690 AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL-. 



terest for most of the readers of the " American Bee Journal," and is not worth> 

 space in its columns. So I will say no more about it. 



My allusion to the sugar-honey discussion in a former article, was not intended 

 or expected to revive interest in the matter. We all supposed the thing to be dead 

 and buried, and its little body nicely tucked around with a blanket of sweet ob- 

 livion. We were all rejoicing that the thing was so early done for, and wondering 

 what in the world it was ever begun for. Let there be for it no resurrection. 



The handsomest apology a man can make for an error of opinion, honestly held, 

 is to abandon it as soon as its character comes to be understood. If anybody tried 

 to extort from Prof. Cook any other kind of apology, Dr. Miller was right in defend- 

 ing him against such humiliation. Leon, Iowa. 



THE NORTH AMERICAI*— SOME SUGGESTIONS. 



BY F. H. KICHARDSON. 



The Quarter Centennial meeting of the North American Bee-Association has 

 been held — the St. Joseph convention is a matter of memory, and the Toronto meet- 

 ing is something to be talked of and discussed. The writer had the pleasure and 

 profit of attending the St. Joseph convention, and while on the whole the time is 

 considered to have been well spent, yet there were things which were to some extent 

 disappointing, and of these I would speak. 



Prominent among the convention features which I would condemn, is the read- 

 ing of lengthy and unprofitable essays to the exclusion of the discussion of practical 

 questions. To illustrate: The writer, at the convention, placed in the question- 

 box two questions, viz : '' What steps can be taken to prevent the bees from sticking" 

 the frames, hive, sections and covers fast with propolis ?" "Would it not be better 

 to divide the North American Bee-Keepers' Association into four general divisions- 

 North, East, South and West divisions — with four divisional meetings per year at 

 diflferent times?" These questions I believe to be intensely practical. The nuisance 

 of glued-up frames, hive, sections and covers, could, I believe, be entirely done 

 away with, with slight cost; and the division of the North American Bee-Keepers' 

 Association I believe to be essential to its continued prosperity. Yet these questions 

 were entirely crowded out by the reading of essays, which, while valuable in them- 

 selves, have their proper place in our bee-papers, and not in our conventions, where, 

 by reason of the peculiar conditions, but few of their valuable points are brought out. 



Take, for instance, the essay of Secretary Frank Benton, which was, I believe, 

 one of the most valuable read, and was really a very enjoyable work ; yet, in view 

 of the fact that it was likely to appear a little later in the " American Bee Journal," 

 I claim it was a waste of time to read it in convention. 



How, then, would you employ the time, did I hear some one say ? Well, first 

 and foremost I would transact all the necessary business of the convention, and 

 employ all other available time in the discussion of such practical questions as 

 might be brought up. 



If I rightly understand the aim and object of the North American Bee-Keepers' 

 Association, it is principally to bring about sociability and an exchange of ideas 

 amongst bee-keepers, by bringing in personal contact at the annual meetings those 

 who otherwise would probably never meet. If the Association has any other impor- 

 tant object, I fail to discover it from a study of the Constitution. Such being the 

 case, it therefore follows that the meetings are the whole life of the Association, 

 and it also follows that the more meetings that are held (within reasonable limits). 



