited the member- 

 ship to those residing in the county. 

 This has since been changed and 

 amended so that any one anywhere 

 who is interested in bees can become 

 a member. 



In the early days of the association 

 things were "doing" every minute. 

 Meetings were held every month in the 

 year, during the summer at different 

 beekeepers' homes. Sometimes there 

 were as many as 500 present. Also 

 there was the annual banquet supper. 



by the attendance and general spirit of 

 the affairs (to say nothing of strong 

 personal feelings on the subject), .Vo/ 



We go with basket lunches in hand, 

 prepared for pleasure and a real bee- 

 orgy. We meet in some beekeeper's 

 apiary with free opportunity to inspect 

 the owner's pet inventions and contri- 

 vances and talk them over. When the 

 inner man begins to demand satisfac- 

 tion, we sit down on the ground in 

 sociable little groups to eat hard-boiled 

 eggs and ham sandwiches. Usually hot 

 coffee is served, and, sometimes, hot 

 biscuits and honey. 



Then comes the afternoon program 

 with interesting addresses by men of 

 marked ability. We finally return home, 

 hot and tired, yet wholly satisfied. One 

 of the pictures illustrating this article 

 is of the Field Day held by the Eastern 

 Massachusetts Society of Beekeepers 

 at the home of Mrs. Susan M. Howard, 

 of Stoneham, Mass., in July, 1912. The 

 apiary, as may be seen, was surrounded 

 with buckwheat, at that time in full 

 flower and a beautiful sight. The bees 

 were fairly roaring in it all the morn- 

 ing. Mrs. Howard is shown trans- 

 ferring a colony from an old box-hive 

 into a modern movable-frame hive. 



The Eastern Massachusetts Society 



EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS FIELD DAY 



always well attended. The society has 

 held three exhibitions in Horticultural 

 Hall, Worcester, devoted entirely to 

 bees, honey, and all that pertains to 

 bee-culture; claimed to be the only 

 such exhibitions ever held in the 

 United States devoted entirely to this 

 subject and not connected with any 

 other exhibition or fair. This associa- 

 tion was first to record resolutions in 

 favor of the present very important 

 apiary inspector law. They went on 

 record a year ago in favor of an in- 

 crease in the appropriation for inspec- 

 tion made by the legislature. At the 

 present time there are 90 listed mem- 

 bers. President, O. F. Fuller, Black- 

 stone; secretary, and treasury, J. S. 

 Whittemore, Leicester. Meetings are 

 held monthly during the winter with a 

 Field Day in the summer. 



And speaking of Field Days! Would 

 any beekeeper ever miss one if it was 

 humanly possible to get to it ? Judging 



of Beekeepers was originally organized 

 in 1914 as the Massachusetts Apicul- 

 tural Society. In 1906 the society re- 

 formed as the Massachusetts Society 

 of Beekeepers. In 1913, at the request 

 of the State Inspector of apiaries, the 

 name was changed by unanimous vote 

 of the 70 members present to the East- 

 ern Massachusetts Society of Beekeep- 

 ers. There are rumors that the name 

 may be changed once more atthe March 

 meeting. There are over 100 members 

 who hold seven meetings during the 

 winter, with a fine list of speakers. 

 Thos. J. Hawkins, of Everett, is presi- 

 dent, and Benjamin P. Sands, of Brook- 

 line, secretary and treasurer. The aim 

 of the society is to solve the problems 

 presented by the members, which it 

 endeavors faithfully to do. 



The Massachusetts Society of Bee- 

 keepers is an offshoot of the Eastern 

 Massachusetts Society, and was or- 

 ganized May 23, 1914. Frank W. Fris- 



bee, of North Andover, is now presi- 

 dent, and Philip S. Crichton, of Bos- 

 ton, secretary and treasurer. They hold 

 meetings the third Saturday in the 

 month in Ford Hall, Boston. 



If we look at the map we will see 

 that the beekeepers' societies are very 

 well distributed throughout Massachu- 

 setts. Every section of the State, ex- 

 cept the Cape and the very southeastern- 

 most part, has its own representative 

 society. The Eastern Massachusetts 

 takes care of the district for quite a 

 way north, south and west of Boston, 

 the German Beekeepers' Club in the 

 northeastern corner is active, the Wor- 

 cester County Association looks after 

 the wide central strip, the Hampshire, 

 Hampden, Franklin Association, the 

 west central and the Berkshire County 

 Association, all that fine beekeeping 

 country in the extreme western part 

 of the State. So the Massachusetts 

 beekeepers are well looked after, and 

 no one need travel far without finding 

 some organized body of men and 

 women interested in the honeybee. 



Two very prominent apicultural au- 

 thorities. Mr. John L. Byard and Bur- 

 ton N. Gates, Ph.D., of Amherst, are 

 president and secretary respectively of 

 an organization whose official name is 

 the State Beekeepers' Association of 

 Massachusetts, lately formed for the 

 purpose of affiliating the various local 

 societies of the State, its members be- 

 ing delegates from the different State 

 Associations. Its object is not only to 

 bind these societies together but to act 

 as a medium of exchange and coopera- 

 tion among them. 



In Lawrence the German beekeepers 

 have formed into a club, the German 

 Society for the Cultivation of Honey 

 Bees, with Mr. John Uller, of Lawrence, 

 as president, and Mr. Paul Loeffler, of 

 Methuen, secretary and treasurer. A 

 picture of one of their gatherings is 

 printed herewith. 



The Hampshire, Hampden, Franklin 

 Beekeepers' Association, organized in 

 1909, is and has been a thriving society. 

 An annual meeting is held and other 

 meetings periodically at the discretion 

 of the executive committee. The mem- 

 bership has never been large (.56 at 

 present), but it is not inactive by any 

 means, and there has always been a 

 surplus in the treasury. The officers 

 elected at the last annual meeting are: 

 President, O. M. Smith, of Florence; 

 secretary and treasurer. Burton N. 

 Gates, of Amherst. 



The Berkshire County Beekeepers' 

 Association is presided over by Mr. C. 

 M. Musgrove, of Pittsfield. Mr. John 

 Buckler, also of Pittsfield, is secretary 

 and treasurer. 



There is one small organization in 

 Maine, the Aroostook Beekeepers' As- 

 sociation, of which C. I. Spaulding, of 

 Perham. is president, and O. B. Griffin, 

 of Caribou, secretary. As yet there is 

 no State wide organization in Maine. 



In Connecticut there seems to be a 

 very wide-awake spirit among the bee- 

 keepers, and their society accordingly 

 is very active. The present member- 

 ship of the Connecticut Beekeepers' 

 Association is 155, and growing. Sher- 

 man E. Bunnell, of Winsted, is presi- 

 dent, and L. Wayne Adams, of Hart- 

 ford, secretary and treasurer. Through 

 the efforts of this body one of the best 

 foulbrood laws in the United States, 



