10 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Jan. 2, 



by himself — first, Latin, then Greek, and finally "flopping" 

 clear over to the classical course, after catching up with the 

 others, though still without hope of doing more than finish- 

 ing the high school. He has vivid recollections of carrying 

 around his Greeic books one vacation, no matter what he was 

 doing, and snatching a moment here and there for study. 

 From that time to this, the so-called "dead " languages (with 

 others) have been a perpetual joy, Inspiration, and comfort to 

 him. Imagine his rapture, when, after graduation, wealthy 

 friends offered the loan of funds for a college education. 



At college (Yale) his forte continued to be languages. In 

 his junior year, he won the first Winthrop prize of §200, 

 given to that member of the class who displayed the best ac- 

 quaintance with the Greek and Latin poets in a competitive 

 examination. 



Mr. Thompson graduated in 1888. His habit of mind is 

 such as to regard every year as lost in which one does not 

 make sensible progress in mental altitude (not mere knowl- 

 edge) as a result of one's own efforts, as distinguished from 

 the chance influence which circumstances may or may not 

 have, which, if they do, is quite as apt to be stupefying as 

 otherwise ; in other words, to keep up life-work as well as 

 livelihood-work, giving the preference to the former when 

 possible. 



Hence, after over a year of teaching in a private school in 

 Philadelphia, finding that occupation, as at present pursued, 

 too mechanical and exclusive for his bent, he cast about for 

 something in which one could grow. In spite of his early ex- 

 periences, it seemed to him that a country occupation, if kept 

 within due bounds, was most favorable to mental freedom. He 

 got an armful of books on rural specialties, at one of those 

 second-hand book-stores in Philadelphia — among them the 

 works of Quinby and Langstroth — and was not long in deciding 

 that bee-keeping was the most rational of them all. 



He did not get into it immediately, however, as he should 

 have done, but wasted some time in general farming, losing, 

 of course, by the operation. His first purchase of 20 colonies, 

 in 1892, developed foul brood in nearly all, the first thing, 

 and he gained experience rapidly. Since then he has been 

 enabled to devote his whole time to bee-keeping by running 

 bees on shares, and believes it to be an ideal occupation, and a 

 foretaste, in the nineteenth century, of what the coming man 

 will enjoy in any occupation in the twenty-fifth or thirtieth — 

 the golden mean of occupation and leisure, exercise and study, 

 fruition and anticipation, and especially because it provides 

 regular breathing-places (winters) in which to promote cul- 

 ture; for, as a recent critic has said, "Civilization means pre- 

 cisely the possibility of individual rights and individual culture. 

 The history of culture is the vastly significant thing at the heart 

 of all history." 



In conclusion, I may say that Mr. Thompson is no stranger 

 to the readers of bee-literature. He has written quite a good 

 many interesting articles for the American Bee Journal, and 

 is at present the translator of foreign apicultural periodicals 

 for the Bee-Keepers' Review. On page 1 of this number of 

 the Bee Journal is published a recent production of his pen. 

 No doubt in the future we shall all hear more frequently from 

 him, as his apiarian experience shall increase, and the bee- 

 business grows upon him. The Editob. 



Earn Your O^vn Subscription.— Any present 

 subscriber can earn his or her own subscription to the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal for one year by sending three, new subscribers, 

 with $3.00. A copy of " Bees and Honey " will also be mailed 

 to each new subscriber, and the Bee Journal will be sent to 

 the new readers from the time the order is received up to the 

 end of 1896. This is an easy way to earn your own subscrip- 

 tion and at the same time help to circulate the Bee Journal. 

 Remember, getting 3 new subscribers pays for your own sub- 

 scription for 1 year ! Of course, no other premium, will be 

 sent in addition. This is a straight offer by itself. 



Tlie Alsike Clover Leaflet consists of 2 pages. 

 with illustrations, showing the value of Alsike clover, and 

 telling how to grow it. This Leaflet is just the thing to hand 

 to every farmer in your neighborhood. Send to the Bee Jour- 

 nal office for a quantity of them, and see that they are dis- 

 tributed where they will do the most good. Prices, postpaid, 

 are as follows : 50 for 25 cents ; 100 for 40 cents ; or 200 

 for 70 cents. 



♦-.-► 



The Report of the Illinois State Convention. 



The annual convention was held at the State House in 

 Springfield, Nov. 19 and 20, 1895. 



The President being absent in the morning, the meeting 

 was called to order by Vice-President S. N. Black, after which 

 Rev. A. P. Cobb, of the Christian church, offered the following 

 prayer : 



Almighty God, our Heavenly Father : We give Thee 

 thanks that Thy providence has been over our beloved land, 

 and upon this Association, during the year that is now closing. 

 We thank Thee that while there have been floods, and storms, 

 and drouths, which have brought suffering and loss, there has 

 been no calamity .so general or extreme, as to make us lose our 

 faith in Thy goodness, or cause us to feel that Thou hast for- 

 gotten us. Our blessings still infinitely outnumber our calami- 

 ties ; and Thou dost still love us and care for us. 



We thank Thee that Thou hast so created and endowed 

 us that we can take delight in studying the works of Thy 

 hand. Thou has not only made all things beautiful in their 

 season, clothing the flower of the field with grace and fra- 

 grance, but Thou hast given to each object of Thy creative 

 power, an adaptation to the purpose for which Thou didst 

 intend it. We thank Thee that in Thy sight there are no 

 gradations into greater and less, but that with Thee great- 

 ness lies in each of Thy creatures faithfully fulfilling its mis- 

 sion in creation. We are glad that in this world which Thou 

 hast fashioned, there is a place for the wren, the violet, and 

 the bee, as certainly as for the eagle and the rose, and we be- 

 lieve that the bee, winging its humble flight from flower to 

 flower, as certainly fulfils its divine mission as does the eagle 

 soaring aloft in mid-sky. 



We rejoice that Thou hast filled human hearts with a de- 

 sire to study Thy handiwork as exhibited in the bee rifling the 

 flower of its sweets, and, by Thine own alchemy, transmut- 

 ing its hidden treasures into nectar and ambrosia. We recall 

 with gratitude that the blind Huber, and many of the purest 

 and best men and women, have found delight in the study of 

 this marvelous insect — the type of industry, of sagacity, and 

 of patient adaptation of means to ends in overcoming obsta- 

 cles. As the wise man of old pointed to the ant as a warning 

 against sloth, so these have seen, in the bee, instructions for 

 the wisest. We are glad that their labors have made exis- 

 tence more pleasurable to the bee ; while its benefactors have 

 reaped a rich reward for the labor of brain and hand, not only 

 in material compensation, but in the inspiring thought that 

 this humble creature is the friend of man, and co-worker with 

 him in the laboratory of Nature, wherein earth and sea and 

 sky are made to minister to many-sided life. 



May each member of this Association be imbued with a 

 sense of the dignity and utility of his work, as he patiently 

 studies this portion of Thy providence, and thinks Thy 

 thoughts after Thee ; for Thy thoughts are as surely revealed 

 in and by this tiny insect, as in and by the countless stars that 

 roll in their splendid beauty, through the silent cycles of the 

 Universe. 



Let thy blessing rest upon all the deliberations of this 

 Association, and upon all their coming year's work. Guide us 

 all through life with Thine infinite wisdom. Give us an in- 

 creasing understanding of the works of Tby hand, as well as 

 of Thy grace. And when our mission on earth is ended, take 

 us to Thyself in Heaven, where we may still learn of Thee, 

 until we come to know as we are known ; we humbly ask, 

 though Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. 



It is true that hives gather no honey, but in so far as 

 they effect the objects which have engaged our attention, they 

 are the cause of much being gathered. — Prof. Cheshibb. 



A welcome address was then given by Col. Chas. F. Mills, 

 of Springfield, as follows : 



Mr. President, and Members of the Illinois State Bee-Keepers' 

 Association : 

 It is a great pleasure to meet the bee-keepers of the State 

 again, and I trust that your annual meeting may result in 

 great good to the important interests you so ably represent. 

 It has been my good fortune to meet with you In several of 



