AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



823 



|^atioi7al Bee^^eepei'^^ 'Llpior^. 



9th flnnaal H^pot^t, 



Another year has been added to the 

 history of the National Bee-Keepers' 

 Union, and I will now attempt to re- 

 count and review the work done during 

 the year, so that the members may be 

 fully informed concerning it. 



The amendments to the Constitution, 

 proposed in the last Report, were voted 

 upon and carried almost unanimously — 

 the vote being 289 for them, to 28 

 against. There were 31 blanks. The 

 blanks were mostly from new members, 

 who thought they ought not to vote at 

 the time of their first introduction. 



The election closed on February 1st, 

 1893. There were then 348 votes 

 received, and the canvas of them resulted 

 as follows : 



For Presideut^'Kon. R. L. Taylor, 141; 

 James Heddon, 136 ; scattering, 50 ; blank, 

 21. 



i'b)" Vice-Presidents — C. C. Miller, 



G. 



M. Doolittle. 270; A. I. Root, 265; A. J. 

 Cook, 242 ; G. W. Demaree, 228 ; scattering, 

 248. 



For General JTanager, Secrefnry and Treas- 

 urer — ^Thomas G. Newman, 321 ; scattering, 

 3; blank, 24. 



For Salary of Jlanager — 20 per cent., 342; 

 scattering, 6. Back salary voted, the years 

 being added together, amount to 560. This, 

 divided by the number of votes, lacks a 

 little of being twice — carrying for only one 

 year, and leaving votes for 218 over. It 

 therefore commenced with Jan. 1, 1892. 



First Battle for the Year. 



The result of "the first round" for 

 the new year, in the battle with the 

 enemies of the pursuit, was a complete 

 victory for the Union — demonstrating 

 its value to the bee-keeping industry. It 

 is worthy of remark, that it is equally 

 successful, no matter whether with 

 Courts which administer the laws, or 

 Legislatures which enact them. 



On January 16th, as soon as the Sen- 

 ate of Missouri got to work. Senator 

 Sebree introduced a Bill, entitled, "An 



Act to regulate the keeping of honey- 

 bees in cities, towns and villages in this 

 State, and to provide a penalty for its 

 violation." The first section read as 

 follows : 



No person shall own, keep, or have in his 

 possession, or under his control, any honey- 

 bees in boxes, bee-gums, or other things of 

 confinement in any city, town or village in 

 this State, whether organized under gen- 

 eral or special charters, nearer than fifty 

 feet from the line of any adjacent real 

 estate owner, or person in possession of 

 such adjacent property. 



Section 2 provided for a penalty of 

 from $10 to $20 for each week that the 

 bees were there, after notice to remove 

 them. 



Section 3 provided that if the bees 

 could not be kept at that distance from 

 adjacent neighbors, "then in such event 

 the keeping of them in such city, town 

 or village is absolutely prohibited." 



This was a clear case of prohibition of 

 the pursuit in all "cities, towns and 

 villages " in Missouri, if it had become a 

 law, for a bee-keeper must have OVER 

 a hundred feet to be able to keep his 

 bees " fifty feet from the line of any ad- 

 jacent real estate owner, or person in 

 possession of such adjacent property." 

 But few bee-keepers would have more 

 than fifty feet in all. 



Mr. W. S. Dorn Blaser, ex-Secretary 

 of the Missouri Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion, sent a copy of the "Bill" to the 

 Manager of the Union, and instantly 

 the "Decision of the Supreme Court of 

 Arkansas " was brought into play, like 

 a gatling-gun, and copies of it were sent 

 to the members of the Legislature and 

 to the Governor. Letters were written 

 to them advising them not to allow it to 

 pass, as it was unconstitutional, and 

 would be so construed by the courts, as 

 they had the precedent of the Arkansas 

 Supreme Court to guide them. 



The Hon. R. L. Taylor, the President 

 of the Union, was appealed to, and he 

 backed up the General Manager by 



