662 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



After the short intermission the 

 convention was again called to order, 

 and the President appointed the fol- 

 lowing committees : 



Finance.— C. P. Dadant and Prof. 

 K. W. McLain. 



Resolutions.— R. L. Taylor, T. L. 

 Von Dorn, and Mrs. C. Robbins. 



Exhibits.— C. F. Muth, Frank L. 

 Dougherty, and E. O. Tuttle. 



Printing.— Rev. W. F. Clarke, W. 

 Z. Hutchinson, and Dr. A. B. Mason. 



The convention then adjourned until 

 2:30 p.m. 



AFTERNOON SESSION. 



At 2:30 p.m. the convention was 

 called to order by President Cutting, 

 after which he delivered the 



president's annual address. 



Bee-Keepers of North America: — It 

 is a pleasure to meet so many earnest 

 workers here to-day, and we should 

 be thankful to the Giver of all good, 

 that we are permitted to again meet 

 our many friends. While we miss 

 many faniiliar faces at this meeting, 

 and learn of the misfortunes that 

 k"ep many away, we have every as- 

 surance that they are with us in 

 mind, if not in body. 



We who have been permitted to 

 meet here to-day, have many things 

 to be thankful for. Your committee 

 of arrangements have been untiring 

 in their efforts to make it pleasant 

 for you all, and give you a hearty 

 welcome. Our Corresponding Secre- 

 tary, Mrs. Robbins, will long be re- 

 membered by those assembled here, 

 for the beautiful badges which she 

 has provided you, and may you ever 

 preserve them as a memento of this 

 happy meeting. 



No cloud of discord darkens our 

 horizon, and to-day the North Ameri- 

 can Bee-Keepers' Society is in a posi- 

 tion where great good can be accom- 

 plished. During the past year I have 

 often thought of " what could be done 

 that would be of material benefit to 

 this society." I would like to see this 

 society publish each year a volume of 

 at least 300 pages, containing the best 

 writings of our many contributors. 

 If we, as a society, could do this, we 

 would soon march onward from our 

 125 members to as many thousands ; 

 it would add greatly to our standing 

 and usefulness at home and abroad. 

 To do this would require a secretary 

 of good executive ability, and he 

 would have to be paid a stated salary 

 for his services. Many of our State 

 horticultural societies are conducted 

 on this plan. Michigan, each year, 

 issues a volume of horn 400 to 600 

 pages. The printing is done by an 

 appropriation from the State, but the 

 entire work is compiled by the effi- 

 cient Secretary, Chas. W. Garfield. 

 This is only the work of one State, 

 while ours would be the work of an 

 International Society, adding very 

 much to its usefulness and impor- 

 tance. 



I can see where our bee-periodicals 

 and publications of kindred charac- 

 ter can be of great use to this society 

 on this point. I feel that each and 

 every one of them would extend to 

 this society every courtesy ijossible, 

 and become identified in this work. 



Right here let me thank, yes 

 heartily thank, our fraternal pub- 

 lishers for the many courtesies ex- 

 tended to this society, not only the 

 past year, but for many years, for 

 their great help in publishing all of 

 our notices and proceedings without 

 any expense to this society. If you 

 will excuse me, I must make men- 

 tion of one case in particular. At 

 the meeting of this society last year, 

 at Detroit, Thomas. G. Newman, 

 editor and publisher of the Ameiii- 

 CAN Bee Journal, with his usual 

 liberality, offered to publish in 

 pamphlet form the proceedings of 

 that meeting, to which he added a 

 brief history of this society up to and 

 including the Detroit meeting. It 

 would be useless for me to tell you 

 of the usefulness of this work ; to me 

 the past year it has been my Fade 

 Mecum. tJpon the completion of this 

 work the executive committee pur- 

 chased 200 copies, and the Secretary 

 has mailed to each member and others 

 a copy. 



Mr.' Newman then presented to this 

 society, through its President, 50 

 copies to be used where it was 

 thought they would do the most 

 good. Your chairman has sent a 

 copy to every Agricultural College in 

 in the States and Canada, where he 

 could obtain the required address ; 

 also to many of our horticultural and 

 agricultural societies and papers. I 

 cannot speak in too much praise of 

 the noble example of our good Brother 

 Newman, and I earnestly recommend 

 that this society, before the close of 

 this convention, tender to Brother 

 Newman many thanks for his kind- 

 ness and liberality. 



I cannot close without again call- 

 ing your attention to this matter of 

 publication. Such articles as are 

 published in the American Bee 

 Journal for this year, page 2(.!l, 

 entitled, " Medicinal Properties of 

 Honey," by Dr. G. P. Ilachenberg, 

 Austin, Texas ; also an article on page 

 262, " Opposition to Bee-Keeping," by 

 C. G. Beitel, Easton, Pa., should be 

 read by every apiarist in North 

 America. The dissemination of 

 knowledge regarding our pursuit 

 must place every legitimate bee- 

 keeper on a higher plane, and bring 

 our industry to the front, and place 

 it side by side with other recognized 

 pursuits. 



I would respectfully urge upon the 

 Vice-Presidents of this society the 

 necessity of corresponding with the 

 secretaries of their respective State 

 agricultural societies and submit to 

 them a premium list for bees and 

 honey and necessary appliances. The 

 Michigan State Agricultural Society 

 gives, by way of encouragement to a 

 growing industry, a premium list 

 amounting to $300, the largest of any 

 State that I have any knowledge of. 

 After giving this matter close and 

 careful attention for several years, I 

 am fully convinced that we can do 

 much good to an over-burdened mar- 

 ket by making judicious exhibits of 

 our products. The State and County 

 fairs iield by the different societies 

 are great helps in this direction. 1 

 do not believe in " one idea exhibi- 



tions," so I will leave it with our en- 

 ergetic and intelligent fraternity how 

 those exhibitions should be made to 

 accomplish the greatest good. Many 

 thanks are due to those who, being 

 unable to attend the different exhibi- 

 tions, have contributed articles of 

 interest for exhibition. 



I sometimes think many of us do 

 not fully understand or realize the 

 importance of a Bee-Keepers' Union. 

 I look for some action on the part of 

 its managers at this meeting, that 

 will properly place the Union before 

 the members of this society, that 

 they may fully understand its objects 

 and requirements. 



You will soon be called upon to 

 elect officers for another year ; on re- 

 tiring, allow me to thank you for the 

 many courtesies extended to me as 

 your presiding officer. 



Mr. Thos. G. Newman moved that 

 the address of the President be re- 

 ferred to a committee of three for 

 consideration, and to report upon the 

 advisability of the adoption of the 

 many recommendations therein made. 

 This was adopted, and Dr. C. C. 

 Miller, A. I. Root, and C. F. Muth 

 were appointed such committee. 



The next essay on the programme 

 was " Bee-Studies," by Prof. A. J. 

 Cook ; but he was not present, and as 

 the subject required many illustra- 

 tions, he declined to send it. 



The following is the essay of Mr. 

 Jno. Aspinwall, of Barrytown, N. Y., 



APICULTURAL JOURNALISM. 



A great factor in the business of 

 bee-keeping is the source of knowl- 

 edge by and through which we ac- 

 quire the ability to successfully carry 

 on this most mteresting pursuit, a 

 pursuit which requires all the nerve, 

 the perseverance and skill a man can 

 bring to bear upon it. Those who 

 have not tried it may say, " My friend, 

 you seem to think a bee-keeper must 

 possess unusual powers of mind and 

 skill of body, and that he must couple 

 these to a bodily control which savors 

 of higher things than mere bee- 

 keeping." 



"Yes," I say, "a successful bee- 

 keeper is a very skillful man, both in 

 mind and body." 



" Well, my friend, where does he 

 acquire his knowledge and skill y" 

 says he. 



"First in books and periodicals for 

 theoretical knowledge, then with a 

 bee-keeper or alone in an apiary for 

 the practical skill,'" I answer. 



AVho can gainsay that our bee- 

 keei)ing periodicals have not played a 

 most important role in the develop- 

 ment of bee-keeping in America, 

 where the pursuit stands ahead of all 

 the world ? 



I do not propose to enter here into 

 a history of apicultural journalism, 

 for there are present those who know 

 more regarding that subject in five 

 minutes than I do in a week, but I 

 simply desire to present to you some 

 of the effects produced by our periodi- 

 cals, and also humbly advance my 

 views as to the standard to which our 

 bee-literature should attain. Two 

 essentially different classes of w-ork 

 have been performed by them. First, 



