I HE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



191 



spriujj sunshine is not appreciated as it de- 

 serves to be. 



IjAI'eeu, Mich. June 24, ISi)".. 



The North American Devotees Too Much 



Time to a Discussion of Primary and 



Dollar and Cent Questions. 



WM. F. CLAUKK. 



T cheerfully re- 

 1 spend to the 

 editorial request 

 to write an arti- 

 cle for the Re- 

 view o n better 

 organization 

 among bee-keep- 

 ers. It is a sub- 

 ject in regard to 

 which I have 

 been deeply in- 

 terested and 

 tliought much for a quarter of a century. I 

 had sanguine dreams about it " a long time 

 aijo," but they have been sadly disappoint- 

 ed of late years, until I feel about it as the 

 (lermau florist did about the perfect flower 

 he had been trying to produce ; — "I sees it 

 not var' mootch." 



Thj North American was intended from 

 the outset to be a representative body. At 

 the meeting held in Indianapolis, Dec. 4-(>, 

 1872, when I had the honor of being Presi- 

 dent, tlie following resolution was unani- 

 mously adopted : — 



" Jiesolved, That the president of this so- 

 ciety be authorized, in its name and behalf, 

 to address a circular to all the bee-keepers 

 of North America, urging the formation of 

 neighborhood, county. State, territorial and 

 provincial associatious, auxiliary to this so- 

 ciety." A circular was promptly issued in 

 accordance with the foregoing resolution, 

 auJ a strong appeal made to bee-keepers to 

 orgaui/,3 at once and appoint delegates to 

 the next annual meeting which was appoint- 

 ed for Louisville, Ky., the first Wednesday 

 in Dec, 1H7;'.. This and all other efforts in a 

 similar direction, as stated in the June Re- 

 view, have '■ come to naught." The North 

 American never has been and is not now a 

 representative body. 



There are some ludicrous aspects to the 

 present composition and working of the 

 Association. It Is provided that there may 

 be affiliated societies on payment of $'» each. 



Delegates from such affiliated societies are 

 graciously " admitted free," and have all 

 the rights of individual members who have 

 paid a dollar each. [Affiliation was done 

 away with at the last meeting.] — Ed.] At 

 the last annual meeting a "smart Alec," 

 from Canada, representing no one but him- 

 self, captured the Presidency and bagged 

 the entire Association. |At the Chicago 

 meeting there was an understanding that 

 Canada should receive first consideration 

 the next year. — Ed. | It is hardly safe for 

 the Association to cross the Mississippi, it 

 would seem ! It did so once before, and lost 

 Ontario's affiliation by ill-advised action 

 Anxious apparently to atone for this blun- 

 der, last year it allowed 



"A youtli who bore tlirough snow and ice 

 A banner with this strange device 



Excelsior," 



to surround the body and carry it home 

 with him. Representative society indeed ! 

 With such an exploit on the historic record, 

 it is the very antipodes of that. [Had the 

 body been strictly representative, I see no 

 reason why it might not have chosen Toron- 

 to as the place for holding the next meeting 

 and elected Bro. Holtermauu as its Presi- 

 dent.— Ed.] 



The Review takes the grounds that the 

 sending of delegates from county. State and 

 provincial societies is not possible on ac- 

 count of the expense. It then adds, perhaps 

 this would be no obstacle if there were suf- 

 ficient incentive, such as there is, for in- 

 stance, in politics. There ought to be in- 

 centive enough, and would be if the thing 

 were properly managed. But the Associa- 

 tion has never come up to the ideal formed 

 by its originators, who hoped to make it a 

 Supreme Court or High Parliament of bee-' 

 keeping. It has been, for the most part, a 

 mere school for beginners, and there has al- 

 ways Vjeen a strongly marked dislike of 

 thoughtful papers and really able discuss- 

 ions. A good social time, and a gossipy 

 talk over the A B C of bee-keeping has been 

 about all the meetings have amounted to. 

 Consequently, many of our foremost bee- 

 keepers have been once, and did not care to 

 come again. Capt. J. E. Hetherington was 

 at the Cleveland meeting in 1872, and ex- 

 pressed his disappointment to me that the 

 intellectuality of the thing did not reach a 

 higher level. Instead of a select gathering 

 of advanced bee-keepers, who could discuss 

 vexed and knotty questions in apiculture, 

 we have held a sort of " deestric skool " for 



