590 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL., 



PROCEEDINGS 



or THE 



Twenly-Fiftli Annual Meeting 



OF THE 



mm AMERICAN 



BEE-KEEPERS' ASSOGIATIOH. 



BY FRANK BENTON, SEC. 



[Continued from page 530.] 

 The followingr discussion took place 

 after the reading of Mr. Rouse's essay 

 on page 530, entitled, 



Profits in Bee-Keeping. 



Dr. C. C. Miller— I have not sold my 

 crop yet (1% ounces per colony), sol 

 don't know what the profits will be. 



A. I. Root— Since starting for this 

 convention I have heard a great many 

 reports from bee-keepers, and we have 

 had correspondence with many other 

 bee-keepers, but 1 have heard very little 

 said which will lead one to believe that 

 there are very large profits for the bee- 

 keepers in the United States. I remem- 

 ber a supply-dealer in Ohio remarking : 

 "Say, Mr. Root, there's just one ques- 

 tion 1 want you to answer : Do you think 

 bees are ever going to pay one as they 

 used to pay ?" If I am not mistaken, a 

 good many of the friends are asking if 

 bees are going to pay again as they used 

 to pay. Well, before you get discour- 

 aged and join in with the ranks of those 

 who do not think bees are going to pay, 

 let me say a few words to you. There 

 are some people who say that grocery- 

 keeping don't pay, and there have been 

 people who said farming did not pay 50 

 years ago. 1 cannot remember 50 years 

 ago, but I can remember nearly 50. 

 The world has gone on with its ups and 

 downs. If bee-keeping does not pay, 

 what will ? Is it the trouble of the sea- 

 son, altogether, or the bee-keeper ? 

 There is a young man within two miles 

 of our apiary, having 300 or 400 colo- 

 nies. I ran out that way on ray wheel 

 a few weeks ago, and Ernest told me I 

 had better go and see him. We had 

 quite a little talk, and, to my surprise, 

 he had a crop of honey last year, and he 

 said, " I have had a good crop of honey 

 ever since I have kept bees." Now you 

 may say he had a good locality, but he 

 has not— no better than others. We 

 have pretty good basswood and willow. 

 He is not In a very good locality, but he 



has lots of faith in the great God above. 

 My friend Grimm, there, looks happy. 

 The Grimms have always made money, 

 and always got honey, I guess. Now 

 friends, there have been some bad sea- 

 sons. We have been traveling in Mis- 

 souri, and while I have been travelling I 

 have been looking over your State, and 

 I have been sorry not only for the bee- 

 keepers, but for the farmer, and when 

 we feel sorry for the farmers we ought 

 to feel sorry for the grocers, and when 

 we feel sorry for the grocers we have to 

 feel sorry for other people, and so it goes 

 on. Some of the hotel people charge 75 

 cents for breakfast. 1 do not go there, 

 and so I feel sorry for them, too. I feel 

 certain that there are some places in 

 Missouri where they have fair crops, 

 and I have been told in some places that 

 they did not get any honey. Now I wish 

 all of these local things would come out. 

 I do not want to be all the time looking 

 on the dark side, but I want to look on 

 the hopeful side. I know that there are 

 some good times coming even for the 

 bee-keepers. 



Dr. Miller — Mr. Root always, under 

 the pretense of encouraging us, says 

 some discouraging things. There may 

 be a man right by you who has a good 

 crop of honey while you have none. 

 This is as much as saying that you 

 failed because you have not got faith in 

 God. Now, there may be something in 

 that, but I do not think that is the 

 whole cause of the failure. There is a 

 good deal in that, that others are having 

 crops, but it is not true that some of us 

 fail because we have not got faith. I 

 know what I know, if I don't know 

 much, and I do know that I have got 

 faith in God, and this year I have had 

 a bitter failure. It is true that not over 

 20 miles from me I spent a night with 

 a man who had a fair crop. There are 

 those things going on all about us. I 

 do believe this : If we do not know of 

 any reason why we are having these 

 failures, we have the right to expect 

 that, in the course of time, things will 

 come about so that the crop will come to 

 my place, and if it does not come this 

 year, perhaps it will come the next. If 

 it pinches me so hard that I have to do 

 something else to make a living, I will 

 do it. I am not discouraged. I am not 

 working for that. This last year has 

 been the happiest of my whole life. 

 Every year is happier than the one be- 

 fore it, and I am expecting it to keep on 

 as the days come, and I will be happier 

 every year. We may expect the honey 

 crops to come back any time. I expect 

 the crops of honey to come back again. 



