THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



203 



reach the beekeepers and these as- 

 sociations are branded as a " ring 

 of noisy, boisterous fellows, whose 

 only wish is to create disturbance. " 



Is this not monopoly of the 

 rankest kind ? These are great 

 questions which we hope that our 

 readers will carefully study and de- 

 cide upon at our conventions. 



It is not our wish to injure any 

 journal Or misrepresent it, neither 

 to say that its editor has no right 

 to publish such a journal ; as this 

 would be unkind and neither riglit 

 nor just, but the question with us 

 is what course will benefit the lar- 

 gest number, and when we have de- 

 cided upon that we mean to speak 

 so loud and plain that every bee- 

 keeper will hear and understand it. 



And we hope and trust that at 

 Rochester, New York, the beekeep- 

 ers may look into this matter and 

 organize the National Association 

 so thoroughly that we shall be able 

 to cope successfully with ever}' sub- 

 ject brought before the beekeeping 

 fraternity for consideration. 



In order that our motives may 

 not be misconstrued, should we be 

 so fortunate as to take part in the 

 deliberations of the convention at 

 Rochester, we wish to state here 

 and now that in our opinion the 

 only proper wa^' for associations 

 to dispose of their reports is to 

 have them printed in pamphlet form 

 and furnish them to the beekeepers 

 at a price that will cover the cost 

 of publication; we advocated this 

 at the N. E. B. A., but they were 

 not prepared for it and the result 

 was that the reports were given to 

 the " Api " for publication, but we 



hope that the National Assoc, will 

 prepare to publish its own reports. 



We mean to keep this matter be- 

 fore the beekeepers until they take 

 action upon it and our greatest rea- 

 son for accepting for the Apicul- 

 TURiST the honored position as the 

 official organ of the N. E. B. A. 

 was but to aid in working out this 

 problem and advancing apiculture. 



We might perhaps consider that 

 we were on the wrong track were 

 it not for the company that we are 

 in, and when we fiud the masters 

 of apiculture rallying about us one 

 by one and endorsing our position 

 we feel certain that we are in the 

 right, and while this is so we shall 

 go on and on until our work is done. 



We may not always advocate the 

 best means for a remedy but the 

 Apiculturist is open for candid 

 discussion upon every subject per- 

 taining to apiculture, and it is not 

 our fault if these matters are not 

 discussed. 



Friend Pond has touched upon an 

 important question, and here let us 

 say that we doubt if there are many 

 2mre Italians in the hands of our 

 supply dealers or queen breeders ; 

 and indeed, if all the dealers were 

 to meet together, we think that but 

 a small minority would be able to 

 tell us of what race or cross a few 

 of the specimens are that we have 

 preserved in alcohol. 



It is very important that we have 

 "standards" where we can in con- 

 nection with apiculture, and when 

 all of our associations are willing 

 to work wholly for the good of the 

 majority then these matters will be 

 attended to. 



