208 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



October, 



tificial swarm. He shook thousands 

 of bees on blank paper, and, with their 

 queen leading the way, the inarch of 

 the 10,000 was taken into the hive. 

 Several times the bees showed fight, 

 and at least once the demonstrator 

 jumped from the platform. 



Looking for the Ideal Bee. 



Professor Surface, who presided at 

 the late afternoon session, said in his 

 speech that he looked forward to the 

 cosmopolitan bee, having the best 

 qualities of the many species of bees. 

 The essentials of an ideal bee are 

 good housekeeping, long-distance 

 traveling, long tongue and gentleness. 

 By the crossing of the different spe- 

 cies he hoped to obtain the ideal. 



There are 28,000 bee raisers in Penn- 

 sylvania alone, he said, and urged some 

 legislation which would protect the 

 apiculturists, as well as prevent the 

 foisting upon the market of adulterated 

 honey. He thought this could be real- 

 ized through the appointment of a 

 state bee inspector. 



Queens Wed Once for All. 



E. L. Pratt, of Swarthmore, dis- 

 placed several theories in his paper on 

 "Increase and Nuptial Flights," in 

 which he stated that though the queens 

 receive many proposals of marriage, 

 they accept but one during their life- 

 time, and this in spite of the fact that 

 suitors follow them to the clouds. 



"Ofttimes," said he, in discussing 

 his paper, "the queen is pursued by 

 twenty-five suitors; but she chooses 

 but one, and the marriage pact is then 

 inviolable." 



William Houser, of Wirtville, N. J., 

 was awarded a prize for the best comb 

 honey, and Franklin B. Fox, of Er- 

 winna, Pa., won similar recognition for 

 extracted honey. 



Dr. L. M. Weaver, of West Philadel- 

 phia, presided at the morning session, 

 and William W. Case, of the New 

 Jersey Association, at the early after- 

 noon meeting. There were addresses 

 by J. B. Case, of Port Orange, Fla.; 

 L. C. Root, of Stamford, Conn.; the 

 Rev. Julius Hanko, of Austria; Dr. M. 

 N. Nieffer, of this city; J. H. M. Cook, 

 of New York, and Richard D. Barclay, 

 of State College. 



THE NATIONAL CONVENTION 

 TO BE HELD IN CHICAO. 



Ever since the breaking out of the 

 yellow fever in the South, have I been 

 receiving letters from different parts 

 of the country, suggesting that the 



place of meeting for the National con- 

 vention be changed to some Northern 

 city. To all, for a long time, I re- 

 turned the same reply: "Let's wait 

 and see how things turn out. If the 

 fever is crushed out of existence, or 

 controlled, then we can go to Texas 

 just as well as ever." To a certain 

 extent the fever has been controlled, 

 but there seems to be no probability 

 that it will be done with before the 

 time that has been set for holding our 

 convention in San Antonio. The time 

 has come when we can wait no longer. 

 If a change is to be made, it must be 

 made at once, that bee-keepers may 

 be planning accordingly. Before tak- 

 ing up the matter with the executive 

 committee, I wrote to the directors, 

 the editors of the leading bee journals 

 and to several of the most prominent 

 bee-keepers, asking for their views orh 

 the subject. The majority was over- 

 whelmingly in favor of a change. The 

 matter was then taken up with the 

 executive committee, and every mem- 

 ber favored a change to Chicago, dur- 

 ing the fat stock show, the first week 

 in December. It is possible that some 

 other Northern city has greater claims 

 than Chicago for the holding of the 

 convention, but the meeting must be 

 held where reduced railroad rates will 

 be assured, and the fat stock show 

 at Chicago furnishes these. 



It is possible that there is no real 

 danger from- the fever at San An- 

 tonio, but the fear of it is real, and 

 Vv-ouM have kept away the Nortpcrn 

 people. The bee-keepers of Louisiana 

 and Mississippi would also have been 

 shut up in their own states. Texas has 

 had a slim crop of honey this year, 

 and, taken all in all, a convention this 

 fall in San Antonio would have been 

 a pretty slim affair. I think that 

 even the Texans themselves would 

 rather wait until another year, v.hen, 

 if all goes well, the convention could 

 be held in San Antoni) vvith eveiy as- 

 surance of a big crowd. 



Arrangements have been completed 

 for holding the meeting in Chicago, 

 at the Revere House, corner of Michi- 

 gan and Clark streets, on the 5th, 6th 

 and 7th of December. This hotel can 

 accommodate at least 300 bee-keepers 

 and the rates are 75 cents for a rnom 

 alone, or 50 cents each where two oc- 

 cupy the same room. Meals are ex- 

 tra, or they may be secured at nearby 

 restaurants. 



W. Z. HUTCHINSON, Sec. 



