Publisht Weekly at 118 Michigan St. 



George W. Yoke, Editor. 



$1.00 a Year— Sample Copy Free. 



38th Year. 



CHICAGO, ILL., DECEMBER 22, 1898. 



No. 51. 



UNITED STATES BEE-KEEPERS' UNION. 



Report of the 29th Annual Convention Held at 

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



DR. A. B. MASON, SEC. 



SECOND DAY— Evening Session. 



LContlnued Irom page 789.1 



The evening session was called to order by Pres. York, 

 and was opened by singing two songs, "The Busy Buzz- 

 ing Bees," and the "Bee-Keepers' Reunion Song." 



Pres. York — We have all read somewhere that the first 

 shall be last and the last shall be first. The first thing upon 

 our printed program is a paper by Rev. E. T. Abbott, on 

 " General Advice to Bee-Keepers. " He was not here at our 

 opening session, but has arrived now, and I think we should 

 hear his paper at this time. Mr. Abbott, of Missouri. 



General Advice to Bec-Keepcrs. 



I do not know how Secretary Mason came to assign me 

 this topic, for it was none of my choosing. In fact, I did not 

 have any idea that I was to be on the program until I received 

 notice that I must be on hand with a paper on the above sub- 

 ject. As I make it a point to obey the orders of my superiors, 

 I could not do better than prepare the paper. The truth of 

 the matter is, however, that Dr. Mason has struck me just 

 right, for if there is anything on which I am strong, and at 

 my best, it is in giving advice. True, I am compelled many 

 times to say. In the language of the traditional preacher, " Do 

 as I say, and not as I do." However, let this be as it may, I 

 am Immense on advice. I am with advice as the doctor said he 

 was with fits, when reminded that the drug he was using was 

 likely to produce them. He responded, using a word which is 

 usually written with an h, a dash and an 1, that he was that 

 on fits, and that was all right. He was safe if he could only 

 throw his patient into fits, for he could cure them. Now, that 

 Is the way I am on advice. 



Perhaps it was a little oversight in the Maker of all things 

 that I was not brought into being early in the history of man- 

 kind, and made a sort of " director general of advice." Pos- 

 sibly I might have saved some people a good deal of trouble, 

 even tho it should have been at the risk of getting myself into 

 worse trouble. For I want to tell you, that giving advice is 

 not always the safest thing In the world. Many times those 

 who need advice the mosl are inclined to resent it, and get 

 "hot," as we say, if It is given to them, and a " hot" man, or 

 woman either, for that matter, Is not always an agreeable 

 person to deal with. 



But, as the preacher would say, " To return to my subject." 



The first advice I have to give Is, not to wait until you get 

 Into some trouble with your neighbors, and want some one to 



help you out, before you think of joining the United States 

 Bee-Keepers' Union. For if you do, you may not always get 

 the help you need. "In time of peace, prepare for war," for 

 sometimes being " prepared for war " will enable >ou to keep 

 the peace better than anything else. 



Having joined the Union, never a^k its General Manager 

 to do anything for you which you can just as well do for your- 

 self. Before you ask for help at all, read the constitution of 

 the Union carefully, and be sure you understand its aim and 

 purpose fully. Remember that it is no part of the Union's 

 business to meddle with neighborhood or family difficulties, 

 even tho there may be something about bees mixt up with 

 them. Do not ask the Union to aid you against your neighbor 

 simply because you have a purely personal spite at him, and 

 you think this will aflford you an opportunity to "bring him to 

 time." Nearly all of these personal difficulties can, and should, 

 be settled without any help from the Union. 



Do not expect too much of the Union at the start, or be- 

 cause you have paid your dollar for a few years, and not 

 needed or gotten any help, conclude that you will save your 

 money and not continue your membership. Fire comes when 

 you least expect it, and for that reason a wise business man 



Rev. Emerson T. Abbott. 



keeps his property insured all the time, and considers that the 

 feeling of security which he has Is abundant pay, even tho 

 the fire may never come. 



You should remember also that a strong Union Is a benefit 

 to the Industry as a whole, and even tho you may not want 

 direct personal aid, yet you will indirectly bo benefited, for 

 whatever benefits the whole works more or less benefit to each 

 individual part. 



Dj not get the notion that the Union Is a sort of trust to 



