THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



87 



The Michigan Convention. 



The Grand Rapids convention was 

 an excellent one. It was the best at- 

 tended of any that has been held in 

 several years. In the first place, it 

 was well-advertised. Three thousand 

 circulars were printed setting' forth the 

 advantag"es of attending, also call- 

 ing- attention to the prizes that were 

 offered. These were distributed, 

 mainly, b\'^ placing them in the circu- 

 lars of supply dealers. The Secretary 

 also sent out a circular showing the 

 advantages of belonging to the Asso- 

 ciation. These were sent to all of the 

 old members, and to a fresh list of 

 Michigan bee-keepers that I furnished 

 him. I believe he sent out 300 of these 

 circulars. So far as they would go, 

 he also sent out what were left of the 

 little pamphlets that were g^otten out 

 last year. Very explicit notices, as 

 well as editorial notices, had been pub- 

 lished in the bee journals for some two 

 or three months before the meeting. 

 Notices also appeared in the g^eneral 

 papers and the farm-journals of the 

 State. Many private letters were 

 written, urging members to attend. 

 Reduced rates were secured on the 

 railroads. Prizes were offered on 

 both comb and extracted honey. It 

 was made known that the editors of 

 three of the prominent bee journ- 

 als would be present, as well as promin- 

 ent bee-keepers from different parts of 

 the State. In short, there was a sort 

 of enthusiasm put into the very air, 

 that made bee-keepers want to "g^et 

 there." I g^o thus into detail in ex- 

 plaining these things, as it is just such 

 preliminary work as this that is the 

 making of a convention. 



One feature over which the members 

 felt the most jubilant, is the fact that 

 the getting out of a little pamphlet last 

 year, giving a few hints about honey 

 production, the care of honey, etc.. ac- 

 companied by a list of the members, 

 together with their addresses and the 



amounts and kinds of hone3r that each 

 had for sale, had done much in the 

 way helping- them to sell their honey. 

 Not much had been done in the way of 

 advertising- this pamphlet, as had been 

 expected to be done, in the daily 

 papers. A lack of funds had prevented 

 this. Not quite $2.00 had been thus ex- 

 pended in "liners" asking consumers 

 to write to the Secretary for a list of 

 the members of the Michig-an State 

 Bee-Keepers' Association who had 

 honey for sale. Not many requests 

 had been received. The idea had been 

 to try and reach actual consumers, but 

 there had been greater success in 

 reaching- retailers of honey. Only 

 1,000 copies had been printed. To 

 send a possible purchaser one of these 

 pamphlets, calling attention to the 

 sender's name as a member of the 

 State Association, sometimes helped to 

 establish confidence. This 3'ear, 5,000 

 pamphlets will be printed; several 

 pages of advertising being taken by 

 dealers and others, which will nearl\% 

 if not quite, pay the expenses of print- 

 ing. 



The object of this scheme is, of 

 course, to find some selfish object that 

 will tend to hold tlie members tog-ether; 

 to induce them to send in their dues 

 year after year, even though they may 

 not be able to attend the convention. 

 It is fulfilling the object; as several 

 old members who were not in attend- 

 ance sent in their dues, and some have 

 been received since the convention ad- 

 journed. A bee-keeper who is not now 

 a member can send $1 00 to the Secre- 

 tary, Mr. E. B. Tyrrell, Davison, Mich- 

 igan, and this will not only make him 

 a member of the Michigan Association, 

 but also of the National, and, some- 

 time next Aug-ust, this bge-keeper will 

 receive notice from the Secretary 

 asking for a report in regard to his 

 honey crop. It he will send in his 

 report as to the kind and qualitj', 

 how put up, etc., it will go into this 

 pamphlet, of which 5,000 copies will be 



