48 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



gated at the Department of Agriculture, 

 bears on that industry more directly by 

 far than it does on Apiculture. Yet it 

 is left in full force and activity. Why 

 then should not the Entomological 

 Division, in case it still holds control of 

 the bee-keeping experiments, with its 

 still larger appropriation, continue its 

 one man with a paltry $1,000 a year in 

 the service of bee-keeping ? I earnestly 

 believe that it should do so, and would, 

 if bee-keepers would insist on their 

 rights as they may, and ought to do. I 

 know that Mr. Benton is still in the 

 Department, and we all know that he is 

 competent to do royal service ; yet we 

 all know that he is doing almost nothing 

 to aid bee-keeping. He is kept in other 

 lines of work. Perhaps we are unfortu- 

 nate, in that he is such a good all- 

 around man. 



I was criticised at the late Illinois 

 State Association for suggesting that Dr. 

 Riley might not be an enthusiast in our 

 line of work. Do not the above facts 

 make such a suggestion reasonable, es- 

 pecially as he commenced preparation to 

 discontinue the position held by Mr. 

 Larrabee long before he could know that 

 this excuse for it would ever exist ? Dr. 

 Riley is an entomologist, and a good 

 one, but he has little knowledge of api- 

 culture, and it would not be strange if 

 his interest and sympathy were no 

 greater than his knowledge. In view of 

 the facts, this is so probable, that I be- 

 lieve the suggestion criticised was, war- 

 ranted. 



Again, Dr. Riley's whole plan must be 

 approved by the Assistant Secretary, or 

 the Secretary of Agriculture, and so no 

 action by Congress is necessary, and we 

 can petition directly to the head of the 

 Department for a change that shall re- 

 store the one worker to the field ; and if 

 we are full of push and determination, 

 we can surely secure it. A committee 

 appointed by the National Association 

 to appeal directly to the Secretary of 

 Agriculture, backed by a copious shower 

 of petitions from all over the country, 

 will insure action. I say, let us on to 

 the conquest ! 



As to State action, I need not add 

 very much to the above. Those States 

 where apiculture is an important indus- 

 try, like New York, Michigan. Illinois. 

 Ohio, Iowa, Colorado, Utah and Califor- 

 nia, owe it to bee-keepers to institute 

 experiments in apiculture in connection 

 with the experiment stations of the sev- 

 eral States. To secure this, we only 

 need to inaugurate the same earnest, 

 persistent action suggested above. We 

 ought to have a good, live committee, 



and the same flood of petitions. Our 

 President and Secretary, as expert bee- 

 keepers, and at the same time legislators, 

 should be on this committee. 



All the above andsimilar States should 

 be asked to select some wise, energetic, 

 wide-awake bee-keeper to take the work 

 in hand. If he were asked to give all 

 his time, he should have $1,000 or 

 $1,500 a year salary. If he is only to 

 keep watch and secure aid when dan^ 

 gers menace, then a few hundred dol- 

 lars will pay him well, and prove a very 

 wise expenditure on the part of the 

 station. 



In our own State we have a very ex- 

 cellent plant now owned by the experi- 

 ment station, and yet the State has not 

 for the last two years paid anything for 

 its management. It seems to me that 

 Michigan could do no wiser thing than 

 to man this station with one of its 

 brightest and mpst capable bee-keepers. 

 I believe the station would get as good 

 and as ample fruit from such a course as 

 in any line of work which it could un- 

 dertake. I believe this association could 

 institute action that would secure this 

 benefit. Can we make effort in any 

 more desirable direction ? 



A. J. Cook. 



James Heddon — I would like to know 

 how it so often happens that such offices 

 are so frequently filled by incompetent 

 men ? I am ready to vote, too, for the 

 measure if I can only be sure that the 

 office will be filled with a competent 

 man. I want a man that has produced 

 a crop of honey, and knows something 

 about the real bread-and-butter side of 

 the business. 



Prof. Cook — There are many things 

 that the right man could do. For in- 

 stance, in our old cellar, the bees have 

 always wintered perfectly. In the new 

 one it has always oeen a failure. Now, 

 there must be a reason for this. If this 

 point could be decided it would be a 

 great help. There are many other simi- 

 lar points that might be decided if we 

 could have the right man at the work. 

 At the College is an apiary. All that is 

 needei is a man to make the experi- 

 ments. If a thousand petitions should 

 go to the proper officers it would be 

 found that a paltry cut of $10,000 

 would not result in leaving the place 

 vacant. 



Geo. E. Hilton — I know something of 

 the experiments that Mr. Larrabee had 

 outlined, and they ought to be continued. 

 I hope this meeting will not be allowed 

 to pass without something being done to 

 secure our rights in this matter. 



