Nov. 8, 1900. 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



709 





Convention Proceedings. 



Report of the Proceeding's of the 31st Annual 



Convention of the National Bee-Keepers' 



Association, held at Chicag-o, 111., 



Aug'. 28, 29 and 30, 1900. 



BY DR. A. B. MASON, SEC. 



(Continued from pajfe6'M.) 

 A. V. Bishop — I came here this afternoon to attend 

 your exercises and to hear the discussion from my friend 

 and colleague, Mr. Burnett, on the trials of commission 

 merchants. I am also in that class of business myself, and 

 I was thinking as he spoke about ignorance, that there is 

 another sister who always goes along with Ignorance, and 

 that is Superstition ; in this case it may be Suspicion. We 

 stand in a place where we are suspicioned by our shippers, 

 and they expect we are going to be like the firm down in 

 Buffalo some years ago, which consisted of I. Catchem and 

 U. Cheatem. But allow me to say in this presence that 

 commission merchants are, as a rule, good men, very much 

 like yourselves, that we do have a conscience, and that 

 we do purpose to do about the fair thing, or else we would 

 not do anything a great while. Mr. Burnett referred to a 

 shipper of 1876. I have had shippers who started over 30 

 years ago, and they are alive now, and they are not afraid 

 to ship some more. The trials of the commission mer- 

 chant lie along the way of the fact that the shippers do not 

 understand what the commission merchant has to do. We 

 want to take a case of honey, for instance, and present to 

 our patrons. He says, " Is that honey all right?" I say, 

 " Yes, sir, the man that shipt that honey puts as good sec- 

 tions in the front of the case as he does in the back of the 

 case, and just as good in the back of the case as he does in 

 the front of the case." He says, " I will take that if you 

 know that is true." But we open the case of honey and we 

 find in the center some poor sections; then we find in the 

 back, where they don't expect you will ever go, some very 

 poor. That is one of the trials which we have in selling 

 honey ; and it is very desirable that the shipper of honey 

 should treat the commission merchant fairly, that he may 

 stand up and defend his patron, and that he will also sup- 

 ply his customer so he will be satisfied. We stand, as it 

 were, between two fires. We don't want to get burned on 

 your side or on the side of our customer, because we simply 

 serve the interests of both. We desire to do that, and to be 

 treated fairly. If we ship honey to a man, that man ex- 

 pects to get a fair return, and will get a fair return consid- 

 ering the quality. We are supposed to know what the mar- 

 ket demands and the dift'erence between white and black, 

 and the difference between No. 1, 2 and 3, and we get as 

 near to the value as circumstances will permit. We desire 

 to have your confidence ; we desire to build on that basis, 

 because a man stands then as a reciprocal law, and it is the 

 only way to prosper, and we will prosper if we do that. 

 Men ship honey to market and expect the next day to get a 

 return and get full value; that can not always happen. 

 Honey is a luxury, and a very desirable thing. I like to 

 have it on my table every day in the year. I love to smell 

 it because it is very sweet. We want a good quality, and 

 then we can obtain a good price. If it is poor quality you 

 can not expect to get as good return as if it is first quality. 

 The trouble always comes from a man who sends an in- 

 ferior article. If there is a shipper on earth who knows 

 what No. 1 honey is, and puts it up in No. 1 style, he knows 

 very close what he is going to get. A man who ships an 

 inferior article and expects to get a good price is the man 

 who finds fault — he is the one who tays he is treated un- 

 fairly. That is one of the trials we have to meet. I thank 

 you for listening, and I appreciate this presence, and I hope 

 all here will remember that a commission merchant has his 

 trials, and you must help him to obtain the good prices by 

 sending a good article. 



Mr. Hatch — I would like to ask Mr. Bishop what kind 

 of a case he prefers to have honey in, what size and what 

 style, 12-pound, 24-pound, or 48-pound. 



Mr. Bishop — In answer to that I would say a one-story 

 case is preferable to two-stories ; a 12 or 24 section-case is 

 desirable in our markets. I believe the one-story case is 



shipt with less breakage than the two-story case, and when 

 honey is commanding the price it is now, it is better to 

 have a g'ood proportion in small cases. Many times a dealer 

 will buy a small case when he will not buy a large one. I 

 find the small cases hold a lot, and there is less breakage, it 

 is very easily inspected, and, if found to be all right, it sells 

 very readily. 



Mr. Hatch — Does Mr. Burnett agree with that? 



Mr. Burnett— Yes. 



Dr. Mason — Mr. Burnett says the trials of commission 

 men are the result of ignorance— ignorance of whom — com- 

 mission men ? I have found the trials of the commission 

 men have been larg^ely the result of the ignorance of the 

 commission men of the men they are having to deal with. 

 I have made collections in several instances in the name of 

 the Association, from commission men that were not ac- 

 quainted with this Association. As soon as they became 

 acquainted with it they were ready to " pony up " the cash. 

 I am going to report one case. He buys and sells honey, 

 and has been for two years trying not to settle a bill with a 

 member of this Association, and this year we are going to 

 expose him ; it will come out in my report to the Associa- 

 tion. He will not get any more honey from any member of 

 this Association, or anybody we can influence. His name 

 is H. P. Robie, editor, and, I believe, proprietor, of the Suc- 

 cessful Farmer, Sioux Falls, S. D. 



R. L. Taylor— I would like to ask Mr. Burnett and Mr. 

 Bishop what advantage there is in non-drip cases. 



Mr. Burnett — A non-drip case, I think, is quite an ad- 

 vantage, if the inquiry is confined to that case. It is a 

 great injury to a nice shipment of honey to have one case 

 injured and smear a half dozen or more of the others. 

 There is some ignorance about managing those non-drip 

 cases. If the party putting the honey in the non-drip case 

 does not fasten the strips in the bottom of the case so as to 

 keep them in their proper place, they are really a detriment 

 to the honey. The sections get out of place and get dam- 

 aged in that way. When the strips are properly put in their 

 place, and the paper properly arranged, I certainly recom- 

 mend the non-drip case. 



Mr. Bishop — I agree heartily with what has been said, 

 and the cause of the advantage is when these pieces are 

 fastened they hold the drip from the sections and prevent 

 it running out and smearing other cases, unless there is 

 so much breakage as to run over the strips. If there is only 

 a little drip, the lower portions of the sections do not get 

 smeared with the honey, and when they come out they are 

 clean. It is an advantage, decidedly so. 



ELECTION OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 



Pres. Root — If there is nothing further, we have come 

 to the special order of business, the election of officers of 

 the annual meeting, or executive committee. The other 

 officers are elected in the beginning of the year thru the 

 work of Mr. Secor. We will now listen to nominations for 

 president. 



Mr. Kretchmer — I nominate Mr. E. R. Root for president. 



Mr. Abbott — I second the nomination. We have had a 

 most excellent meeting, and a most excellent chairman, 

 and I do not think that we have any disposition to make 

 any change or put anybody else in nomination. The fact 

 that he has been able to get such men as Mr. Burnett on 

 the program by such a shrewd scheme as he has practiced, 

 is an indication to me that he is the very man for the occa- 

 sion ; and this meeting having proven so very successful 

 under his direction, I think it is no more than fair to the 

 Association that we work him a little longer. He won't 

 want to, but he will. He will kick about it and think some- 

 body else ought to have the honor — don't pay any attention 

 to him ; it will all come right in time, and I second the 

 nomination most heartily. 



Secretary Mason — For fear Mr. Root may be a little 

 slow in appointing tellers to count on his side, I am going 

 to take the liberty of appointing tellers. We have no vice- 

 president here, so I suppose I will have to do this work. 



Pres. Root — We have not heard any other nominations 

 yet. 



Dr. Mason — We are not going to have any other. I 

 will appoint Mr. Moore, Mr. York, and Mr. Green as tellers. 

 If there are any other nominations to be made we will lis- 

 ten to them after we have voted. 



Mr. Smith — I move the rules be suspended, and that the 

 secretary be instructed to cast the vote of the Association 

 for Mr. Root for president. 



The motion was seconded and carried, and Dr. Mason 

 cast the vote for Mr. Root for president for 1901. 



