148 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Jan., 



I trust our present meeting will deepen our 

 interest in apiculture, give a new impetus to this 

 pursuit, unite us more heartily in friendly co- 

 operation, strengthen and develop as a power for 

 usefulness this North American Beekeepers' So- 

 ciety, and so hasten on the millenium of bee- 

 keeping, which a humble poet of your own has 

 pictured in the following stanza: 



" With all facilities for honey getting, 

 Grace of bees that will admit of petting ; 

 Each household of an apiary possessed, 

 Bee-keeping followed with unflagging zest, 

 Jloney and milk shall flow all countries through, 

 And ' home, sweet home,' obtain a meaning new." 



On motion of Secretary King, of New York, 

 the president appointed a committee to prepare 

 an order of business, and also topics for discus- 

 sion, with instructions to report at 2 P. M. The 

 committee consisted of Seth Hoagland, of Penn- 

 sylvania, chairman, Dr. T. B. Hamlin, of Tenn., 

 Dr. George L. Lucas, of Illinois, Mrs. E. S. 

 Tupper, of Iowa, Dr. Jewell Davis, of Illinois, 

 J. W. Hosmer, of Minn., and Hon. M. L. Dun- 

 lap, of Illinois. 



In the absence of a regular order of business, 

 the president stated that Dr. Bohrer had pre- 

 pared a paper on "The Objects of this Society," 

 which he would call on him to read, if consistent 

 with the pleasure of the society. There being 

 no objection, Dr. Bohrer read as follows : 



Ladies and gentlemen of the North American 

 Beekeepers' Society. This being our third an- 

 nual session, it will not, I think, be deemed 

 improper or unimportant to take a retrospec- 

 tive view of our proceedings, and, if possible, 

 ascertain and expose before the public, in part 

 at least, the beneficial results which have been 

 derived from the same by the masses of the bee- 

 keeping public. 



For most unquestionably it should be the 

 grand object of a national organization of apia- 

 rians, to benefit not only the few who may meet 

 and deliberate from time to time, but, if possible, 

 the entire profession should in some degree or 

 other share the benefits, from the humblest 

 beginner with his single colony, to the most ex- 

 tensive apiarian with his thousand swarms. 



But, in attempting to canvass our proceedings, 

 I feel compelled to acknowledge myself some- 

 what at a loss, on the account that our reports up 

 to our last annual meeting are too meager to af- 

 ford any considerable amount of assistance ; and 

 aside from this, I have not had access to our cor- 

 responding secretary's record books, so that my 

 position is not at all fortified by official reports, 

 but I am left to treat the subject entirely from 

 information obtained through an extensive cor- 

 respondence and personal observation. Such I 

 will state in the outset should not be the case ; 

 but instead of such a state of affairs, our records 

 should be full and complete, so that any one, 

 whether directly connected with our society or 

 not, could examine our proceedings at any time, 

 and find them to be such in character as to re- 

 flect credit upon the organization from which 

 , they emanated. Such is the condition of our 

 report of the Cleveland convention ; but the re- 



ports of the two previous meetings, held here 

 and at Cincinnati, are such as to amount to but 

 little more than a blank to all who were not 

 present to witness the deliberations. 



At Cleveland, a publishing committee was ap- 

 pointed, and positive instructions were given to 

 publish the proceedings of all our meetings held 

 up to that time, but from some cause or other, 

 not yet explained to the satisfaction of many, 

 only one third of our record is in print. The ex- 

 planation given, states that a full report of our 

 proceedings of the session held at this phice, 

 could not be obtained. But why such should be 

 the case, I with many others cannot fully under- 

 stand, in presence of the fact that we had a sec- 

 retary, who stated to me in person, some 

 months after the close of the session mentioned, 

 that he held the records of our proceedings, and 

 that the same would be turned over at Cleveland. 



This promise on his part was complied with iu 

 part to my certain knowledge ; but as to whether 

 or not a complete report was transmitted I am 

 unable to state, but I will at any rate hazard the 

 prediction that such was not the case, or the 

 funds in our treasury were not sufficient to de- 

 fray the expense of publishing our transactions 

 in full. Here I will let my inquiries rest, and will 

 at once state that unless we can so shape our 

 transactions as to furnish all who may feel dis- 

 posed to read after us, a true copy of what we 

 say and do, it is simply a waste of time to meet 

 and transact business, except to the few who 

 may have something to sell that pertains to bee- 

 keeping. 



To such as have a hive to sell, or some colonies 

 of bees and queens to dispose of, a convention is 

 a very good place to scatter circulars, and de- 

 scribe the excellent qualities of a hive. It is also 

 a place of unsurpassed qualities for editors of 

 bee journals to procure subscribers, and to get a 

 few friends to puff them and their merchandise, 

 a full report of which never fails to appear in the 

 next issue of their papers. This is all right and 

 proper, as every person is justly entitled to the 

 privilege of advertising his own business to the 

 very best advantage, but it cannot be expected 

 that they will put very much in print, and herald 

 the same broadcast over the country, that is not 

 calculated either directly or indirectly to advance 

 their own personal pecuniary interests. Such 

 being the case, it is quite easy to understand 

 that all who do not happen to be present at our 

 meetings cannot become the possessors of any- 

 thing but a garbled report of our transactions, 

 and that the grand object for which a national 

 society should exist is at once crippled, and un- 

 worthy of the support of the masses, whilst it is 

 conducted upon such a plan. 



For all cannot attend our meetings ; perhaps 

 not more than one out of every hundred who 

 feel, or who can be made to feel themselves in- 

 terested, provided we conduct our business pro- 

 perly, can be present, for two very conspicuous 

 reasons. 



First. Many of our railroads stubbornly refuse 

 to pass our members to and from our conventions 

 except full fare is paid both ways. True, some 

 of them have from the first move that was made 

 towards the organization of a National body of 



