1894 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



897 



Now. friend II., and all the rest of the people 

 who seem to think the sole aim of a convention 

 is to ask and answer questions, could read the 

 answers to all of these questions in a paper just 

 as well as to have them given viva voce in a 

 convention; and, further, the answers are 

 more likely to be to the point. 



If one will stop and think for a moment, he 

 will see that this talk about taking the time of 

 a convention is a fallacy. What is the time of 

 a convention for, any way? and what is the 

 purpose for which conventions are held ! The 

 real end in view is. or should be, the promotion 

 of the best interests of bee-keeping throughout 

 the land. I hold that such papers, occupying 

 only a small part of the time of the convention, 

 as they did at St. Joseph, do as much, if not 

 more, to promote the general interest of bee- 

 keeping as any other part of the exercises. 



Conventions are not held for the sole informa- 

 tion or enjoyment of the people who attend 

 them. There is always a larger audience to be 

 had in mind, and whom we should be just as 

 anxious to reach. Bee-keeping depends in a 

 great degree on this larger audience for its 

 prosperity. In fact, its life depends upon the 

 attention and patronage this larger audience 

 may give to the products of the industry. The 

 trouble with some conventions is, thai the 

 whole program seems to lose sight of the gener- 

 al public, and they either resolve themselves 

 into a mutual-admiration society in the interest 

 of a few, or else become an automatic question- 

 box to satisfy the latent egotism of those who 

 have an unconquerable desire to ask questions 

 in order that they may have a chance to an- 

 swer them, flattering themselves all the time 

 that they can answer them a little better than 

 any one else. All questions are not asked for 

 information. 



Then If it were not for these carefully prepar- 

 ed and interesting papers, I apprehend that the 

 general public would know and hear but little 

 about our meetings. The papers of St. Joseph 

 gave large space to the doings of our associa- 

 tion: and what was the principal matter that 

 entered into the make-up of their articles? 

 Why, these papers that friend H. says were a 

 " mistake.'" If I mistake not, the papers would 

 not have given half the space or attention to 

 our industry if this " mistake "' had not been 

 made. In fact, there would have been but little 

 of interest for a daily paper to publish had they 

 not been read. No one will argue for a moment, 

 I presume, that we could have gotten these 

 papers published in the daily papers if they had 

 not been read at the convention. Then, again, 

 I am not so sure that the parties who furnished 

 the papers would have written them for any 

 of the bee-papers. I am quite sure they would 

 not without pay. This is not all. These papers 

 are being copied by other journals, and so the 

 influence of the North American is still going 

 on, and will go on as long as any of the essays 



are in print, and are being read by the general 

 public. 



This answers another statement made by 

 friend H., that it does not pay to publish the 

 notices of our meetings in the agricultural 

 journals, because the people who read them 

 will not come. What of it? The thing we are 

 after is, to let the people of the continent know 

 that there is such a thing as the North Ameri- 

 can Bee-keepers' Association; and then when 

 we want a favor of the railroads, or Congress 

 or a State legislature to pass a law for the pro- 

 tection or promotion of our industry, we shall 

 not be asked, "What is this, any way?" or be 

 further greeted with the remark, "I never 

 heard of it before!" I presume friend H. be- 

 lieves in advertising, to say the least, and I am 

 sure this kind of advertising will pay in the 

 end. I venture to say that there are some peo- 

 ple in this country who have a realizing sense 

 of the importance of bee-keeping who had never 

 heard of the North American Bee-keepers' As- 

 sociation one year ago. 



I took special pains to have the Board of Ag- 

 riculture of our State know that there was such 

 an association in existence; and more: I saw 

 to it that the secretary of said board had an 

 earnest and urgent invitation to attend our 

 meeting. I am sure this will be of great benefit 

 to our industry in Missouri, if not in the entire 

 country. All of this advertising helps to sell 

 honey, and selling honey is of about as much 

 importance to the bee-keeper as any thing of 

 which I know. 



In conclusion I will say I do not think it is a 

 mistake to have some well-digested essays read 

 at the North American, neither do I think it 

 time and money spent in vain to advertise 

 the meetings in the agricultural journals. 

 The more of this the better it will be, as I see 

 things now. 



St. Joseph, Mo., Nov. 17. 



[At first I felt as Mr. Hutchinson expressed 

 himself; but the more I think of it. there is 

 much truth in what you say I would especial- 

 ly emphasize the fact of the great good that can 

 be accomplished in having our conventions ad- 

 vertise the honey business. Even if the notices 

 in the agricultural papers do not help the at- 

 tendance, it lets farmers and everybody else 

 know that bee-keepers are alive and doing ; 

 and when they see the great stacks of honey on 

 the market, instead of jumt)ing to the conclu- 

 sion that "it must he adulterated, for the bees 

 could not produce so large an amount." they 

 may think differently. Yes. indeed, bee-keep- 

 ers should avail themselve>* of cheap advertis- 

 ing: that is. there is hardly an agricultural pa- 

 per but would be glad to publish notice of any 

 bee-convention, free of charge. 



Regarding those essays, I have known fo 

 some time that we might help the general pub- 

 lic to a better understanding of our industry, 

 providing we help the reporters of the great 

 dailies to get material regarding the conven- 

 tion. If it is all off-hand talk, they are pretty 

 apt to put in little or nothing, and even that so 

 garbled as to be worse than nothing. Well, 

 then, if they are handed papers that are read, 



