1888 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



787 



paper nests, which we called hornets, that I 

 neglected my regular work, and sometimes, 

 perhaps, kept father and mother waiting for 

 me to get back. 1 do not remember, how- 

 ever, that I ever saw the two insects of dif- 

 ferent colors. Friend Doolittle supposes 

 that the one that brought spiders was the 

 male. Now, if the wasps have queens, 

 drones, and workers, is there not some mis- 

 take here? The queen, of course, must lay 

 the eggs. But if the drones hunt spiders, 

 what in the world do the workers doV I 

 think we shall need some professor of ento- 

 mology to straighten us out before we get 

 through with these near relatives of the 

 honey-bee. 



CONVENTIONS. 



PROF. COOK TALKS TO US ABOUT THE IMPOK- 

 TANCE OP BEING IN ATTENDANCE, ETC. 



§INCE returning- from the meeting in Columbus, 

 I am more than ever convinced of the value 

 and importance of such gatherings. I have 

 always felt that there could be no mistake in 

 this matter. The common practice of all in- 

 telligent societies sustains this position. We say 

 the farmers, as a class, have suffered from isolation 

 and the lack of such associations, and that the 

 grange was a Godsend to the farmer, in that it sup- 

 plied this long-felt want. Mr. Heddon and I have 

 often argued this matter in extenso, both by word of 

 mouth and by letter; and while I have very great 

 respect for Mi-. Heddon's ability as a bee-keeper, 

 which is rarely surpassed, 1 can not but believe 

 that in this matter he is wholly wrong. The opin- 

 ion of the world, as expressed in actions, is with me 

 and not with him. 



There is one serious obstacle in the way of mak- 

 ing our meetings in the highest degree satisfac- 

 tory; that is, the great size of our country. If our 

 association is to warrant calling it North American, 

 we must not limit the meetings to one section of 

 country, nor have we done so. New York, Roches- 

 ter, Toronto, Cleveland, Detroit, Columbus, Lexing- 

 ton, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and Chicago, are wide 

 apart. I think it would be well to go to St. Louis, 

 Louisville, Philadelphia, Pittsburg, Richmond, and 

 New Orleans. But it has always appeared to me 

 that such meetings were more successful where 

 some one appeared in person, invited the associa- 

 tion, and so became in some sense responsible for 

 the success of the meeting. Thus it was that I 

 moved and favored the going to Brantford next 

 year. I feel sure that Mr. Holterman will spare no 

 pains to make the meeting a success. I should 

 have preferred, had we been invited, to go to St. 

 Louis or Kansas City. Now, if we thus migrate we 

 can not expect to have the same persons present 

 each year, nor representatives from all sections. 

 It is too expensive. Of course, if State associations 

 would appoint and bear the expenses of delegates 

 this might be done. But from my observations in 

 other associations, I much doubt the success of any 

 such plan, much as I should like to see it succeed. 

 Yet for all this I still think we can make the meet- 

 ings representative. While we may not secure the 

 personal presence of Smith and Jones at each 

 meeting, we can secure their brains, their thought, 

 which, after all, is what we want. I believe most 

 thoroughly that what we need and must secure is 



such action by our secretary, in preparation for 

 each meeting, as will call forth in brief, say fifteen 

 minutes, carefully prepared papers, the best that is 

 known, from the best bee-keepers of the several 

 States. I say, preparrd papers. I mean just that. 

 Then we get mature views and concise, well-digest- 

 ed pointers. Our best men will do better, when 

 time is taken to carefully prepare themselves. 

 Thus we shall have a dozen or fifteen just such ad- 

 mirable presentations as Dr. Tinker gave at Colum- 

 bus. Then we have a representative meeting. We 

 have some facts of real value presented from all 

 sections. We have some topics to hold us in our 

 discussions. Oli! but it did me good to have my 

 dear friend Dr. Mill but I must not call names- 

 say to me at Columbus, " I believe you are right in 

 this matter of papers." It is such a comfort to see 

 our friends converted. If I could only get Mr. 

 Heddon out to conveutions, I should soon have 

 him on my side as to their importance. 



I hope this matter will be fully discussed. I de- 

 sire that our next meeting be a grand success, and 

 thus a type of the many more to follow it. I be- 

 lieve these meetings may be a great blessing to all, 

 not only to those who attend, but to those who stay 

 at home. I have made some suggestions in the 

 above. Who will speak next? A. J. Cook. 



Agricultural College, Mich. 



Friend Cook, I heartily agree with all you 

 say ; and although I myself am much in- 

 clined to backslide a little, especially if I do 

 not attend the conventions for a while, I 

 never get home without feeling that I am a 

 wiser and a better man, and with a feeling, 

 too, that I have been fultilling better the 

 purpose for which God placed me here upon 

 this earth. In other words, I do believe 

 that the man who stays at home hurts him- 

 self. The great troubles and trials that be- 

 set us through life are often caused by not 

 being acquainted. The uncharitableness, 

 the greed, and selfishness, which we see ex- 

 hibited are the consequences and outgrowth 

 of staying at home— yes, oftentimes of stick- 

 ing to business. Of course, there are peo- 

 ple who do not stick to their business 

 enough, or, perhaps, not in the right way ; 

 but they are exceptions to the general lule. 

 Inasmuch as our good friend the editor of 

 the American Bee Journal gives a carefully 

 prepared report of all the proceedings of the 

 convention, we have not thought best to 

 take space for it here ; but I want to speak 

 a little of the social time we had outside of 

 the regular meetings. Frof. Cook has 

 spoken of the expense of traveling in order 

 to attend the North American conventions. 

 Well, I have before spoken of the expensive 

 hotel bills tliat we are many times called 

 upon to pay ; and I do not kuow but 1 was 

 as much instrumental as any in deciding at 

 Columbus that we should all stop at a low- 

 priced hotel. Mr. Earl Clickenger, a com- 

 mission man (by the way, we had commis- 

 sion men as well as bee-keepers at our de- 

 liberations), informed us that he boarded at 

 a very good moderate-priced house, where 

 the charges were only 2-5 cents a meal and 

 .3-5 cents for bed, providing a lot of us would 

 consent to room together. Now, my first 

 feeling was that I should rather prefer a 

 room by myself, so I could go right to sleep ; 



