AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



15 



Report of the Michigan State 

 Bee Keepers' Convention. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY W. Z. HUTCHINSON. 



The Michigan State Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation held its 27th annual conven- 

 tion in the Senate Chamber at Lansing, 

 on Dec. 13 and 14, 1892. 



The meeting was called to order at 11 

 a.m., but so few were present, that it 

 was adjourned to 2 p.m. When the 

 convention came to order at the ap- 

 pointed time, the following members 

 paid their dues : 



T. F. Bingham, Abronia, Mich. 



Prof. A. J. Cook, Agricultural College. 



H. D. Cutting, Tecumseh, Mich. 



James Heddon, Dowagiac, Mich. 



Geo. E. Hilton, Fremont, Mich. 



M. H. Hunt, Bell Branch, Mich. 



W. Z. Hutchinson, Flint, Mich. 



H. J. Kusig, Ravana, Mich. 



Jacob Moore, Ionia, Mich. 



J. A. Pearce, Grand Rapids, Mich. 



R. L. Taylor, Lapeer, Mich. 



M. White, Wheeler, Mich. 



F. W. Wunsch, Lowell, Mich. 



It will be seen that the attendance 

 was very slim, but most of those present 

 were leading bee-keepers, and for the 

 number present there was an unusually 

 interesting time. 



First upon the programme came the 

 address of Pres. R. L. Taylor, which 

 was as follows : 



The Apicultural Outlook. 



I am impressed with the idea that the 

 bts-keeping fraternity are just now in a 

 stite of unrest. I do not refer to that 

 heilthy state of activity so desirable and 

 necessary to the attainment of the 

 higiest success, but to a thirst for " big 

 thills," a straining after the unattain- 

 able discontent with moderate returns, 

 and , spirit of complaining at the recur- 

 renci of poor seasons. This condition is 

 indicted by the desire so often ex- 

 pressd for non-swarming bees and non- 



swarming hives ; by the rumors about 

 comb honey made from sugar ; by the 

 fussing with solf-hivers, and by the hints 

 about abandoning the business. 



Bee-keepers are not peculiar in being 

 subject to this condition. We can all 

 perceive it in farmers, even if we do not 

 see it in ourselves among them. On the 

 return of ordinary seasons after a period 

 of unwonted prosperity, dissatisfaction 

 and complaining, and new schemes, lift 

 their heads in all directions. Individuals 

 may indeed escape this disease, but there 

 is no class but feels it on occasions in 

 some degree. What is the cause of this 

 unsatisfied and restless state among 

 those interested in, apiculture? 



The golden age of apicultural inven- 

 tion is comparatively recent. The be- 

 ginning of the movable comb, of comb 

 foundation, and of the extractor are 

 within the memory of many of us. In- 

 stead of considering these inventions as 

 of themselves constituting a well-rounded 

 period, many have been prone to regard 

 them as only the beginnings of an age of 

 brilliant discoveries to be continued in- 

 definitely ; but time has left those in- 

 ventions 25 years away, and their re- 

 sults have all been gathered up and 

 utilized, and the field is like a played-out 

 gold-mine. 



During all this time, of course, great 

 progress has been made, but there has 

 been no invention which can stand even 

 second to any of those mentioned. This 

 has been a disappointment, and this 

 disappointment is giving utterance to 

 the question heard on every side, What 

 is to be the next great invention in api- 

 culture ? The thought is, that it is high 

 time for another great stride forward. 

 Apiculture is looked upon as almost 

 equal to electric science as a field for 

 discovery. How wide the difference is 

 between the two it is hardly necessary 

 to point out. 



The electrician has the agent — elec- 

 tricity — and knowing its nature, capa- 

 bilities and laws, he seeks in accordance 

 therewith a medium by means of which 

 he can compel it to accomplish a certain 

 definite desired end. 



The apiculturist's desired end is a 

 wonderfully better bee. His object is 

 indeed not very definite, but.how utterly 

 he breaks down in his means, and in his 

 knowledge of the capabilities of the bee. 

 He sends his money for descendants of 

 this one's one-hundred dollar queen, or 

 of that one's red-clover queen, or of the 

 other one's non-swarming queen. He 

 forgets that the bee has been undergoing 

 for ages untold the sharpest possibl 

 course of training calculated to develoe 



