THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



273 



Annual Meeting of the North Ameri- 

 can Bee-Keepers' Society. 



Pursuant to notice, the above named 

 Society commenced its annual meeting in 

 tlie hall of the Germania Saving's Bank 

 Pittsburgh, Pa., on Wednesday morning, 

 Xov. 11th, at 10 o'clock. About .lifty 

 members were present, which number 

 was increased to seventy-tive pr eighty by 

 new arrivals in the course of the day. 



President Iloagland occupied the chair. 

 Organization for regular business was 

 deferred until afternoon, and the rest of 

 the forenoon occupied in suggestions of 

 topics for discussion, and informal con- 

 versation or matters pertaining to tlie suc- 

 cess of the meeting. 



Kev. W. F. Clarke nmvcd that a tem- 

 porary committee of tluee be appointed 

 by the chair, to prepare business for tlie 

 session. Carried and W. F. Clarke, 11. A. 

 King and Mrs. Tupper wei'c appointed 

 said committee. 



A motion was also adopted providing 

 for the appointment of a committee of I 

 two, to act with the Secretary, Abncr J. j 

 Pope, of Indianapolis, in preparing the I 

 proceedings of the session for publication, j 



The meeting then adjourned until half- \ 

 past one o'clock r. h. 



The following abstract of the proceed- 

 ings is partly made up from the reports 

 of the Pittsburgh daily press, and partly 

 from the notes of our own reporter. 



AFTEIINOOX SESSION. 



Tlie Society was called to order by 

 President Iloagland, and tht proceedings 

 opened with prayer by the Rev. W. F. 

 Clarke, of Canada, after whicli the Presi- 

 dent made the following 



orENiNC4 address: 

 Ladies and Gentlemen of the ]\'vrt]( 



American Bee-Keepers' Society. 



Not being present at tlie last annual in«et- 

 ing, Louisville, Ky.. I would embrace the 

 prestint opportunity of thanking you for the 

 honor you have eonfeiicd ujioii luo. in se- 

 lecting me to preside over your (lelil)era- 

 tions. Any errors 1 may eonnnit. I \w\vd 

 > ()U may attribute to the right source — tlie 

 head, and not the heait. 



15ee-keeiiing. although not so ]io]nilar a 

 luu-suit as many others, is none the less edi- 

 lying and prolitalile. 'i'lie honey bee is al- 

 iiinst the only insect that has been domesti- 

 cated by man. and aside troni its giving lis 

 wealtli and a delicious luxury, it .possesses 

 many charms, and is a study for tlie nat- 

 uralist. This is only the toiuih >essi()n of a 

 eontinental .society in our land tor the ]im- 

 pose of investigating and leaniiiig of the 

 wonders of this little insect. 



For ages ]iast, organizations have been 

 etfected by <>ur best men to develoj) the 

 varioifri agricultural resources of tlu' land. 

 And during the same jx-iiod the must indus- 

 trious bees of our continent have been con- 

 signed to tile igiioiiiiny of a death by fire 

 and Itrimstoiie. 



If apiarians had given the time and atten- 

 tion in selecting the males and females of 

 the largest and most industrious, ]irolitic 

 and docile colonies to breed from, with tlie 

 same care, shrewdness ami attention that 

 has been practised with horses, cattle, 

 sheep, hogs and iioultry, we would not b(! 

 under the neceshity of iiiii)orling queens 

 fnuii Italy, but would have a race of bees 

 miieli superior to the Italians. ISIan can • 

 not obtain labor from any other source as 

 cheap as from the lioiiey-hee. 'I'hey work 

 for notliing and board trieniselve.s, only re- 

 (juiring house rent free. 



According to the census returns of l>v')0 

 the amount of wax and hon(\v imiduced in 

 the United States was 14,S.>^,nM) i)ounds; in 

 isco. i:i(;,;iS(;,s5.'i jiouiuls. With the increas- 

 ed attention given to the pursuit, together 

 with the increase of colonies, we have no 

 doubt but the present returns will show a 

 vast increase of i)ro<luct. 



Possessing, as we do in America, a genial 

 clmate and a fertile soil, suscei)tible of the 

 jiroduction of richly \ailed honey-produ(!' 

 ing plants and flowers, with a due 'degree of 

 knowledge and euteriirise, the bees could 

 be increased to an extent that the ])rolit 

 arising therefrom would pay all our taxes 

 and supply our tables daily with one of tlie 

 choicest luxuries of life. 



Many of the best men of our land are 

 now employed in aciiuiring praeti(^al know- 

 ledge of the nature and habits of the honey- 

 bee. The sc!«'nce is advancing steadily, 

 and the future is big with developments in 

 a]>iarian pursuits. 



The reading of the minutes of the last 

 session was dispensed with. They liav- 

 ing been publislied. 



REPOKT OF TIIK niSINESS COMMITTEE. 



~Mv. King, from the temporary business 

 committee appointed at the morning ses- 

 sion, submitted tlic following report: 



1. That the eU-ction of oflicers be de- 

 ferred until to-morrow, to take place at a 

 time to be designated by the IJusiness Com- 

 mittee. 



2. That the following topics l)e discuss- 

 ed at the afternoon session: First — "Afi- 

 vantages of Bee-K; ejiiiig." Second — "How 

 is the queen ]ii(pduced from the Worker 

 Egg." Third— "The Sting of the Iloney- 

 Bee," to be introduced by President Iloag- 

 lan<l. Fiftli— "Adulteration of Honey."' to 

 be introduced liy a ]ia]ier from IJev. II. A. 

 King. 



The report was adopted. 



THE ADYAXTACiES OK ISEEKEErhNO. 



The first topic f»n the list was taken up, 

 and was introduced by ]\Ii\s. 10. S. Tup- 

 per, of Des Moines, Iowa. 



•She saiil she could not imagine why she 

 had been calle(l upon to o]ten the discussion 

 on this tf»])ic. unless it was for the rea.son 

 that females are suii])Osed to he always 

 ready to say something, whetlu'r they can 

 talk to the point or not. She then jiroceed- 

 ed to state sonic of tiie advantages of bee- 

 keeping, and claiiiifd that it was not only 

 jirolitable. but that the i»resenee of bees iii 

 and about orchaiils and vineyards tended to 

 iiid'case the yields from \ines and trees. In 

 su|>i>ort of these Mrs. T.. who is a tluent 

 and_ ])leasant speaker, referred to observa- 

 tion's made by herself. Slie also claimed 

 that bei'-rai-inu \\;«'- ^jiecially adv.tntaueons 



