288 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



and Honey Department, presided over 

 by Dr. Mason, and in the State exhibit 

 too, it will necessitate getting together 

 two shows, but I think Wisconsin bee- 

 men are not lacking in enterprise and 

 patriotism to do even that. It will be 

 part of the business of this meeting to 

 confer with Mr. Kirkland, who is in 

 attendance. 



First, to ascertain what articles are 

 wanted for such Show, {. e., if honey, in 

 what shape and how much; bees, if any, 

 and fixtures, if wanted or allowed ; also 

 what is to become of the articles at the 

 close of the exhibit; whether they are 

 to be paid for by the State, or to be sold 

 for the benefit of the owners. 



We do not presume the premiums of- 

 fei'ed would be sufficient inducements to 

 owners for the sacrifice of the articles. 

 Allow me to suggest as a starter, to get 

 the ideas of this meeting, that honey 

 ought to be shown in both wholesale and 

 retail packages, comb and extracted, 

 and that only implements manufactured 

 in the State be shown ; bees and wax 

 would, of course, be legitimate articles 

 for entry. 



It seems to me that our society has 

 reached the point in which some means 

 of communication between the members, 

 and interchange of ideas, would be ad- 

 vantageous to us as bee-keepers, that is, 

 if some paper is willing to be the mouth- 

 piece of this Association. The Wisconsin 

 Farmer has kindly devoted part of its 

 pages to our use, and is ably edited by 

 our genial Secretary, Dr. Vance. Would 

 it not, therefore, be well for us to take 

 some official recognition of this fact ? 

 How would it do to make a year's sub- 

 scription part of the membership fee ? 

 Could we not by taking, say 30 or 50 

 subscribers at once, get reduced rates 

 enough so we could all get it and be a 

 means of increasing our membership 

 also? 



New things are constantly coming up 

 in bee-keeping that call for a trial, and 

 either acceptance or rejection. How 

 would it do for our society to start an 

 experiment department ? Our brethren 

 of the Horticultural Society have done 

 so, at no small expense. We could do 

 this with an economical outlay. Sup- 

 pose, for example, queen-cell protectors 

 are the articles to be tried, and 20 of 

 our members concluded to try them at 

 an average cost of $1 each, there you 

 have an aggregate of $20, which if done 

 by, say three members of the society, 

 might have been reported at our annual 

 "round-up," and become common prop- 

 erty, perhaps at an expense of 10 cents 

 for (^ach of the 20 members, or even 



less, for I presume that manufacturers 

 of worthy articles would donate them if 

 the case was rightly presented to them. 



And if we had an official paper as 

 before suggested, progress during the 

 experiments could be reported through 

 its columns, and all put in possession of 

 the advantages or disadvantages, if 

 there be any, and saved from the ex- 

 pense and bother of the experiment. 

 Can you not see, the economy of it? 

 Economy, however, is not always in 

 saving, but rather in making wis(^> use of 

 the means at our command. If we let 

 all these advantages of association and 

 co-operation go unimproved, we are not 

 living up to our opportunities and privi- 

 leges. 



^ There seems to be a Chance for our 

 society to do a good work in the matter 

 of regulating freight rates on honey. As 

 it now stands, there is an unjust dis- 

 crimination against honey — a can of 

 honey boxed has to pay second-class 

 freight, while a jacketed can of molasses 

 goes as fourth-class. Molasses in bar- 

 rels and kegs goes for fourth-class, and 

 honey in the same packages must pay 

 third-class. 



We can but think that the railroad 

 officials will give us justice if the matter 

 is presented to them in the right spirit, 

 and in the proper manner. Most of our 

 extracted-honey goes to market in bar- 

 rels and kegs, after it has granulated, 

 and in this condition there is but little 

 risk in the handling, and why should we 

 not therefore get as low rates as on 

 molasses that never is in condition not 

 to leak, or run away, if the barrel 

 bursts ? 



There seems to be good reason for our 

 payi-ng first-class rates on comb-honey, 

 for we have insisted on putting our crop 

 in small boxes — 12 to 24 pounds — and 

 then we are continually cautioning the 

 freight handlers about carefully setting 

 boxes down. 



Did you ever stop to consider how 

 much work this costs them to carry a 

 12-pound box, two or three rods, and 

 set it down carefully, when they might as 

 well take 75 pounds ? Are we properly 

 considering the value of their time ? 

 Would it not be more to our interest, if 

 we must have the small shipping crates, 

 to put them in a larger box or crate, 

 well packed in clean straw, so that they 

 would not be injured if handled any 

 way ? And then ask the railroads to 

 give us lower classifications ? We have 

 always found the railroad managers 

 courteous and willing to rectify any 

 grievance where one really existed. 



Ithaca, Wis. 



