148 



THE A3IERICAN AnCULTURIST. 



in observing the course of business, 

 fertile in resources, quicli to grasp 

 details, and able systematically to 

 organize and conduct an apiary. 



The absence of such an one in- 

 terferes seriously with success in 

 a new enterprise, and not unfre- 

 quently ruins an old one, but 

 there are so many successful apia- 

 rists scattered over our country, 

 that the conclusion seems war- 

 ranted that this enterprise collect- 

 ively represents a vast body of in- 

 telligent, wide-awake courageous 

 men, who are on the alert for any 

 danger that threatens their inter- 

 ests, prompt to take defensive ac- 

 tion and fearless in maintaining 

 their rights. That this is the 

 general estimate is shown by the 

 denunciation of their enemies, who 

 allude to them as greedy, grasping, 

 "unscrupulous apiarists who use ihe 

 poor, small beekeepers as machines, 

 and obtain through conventions 

 and concentrated action the power 

 to enforce their tyrannical rule. 



In view of the important posi- 

 tion which masters in bee culture 

 now occupy, and of the qualities 

 ascribed to them by those who 

 would see them prosper, and those 

 who seek to destroy them, it is 

 an unpleasant duty to describe the 

 characteristics of some of them, as 

 they appear to me. While they 

 are, when regarded collectively, 

 able, shrewd, enterprising and 

 even audacious in their business 

 relations, yet at the same time 

 they can at times be marvellously 

 timid, irresolute and faint-hearted ; 

 and these undesirable qualities are 

 shown quite prominently in the 



management of the disposal of 

 their honey. 



Time and time again, they permit 

 themselves to be imposed upon, 

 misrepresented in conventions, 

 and scornfully treated by the com- 

 mission men when it would be 

 comparatively easy for them to 

 secure ample justice, if not more 

 courteous and considerate treat- 

 ment, by simply maintaining a 

 proper indignation and a disposi- 

 tion to resist aggression. 



We see very plainly, whenever 

 an enemy assails the interests of 

 the beekeeping fraternity, instead 

 of rising en masse, and with one 

 accord demanding that their in- 

 terests should not be slaughtered, 

 the bee masters wait for one an- 

 other to take the lead, and if one 

 more bold and courageous than 

 the rest chooses to make himself 

 conspicuous, the others all devote 

 themselves more closely to their 

 business, and keep quiet for fearing 

 to attract attention to themselves 

 and receive a worse treatment. 



As a rule, editors of bee journals 

 ride over them freely and care- 

 lessly, because the enemies have 

 found that most apiarists are afraid 

 of appearing before the public in 

 conventions in opposition to these 

 enemies, and self-styled professors 

 of apiculture. Honey producers 

 send in delicately-worded petitions 

 to committees, and trust to influ- 

 ence members by written appeals 

 to tl^eir reason, while their oppon- 

 ents crowd the committee rooms 

 and make the members feel that 

 they will be held responsible if 

 they do not please them. 



