V / ■■ - -' " ' — *^ 



Publisht Weekly at 118 Michigan St. 



Georob W. York, Editor. 



$1.00 a Year— Sample Copy Free. 



38th Year. 



CHICAGO, ILL., OCTOBER 13, 1898. 



No. 41. 



UNITED STATES BEE-KEEPERS' UNION. 



Report of the 29th Annual Convention Held at 

 Omaha, Nebr., Sept. 13-15, 1898. 



DR. A. B. MASON, 8KC. 



IContlnued Irom page 627.1 

 FIRST DAY — Afternoon Session. 



The convention was called to order at 1:30 p.m., the ses- 

 sion being opened with the singing of " Bee-Keepers' Conven- 

 tion Song." 



In the absence of Mr. W. F. Marks, of New York, the 

 Secretary read his paper, entitled. 



Organization Among Bee-Keepers. 



Your humble servant can In no wise add to the many ex- 

 cellent articles that have appeared on this subject from time 

 to time ; no one realizes that more than himself, but the sub- 

 ject is an important one. 



The bee-keepers of the United States should aim to have 

 the best organization in the country, and unless I am very 

 much mistaken there is no good reason why they should not 

 succeed. You may say, " Easier said than done ;" to be sure, 

 but " nothing without labor." The first questions then are : 

 How shall we proceed ? How can we get the bee-keepers In- 

 terested ? We cannot hope to succeed unless we first get them 

 interested. I would not advise any new or untried plan. 

 Neither would I advise any plan that has been tried in the 

 past and failed. We can look around us and see many suc- 

 cessful organizations ; let us profit by their experience and 

 adopt a system of organization that has proven successful. 



We should look around us, take the most successful or- 

 ganization we can find for a pattern, adopt its plan, and just 

 go to work and excel it. 



There is a prevailing idea that what we need Is a fat 

 treasury ; it is not necessary to a good organization. I would 

 rather enter a battle for our pursuit with one hundred thou- 

 sand bee-keepers at my back than with as many dollars in the 

 treasury, backt perhaps by one-tenth that number of bee- 

 keepers. Money alone cuts a poor figure in such an organiza- 

 tion, unless backt by commanding influence. With one hun- 

 dred thousand — aye, one-half that number of Interested bee- 

 keepers behind us there would be powerful influence, and no 

 lack of funds. 



You will observe that all successful organizations extend 

 their order into nearly every town, village and hamlet ; so 

 must we, if we would succeed. We must get the bee-keepers 

 interested in the work, by forming, or encouraging the forma- 

 tion, of local societies ; such a course will give them a per- 

 sonal Interest in the undertaking. A little reflection will con- 

 vince you that the Interest in our organization at the present 



time is strongest in those localities where there are local 

 organizations. 



In conclusion, I will repeat, we must profit by the experi- 

 ence of others, adopt some popular and successful plan of 

 organization, and go to work systematically, determined to 

 succeed. W. F. Marks. 



There was then a discussion of the subjects of co-opera- 

 tion and organization among bee-keepers; both subjects being 

 considered together as follows : 



Dr. C. C. Miller — In order to have the procession move I 

 will give one thought, and that is, that I believe the one thing 

 we ought to do above all others is to press for membership in 

 the Union, independent of attendance at the conventions. 

 There is our weak point. We have in the past had many good 

 conventions, but our membership has always been a fleeting 

 one. The rule has been that only those who attended the 

 conventions became members. We have gotten out of that 



Mr. C. N. White, of England— See wage 647. 



track a little ; but we want to get out of it entirely. Every 

 one who becomes a member once should be a member continu- 

 ously, year after year. And then we should urge persistently 

 and continuously that all bee-keepers become members of the 

 Union. That is the one thing more than anything else, per- 

 haps, that we need now. 



Pres. York — Perhaps methods of securing membership 

 might be suggested. 



E. R. Root — The paper speaks about local organizations. 

 There Is no State that has so many local organizations as New 



