20 



JURE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Early AiDerican Aiiiciiltiiral History. 



From 1860 to 1871. 



The Early History of Bee-Keepers' 

 Societies in America is very interest- 

 ing, and we feel sure that the follow- 

 ing condensed history, covering a 

 period from 1860 to 1871, will be 

 devoured by thousands of our readers 

 with considerable relish. It is con- 

 densed from hundreds of pages in the 

 early volumes of the American Bee 

 Journal, and many other sources : 



First Bee-Coineiition. 



The first Convention of the bee-keepers 

 of America was held at Cleveland, O., on 

 Marcli 15, 1860. The following persons 

 were then elected as officers : 



President— Prof. J. P. Kirtlaiul. 



Vice-President— Wni. M. CnniiiiiKliani. 



Corresponding See'y— E. T. Sturlevant. 



Recording See'y— J. Kirkpatrick. 



Treasnrer- E. Gallup. 



The first question discussed was : 

 "What is the best mode of wintering 

 bees ?" The Rev. L. L. Langstroth was 

 present, and advocated cellar-wintering. 

 Others favored bnjyiiig tliem in clamps. 

 The subjects afterwards engaging their 

 attention were ventilation of hives, feed- 

 ing bees, robbing, feeding rye flour for 

 pollen, Italian bees, swarming, bee- 

 houses, etc. 



When this Convention was held there 

 were no periodicals devoted to the pursuit 

 of bee-culture in America, and the report 

 of the Convention was published in the 

 " Ohio Farmer." Mr. Sanuiel Wagner 

 started the Monthly AmerK'AN Bee 

 JoUKNAL in the following January (1861), 

 and in the March number of the Bee 

 JoiTiiNAi. he re-published the proceedings 

 under the heading of the " First American 

 Bee-Keepers' Convention," and editorially 

 remarked as follows : 



" We take pleasure in placing on record 

 in our columns, the proceedings of the 

 first American Bee-Keepers' Convention, 

 which met at Cleveland, 0., on the 1.5th of 

 March, ISSOO. The time is approaching 

 when beecultiu-e will occupy a higher 

 position than it has yet held in this coun- 

 try, and wlien it will be interesting to 

 trace back its history to those pioneer 

 movements which conduced to revival 

 and progress." 



The Second Convention 



was held in Cleveland, O., on March 14, 

 1861, President Kirtland in the chair. The 

 discussions werf mostly on the adoption 

 of the movable-frame hives, and a resolu- 

 tion was passed welcoming the advent of 

 the AMEiiifAN Bee Journai., and recom- 

 mending it to all bee-keepers. This 

 meeting was adjourned to Nov. 21, 18B1, 

 when a semi-annual meeting was in- 

 augurated. 



The Third Convention 



was called to order by President Kirtland 

 on Nov. 21, 18«1, and the members dis- 

 cussed many Important matters, among 

 them wintering, feeding, and handling 

 bees. 



On account of the Civil War, attention 

 was called from the pursuit of bee-keep- | 



Ing, the American Bee Journal was 

 suspended for i}4 years, and we know of 

 no Convention of bee-keepers of any 

 importance until 18015. 



Otlier Conventions Organized. 



The Wisconsin Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion was formed in Madison in 1860. 



On Oct. 4, 1867, the " Northwestern " 

 was organized, in Des Moines, Iowa, on 

 the State Fair Grounds, about 1.50 bee- 

 keepers being uresent ; no business of any 

 importance seemed to have been done. 

 R. K. Murphy was elected President, and 

 M. M. Baldridge, Secretary. 



The Kentucky Bee-Keepers' Association 

 was formed at a Convention held In Lex- 

 ington on Nov. 20, 1867. Dr. John Dillard 

 was elected Pres., and W. Spencer, Sec. 



The Michigan Bee-Keepers' Association 

 was foimed on .\pril 7, 1869. Mr. E. Rood 

 was elected its first President, and Prof. 

 A. J. Cook its first Secretary. The first 

 Convention lasted two days, and the dis- 

 cussions exteiuied over nearly tlie entire 

 field of the apicultural pursuit. Its second 

 Convention was held on Sept. 21, 1869, 

 and Mr. A. F. Moon was elected President. 

 Both meetings were held at Jackson, Mich. 



The Ohio bee-keepers met in Convention 

 at Toledo, O., on Sept. 15, 1809, and ad- 

 journed to Cleveland at the call of the 

 Secretary, Mr. J. F. Martin. The Cleve- 

 land Convention was held on Jan. I-t, 1870, 

 when it was decided to hold annual 

 sessions thereafter. This was the con- 

 tinuation of tlie first American Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Society (formed in 1860), and the 

 President, Dr. Kirtland, and Secretary, E. 

 T. Sturtevant, were re-elected. 



The Chautauqua Co.(N.Y.) Bee-Keepers' 

 Association was organized on Jan. 29, 

 1870, by adopting a constitution and by- 

 laws and electing T. S. Moss President, 

 and C. E. Benton, Secietary and Treasnrer. 

 It was decided to hold the first annual 

 Convention at Mayville, on Sept. 20, 1870. 



The Northeastern (New York) Bee- 

 Keepers' Association was instituted in 

 March, 1870 ; but we can find no minutes 

 of that meeting. A semi-annual session 

 was held at Utica, N. Y., on Sept. 27 and 

 28, 1870. At this meeting it was agreed to 

 institute a National Convention, and a call 

 was issued for such to be held at Cincin- 

 nati, O., in February, 1871. 



The Michigan Bee-Keepers' Association 

 met at Lansing on March 23, 1870. Presi- 

 dent A. F. Moon strongly urged the 

 formation of a National Bee-Keepers' 

 Society, and several letters were read 

 from prominent apiarists, urging the 

 formation of such a Society. After con- 

 siderable discussion the following was 

 unanimously adopted : 



"Whereas, The subject of a National 

 Bee-Keepers' Association was much talked 

 of at our last gathering ; and 



" Whereas, In our judgment, the time 

 for tlie same is fully come ; therefore 



" Resolved, That we issue a call for a 

 National Bee-Keepers' Association to be 

 held in the city of Indianapolis, Ind., on 

 the 10th and lith of August next." 



The date was afterwards changed to 

 Dec. 21, 1870, as will be seen by the follow- 

 ing, which is copied from the American 

 Bee Journal of February, 1871 : 



North American Bee-Association. 



On Feb. 10, 1870, Prof. A. J. Cook, Sec- 

 retary of the Michigan Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation, Issued a circular, which he mailed 

 to the members of that Association, to the 

 prominent bee-keepers of other States, 

 and to the press, inviting everybody 

 interested to meet at Lansing, Mich., oil 

 the 31st of March, for the purpose of 



discussing special questions on the sub- 

 ject of bee-culture, prominent among 

 which would be the holding of a National 

 Bee-Keepers Convention, at some central 

 point during the year. On the day an- 

 nounced, the Convention was In-ld at 

 Lansing, and the question of holding a 

 National Convention was discussed with 

 the wildest enthusiasm. As was antici- 

 pated, the discussion resulted In a call to 

 tlie bee-keepers of America for a National 

 Convention, to be held in Indianapolis, 

 Ind. The location was happily chosen, 

 and has given very tieiieral satisfiietion, it 

 being centrally located, and readily acces- 

 sible by a complete net- work of railroads. 



APcordingly, on Dec. 21 (the day finally 

 fixed upon), a large number of the most 

 prominent andenterprisingof bee keepers- 

 of the United States and Canada, met in. 

 convention at the House of Reiire>enta- 

 tives, in Indianapolis, and held six; 

 sessions, the last one ending at midnight 

 on the 22d of Dec, 1870. Every seat ii> 

 the house was occupied ; the States rep- 

 resented being Indiana, Illinois, Miclii- 

 gan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Iowa, 

 New York, Tennessee, Missouri, and 

 Pennsylvania. Delegates were also pres- 

 ent from Utah and Canada. On the 

 whole, it is safe to assume that never in 

 the history of America has bee-culture 

 been represented in a Convention by so- 

 large an assemblage of wide-awake, 

 intelligent, and enterprising bee-keepers. 



The Convention was called to order at 

 10 a.m., by A. F. Moon, President of the 

 Michigan Bee-Keepers' Associati<Mi, who 

 was elected temporary President, and M. 

 M. Baldridge, of Illinois, temporary Sec. 



On motion of Dr. Bohier, of Indiana, a 

 committee of one member from each State 

 represented, was appointed to prepare a 

 Constitution and to nominate oflfieers. vizr 

 Z. S. Richardson, of Indiana ; Ez'a Rood, 

 of Michigan; D. L. Adair, of Kentucky; 

 M. L. Dunlap, of Illinois ; Aaron Bene- 

 dict, of Ohio ; Adam Grimm, of Wiscon- 

 sin ; Elisha Gallup, of Iowa; Dr. T. B. 

 Hamlin, of Tennessee ; Robert B'ckford, 

 of New York ; W. D. Roberts, of Utah 

 Territory ; Daniel McIIvaln. of Pennsyl- 

 vania ; J. L. Smith, of Missouri, and Wm. 



F. Clarke, of Canada. 

 This committee reported a Constitution 



which with a few amendments was 

 ado)ited ; and recommended the following 

 as ofticers during that meeting : 



President— A. F. Moon. 



Vice-Presidents— Elisha Gallup and Dr. 



G. Bolirer. 

 Secretary— M. M. Baldridge. 

 Assistant See'y— Wm. F. Clarke. 

 Treasnrer— N. C. Mitchell. 

 The report was adopted, and President 



Moon thanked the Convention for the 

 honor conferred upon him, and expressed 

 the desire that it might be the means of 

 promoting the best Interests of the Asso- 

 ciation, and bee-culture generally. 



The exhibits at this Convention were: 

 18 movable-comb hives; 3 cages for ferti- 

 lizing queens in confinement : 3 queen 

 nurseries ; 2 bee-feeders ; 1 trap for catch- 

 ing queens and drones when leaving the 

 hives ; 1 wax-extractor ; and 4 machines 

 for extracting honey from the combs. 



The election of oflicers for the ensuing 

 year was then announced as In order. 



On motion of R. C. Otis, of Wisconsin, 

 the Rev. Mr. Langstroth was made an 

 honorary member of the Association. 



In. view of what Mr. Langstroth has 

 already done in promoting the interests 

 of bee-keeping, not only in this but in 

 other countries by the introduction of an 

 improved system of bee-management, Mr. 

 Otis moved that Rev. L. L. Langstroth, of 

 Oxford, O., be crowned with the honor of 

 being the President of the North Ameri- 

 can Bee-Keepers' Association for the 

 ensuiug'year. 



