62 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



As in the case of the sewing machine- 

 men of more business tact than the real in- 

 ventor, built up a trade, stimulated the 

 visionary and made money, while the real 

 inventor cast about for a man who could 

 run the clepliant. One such was found — 

 "ciioek full of force," not too scrupulous to 

 be successful, but well adapted to the busi- 

 ness. His nauie was Roswell C. Otis. 

 This man worked the machine, brought 

 suit against alleged infringers, sold terri- 

 tory to suit purchasers, advanced the inter- 

 ests of Mr. Langstroth, and helped work up 

 a frenzy for bee-kee])ing. 



As an adjunct to this apparent success 

 the much advertised Italian "B" came to 

 light — beautiful, gentle, prolific — the very 

 bee for which honey was invented. "Oh, 

 Lord, how mysterious are thy ways; how 

 past finding out thy oracles." 



About this time the Rebellion broke out, 

 the supply of sugar was cut oif; naptha 

 took the place or turpentine; coal oil tlie 

 place of the whale; our commerce was 

 jeopardized; paper money took the place of 

 coin, and prices ran up. Men grew rich, 

 and fast and honest (?); no luxury was too 

 expensive, no show too great for a nation so 

 mighty ! The old times were gone— 2.40 

 was the minimum speed of a horse; 2.16 a 

 reasonable and permanent gait (!). 



About this time it was reported that 

 Hruska had invented a machine which 

 would remove the honey from the combs 

 without their destruction* but from some 

 cause the Patent Office heard of it first. 

 Mr. Langstroth tried to get up a patent ex- 

 tractor, but it Avould not patent so as to be a 

 monopoly, and he would not enter the field 

 unless it was essentially clear. So the ex- 

 tractor became common property. 



With all this past record, and the ma- 

 chinery at hand, the field seemed to broad- 

 en; fortune not often obtained, seemed in 

 the near future. There was a market for 

 honey of any Ivind. There was a large and 

 growing market for bees, queens, hives and 

 kpiarian supplies—" Send stamp for cir- 

 cular"— "Advice to Bee-Keepers free." All 

 this with doors wide open for inventions. 

 No prosperity so great tnat a gi-eater is not 

 hoped for. Bee papers and pamphlets mul- 

 tiplied. The price of honesty rose as tlie 

 supply diminished, and we were ushered 

 into a realm of wonderful activity. Queens 

 and bees could not be raised fast enough; 

 new appliances to hasten and perfect the 

 impregnation of queens were Invented by 

 the sacreligious, and every one seemed to 

 chuckle over the idea that, for once at 

 least, the Lord had failed and man with 

 consumate skill and generosity had come to 

 the rescue. Manure heaps were used to 

 hatch and mature bees, and queen nurseries 

 were brought into requisition. Oh, pro- 

 gress ! What, in thy lofty name, has not 

 been done ! 



One thing allow me to say, Mr. President, 

 has not been done, neither is it likely to be 

 done at present. Nothing has been written 

 in any of the journals, or brought out in 

 any convention which has added a single 

 fact of any value to the works above referred 

 to. He who has mastered " Langstroth on 

 the Hive and Houey Bee," and Quinby's 

 Mysteries," has all that has ever been said 

 or written in this country on the subject, 

 that is of any practical value. The journals 

 at the present time, are turned over to 

 maiden essays from enthusiastic novices, 



who as fast as their capacity enlarges so as 

 to comprehend the above authors in part, 

 write their views and experiences; especial- 

 ly is this true when in their immediate 

 vicinity comes a shower of honey and^their 

 well manipulated bees come off with honor. 

 The success in Wisconsin a few years ago, 

 and in New York State in 1873, and many 

 other places, I might mention as illustra- 

 tions in point. 



Nothing strikes one more forcibly in a 

 convention than the fact, that every one 

 knows just what every other i^erson knows. 

 The only difference being in the manner of 

 telling it. He who doubts this may ask: — 

 "What has Mr. Grimm to say?" "What 

 has Mr. Hetherington said and written ?" 

 " What is Mr. Harbison writing and saying 

 to-day?" The answer is, they have nothing 

 new of value to say. 



A convention used to be a place to adver- 

 tise hives, queens, bottles, extractors, 

 knives, and, last but not least, one's self. 

 While it would seem that so much discus- 

 sion ought to have in some way advanced 

 the interests of bee-keepers, a casual glance 

 at the past will convince any one that all 

 the theories, bright hopes and discoveries 

 have melted and resolved themselves into 

 thin air, under the only test whereby truth 

 alone is left— t/ie test of experiment. 



Mr. President and gentlemen:— By what 

 I have said do not understand that I am op- 

 posed to conventions or jovu'nals, for I am 

 not, but on the contrary I am in favor of 

 them. Not, however, for the good or ill 

 they may have done in the interest of 

 honey-culture, but in a socud sense. In 

 that sense 1 prize them and prize* them 

 highly. Should not be willing to do with- 

 out at least one paper, neither without the 

 Michigan Convention. 



I well remember when bee conventions 

 were new. Those days were full of hope 

 and strife; no feature of the business was 

 left undisturbed. The president and officers 

 were all interested in some salable feature 

 connected directly, or indirectly, with the 

 honey interest. Hives, queens, in fact 

 everything but the production of honey,had 

 its zealous exponent. Conventions endors- 

 ed hives, (lueeus and vendors of them, but 

 rarely sjxjke of honey, except as a kind of 

 dead issue to beguile the innocent producer 

 and smooth his lonely way. 



Mr. President, those days are over with 

 us. We come here not to endorse any hive, 

 bee, or plan of management; nor to advise 

 others what they should buy or what they 

 should sell; but we come here to meet one 

 another, to sympathise with and encourage 

 the unfortunate (and they are most of us); 

 to talk over our hopes and fears, and go 

 away feeling that we are not only acquain- 

 tances but friends, whom mutual sorrow 

 and disappointment, aye, perchance suc- 

 cess, hath bound together. 



Abronia, Mich. T. F. Bingham. 



Wooster, Ohio, Dec. 2, 1876.- -'The honey 

 season is over, and the ' little pets ' are now 

 in winter quarters. From 19 colonies 1 got 

 500 lbs. of box houey and 400 lbs. of extract- 

 ed. 1 could give them no care, on account 

 of my malady. I have sold down to 10 

 colonies. 15,000 lbs. of honey was sold in 

 Wooster this year; never more than 3,000 

 lbs. was sold here before. Box honey sold 

 at 20c.; also good extracted at same price." 

 D. H. Ogden. 



