isy, 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



805 



ers' Union on a more substantial basis, both by their influonoe 

 and their money, I move that a committee be appointed by 

 the President to devise some plan by which so desirable an 

 object may be accomplisht whenever the Advisory Hoard of 

 the National Bee-Keepers' Union may signify a wish so to do. 

 (Motion adopted, ind the Board of Directors appointed as 

 such committee ) 



Report of the Secretary. 



Ifr. President mvl Fellow Bee- Keepers : — 



I hardly know what ought to be included In my report, 

 and I'm not responsible for being on the program. The re- 

 sponsibility is all on President York, it being a piece of fool- 

 ishness. I protested against it, but as I thought the matter 

 over 1 came to the conclusion that it wouldn't be a bad plan 

 after all. It will give future Secretaries a chance to vent any 

 spite they may have, and to publicly come out of the " little 

 end of the horn" whenever they may wish to, and sometimes 

 when they don't wish to. 



But, seriously, no one knows the condition of the Union 

 as well as the Secretary ought to know it, and if you are all 

 as much interested in the objects of our organization as I 

 know a goodly number — yes, a large number are, you will be 

 glad to know just how the United States Bee-Keepers' Union 

 came into existence, what has been done, and what condition 

 we are in to-day, for usually when people contribute money 

 to any organization they like to know what has been done 

 with it, and what is being accomplisht. 



As is well known to most readers of the bee-periodicals, 

 the United States Bee-Keepers' Union came into existence be- 

 cause of the demand of bee-keepers for an organization that 

 would not only defend its members in their rights to be the 

 producers of honey, but also take steps, as far as possible, to 

 do away with its adulteration ; and also to see that honey- 

 dealers treat its members, who consign honey to them, in an 

 honest, businesslike manner. 



With this end in view, a committeeo' seven was appointed 

 at the convention in Toronto, in 1895, for the purpose of de- 

 vising some plan by which the North American Bee-Keepers' 

 Association and the National Bee-Keepers' Union could be 

 united and make one strong organization; but after quite an 

 amount of correspondence among the members of the commit- 

 tee, the chairman, for some unexplained reason, allowed the 

 matter to drop, but not being willing to let the matter go by 

 default, some of the members of the committee, with others, 

 prepared and presented to the Lincoln convention a plan for 

 the union of the two organizations, which after a few changes 

 was drafted, and is now the Constitution of the United States 

 Bee-Keepers' Union. 



An effort was made to have the National Bee-Keepers' 

 Union adopt this Constitution, and thus unite the two organi- 

 zations, leaving the old ofBeers of the National Bee-Keepers' 

 Union in full control of'the new organization, but through the 

 efforts of the General Manager of the National Union, and mis- 

 apprehension and misrepresentation by others, of the objects 

 in view and the spirit of those favoring the Union, the meas- 

 ure was defeated, and the United States Bee-Keepers' Union 

 came into existence, and for a "kid" less than five months 

 old, is remarkably healthy and vigorous. 



Many letters of congratulation and wishes for its health- 

 ful growth, and success in business, have come to your .Secre- 

 tary, and these congratulations have always been accompanied 

 by substantial evidences of appreciation in the shape of cash 

 remittances to aid in setting the " kid " up In business. 



The union of the two organizations having been defeated, 

 it became the duty of your Executive Committee to appoint a 

 Board of Directors ; and feeling that the members of the 

 Union ought to have a voice in saying who should constitute 

 said Board, they called for an expression of the members as to 

 whom they would prefer, promising to appoint those receiving 

 the largest number of votes. The result was that the Hon. 

 Eugene Secor, of Forest City, Iowa, was appointed General 

 Manager ; and Rev. E. T. Abbott, of Missouri, C. P. Dadant, 

 of Illinois, VV. Z. Hutci.inson, of Michigan, Dr. C. C. Miller, 

 of Illinois, E. R. Root, of Ohio, and E. Whitcomb, of Nebraska, 

 were appointed a Board of Directors, with E. R. Root as chair- 

 man. 



The Union has already accomplisht something In carrying 

 out one of the objects of its organization. In October, 189.5, 

 one of its members, Mr. P. H. Elwood, made a consignment of 

 honey to a commission firm, and altho the firm was well rated 

 in Bradstreet's as well as in Dun's mercantile reports, he could 

 get no returns or satisfaction. He wrote to the Secretary of 

 the Union in regard to the matter, who at once wrote the 

 firm, stating the objects of the Union, and that it did not in- 

 tend to be unreasonable with honey-dealers, but proposes to 



see that they deal honestly and justly with such members as 

 make consignments of honey to them. A prompt settlement 

 with Mr. Elwood was the result, and he writes me that the 

 interest on the amount will much more than pay his member- 

 ship fee to the Union as long as he lives ; and I'm not sure 

 but he is seriously contemplating donating the whole amount to 

 the Union ! The cost to the Union In this case was 16 cents. 

 Another member, a Mr. A. D. Watson, of Pennsylvania, 

 made a sample consignment of honey to an Ohio commission 

 firm, and could get no satisfaction, but through the efforts of 

 the Secretary of the Union settlement was soon made. 



FINANCIAL 8TATE.MENT. 



Up to this date, Nov. 30, 1897, the Secretary has this 

 statement to offer : 



RECEIPTS. 



Pees for membership $232 50 



For 95 Buffalo programs 4 75 



Total $237 25 



DISBURSEMENTS. 



For postage and stationery $12 91 



Printing programs, etc 14 25 



Badges 3 00 



Telegrams 1 00 



Miscellaneous 1 00 



Secretary's salary 25 00 



Total $57 16 



The total membership of the Union at this date is 299. 



A. B. Ma.son, Sec. 



iSBed ki&|fe) A'SlflP 



Mailing Queen-Bees — Something Historical. 



BY PROF. A. J. COOK. 



We have all read in the bee-periodicals and in other 

 papers, of loose bees in the New York post-ofiBce. We have 

 but to remember how nervous the average man or woman is 

 in the presence of our little friends of the hive, to imagine 

 the consternation that must have accompanied this escape of 

 bees from some illy or carelessly adjusted queen-cage. It is 

 very unfortunate that this accident occurred, which misfor- 

 tune is emphasized in the publicity that is given to the cir- 

 cumstance by the wide publication in the newspaper press of 

 the country. I have read of the event in five or six papers, 

 which makes it probable that hundreds of papers have 

 heralded the report broadly throughout the country. 



A BIT OF HISTORY. 



It is now almost 20 years since bee-keepers have been 

 permitted to mail queen-bees without let or hindrance. It 

 will be remembered that some time previous to that date the 

 postal authorities had permitted the mailing of queen-bees, 

 but had placed an interdict on the practice because the honey 

 placed in the cages to serve as food for the queen and her 

 attendants in transit, would leak out and daub the mails. 

 Another grievance was the fact that the mail-clerks would 

 occasionally get stung. So far as I can remember there was 

 no complaint of the bees breaking out from the cages. As 

 will be remembered, great effort was made by personal letters, 

 interviews and petitions, to secure a removal of this interdict. 

 The postal authorities were obdurate to all entreaties, and 

 persistently refused to grant the request. 



About this time the North American Bee-Keepers' 

 Association met at Chicago. I think it was in 1878. 

 It was one of the strongest and best meetings of bee-keepers 

 ever held in this country. At that meeting a bitter complaint 

 was made against the ruling, denying bee-keepers the privi- 

 lege of mailing queen-bees. It was shown that the cost and 

 labor in the remote regions, securing queens by express, 

 amounted to many dollars, whereas it would only be one or two 

 cents if the mails could be used. The writer stated, at that 



