1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1149 



doing instead of these smaller and more un- 

 important things." As Mr. Pi'ance said 

 these words I applauded; and some seemed 

 to wonder why I alone should applaud. Be- 

 cause I must confess I was sorry to see that 

 theBoardofDirectors had seemed to favor the 

 idea that the "suppression of adulteration" 



. . "is the secondary object of the Asso- 

 ciation" . . "that it must not be expect- 

 ed to neglect or jeopardize the prime object 

 of the Association to protect and defend its 

 members in their lawful rights." I believe 

 the time has come when the Association 

 should devote itself to larger things more 

 than it has ever done before for the suppres- 

 sion of adulteration, and fostering all worthy 

 attempts to secure pure-food laws in the 

 various States; and, when once secured, to 

 bring about their enforcement. I don't see 

 any thing in the constitution that implies 

 the defense feature as of more importance 

 than that of the suppression of adulteration. 



One case Mr. France gave to illustrate his 

 point to show that some of these troubles 

 between neighbors might be avoided. I can 

 do no better than to quote his own words, 

 for I think they are golden: 



For those of us who live near neighbors, and our 

 bees, in the spring, perchance, should spot the neigh- 

 bors' clothing, how nicely a little donation of honey, 

 friendly given, or paying for the relaundryingof the 

 clothing, wouli settle all that grievance! If our bees go 

 to our neighbors' trough or place where the water is 

 obtained, and they are an annoyance there, sweeten 

 that away with a little kindly donation of honey. If 

 our bees annoy our neighbors in a garden or upon the 

 near highways, you know they can be sweetened in 

 the same way. Oh ! I have gone to various places, and 

 have compromised it without any litigation by just 

 bringing the two parties together and having a little 

 honey and new biscuits. Keep together; compromise; 

 keep out of court; be brothers hereafter. 



Every member, as he sends in his dollar 

 and his vote, ought to read over the above 

 words. Why should a part of that dollar be 

 wasted— worse than wasted— when a com- 

 promise can be easily effected? Mr. France 

 showed how he had in numerous cases gone 

 to the contending parties and fixed up mat- 

 ters himself without any litigation. Then 

 he added, " These people might just as well 

 have done this themselves, and saved me the 

 time and expense in the first place." 



The General Manager said he was willing 

 to do almost any thing in his power; but he 

 thought bee-keepers might render him very 

 efficient aid in one way and another. The 

 Association issued a little pamphlet on bees 

 and horticulture for the benefit of those re- 

 ceiving injury by people spraying fruit-trees 

 while in bloom. This had become alarming 

 in some parts of the country, and many 

 apiarists suffered severely. In several in- 

 stances the little pamphlet had produced the 

 desired effect. 



There was another pamphlet, he said, that 

 has been issued by the Association, and that 

 one was in reference to decisions of the 

 courts and laws relating to bees in the dif- 

 ferent States. These were all codified so as 

 to be convenient for ready reference. 



In closing, Mr. France desired to express 

 his appreciation of the noble way the bee- 

 keepers had stood by him and the organiza- 



tion. He felt it was now on a basis of per- 

 manency. There was not very much money 

 in the treasury— $1115. At the close of his 

 remarks the General Manager was most 

 heartily applauded, and was extended a vote 

 of thanks besides. This was carried by a 

 rising vote, and there was not a member 

 present but felt that he had in Mr. France 

 a most faithful and efficient officer. 



SIDELIGHTS FROM THE CHICAGO-NORTHWEST- 

 ERN CONVENTION. 



Next to the National Bee-keepers'Associ- 

 ation meeting, this probably, in general at- 

 tendance and enthusiasm, would rank first. 

 Chicago is the center of a large number of 

 local bee-keepers, for sweet clover has made 

 the business possible in and about the city to 

 such an extent that there are hundreds of 

 bee-keepers within but few miles of the 

 great city. It is accessible over all roads, 

 and this makes it a good convention place. 



Bee-keepers this year assembled at the 

 Revere House in what is known as the 

 "lodge-room." Mr. Yoi'k is the president; 

 and the old feature of having a question-box 

 and nothing else seemed to hold its own. 

 Dr. Miller has often said that a question-box 

 convention was more profitable than one de- 

 voted to the reading of long papers. A good 

 deal, of course, will depend on the president 

 and the bee-keeper. But certainly the ques- 

 tion-box feature was a success at the North- 

 western. 



One question discussed was this: "Where 

 shall the thermometer be placed in the cel- 

 lar?" Dr. Miller, in reply, said that it 

 should be located centrally, and always kept 

 there. To put it in one place at one time 

 and then move it to another would make it 

 impossible to know of the absolute rise or 

 fall of the temperature. 



Another question was, "What are the ad- 

 vantages of the shook swarm?" Mr. Hutch- 

 inson thought there was no advantage except 

 that it put the swarming at a time when the 

 bee-keeper could take care of it. He urged 

 that the colonies be shaken only when the 

 bees were making preparations to swarm. 



Another question was, "Shall we use the 

 term shook or shaken swarms?" Dr. Miller 

 urged the dropping entirely of the term 

 shook; but some of the other members seem- 

 ed to favor the monosyllable as being more 

 expressive. Mr. Abbott mentioned the fact 

 that we are continually coining new words 

 to describe new devices and new methods; 

 and as the word shook had come to be quite 

 generally understood and accepted by bee- 

 keepers, why not use it, even if it were not 

 technically grammatical? 



" Is bee-keeping suitable for women ? " 

 called forth a number of affirmative re- 

 sponses from the ladies present. President 

 York asked Miss Wilson, who had the floor, 

 "Is it convenient to have a man around to 

 do some of the heavy work?" Instantly 

 came the rejoinder, "Yes, if you can get 

 one." Laughter. 



"Do bees freeze to death?" was a ques- 

 tion that elicited quite a heated discussion. 



