rHE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



197 



M' 



Swarming time is the battle field of bee- 

 keeping. Any thing we can do in previous 

 drill in preparing hives andimpleraentfr that 

 can be handled rapidly at that time is time 

 and money well spent. 



No, friends, I fear that in giving you my 

 rather discouraging experience with many 

 of the much hoped for helps in our work you 

 will feel disappointed. I know that specu- 

 lators of all kinds who are interested in sell- 

 ing these things will not be pleased but I am 

 writing these articles for the benefit of hon- 

 ey producers, and not to boom manufactur- 

 ers and speculators in supplies. I have long 

 believed that " by the sweat of your brow 

 you shall eat bread," was not and is not a 

 curse and that none are so safe as he who 

 earns what he eats. 



FoBESTViLLE, Miuu. May 22, 1895. 



Factors to Be Observed and Methods to Be 

 Followed in Securing Better Organiza- 

 tion Among Bee -Keepers. 



ALLEN PRINGLE. 



AN is a gregarious animal, and "in 

 union there is strength." This is at 

 once the sanction for and the justification of 

 organization. Man is also a selfish animal, 

 as well as social and benevolent, and this is 

 the prime cause of organization. And while 

 it may be more or less humilitating to make 

 the admission it is nevertheless true that 

 most organizations of men are founded in 

 selfishness. There are no doubt purely al- 

 truistic organizations for philanthropic and 

 benevolent purposes, but most combinations 

 of men are egoistic, pure and simple. Men 

 unite for their own personal interests, and 

 in defence of not only their legitimate rights 

 but oftentimes alleged rights which are ille- 

 gitimate. 



It would be well, therefore, for us bee- 

 keepers, in endeavoring to organize, to keep 

 these general facts and principles in view. 

 As a rule in all organizations the greater the 

 personal advantage to the member the 

 stronger the organization. Hence the 

 strength of the monopolies and the com- 

 bines. While these may not be strong, com- 

 paratively speaking, numerically, they are 

 strong financially, and strong in their in- 

 fluence on governments. When an organ- 

 ization passes the bounds of legitimate in- 

 terests and rights and begins to trench upon 

 the interests and rights of those outside, it 



becomes a " combine," so-called, or a mo- 

 nopoly. The apicultural organizations have 

 not yet, so far as I know, reached that ad- 

 vanced stage of civilization ! They will not 

 reach it for some time to come. The mem- 

 bers thereof are too honest for that I The 

 enthusiasm of bee-keeping swallows up a 

 good deal of selfishness in both amateur and 

 professional. Still, there is just enough of 

 the latter left in the average bee-keeper to 

 prompt him to look for a substantial quid 

 pro quo in joining a society of bee-keepers 

 and becoming an active member. This, 

 then, must be the " working hypothesis " in 

 booming successful organization. Of course 

 there are other secondary factors of more or 

 less potency and influence, which may be 

 taken into the account, such as the social 

 element in human nature ; the ambition to 

 excel which is naturally born of a loved and 

 congenial pursuit ; the desire for "place and 

 power," even though the "place" be only 

 that of an officer or member of an apicul- 

 tural society, and the " power " that of legis- 

 lating in the case of the officer, and that of 

 voting in the case of the member, etc. 



Here, then, we have the sure foundations 

 upon which to build in developing methods 

 and devising ways and means to accomplish 

 successful apicultural organization. It may 

 be taken for granted that a large majority 

 of bee-keepers who would become members 

 and workers in an organization must have 

 substantial inducements held out to them 

 and be convinced that the thing will pay 

 them in dollars and cents. That fetches 

 them, and that once realized they stay, and 

 for a reason which is all-potent with them. 

 Of the minority some will join and stay 

 joined from some of the other motives given 

 above and others from other motives. 



The matter then being settled that these 

 are the inducements which nius' be held out 

 in order to succeed, the practical question 

 thereupon arises how can they be offered — 

 how can the end be attained ? 



In the discussion of this question of api- 

 cultural organization it may be assumed that 

 it is this country and that that are concerned 

 — the United States and Canada. While the 

 cognomen International Society would in 

 truth include more than the two countries, 

 in fact it has not done so. Over there in the 

 U. S. you have, I believe, county societies. 

 State societies, and a national (the Interna- 

 tional) society ; here in Canada we have 

 county societies. Provincial, but no Domin- 



