230 



THE BEE-KEEPERS ic 



ject. One strong, w(^l organized society is 

 worth more than a score of societies which 

 lack cohesive power. Of course there is such 

 a thing as a society being so large that it 

 becomes unwieldy, but in this case it seems 

 to me that there is no occasion to have any 

 fears in that direction. If the North Ameri- 

 can is to continue and become the represen- 

 tative society of bee-keepers on this conti- 

 nent, it must offer something more than the 

 simple opportunity of a few days' social in- 

 tercourse once a year. It must do some- 

 thing ; it must stand for something ; it must 

 offer some inducements to bee-keepers to 

 enroll themselves in its membership, and to 

 continue this membership from year to year. 

 I was very much impressed by a remark 

 made by Dr. Lintuer, and a reply by Mr. 

 Smith at the annual meeting of the Associa- 

 tion of Economic Entomologists, held in 

 Washington last August. They were dis- 

 cussing the advisability of laws prohibiting 

 spraying during the fruit bloom, and Dr. 

 Lintner said, as reported in Insect Life, 

 " That his position hitherto had been that 

 laws ought not to be passed on the subject 

 unless it was amply proved that harm did 

 result to bees ; and even in that event, the 

 relative interests of the bee-keepers and 

 fruit-growers should be carefully weighed 

 since it has been showed by him that many 

 harmful insects also visited the blossoms, 

 and they would stand an equal chance with 

 the bees of being poisoned by the arsenical 

 mixtures." 



Mr. Smith said that "the bee-keepers 

 would always have an advantage when it 

 came to securing legislative action, because, 

 while they represented a comparative small 

 number of individuals, they are well organ- 

 ized, and can secure action wheTe the much 

 larger body of fruit-growers would be pow- 

 erless." 



Here is a hint to bee-keepers in more di- 

 rections than one. It seems that they have 

 the reputation of being well organized (V). 

 Would it not be well to make that reputation 

 a real fact ? I, for one, think that the union 

 of the two societies would be a step in Hiat 

 direction. If a question of " relative inter- 

 ests " comes up, are we now prepared to 

 show up our side of the question by present- 

 ing a united front ? I simply throw out 

 these remarks as food for thought. 



St. Joseph, Mo. 



J uly 2(J, 1895. 



Amalgamation Not Desirable as the Two 

 Societies are of a Different Nature. 



EUGENE 8EOOK. 



EDITOR Review : — I have some hesitancy 

 in recommending a consolidation of the 

 N. A. B.-K. A. and the B.-K. Union. 



It is not clear to me that such a union will 

 prove wise. An increase in the membership 

 of the North American would be desirable 

 from some points of view, and yet, I don't 

 know that numbers alone is necessary to ac- 

 complish all that we can reasonably expect 

 such an organization to bring about. 



More money in the treasury would be a 

 good thing to have when we want a commit- 

 tee to do some work which is intended for 

 the benefit of bee-keepers at large — such for 

 instance, as the work of the gentlemen who 

 appeared before the R. R. Classification 

 committee last winter. They ought not to 

 be obliged to pay their own expenses when 

 working for the common good. And yet I 

 doubt if more could have been accomplished 

 for bee-keepers before that Committee if we 

 had expended $500. 



Some writers have been lamenting the 

 failure of the North American to bring about 

 any good, and I want to cite that one act as 

 proof of ite right to exist. 



Other efforts for the good of apiculture 

 have been made by the society through its 

 executive and other committees which have 

 not been heralded abroad. 



I doubt if more effective work would be 

 done with the aid of the B.-K. Union. The 

 design of the latter, it seems to me, is a lit- 

 tle different. Its line of operations is in an- 

 other direction. As long as we can obtain 

 such able administration as has thus far 

 characterized its management, in the person 

 of Thos. G. Newman, it looks foolish to try 

 to reconstruct it or merge it into another 

 crganizatiou whose aim and object is educa- 

 tional and advisory. 



Forest City. Iowa. July 2.'), 1895. 



A Thorough, Practical Organization of Bee- 

 Keepers Needed for Their Best Interests. 



J. B. case. 



T N this fast age things are done in a few 

 X hours, or days, weeks or months that a 

 few years ago would have required months, 

 years or decades to accomplish. 



