166 



Why ? What evil has he done ? 



In the excitement which usually fol- 

 lows an harangue against any individual, 

 the language of the above heading is 

 seldom heard. The ''leaders" are in- 

 tent upon "exciting the passions" — 

 not upon causing diligent inquiry. It 

 appears that such was the case at the 

 Utica Convention, where the resolutions 

 condemning us and the Bee Journal 

 were passed. But two persons (accord- 

 ing to the official report) made any at- 

 tempt to stay the proceedings long 

 enough to obtain a statement of the 

 other side of the case. Whoever heard 

 of a "court of justice," in a free 

 country, condemning even the most 

 hardened criminal, without first giving 

 him an opportunity to be heard in his 

 own defense ? But there they con- 

 demned lis in hot haste, without even 

 notifying us or our friends that they 

 contemplated such action. That this 

 was intended, at least two months pre- 

 viously, is proved by the fact that the es- 

 say containing the attack was placed on 

 the programme, and published in the 

 Bee Journal for Jan., page 54. They 

 used a large space in the very paper 

 they sought to destroy, to advertise, 

 without pay, the programme of the 

 meeting, and issued ten thousand pro- 

 grammes (or promised to do so) and ob- 

 tained advertisements from our friends 

 as well as ourselves, to pay the expense 

 of printing and mailing them. 



The author of the attack has written 

 several times to this office, within the 

 past three months ; yet he gave no 

 word of warning, nor appeared to be 

 other than on the most friendly terms 

 with the Journal and its editor. 



Many New York apiarists have 

 written to us, stating that they did not 

 endorse the action of the Convention. 

 The following letter from that State 

 will speak for itself : 



Callicoon, N. Y., March 13, 1880. 

 Dear Editor. — I have been a subscriber 

 to the Bee Journal for years, and pro- 

 nounce it the ablest and best periodical 

 devoted to apiculture— the noblest of them 

 all. What can you have done to merit the 

 unqualified censure heaped upon you by 



the Northeastern Convention, as reported in 

 the Bee-Keepers' Magazine? As a dis- 

 interested party, allow me to say I do not 

 think you deserve such treatment, and of 

 having the epithets of "fraud" and "ras- 

 cality" applied to you. Does the work you 

 have done for bee-keepers, both in America 

 and Europe, merit such treatment ? It pains 

 me much to see such ingratitude, and 1 

 call for the "yeas" and "nays" from the 

 whole body of apiarists, on the Resolutions 

 which the few misguided individuals passed 

 at Utica. 1 was invited to attend that Con- 

 vention, with an essay ; had 1 been present, 

 there would have been some lively talk. 

 Vive la Bee Journal ! A. E. Wenzel. 



What have we done V Nothing, but 

 to devote our time, talents and money 

 to advance the science of apiculture. 

 Nothing, but to work hard for the 

 interests of bee-keepers, laboring for 

 their prosperity and harmony. Nothing, 

 but to try to do our duty to our fellow 

 beings as well as ourselves. If the pre- 

 judiced and misguided, become jealous 

 of the honors we have received while 

 in the discharge of these duties, we 

 shall neither complain, nor " rest from 

 our labors" till life's work is done! 

 They may " cast out our name as evil," 

 or " say all manner of evil against us 

 falsely,' 1 ' 1 still we shall be "blessed" 

 with the approval of all right-minded 

 and honest-hearted individuals as well 

 as our own conscience. 



1 want not wealth, nor fame, nor power— 

 I want to feel, deep in ray heart, 

 I've acted well my humble part ; 

 And when my busy course is run 

 I want the verdict Riven— "Well done !" 

 "In works of Rood, his hours were spent 

 His deeds shall be his monument"— 



All this I want, and nothing more. 



tgiP Concerning the use of electricity 

 iu quieting bees, as described by Herrn 

 Freiwirth, on page 133 of the Bee 

 Journal for March, let us say that he 

 is experimenting. Let no one run away 

 with the idea that it is approved by the 

 Bee Journal simply because the ex- 

 periments are there detailed by Mr. 

 Freiwirth. We are by no means con- 

 vinced that such are safe methods of 

 controlling bees, but our columns are 

 always open for the description of new 

 methods and experiments, hoping by so 

 doing to advance the science of apicul- 

 ture. If we published only old methods, 

 we should stand in the way of all im- 

 provements and advances in our art. 



