THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



135 



occur; and the company is good. We can 

 have one as good for less money. 



Wm. p. Evekitt. 

 Davis, Mich., Jan. 9, 1877. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Pres. Bacon's Address 



TO THE N. E. B. K. ASSOCIATION AT SYRA- 

 CUSE, N. Y., FEB. 7, 1877. 



Fellow bee-keepers:— I came to-day witli 

 no other object in view than to fill the posi- 

 tion you assigned me (so tar as I am able), 

 and to extend the right hand of fellowship 

 to those who are endeavoring to make this 

 Association a success. This is our eighth 

 convention, and I believe I have been pres- 

 ent at every meeting, save two, since the 

 organization, and in every case I went away 

 feeling I had made poor returns for the 

 benefits I had received. It was a surprise 

 to me to have the honor of being your presi- 

 dent, when there are so many connected 

 with this Association more worthy and bet- 

 ter qualified to preside over your deliber- 

 ations. I am interested in these gatherings, 

 they have been profitable to me, and it is 

 always a pleasure to me to meet with this 

 Association. 



Another season of care and labor has 

 passed away since last we met, and 1 trust 

 not without its lessons of Icnowledge and 

 profit to us. I think we have great reason 

 to be thankful to the great Giver of all 

 things for his kind care over us durin ; tiie 

 past year. So far as I know, no calamity 

 has come to any of us, and none of our 

 number have been cut down by death. 

 Now, I trust, we have come together to 

 compare our past experience and to aid 

 each other in making bee-culture more suc- 

 cessful in the future. To this end, I trust 

 we shall avoid, so far as possible, saying 

 anything that will mar the harmony of our 

 deliberations. I judge from our past 

 gatherings we shall have a harmonious 

 meeting. 



The honey bee lias been admired for its 

 works in all ages, and me thinks when 

 Adam named this insect he judged it to 

 be one of the fine works of God, and a 

 wonder and blessing to man. Many a pen 

 has been employed in portraying its 



Eeculiarities, and yet the theme is not ex- 

 austed. Its natural habitation is found in 

 the rocks, the forest trees and even in the 

 lion's carcass. It thrives in artificial dwel- 

 lings, and thus it becomes more subservient 

 to the will of man. Unlike other insects 

 which work to destroy and leave desolation 

 in their track, the honey bee is a source of 

 revenue. It not only fructifies the flowers 

 of the field and causes them to yield their 

 fruit, but its production is the finest food 

 for man. This sweet nectar is not only 

 found on the poor man's table in the lonely 

 cottage, but on the king's table in the 

 palace. 



Perhaps the strength of this interest can 

 best be given in figures. In 18.50 the 

 amount of honey and wax reported in the 

 census returns was 14.1.53,790 lbs.; in 18(50, 

 33,366,457 lbs. of honey and 1,322,787 lbs. of 

 wax. New York stood at the head of this 

 list, with 2,360,751 lbs., and 9 other States 

 are credited with more than one million 

 pounds each, in the following order: North 

 Carolina, 2,055,969; Kentucky, 1,768,692; 



Missouri, 1,.585,9S3; Tennessee, 1,519,390; 

 Ohio, 1,4.59,601; Virginia. ],431,.591; Penn- 

 sylvania, 1,402,128; Illinois, 1,.346,803; Indi- 

 ana. 1,224,498. In 1868 circulars were sent 

 to known apiarians in nearly every State, 

 and returns were received from 489 coun- 

 ties, in 32 States, and the lowest estimate 

 that could be made by those returns, gave 

 two millions of stocks. Estimating the 

 total number of hives at two millions and 

 the surplus honey at only 15 lbs. per hive— 

 which is but two-thirds of the average re- 

 port — the value of honey at that time, an- 

 nually produced, at 25 cts. per lb, would be 

 $7,-500,000, and the estimated value of honey 

 in 1870 was $15,000,000. Since the above re- 

 ports great destruction came to bees, and 

 we think we are safe in saying up to last 

 year their numbers have greatly fallen off, 

 yet by the improvements made in bee- 

 culture, the yield of honey has been larger 

 than ever before, and still there is room for 

 great improvements. 



Were a rational system of bee-keeping in 

 general use, this branch of industry would 

 take rank with other branches of agricul- 

 ture which are considered indisiieusable. 

 Patent bee palaces, luotli traps, sell-actors, 

 and many other so-called bee hives, should 

 altogether be discarded as being of no bene- 

 fit to bee-culture. Perhaps there are some 

 present who are ready to ask if I would dis- 

 card all patent hives? I answer no; not 

 any sooner than patent plows, mowing ma- 

 chines or sewing machines. I believe if a 

 plow can be made better, so can a liive, and 

 the man that will improve them let him 

 have his reward. The first plow was not 

 what the plow of to-daj^ is, and among them 

 it is very easy to find good, better, best; and 

 so it is with thousands of hives that are 

 now patented. Then; is no good reason to 

 discard a good plow l)(>cause tliere are many 

 poor ones, nor a good hive because there 

 may be 49 out of .50 that are worthless. We 

 should hold fast to that which is g/)od and 

 throw away the bad. Improvements come 

 by degrees, and the man that adds one de- 

 gree to this great storehouse of knowledge 

 is a benefactor to his race. 



The knowledge and practice of a good 

 system of bee-keeping is very essential to 

 success. To know I'ow to raise apiarian 

 products in a neat, attractive irfatter is also 

 of prime importance. Put there is some- 

 thing beyond all this which not unfrequent- 

 ly depresses and tends to paralize all our 

 best endeavors in apicultural management. 

 I refer to a loose and unskilled manner of 

 marketing bee i)roducts. 



Our constitutinn ])rovides for one annual 

 meeting in convention, when it is hoped all 

 those who are interested in bee-culture 

 within the bounds of this association will 

 be represented, and take such action as 

 shall be desirable for the better promotion 

 of the bee-keepers' interest, and when in 

 convention is it not eminently right and 

 proper to mature some plan for associated 

 action that will secure a fair price for our 

 product? We have seen what wonderful 

 results have been accomplished by associat- 

 ed action and by a combination of interests. 

 The greatest enterprises of to-day, which 

 are so astounding in their magnitude are 

 the result of associated efforts, and these 

 are tending to revolutionize the business 

 operations of the world. We have seen 

 what wonderful results have been accom- 

 plished by the associated system of dairy- 



