DECEMBER 1, 1915 



077 



Apiary of W. van Os, Leerseem, Holland. Mr. van Os is secretary of the Holland As><(iri,itiiiTi of Beekeepers. 



purpose would be realized sooner by giving 

 tbe members an opportunity of bearing at 

 tbese conventions something- of practical 

 value to them than by asking them to listen 

 to the reading of treatises, however learned 

 and thorough, on subjects like those treated 

 this year — the one being more appropriate 

 in a meeting of jurists and legislators, the 

 other being a matter to be submitted to our 

 Agi'icultural Department. Once the convic- 

 tion gained ground with our beekeepers, 

 especially with the " small fry " among 

 them (who are most in want of instruction), 

 that their attending the conventions would 

 lead to their better knowledge of profitable 

 beekeeping, the meetings would surely be 

 better attended, and our practical beemen 

 would not consider having done their duty 

 by delegating one of their district members 

 to these conventions. And as will be shown 

 in following articles, it cannot be said that 

 our beekeepers are not in want of some 

 better ideas about modern beekeeping. 



The association issues a monthly period- 

 ical, usually containing twenty pages of 

 reading matter in small octavo. It contains 

 the official comnnmications of tlie General 

 Board of Direcloi-s and of the district 

 boards, articles by the editor and of (he 

 members, and, occasionally, extract.s from 

 Oleanixcs and other foreign bee-papers. 

 There can be no question that the editor 

 tries his best to give his readers something 

 in good style and form; but he is rather 

 handicapped by the small amount ($800 a 



year) put at his disposal for the paper, the 

 printing, and the gratis distribution of the 

 periodical among the members. Considering 

 his salary of $100 a year, the editor's work 

 cannot be considered otherwise than one of 

 love; and to expect more of him would 

 simply be presumptuous. 



For many years the association has been 

 presided over by G. Baron de Senarclens 

 de Graney, a courteous aristocrat of the old 

 French school, and at the same time an in- 

 fluential man who felt warmly for beekeep- 

 ing and beekeepers. Advanced age and 

 want of time obliged him last year to re- 

 quest not to be re-elected, and, although with 

 great regret, the annual convention had to 

 respect this desire. During his long term 

 of presidency, the association has brought 

 about some very good measures; e. g., a 

 government gi'ant for the appointment and 

 salary of an official to instruct and advise 

 our beekeepers by visiting their apiaries 

 and by holding lectures all over the coun- 

 try. I don't doubt that Mr. van Giersber- 

 gen, who holds this position at present, and 

 who, we beekeepers hope, will be continued 

 in it for many years to come, will often 

 meet with the same distrust our first pro- 

 fessors in agriculture met with on the part 

 of such x)eople as believe practice to be all 

 and science nothing. It is manifest, how- 

 r'ver, that this want of confidence is grad- 

 ually disappearing, and it has often been 

 demonstrated how bis lectures take. 



