^L\v, 1920 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



273 



kiH'peis brouglit out the faet that iiiauy 

 wvre (liscoiiiagi'd, and they did not believe 

 that any organized effort Avoiild benefit 

 tlieni. Otliers were anxious to do something, 

 but did not Ivuow wliat to do. The State 

 Association laeked power to help, and the 

 industry was drifting along at the nierey of 

 tlie winds. After nuudi eorrespondenee with 

 beekeepers and the oHieials of various State 

 organizations, a plan for getting the co- 

 operation of the beekeepers was decided 

 upon, and we have followed that plan of 

 organization work successfully to the pres- 

 ent time. 



Fortunately, plans for reorganization had 

 alreatly been started in Wisconsin when 

 the United States entered the war, and the 

 stimulus brought on by the sugar shortage 

 hel]ied as no other factor could; but had 

 not the government oftieials also been ready 

 and given us free help, I doubt wiiether we 

 could have advanced as we have. Our first 

 efforts were certainly most discouraging, 

 and it is no discredit to all who helped, 

 when I say that, had w'e given up at any 

 time during the last year, the results from 

 the standpoint of organization would have 

 been almost nothing. Of the 28 organiza- 

 tions formed during the first two years of 

 our work 23 ha\e died ami have been com- 

 pletely reorganized. Several have been re- 

 organized three or four times. 



Meetings and Schools. 



The best way to interest people in helping 

 to build up an organization is to give them 

 an active part in the work. This we have 

 done, by giving every beekeeper a chance 

 to do active w'ork in the State Association 

 and by showing the beekeepers themselves 

 that they alone are responsible for improv- 

 ing conditions within the State. We held 

 meetings in every county where the bee- 

 keepers were interested and have succeeded 

 in convincing most of the big beekeepers as 

 well as others that they can not succeed 

 alone and would surely fail in the end, if 

 they did not organize and co-operate in 

 fighting foul-brood diseases and in buying 

 su])plies and marketing their crop. We have 

 also been able to convince the best beekeep- 

 ers that they could be helped in an educa- 

 tional way. 



With the aid of men from the beekeeping 

 department at Washington one-day meetings 

 have been held as follow^s: 1916, none; 

 1917, 21; 1918, 75; and 1919, 62. The aver- 

 age attendance at these meetings has been 

 22. A total of 53 counties has been reached. 



In August, 1919, we held a beekeepers' 

 Chautauqua at Madison with a registered 

 attendance of 161 people. Three years ago 

 25 people could not have been brought to- 

 gether for such a meeting. 



We are also conducting a series of three- 

 day bee schools wherever 25 beekeepers will 

 agree to come. Eight have been held and 

 twelve more are arranged for. The average 

 attendance at these meetings is approxi- 

 mately 30, with 40 in one case. As high as 

 2,000 colonies of bees have been represent- 



ed at one school. To educate, to co-operate, 

 to organize, and to improve is the keynote 

 of every meeting and every school. The bee- 

 keepers themselves are behind every move- 

 ment, and their whole-hearted co-operation 

 has made the work a success. Close co- 

 operation exists between the State Beekeep- 

 ers ' Association, the University, and the 

 State Departments of Agriculture, and in 

 every forward movement one helps the 

 other. Every time w^e write a letter to a 

 beekeeper who is not on our list, we inclose 

 a nice little card inviting him to join the 

 State Association. The response to these 

 cards has been unusually good. A new plan 

 of organization adopted by the State Asso- 

 ciation in 1917 has also done much in de- 

 veloping a new interest in organization 

 work. The State society is made up of the 

 parent association with state-wide interests 

 and affiliated county or district societies 

 with more local interests. 



Local and State Associations. 



Thru the Beekeeping Extension Division 

 of the College of Agriculture, local associa- 

 tions have been formed in 30 different coun- 

 ties and districts, and 19 of these have af- 

 filiated with the State society. In order to 

 affiliate with the State Association a local 

 society must have 10 members on its rolls 

 who are also members of the State Associa- 

 tion. The other members of a local are not 

 required to belong to the State Association; 

 but, as a rule, when locals become affiliated, 

 the dues of the local are made to include 

 State Association dues, and each local mem- 

 ber automatically becomes a state member. 

 This plan also provides for a board of man- 

 agers, who govern the policies of the Asso- 

 ciation. This board is composed of dele- 

 gates, elected one from each affiliated as- 

 sociation, and exclusive of the president 

 and secretary of the association who are ex- 

 officio members; its members constitute a 

 nominating committee for the selection of 

 state officers. This makes the Association 

 democratic and gives each local an equal 

 interest in the management of its affairs. 



Now as to the result: The Association 

 has increased its membership in three years 

 from 100 to more than 550; 30 locals have 

 been formed with a total membership of 

 1,150 members, and 19 of these with 625 

 members have become an active part of the 

 mother organization. Members of local as- 

 sociations are benefited thru co-operative 

 buying and marketing and educational meet- 

 ings. Members of the State Association in 

 addition receive each month a copy of Wis- 

 consin Horticulture, in which there are four 

 pages of beekeeping matter, and also receive 

 the aid of the State Association should oc- 

 casion require. Because of organized ef- 

 fort the State Association was able to have 

 a new bee law, with a substantial appro- 

 priation, passed at the last legislature with 

 but a single dissenting vote. The State As- 

 sociation has also secured the co-operation 

 of the state and national marketing bureaus 

 and thru the State Entomologist's office the 



