AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



625 



hanging frames ?" Twenty-nine re- 

 sponded. 



"How many have used partly closed- 

 end frames ?" Nine responded. 



Some one asked whether Mr. R. L. 

 Taylor advise that a change be made to 

 closed-end frames ? 



Mr. Taylor — Yes ; as soon as I could 

 conveniently do so. 



"How many prefer the New Heddon 

 hive?" Eight responded. 



The convention then adjourned until 

 7:30 p.m. 



FIRST DAY— Evening Session. 



After calling to order, the place of 

 holding the next meeting was the first 

 subject taken up, and St. Joseph, Mo., 

 was selected. 



The following officers for the ensuing 

 year were then elected : 



President— Rev. E. T. Abbott, St. 

 Joseph, Mo. 



Vice-President — O. L. Hershiser, Buf- 

 falo, N. Y. 



Secretary — Frank Benton, Washing- 

 ton, D. C. 



Treasurer — George W. York, Chicago, 

 Ills. 



Improving' the North American. 



The Secretary, Mr. Frank Benton, 

 then took in hand the topic, "How can 

 the usefulness of the North American 

 Bee-Keepers' Association be improved?" 



Mr. Benton lamented that the Asso- 

 ciation was not representative, but 

 largely local. Each State Association 

 ought to be affiliated with the North 

 American and send delegates. The first 

 step would be to foster State Associa- 

 tions. He stated how foreign associa- 

 tions were managed, told what large 

 numbers were in attendance, and ex- 

 plained an elaborate system by which 

 he hoped that by having exhibitions of 

 honey in connection with the meetings, 

 and charging a small fee for admitting 

 the public, also by charging a small an- 

 nual fee for each member of all the 

 affiliated societies, money might be 

 secured for the sending of delegates. 



Dr. Miller thought the United States 

 was behind every other country in the 

 matter of bee-keepers' societies. He re- 

 quested Mr. Benton to explain how 

 foreign societies were conducted, at 

 which there was such a large attendance 

 of bee-keepers. 



Mr. Benton said there were about 

 400 at the Frankfort meeting in Ger- 

 many. In connection with the conven- 

 tion the society had an exhibition of 

 honey, implements of all kinds, fruit 



preserved in honey, etc. The society in- 

 cluded Austria and Germany. The so- 

 ciety received several hundred marks 

 from the Prussian government each 

 year. Mr. Benton showed a beautiful 

 medal which he had received at one of 

 these exhibitions, for honey, which he 

 had on display. 



Prof. Cook thought the plan would 

 not work here, because the population 

 was not dense enough. Traveling ex- 

 penses were too high ; but he thought 

 the association had excellent conven- 

 tions, and there was no reason for feel- 

 ing discouraged. The bee-papers gave 

 the reports, and were the better for it. 



C. P. Dadant agreed with Prof. Cook. 

 Our country is too thinly settled. Mr. 

 Dadant had tried very hard to make the 

 affiliation scheme work when he was 

 Secretary, and owe society had not even 

 called for its medals. 



Mr. R. F. Holtermann thought the 

 idea a good one, to allow those who 

 were members, but not present, to vote. 

 It would create greater interest. 



R. L. Taylor agreed with Prof. Cook. 

 In the old country those going had other 

 objects in view. He thought there were 

 insurmountable difficulties in connection 

 with allowing those absent to vote. 



The convention then adjourned until 

 9 a.m. the next day. 



SECOND DAY— Morning Session. 



The convention was called to order by 

 the President, and Mr. R. F. Holter- 

 mann, of Brantford, Ont., editor of the 

 Canadian Bee Journal, read the follow- 

 ing essay, entitled. 



The Production of Comb Honey. 



The production of a first-class article 

 of comb honey becomes a subject of 

 greater importance from year to year. 

 The demand for comb honey is increas- 

 ing, and those producing the article in 

 the best condition will secure the best 

 prices and readiest sales. There is no 

 use in treating the subject except in de- 

 tail. There are a number of points to 

 be considered. 



First of all, is the man fitted? No 

 man who is not thorough in his work, 

 neat, intelligent, paying attention to 

 detail, can succeed to the fullest extent. 

 It is then a subject worthy of the atten- 

 tion of a man or woman of first-class 

 ability. 



The locality must be considered. One 

 in a locality generally poor cannot ex- 

 pect to compete in the production of 

 comb honey with a bee-keeper in a good 

 locality ; by that I mean, heavy honey- 



