790 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



The following were duly recorded as 

 members for the present year ; 



G. A. Adams, Perrysburu', O. 

 J. H. Audriis, Almont, Mich. 

 Geo. H. Aslibv, Albion, N. Y. 

 H. J. Ashley, M. D., Machias, N. Y. 

 C. S. Avery, Millard, Neb. 

 Kichard Uanybaui, Windsor, Out. 

 Ira Barber, De Kulb Junction, N. Y. 

 O. J. Bedell, lva\vka\vlin, Mich, 

 A. D. Benham, Olivet, Mich. 



E. Berisey, Savannah, (). 



H. R. JBoaidman, East Townsend, O. 

 Sam'l H. Bolton, Benton, (). 



F. C. Burmaster, Irving-, N. Y. 

 W. H. Burr, Detroit, Mich. 



Mrs. V. E. Burton, Detroit, Mich. 

 Hiram Chapman, Versailles, N. Y. 



A. B. Cheney, Sparta, Mich. 

 L. T. Christiancy, Toledo, O. 

 F. S. Clark, Bowlinjr Gi-een, O. 

 W. E. Clark, Oriskany, N. Y. 

 Rev. W. F. Clarke, Guelph, Ont. 



F. S. Comstoek, North Manchester, Ind. 



B. F. Conley, Brighton, Mich. 



A. J. Cook, Ag:ricultural College, Mich. 



E. J. Cook, Owasso, .Mich. 



Henry Cripe, North Manchester, [nd. 

 H. D. Cutting, Clinton, Mich. 



C. P. Dadant, Hamilton, Ills. 



G. M. Doolittle, Borodino, N. Y. 

 Frank A. Eaton, Blnttton, O. 

 Will Ellis, St. Davids, Ont. 

 Martin Emigh, Holbrook, Ont. 

 Jas. Foi'ucrook, \Vatei"town, Wis. 

 A. M. Gander, Adrian, Mich. 



F. A. Gemmill. Stratford, Ont. 

 H. C. Gibson. Hurr ( )ak, Mich. 



Geo. B. Goodell, Mctiee's Corners, N. Y. 

 John G. Gray, St. Catherines, Ont, 

 A. W. Greene, Florence. Ont. 

 J. B. Hall, Woodstock. Ont. 

 Benj. Harding, Kent, O. 

 Mrs. L. Harrison, Peoria, Ills. 

 M. Higgins. Windsor, Ont. 

 Geo. E. Hilton. I'rciTnont, Mich. 



E. L. Hubliunl. Watrr \:Ulev, X. V. 

 M. H. Hnnt. IJcll liranch, .Mich. 



H. F. Hunt. Villa Mastai, Quebec. 

 W. Z. Hutchinson. Itogersville, Mich. 



C. R. Isham, Peniia, N. Y. 



D. A. Jones. Beet<in, Ont. 

 August Keotlen, Flint, Mich. 



A. W. Kistenbroker, Oak Park, Ills. 



Otto Kleinow, Detroit, Mich. 



Rev. L. L. Langstroth, Oxfoid, O. 



Silas M. Locke, Wenhain. Mass. 



N. VV. Mel-ain, Aurora, Ills. 



James McNeill, Hudson, N. Y. 



J. J. McWhortei-, South Lyon, Mich. 



A. E. Mauum, Bristol, Vt. 



J. J. Martin, fJorth Manchester, Ind. 



Dr. A. B. Mason, Wagon Works, O. 



D. F. Moe, Parma, Mich. 

 Ellas Mott, Norwich, Oiit. 

 C. F. Muth, Cincinnati, O. 

 Thomas G. Newman, Chicago, Ills. 

 S. F. Newman, Norwalk, O. 



Geo. A. Ourain, Berlin Heights, O. 

 S. T. Pettit, Belmont, Ont. 

 Thos. Pierce, Gansevoort, N. Y. 

 P. M. Puhl, South Toledo, O. 

 John Rey, East Saginaw, Mich. 

 M. G. Ite.vnolds, Williamsburg, Ind. 

 J. A. Robison, Findlav, O. 

 L. C. Root, Mohawk, N. Y. 

 C. M. Ruland, Kockton. Ills. 

 George Schook, Thi-ee Rivers, Midi. 

 C. W. Shepard, Le Roy. N. Y. 

 Geo. Smith, Aniadore, .Mich. 

 G. W. Stanley. Wyoming, N. T. 

 James P. Sterritt, Sheakleyville, Pa. 

 R. L. Taylor, Lapeer, .Mich. 

 Mrs. R. L. Taylor. Lapeer. Mich. 



F. J. Temjile, liidgewav, Mich. 



E. W. Thompson, Hinsdale, X. Y. 

 N. O. Thompson, Cold Water, Mich. 

 W. O. Titus, Toledo, O. 



James Ure, East .-^aginaw, Mich. 



J. Vandervort, Laeeyville, Pa. 



J. Van Deuseii, Sprout Brook, N. Y. 



T. L. Von Dorn. Omaha, Neb. 



E. Walker. lii'rlin Heights, o. 



Byron O. Walker, Capae, Mich. 



Mrs. Bvron Walker, Capac, Mich. 



H. L. Wells, DeOance, O. 



W. C. Wells, Phillipston, Ont. 



M. S. West. Flint, Mich. 



L. C. Whiting. East Saginaw, Mich. 



Edwin Willetts, Agricultural Coll., Mich. 



Wm. Wilson, Burr Oak, Mich, 



A. D. Wood, Rives Junction, Mich. 



L. C. Woodman, (irand Rapids, Mich. 



Mrs. L. C. Woodman, Grand Rapids, Mich. 



M. D. York, Millington, Mi.^h. 



The Rev. L. L. Langstrolh was 

 called upon for a speech, and upon 

 arising he was greeted with a storm 

 of applause. He gave a very inter- 

 esting account of the rise and pro- 

 gress of modern bee-culture in this 

 country, and of the invention of the 

 movable-frame hive. 



Pres. Root appointed the following 

 committees : 



On Finance.— G. M. Doolittle, W. 

 F.Clarke, and Prof. A. J. Cook. 



On Statistics. — Thos. t4. Newman, 

 D, A. Jones, and Silas M. Locke. 



On Resolutions. — Prof. A. J. Cook, 

 W. F. Clarke and R, L, Taylor. 



On Exhibits.— Dr. A. B. Mason, J. 

 B. Hall, and G. M. Doolittle. 



Thereupon the meeting adjourned 

 until 2 p.m. 



AFTERNOON SESSION. 



Pres. Root called the meeting to 

 order at 2 p.m., and announced that 

 the first business would be the address 

 of welcome by Hon. Edwin Willetts, 

 President of the Michigan Agricul- 

 tural College. President Willetts, on 

 arising, was greeted with enthusiastic 

 applause. His address was as follows : 



Mr. President, Ladies and Gen- 

 tlemen :— It becomes my duty, and 

 it is a pleasure, to welcome you to 

 the State of Michigan, I know of no 

 reason why I should be asked to do 

 so, save, perhaps, because for fifty 

 years 1 have been a citizen of the 

 Slate, and at present represent the 

 Michigan Agricultural College, which 

 institution makes a specialty in bee- 

 culture and instruction in the habits 

 and propagation of bees. 



We have those present who can 

 more fitly represent that feature of 

 the institution than myself, but 

 neither they nor any one else can 

 welcome you to our State with a 

 more hearty greeting than can I. We 

 are glad to see you in our midst. 

 There is a growiiig interest here in 

 the industry that you represent to- 

 day. Michigan easily ranks liigli in 

 the production of honey. The breezes 

 are tempered by our inland seas, and 

 our soil is generous in foliage and 

 flowers. We are strangers to extreme 

 drouths and pestilential moisture. 

 We are not in the path of the blizzird 

 or the tornado. Nearly every foot of 

 land in our Southern Peninsula takes 

 kindly to the plowshare, and rejoices 

 in a fertility that responds heartily to 

 the demands of the husbandman. "We 

 are a busy people, in busy homes, and 

 we harmonize easily with the " busy 

 bee." We understand each other — 

 we and the bees — and each pursue our 

 vocations without antagonism. Hence 

 there is room for both, without hos- 

 tility and mutual profit; and all we 

 need is the dissemination of such in- 

 formation as you can give, to lead ns 

 to a more general pursuit of your 

 industry. 



We shall expect an impulse in that 

 direction as the result of your delib- 

 erations. You represent no mean 

 vocation. Ever since and before 

 Jacob .sent as a present to propitiate 

 the hard master in Egyi)t, a little 

 baltu, and a little honey, spices and 

 myrrli ; ever since Columella wrote. 



and Virgil and Horace sang, the 

 sweet elixir has tempte.l the palate of 

 mankind. There is no substitute for 

 it ; the analysis of the chemist is un- 

 able to produce it ; man cannot make 

 it, or grow it, or rectify it, and till 

 Millennium's dawn it will be nectar 

 to men and gods. 



Yours is no insignificant industry. 

 Y'ou represent 3,UUO,000 colonies of 

 bees, with an annual product of sur- 

 plus honey of 100,1100,000 pounds. 

 Under the impulse of this and kindred 

 associations, the product is increasing 

 annually. The cheap sugar of to-day 

 has no perceptible influence upon the 

 demand or the price of the com- 

 modity. As the country increases in 

 wealth and luxury, the demand grows 

 with its growth, and increases with 

 the means to gratify the appetite. 

 The best minds in the field of science 

 have contributed to the more success- 

 ful promotion of the industry. Aris- 

 totle, Virgil, Columella, Pliny, Swam- 

 merdam, Ray, Latreille, and a host 

 of others, ancient and modern— not to 

 forget Langstroth, Cook, Quinby, 

 Root, and others of our day— have 

 studied, observed, experimented and 

 written about bees and their habits, 

 till we know how best to rear them, 

 and how best to utilize their harvest 

 of sweetness ; so that to use the 

 words of a learned Judge of one of 

 our Courts, who said. " In modern 

 days the bee has become almost as 

 completely domesticated as the ox or 

 the cow. Its habits and and its in- 

 stincts have been studied, so that it 

 can be controlled with nearly as much 

 certainty as any of the domestic 

 animals." 



You have almost taken it ont of the 

 class fercE natune. The propensity to 

 mischief has been so diminished, that 

 serious injury is almost as rare from 

 a bee as from the horse, and far less 

 than from the dog. The Courts take 

 kindly to the bee. They look with 

 favor upon animals or insects that are 

 useful to man ; with disfavor upon 

 such as are purely noxious or useless. 

 There is no question of the utility of 

 bees. I note this fact, as I observe a 

 little apprehension among apiarists, 

 about the attitude of Courts occa- 

 sionally, and the fear that there may 

 grow "up some legal limitation or 

 liability that shall destroy your in- 

 dustry. Bees were here before Courts 

 or juries, and they have the right of 

 way, and will keen it so long as their 

 product is desirable. The recent case 

 that has caused some apprehension, 

 will be found. I hope, to be based 

 upon an utter misconception of the 

 bee and its habits. It will be found, 

 I have no doubt, that a sound grape is 

 absolutely armor-proof to the attack 

 of the bee. It is only when the armor 

 is broken that the attack is made. A 

 grape with a broken shell is prac- 

 tically valueless— worthless, except 

 for. the wine-press ; and for one, I 

 frankly say, gentlemen, that as be- 

 tween the wine-press and the bee — as 

 betvv'een alcohol and honey— 1 am for 

 the bee and for the honey, and I be- 

 lieve-the Courts will give the bee the 

 case. 



But, gentlemen, I am not here to 

 keep you from your deliberations. I 



