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AMERICAN BEE lOURNAL 



Nov. 22, 1900. 



i ^ The Weekly Budget. ^ 



The Chicago Convention, as has been said before, 

 was the largest and best national convention ever held in 

 this country. A big feature was the stereopticon views 

 which were thrown on the canvas during each of the three 

 evening sessions. The success of this part of the program 

 was due to Pres. E. R. Root, Mr. W. Z. Hutchinson, and 

 Mr. Huber Root, a younger brother of E. R. Root. 



Referring to this matter in Gleanings in Bee-Culture, 

 Editor Root wrote as follows : 



When I left for Chicago with my stereopticon outfit and 

 slides I had just a little misgiving whether this feature of 

 the meeting would be a success ; but it succeeded beyond my 

 own sanguine expectation — not from anything /^ said, but 

 because of the enlivening speeches descriptive of the sub- 

 jects thrown on the screen from Messrs. Abbott, Mason, 

 York, Baldridge, France, Weber, Benton, and Hutchinson. 

 While the pictures were for the most part good, yet had one 

 speaker held the floor for the evening I fancy the entertain- 

 ment would have been tiresome. As it was, we had the 

 most delightful variety from all the gentlemen named ; and 

 after some of the speeches there was a general cheering 

 and encore. 



Mr. Abbott introduced the poet laureate and general 

 manager of the National Bee-Keepers' Association, Hon. 

 Eugene Secor, whose picture was thrown on the screen. 

 He spoke of the deliglitful poems which had emanated from 

 Mr. Secor's pen ; of the good work he had been able to per- 

 form in the interests of the Association ; and as Mr. Abbott 

 closed his happy speech there was a burst of applause. He 

 likewise introduced, in the same delightful vein. Dr. Mason, 

 Editor York, and E. Whitcomb — as their pictures were suc- 

 cessively thrown on the screen. 



Mr. York introduced Prof. A. J. Cook and Dr. C. C. 

 Miller. Mr. C. H. W. Weber, who had bought out the busi- 

 ness of the late C. F. Muth, spoke feelingly of his acquaint- 

 ance with Mr. Muth. He told how Mr. Muth had been 

 known to have in his warehouse and on his platforms $75,000 

 worth of honey at a time, which he had bought of bee-keep- 

 ers, paying cash for it. 



Dr. Mason, in his usual genial manner, said some verj' 

 pleasant things of W. Z. Hutchinson and of E. T. Abbott. 

 and then when some comic pictures were thrown on the 

 screen illustrative of certain familiar scenes in the apiary, 

 he told how he had been there too. 



R. C. Aikin, of Colorado, president of the Colorado 

 State Bee-Keepers' Association, introduced W. L. Porter, of 

 Denver; also Frank Rauchfuss and J. E. Lyon, prominent 

 bee-keepers of Colorado. 



N. E. France told something about his methods when 

 pictures of his apiaries were thrown on the screen. 



M. M. Baldridge, one who has been, perhaps, connected 

 with bee-keeping longer than most living bee-keepers, told 

 of his early acquaintance with Langstroth when the father 

 of American bee-keeping had just launcht out into the new 

 industry and put out his book, which, for real practical 

 value and literary excellence, has never been excelled. In 

 connection with the full-portrait view of Langstroth there 

 was shown a picture of him as he was walking thru a 

 park in Dayton a year or so before he died ; and finally 

 there was shown in colors the Langstroth monument, where 

 it now stands, and which has been purchast wholly by small 

 sums from grateful bee-keepers of this and other lands. 



Mr. Frank Benton, who is intimately acquainted with 

 Capt. J. E. Hetherington, referred to his having been styled 

 the " prince of American bee-keepers," and very properly 

 so, and the most extensive bee-keeper, probably, in all the 

 world. He dwelt upon his army record, of which any bee- 

 keeper or soldier might well be proud ; explained how his 

 sword had been struck and bent by a bullet that would have 

 pierced the Captain's heart while he was in the thick of the 

 fight directing his men, and a fine target for sharp-shoot- 

 ers, and how he fought for the flag that thrills the heart of 

 every American. At this remark. Old Glory was thrown on 

 the screen in all its beautiful colors. General applause fol- 

 lowed ; for besides the loyal bee-keepers there were many 

 old soldiers who had come to attend the great G. A. R. 

 gathering. 



On the last evening, Thursday night, Mr. Hutchinson, 

 by the aid of the stereopticon, took us on a delightful trip 

 among bee-keepers thru Wisconsin and Michigan. He not 

 only showed the pictures of persons he had met and of the 

 apiaries he had visited, but all the hive-manufacturing es- 

 tablishments where he had visited, including some he had 

 not seen. 



The Chicago Bee-Keepers' Association, which enter- 

 tained us so royally, first arranged for a small hall, but 

 finally at the last minute they found it was necessary to se- 

 cure a hall that would seat comfortably 500 people ; and the 

 wisdom of this change was made apparent the first evening. 

 The Chicago Bee-Keepers' Association not only entertained 

 us handsomely, but paid all bills, and even furnisht a big 

 brass band which came into the convention hall and served 

 us with some delightful music during recess times. 



The great national convention of bee-keepers — the 

 largest conclave that ever met in the Western Hemisphere — 

 will long be remembered. It is doubtful whether there will 

 be another meeting as large until we meet again in that 

 great hot-bed of bee-keepers — Chicago. The Association 

 ought to consider this its home, and should go home at least 

 once in 5 years. 



Surely the members of the Chicago Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation are under obligation to Editor Root for all the kind 

 things he has said about them. 



The brass band mentioned was the Dupage County 

 Band, of Wheaton,Ill., about 25 miles west of Chicago. Mr. 

 John P. Weibler, a well-known employe at the American 

 Bee Journal office, and two of his brothers-in-law, were 

 members of the band. Thus it was possible to secure them 

 at practically their expenses, else it would have been too 

 great a luxury for the convention entertainment fund 

 to bear. 



Mk. H. D. Burrell was not threatened by a lawsuit on 

 account of his bees visiting a neighbor's peach-orchard, as 

 stated on page 676, we are glad to be able to report. It 

 seems that feature of the supposed case was, as usual, the 

 result of the imagination of a newspaper reporter. Here is 

 what Mr. Burrell himself writes us about it : 



In regard to the Chicago Record " special " about bees 

 and peaches mentioned in the American Bee Journal, please 

 give me space to say : 



A neighbor did complain that our bees were working on 

 his peaches, and he thought they were doing considerable 

 injury, but no damages were demanded, and no lawsuit was 

 mentioned. We are good friends, and always have been. 

 It was during hot, moist weather, and peaches in all or- 

 chards in this great peach-growing country were decaying 

 badly on the trees, in many cases before they commenced 

 to ripen. There were few blossoms at the time to keep bees 

 busy. 



I suppose some enterprising but dishonest newspaper 

 correspondent invented for a sensation the " special." He 

 certainly accomplisht his object, for the article has been 

 copied far and wide, and I have been kept busy answering 

 questions from many different States. I wish here to thank 

 the many bee-keeping friends for kind words and sugges- 

 tions. 



Perhaps some of our readers may not know that a series 

 of experiments were conducted by the United States De- 

 partment of Agriculture, to ascertain if bees could puncture 

 or bite open fruits. Prof. Riley was chief entomologist of 

 the Department at the time, and the experiments were un- 

 der his direction. Ripe peaches, pears, plums, and 23 varie- 

 ties of grapes, were placed where bees were confined and 

 subjected to fasting. All damaged fruits were quickly ap- 

 propriated by the bees, but they were unable to get at the 

 juices of sound fruit. If the skin of a sound fruit was 

 punctured by a needle, the bees soon suckt out the contents, 

 but without this assistance, altho they crawled over the 

 fruit every day for some time, seeking points of attack, the 

 bees finally starved. Tbe account of these experiments 

 may be found in the report of the United States Department 

 of Agriculture for 1885, pages 336-339. 



Van Buren Co., Mich., Nov. 5. H. D. Burreli-. 



We are indeed pleased to know that the report referred 

 to is proven a false one. Perhaps we should have written 

 Mr. Burrell before copying it from The Record, but as there 

 have been similar reports that were true, we did not ques- 

 tion this one. 



