THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



107 



We look forward to this meeting 

 with great interest. There are 

 man}' questions of vital importance 

 which will be brought before the 

 convention for discussion and to 

 be decided upon, and we expect to 

 return to our work with renewed 

 energy and to bring with us a cas- 

 ket of jewels for our readers. 



The question of how a beekeep- 

 ers' association should be organized 

 to work to the greatest advantage 

 for the interests of the masses who 

 are engaged in bee-culture, calls 

 for a vast deal of careful consider- 

 ation. We do not consider that 

 this question has been properly 

 decided yet, and look forward with 

 eager anticipation to the time 

 when associations shall be so or- 

 ganized and conducted as to prove 

 beneficial to the advanced bee 

 master as well as to the novice and 

 supply dealer. Beekeepers' asso- 

 ciations must be productive of 

 substantial advantage to all of their 

 members in order to prove a suc- 

 cess, and it cannot be said that 

 they have attained to this when a 

 large number of thoughtful and 

 prominent bee masters state that 

 they do not receive enough of ad- 

 vantageous information at these 

 meetings to warrant the expense 

 incurred in attending them. This 

 need not be. These parties do not 

 make these statements without 

 reason, and some means must be 

 adopted to obviate the difficulty. 



We need concentrated action. 

 Take the question of standard hives 

 and frames. For some time past 

 our journals have been filled with 

 articles from prominent parties 



upon these questions and still they 

 are undecided ; when a national 

 association composed of a proper 

 number of delegates from each 

 state association (and each state 

 should have one) could have de- 

 cided the question at one session. 

 This question is only one of a 

 number which must be decided 

 sooner or later. Large numbers 

 are adopting beekeeping as a vo- 

 cation, and their selection of a 

 hive with which to start depends 

 largely upon the one adopted as 

 the best by the nearest supply 

 dealer. The consequence is that 

 we are always changing and add- 

 ing to the running expenses of the 

 apiar}'. The associations and jour- 

 nals are, or should be, to a large 

 extent at least, the leading edu- 

 cators of the masses, and when we 

 can learn to work in unison wholly 

 for the interests of the entire fra- 

 ternity, we shall have accomplished 

 a grand work, and have solved (to 

 beekeepers) one of the most im- 

 portant problems of the day. 



We have not the space to dwell 

 longer on this question, and will 

 leave the matter here for your con- 

 sideration. We shall be pleased 

 to hear the opinions of our readers 

 upon these and kindred topics. 

 Remember that, in order to make 

 the journal interesting and profit- 

 able, each one must cheerfully con- 

 tribute his share to the work and 

 not leave it all for the poor editor 

 to do. 



In regard to the Apiculturist, 

 we take great pleasure in saying 

 that as each month passes, we 

 become more and more convinced 



