772 



THIE SMEKICJEff MMm J@13fKEfIiI*. 



' — '■^'■^»m»m»mAA 



Music at tlie Inlernalional. 



The words on this and the next page was 

 composed by Mr. Eugene Secor, and the 

 music by Dr. C. C. Miller— and both were 

 made especially for the International Con- 

 vention. We give them a place in the Bee 

 JouKN.tL, so that all can join Yakob in 

 singing about his bees in the spring-time, 

 whether they were at the Convention or not. 



Essays at fjonventions. 



It has been tried at several conventions 

 to dispense with essays, and we think much 

 of the usefulness of such bodies has been 

 lost by their absence. The Review for last 

 month, under the caption, " Do we need 

 conventions?" makes some capital points 

 on this subject. We will have to reproduce 

 the article, and commend it to the consid- 

 eration of all our readers : 



It is true that many little things come to 

 light at conventions that would never have 

 been written. Under the stimulus of a 

 face to face debate, when the eyes flash and 

 the cheeks kindle, thoughts come thick and 

 fast; and in this friction of mind against 

 mind, many a spark of wisdom flashes into 

 view. Conventions bring out and difl:use 

 knowledge that would otherwise lie hidden, 

 as it often happens that the possessor of an 

 active brain and a nimble tongue may have 

 fingers to which the pen is a stranger. 



We do think short, crisp, aggi-essive es- 

 says, as " discussion provokers, " are needed 

 at conventions. There should be no attempt 

 to treat the subject exhaustively, but rather 

 to say something that will make men feel 

 Uke getting up and talking. 



The Secretary ought to see to it that such 

 essays, and none others, are secured. He 

 should so inform the ones who are asked to 

 write esays. A well-considered progi'amme, 

 with the best men available to lead in the 

 discussions, either by essays or address, is 

 a great step towards success; besides, a 

 published progiamme is one of the best ad- 

 vertisements that a convention can have. 

 But we cannot for one moment believe that 

 an essay from a man is to be compared to 

 having the man himself present at the 

 meeting — the one is a love letter, the other 

 the lover himself. 



We believe it is also true that apicultural 

 literature is largely dependent upon con- 

 ventions for its brightness, its ^*newsiness." 

 In the October Rcvicir for 1888, we said: 

 "We have always noticed that when the 

 editor of a journal attended a convention, 

 the next number of his paper was greatly 

 improved. There would be a freshness and 

 sparkle, indescribable, but nevertheless very 

 apparent." If conventions have such a 

 beneficial effect upon editors, why should 

 they not be a benefit to subscribers ! 



But, after all is said and done, we feel 

 that it is the social feature that brings us 

 together ; it is the enjoyment of this per- 

 sonal magnetism between choice spirits 

 that attracts us. 



At the last meeting of the Northwestern, 

 the editors of the Amekic.^n Bee Jouknal, 

 Olcaninijs and the Rcvleir, together with 

 Dr. Miller and Mr. Heddon, attracted by 

 a sort of aflJnity, clustered together in a 

 cozy corner one evening as the crowd 

 was dispersing, and talked, and talked, and 

 talked; started once or twice to go to their 

 rooms, only to come back again ; and it was 

 only as the small hours approached that 

 Bro. Newman went home, and the others 

 "paired off" and went to bed to "talk 

 some more." Such hours are golden, and 



Spring-time Joys. 



Words by Eugene Secor. 



Music by Dr. C. C. MlLLEn. 



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1. Zhust ijome unil down sit. mine ver ■ y goot friendts, Und 



i 



lYz&z 



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'^m^ 



one lit - tie shpree Vid - out an - y pad vis • key schmclls. I 







im 



m 



i 



reads 



in some ba - pers 



aw ■ ful schmart vay 



To 



Den Yakob— dots mc— upon der town vent 



Ter make vone goUar mit shtraps ; 

 Dot saddle man fix up der ledder zhust nice, 



Und drimmed It mit puckles und schnaps. 

 I harness mineself like vone Mason Grand 

 Knight, 



Und efery vone meets me und sings— 

 "NowYakob vats op?""Vats inside your head?" 



I dells dem, " Zhust vaits dell der Shpring." 



Ven Aprilo vas gome, und dot sun vas got 

 varm, 

 I put on my mine new-fangled gear. 



Und goes down der cellar so happy und sh|)r.i-. 



You dinks 1 vas married dis year. 

 You nefer saw anydings vork so like dot, 



So handy dose poxes ter pring— 

 I nefer more preaks Katrina's poor pack 



Ter garry dose pees in der Shpring. 



I sings like vone jhay pird, so happy I fecU. 



Und plesses dot awful schmardt man 

 Vot makes up dot harness all oudt of liis 

 headt, 



Ter garry dose pees on deir schtand. 



