AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL-. 



Bee-Keepers' Union.— The fol- 

 owing is the General Manager's 8th 

 Annual Report, for the year 1892 : 



At the close of another year, it is my 

 duty to review the work of the National 

 Bee-Keepers' Union, and offer some com- 

 ments thereon. 



The influence of such an organization, 

 and the help which its moral support 

 renders to its members, have been demon- 

 strated many times during the past year, 

 and such is but a repetition of the past 8 

 years of its history. 



" Great deeds cannot die ; 

 They with the sun and moon renew their light 

 Forever— blessing those that looli on them."' 



The limits allowed to this Report will 

 compel the greatest brevity, and so I must 

 enter at once upon the facts, without any 

 further preliminary remarks. 



Early in the year the city council of 

 Miami, Mo., was petitioned to expel the 

 bees from the city limits. An ordinance 

 was passed and the work begun, but the 

 influence of the National Bee-Keepers' 

 Union was so great that the city council 

 dared do nothing more than thus to make 

 itself "the laughing stock of the world." 



In April, malicious hatred worked up a 

 case against Mr. H. D. Davis, in Bradford, 

 Vt., and threatened to prosecute him for 

 keeping bees there. The village trustees 

 passed the law declaring bees a nuisance, 

 but they dare not in force it. Copies of the 

 Decision of the Supreme Court of Arkansas, 

 officially deciding that "bee-keeping is not 

 a nuisance," were freely distributed among 

 the Trustees and those in authority, and 

 Mr. Davis was allowed to continue to keep 

 bees there, as he had done for 13 years 

 before. An envious neighbor made the 

 trouble, but he was soon squelched by 

 public opinion, which had been created 

 after reading the documents of the National 

 Bee-Keepers' Union. 



Down in Tennessee, in Hill City, John F. 

 Haeger keeps bees. His neighbor raises 

 grapes, but found them rotten because of 

 the very rainy season, and concluded that 

 the innocent bees had done the damage. 

 He threatened to spray them with arsenic, 

 to destroy the bees. He was informed that 

 it was a dangerous thing to do, for some of 

 the poison may get into the surplus honey, 

 and humanity would suffer by its consump- 

 tion. He was further told of the existence 

 of the National Bee-Keepers' Union, and 

 that its special work was to protect its 

 members from such malicious folly. He 

 went home to think about it, and the next 

 day came to Mr. Haeger and apologized 

 for his abuse of the bees and murderous 

 intent. Mr. H. wrote thus to the General 

 Manager: "Stick another feather in the 

 Union's cap." Surely, its moral influence 

 is as potent as its flnancial backing. 



Iowa next came into line. John Foulkes, 

 in Cascade, sued his two neighbors, who 

 kept bees, to compel their removal. Among 

 other foolishness he claimed that "the bees 

 swarmed around his premises, shut out the 

 light of day, and kept his house in dark- 



ness." Possibly, the bees had stung him 

 near the eyes, and so had shut out the light 

 of day to him personally ! 



This is about on a par with the ignorance 

 of the fellow who declared that his neigh- 

 bor's bees ate up his peaches, and made a 

 meal of his young ducks ! ! 



The bee-keepers, Messrs. Wyrick and 

 Hunter, were members of the Union, and 

 the General Manager took charge of the 

 case and employed an able attorney to 

 defend it. The case was submitted in 

 August, on ex-parte testimony, by agree- 

 ment, the affidavits being very numerous 

 on each side. The judge refused to grant 

 injunctions, because he said it would 

 "interfere with a business which the Courts 

 recognize as legal." The Arkansas Decision 

 did it ! Thus ended the bombast of John 

 Faulkes, and his malicious slanders against 

 the bees and their owners. 



Out in California a member of the Union 

 was threatened by jealous neighbors for 

 keeping bees in National City. It was Mr. 

 Arthur Hanson, and he applied to the 

 General Manager, who dosed the city 

 officials with the official Decision of the 

 Supreme Court of Arkansas, that "Bee- 

 Keeping was not a nuisance !" That settled 

 the whole matter. Peace and quietness 

 reigns there now. 



But why multiply words ? All cases of 

 trouble submitted to the Union show the 

 same result, and this part of the Report 

 may well be concluded with the following 

 from the pen of that staunch friend of the 

 bees, Mrs. L. Harrison. She says : 



"The Bee-Keepers' Union has done much 

 to cause our industry to be respected and 

 placed upon a firm foundation. It has 

 taught evil disposed persons and corpora- 

 tions that the production of honey is a 

 legitimate business. Its able Manager, Mr. 

 Thomas G. Newman, of Chicago, is always 

 on the watchtower, scanning the horizon, 

 and on the least appearance of danger is 

 on the alert with well-directed guns. He 

 has caused the enemy to retract and apolo- 

 gize for malicious statements." 



Ne^v ^Vork for the Union. 



For several months there has been much 

 discussion in the bee-periodicals, about the 

 Union assuming new functions. As no one 

 is able to say whether it shall or shall not do 

 so, it is now proposed to submit it to vote. 



In order to act in a legitimate manner, 

 here comes a motion from one of the Vice- 

 Presidents. It explains itself : 



" Mr. Thos. G. Newman, 

 General Manager of Bee-Keepers' Union: 



I move you that the scope of the National 

 Bee-Keepers' Union be enlarged, so as to 

 include prosecutions, looking to the preven- 

 tion of the adulteration of honey. 



Yours truly, A. J. Cook." 



This has been seconded by Mr. Ernest 

 R. Root, and supported by a number of 

 other members. 



In order to submit it to the members, I 

 have prepared an amended Constitution, 



