168 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



The Woman's Committee 



on Bee-Culture, o'f the World's Fair, has 

 been heard from. Mr. W. C. Frazier, 

 of Atlantic, Iowa, editor of the Apiarian 

 Department of the Iowa Homestead, has 

 had some correspondence with the chair- 

 man (or chairwoman) of the committee, 

 and writes us as follows about it : 



I send you a letter from Mrs. Olm- 

 stead, which explains itself. 



The cattlemen, the horsemen, the 

 sheep, swine and poultry breeders would 

 not touch a show where a set of women 

 who knew nothing of their business 

 (cattle, horses, sheep, etc., business) 

 were going to act in the capacity of 

 judges. Why should the bee-keepers 

 have to ? 



Think of ten women selecting the 

 " grandest rooster," or hunting out a 

 "just perfectly lovely pig," on which to 

 bestow the first premium ! To award 

 the premiums in the bee and honey de- 

 partment will require more judgment 

 than to go over the poultry and swine, 

 point by point, and give a reason for the 

 awards. I know whereof I speak. 

 There are perhaps over 300,000 bee- 

 keepers in the United States — not more 

 than 100 are capable of judging such a 

 show, and not 25 of the capable ones 

 could be induced to assume the respon- 

 sibility. " Fools rush in where angels 

 fear to tread." W. C. Fraziek. 



The letter referred to by Mr. Frazier, 

 as having been received from Mrs. 01m- 

 stead, of Savannah, Ga., is dated July 

 1, 1892, and reads as follows : 



Your letter of June 25 has been re- 

 ceived, and contents noted. 



As I understand the relation of the 

 various committees from the Board of 

 Lady Managers to exhibitors, it is two 

 fold : first, to endeavor before the open- 

 ing of the Exposition to awaken inter- 

 est, and induce exhibitors to make a dis- 

 play of their wares, works, arts, etc.; 

 and, secondly, in connection with the 

 Gentlemen Commissioners, to pass judg- 

 ment upon the relative merits of com- 

 petitive exhibits during the time that 

 the Exposition is opened. 



I can well appreciate that the bee- 

 keepers would prefer that only those 

 ladies should be upon the committee in 

 " Bees and Bee-Culture" who are prac- 

 tical apiarists, but if you will consider 

 how the Board of Lady Managers was 

 formed, you will see that it would be 

 unreasonable to expect them to be 



specialists and experts. Mrs. Palmer, 

 in making her appointments, was obliged 

 to use the material she had. 



At the same time, I would say that a 

 capacity to judge of results, is not nec- 

 essarily allied to the ability to create. 

 The Committee on Fine Arts, for in- 

 stance, might well judge of the merits 

 of pictures and statups, without being 

 able to paint the one, or chisel the other. 



I do not profess to be a skilled bee- 

 keeper, but to the best of my powers I 

 am informing myself on the subject, 

 and hope to be able to do my duty when 

 the time comes. 



I trust that you will send a fine ex- 

 hibit to the Fair, and that I shall have 

 the pleasure of meeting you there. 

 Very Respectfully Yours, 



Mrs. Charles H. Olmstead, 

 Chairman of Committee on Bee-Culture, 

 (Lady Manager for Georgia.) 



We do not understand that 'the Com- 

 missioners, either gentlemen or ladies, 

 are to award premiums in any of the 

 departments of the World's Fair, but 

 that various Superintendents will be 

 appointed who will have in charge par- 

 ticular portions or exhibits of the Fair, 

 and will aid in making the awards upon 

 competitive exhibits. We may not be 

 correct in this, but such is our under- 

 standing of the matter. Perhaps Dr. 

 Mason can give us more light. 



A Swarm of bees located recently 

 in the vase that crowns the tall column 

 of the left side of the principal entrance 

 to the building which contains the Agri- 

 cultural Department at Washington, D. 

 C. So "Uncle Jerry" Rusk is now a 

 bee-keeper. It ought to serve as a hint 

 that the Government should do more for 

 bee-keeping. Friend Benton will now 

 have at least one colony to experiment 

 with. 



Mr. N. Awrey, of Canada, has 

 been selected to take charge of the 

 Canadian apiarian exhibit at the World's 

 Fair next year. The Dominion Govern- 

 ment will pay for cases at the Fair, and 

 also all cost of transportation to and 

 from the Exposition, so that no expense 

 will fall upon the exhibitors. 



