1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



525 



Convention Notices. 



.)//•. Boot:— In the notice sent to Gleanings, and 

 published in the March 15th and April 1st issues, the 

 date for the meeting of the Central Tennessee bee- 

 keepers' Association was given as April 25, when it 

 should have been March. The meeting took place on 

 March 28. and I am enclosing a report of same. 



The Central Tennessee Bee-keepers' Association 

 met at the rooms of the Nashville Board of Trade on 

 March 28, with about twent.v members present. 



Mr. J. M. Davis read a paper entitled "The Advan- 

 tages of Associations;" Dr. J. L. Butterworth gave a 

 description and demonstration of the Danzenbaker 

 hive, and the following subjects were presented in an 

 interesting manner: 'Moving Bee," by Mr. G. N. 

 McKannon; "Transferring," by Mr. Leslie Martin; 

 "Comb Honey," by J. M. Buchanan. 



The old officers were unanimously elected for anoth- 

 er year — J. M. Davis, Spring Hill, President; W. M. 

 Joseph, Nashville, Vice-president; J. M, Buchanan, 

 Franklin, Secretary. 



It was decided that this Association join the Nation- 

 al Bee-keepers' Association in a body. 



The date for the regular annual meeting was fixed 

 for the secend Saturday in March of each year, after 

 which the association adjourned to meet August 8. at 

 10 a.m. J. M. Buchanan, Sec. 



Franklin, Tenn. 



WHAT SHALL BE DONE AT THE NEXT NATIONAL CON- 

 VENTION? 



We have laid the foundations for the next National 

 convention. We have selected the city (Detroit) in 

 which it is to be held, secured the Wayne Sun Parlor 

 for holding the meeting, and decided on the dates — 

 Oct. 13. 14, 15. We know where and when the conven- 

 tion is to be held, and can begin to lay our plans 

 accordingly. 



The next step is the arrangement of a program. Of 

 course, the burden of this work will fall upon the sec- 

 retary; but he can be greatly assisted, and the con- 

 vention made vastly better by the help, hints, and 

 suggestions of the members It is with this end in 

 view that I am going to outline briefly what I have in 

 my own mind; then, as is the case at a convention 

 when a motion is made, we shall have something " to 

 talk to." 



I would suggest that the first session he held in the 

 evening, and wholly devoted to a discussion of dis- 

 eases of bees. I have made application to the author- 

 ities at Washington to send a scientist to the meet- 

 ing, probably Professor White, who can take up the 

 matter from a scientific standpoint, show how these 

 diseases are studied by the use of cultures and illus- 

 trate the matter with a stereopticon if possible. 

 Then have some one of the inspectors tell how a prac- 

 tical bee-keeper can detect foul brood. He, too. 

 might use stereopticon pictures in giving his de- 

 scription, Ernest R. Root has promised to furnish 

 the stereopticon, if one is desired. Next, let another 

 inspector give the best methods of treating diseases. 

 Then wind up the evening by a general discussion of 

 the subject. 



Another feature that has been suggested- to me is 

 that of having at least one debate during each of the 

 day sessions. I believe this is something that has 

 never been attempted at any of the meetings of the 

 National. Suppose, for instance, we take up the size 

 of hives. Let us say: "i?<',90^i'f(/. That a twelve-frame 

 Langstroth hive-body is more desirable, in the pro- 

 duction of extracted honey, than an eight-frame hive- 

 body." Get some experienced, competent man to 

 take the affirmative, and some other equally good 

 man, who believes in the eight-frame hive, to take the 

 negative. Let these men be chosen early in the sea- 

 son, secure their consent thus to enter the arena then 

 they can have months to prepare for the contest, and 

 we common folks can sit back and enjoy the " feast of 

 reason and the flow of soul." 



As a rule, I think that most of our conventions are 

 held down too closely to the steady grind of hard dis- 

 cussion, session after session, from beginning to end 

 of the meeting. I think at least one evening session 

 might be very profitably and pleasantly devoted to 

 something in a lighter vein. I suppose that a ban- 

 quet followed by responses to toasts would be in this 

 line, but there are objections. First is the cost, 

 which would not be less than $1.00 a plate. This is 

 not really serious, although there might be some dif- 

 ficulty in determining in advance how many would 

 participate, so that preparations might be made on a 



sufficient scale. I may be old-fashioned ; but the real 

 objection, in my mind is the late hour at which we 

 would be compelled to begin our responses. The reg- 

 ular supper would have to be out of the way before 

 the dining-room could be used for spreading the ban- 

 quet, which would require some little time. If we 

 finished our feast at half-past nine we should be for- 

 tunate indeed, and it is likely that midnight would 

 still find most of us out of our beds. To persons ac- 

 customed to late hours this would mean nothing; but 

 most of us bee-keepers are plain country folks, accus- 

 tomed to early hours ; and to be up half the night 

 means extreme dullness — possibly a headache the 

 next day. To attend a convention at some distance 

 from home is more or less of a strain at best, and 

 every precaution ought to be taken to see that the 

 members feel just as well and as bright as they possi- 

 bly can, otherwise there is but little enjoyment. My 

 idea is that we cut out the banquet part— the feast at 

 nine or ten o'clock at night. Just take our usual sup- 

 per at the usual time, then meet at the usual time, 

 7 : 30, or whatever time we think best, and begin at 

 once the responses to toasts or sentiments, finishing 

 up at nine or ten o'clock, then the next day we shall 

 feel as well as ever, ready for business and discus- 

 sions, and able to enjoy ourselves. I would suggest 

 that eight or ten of our best speakers be chosen, and 

 appropriate topics be selected for each, early in the 

 season, so that there may be plenty of time for prep- 

 aration and thought. I would announce the topics in 

 advance, also the list of speakers; but I think I would 

 leave it a secret as to which speaker any given topic 

 would be assigned, until the announcement is made by 

 the toastmaster. I think the speeches ought not to 

 exceed ten or fifteen minutes. The right man can say 

 a lot of good things in fifteen minutes. 



Another feature, for which I shall put forth my best 

 efforts, is to secure the greatest possible attendance 

 of bee-keepers' wives. It may be just a little out of 

 the line of bee keeping, but I hope I may be pardoned 

 for saying that, naturally, business takes men out 

 into the world. A man fcas the incalculable advan- 

 tage of a great variety of experiences and freshness of 

 view. He is continually coming in contact with new 

 people, new things, and being molded by a vast num- 

 ber of forces which never touch the wife in the quiet 

 home. I believe most women feel this terrib'e de- 

 pression of the monotony of their lives, the lack of 

 that stimulus which comes to man from constant 

 change. Let us begin now to plan for the making of 

 a big break in that monotony next October. There is 

 a saying that good works and charity ought to begin 

 at home, so I have secured a promise from Mrs, 

 Hutchinson that she will accompany me to the con- 

 vention next October. Then I secured a similar prom- 

 ise from my brother's wife. Then I wrote to a few 

 near acquaintances, such as Manager Prance, Presi- 

 dent Hilton, Ex-president Aspinwall, and asked them 

 if they would bring their wives, and all replied that 

 they would do so. My friend Muth, of Cincinnati, 

 also writes me that he will bring Mrs. Muth. 



I think I would have at least one good essay each 

 session, then the debate, as already mentioned, and 

 finish up with the question-box, which I hope will be 

 contributed to from all over the country by those who 

 are so unfortunate as to be unable to attend. 



One other little point : As every thing promises to 

 be on a larger scale than usual, I have already made 

 arrangements for the use of a camera that will take a 

 picture 14 x 17 inches, and I hope to make a group pic- 

 ture that every member will be proud to hang upon 

 the walls of his home. I shall see to it that each per- 

 son in the group has a number upon the lapel of the 

 coat ; and a printed list giving numbers, names, and 

 addresses, will accompany each picture, then all can 

 see who is who. 



What I have written gives simply a glimpse of the 

 program in embryo. Nothing is definitely settled. I 

 shall do my utmost to make the convention one of the 

 most enjoyable, the best and most really helpful, that 

 the Association has ever held ; and I earnestly re- 

 quest every one who has any interest whatever in the 

 matter to write me a letter full of advice and sugges- 

 tions. Tell the subjects you would like to have dis- 

 cussed, and the persons you would like to have dis- 

 cuss them. Suggest topics for responses to toasts or 

 sentiments, and the men you would desire to hear re- 

 spond. Tell me what subjects you would like to hear 

 debated, and the men you would like to hear do the 

 arguing. If I have suggested something that does 

 not please you, let me know, giving reasons why. 

 Take hold right now, and do your share in making the 

 coming convention a grand success. 



W. Z. HUTCHINSON, Sec. N. B..K. A. 



