600 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



Sept. 21, 1899. 



PTELISHT WEEKLY BY 



George W. York & Company, 



116 Michigan St., Cliicago, [II. 



ONE DOLLAR A YEAR. *^^ SAMPLE COPY FREE. 



[Entered at the Posl-Office at Chicago as Second-Class Mail Matter,] 



United States Bee- Keepers' ftssociation. 



Org'anized lo advance the pursuit of Apiculture : to promote the interests 

 of bee-keepers ; to protect its members ; to prevent the adulteration of 

 Uouej ; and to prosecute the dishonest honey-commission men. 



Jl/emibers2iip FGe~9l,00 per Annum, 



.Executive Committee— Pres., E. Whitcorab; Vice-Pres,, C. A. Hatch.; 



Secretary, Dr. A. B. Mason, Station B, Toledo, Ohio. 

 Board of Directors— E. R. Root; E. Whitcomb; E. T. Abbott; C. P. 



• Dadant; W.Z.Hutchinson; Dr. C. C. Miller. 

 Gen'l Manager and Treasurer— Eugene Secor, Forest City, Iowa. 



VOL. 39. SEPTEMBER 21, 1899. NO. 38 



eDlTORIALtCOnflENTS: 



Note— The American Bee Journal adopts the Orthof^rapby of the follow- 

 ing Rule, recommended by the joint action of the American Philolog- 

 ical Association and the Philological Society of England: — Change 

 "d" or "ed" final to "t*' when so pronounced, except when the "e" af- 

 fects a preceding sound. 



Philadelphia Convention Notes On Monday after- 

 noon, Sept. 4, we started from Chicago for the 30th annual 

 convention of the United States Bee-Keepers' Association. 

 Like many others, we went over the magnificent Pennsyl- 

 vania railroad, arriving in Philadelphia about 6 p.m. the 

 following evening, after a ride of 27 hours. We imme- 

 diately went to Franklin Institute. At the entrance were 

 found Messrs. Doolittle, Hutchinson, Selser, Mason, E. R. 

 Root, Coggshall Bros., Abbott, and others. By the time 

 the convention opened quite a respectable number had 

 gathered. Pres. Whitcomb was on hand, as well as Mrs. 

 Whitcomb and Mrs. Mason. 



The convention started out well, and bespoke a good 

 meeting. All seemed ready to take part in the discussions, 

 especialh' Mr. Selser, who feared the harmful results of 

 the importation of Cuban honey upon the honey markets of 

 the United States. But more of this will appear in the re- 

 port of the convention proceedings. 



Drs. Miller and Mason, as well as Mr. Abbott, did 

 much from the start to put life into the meeting. Pres. 

 Whitcomb was ready to do his part, and Secretary Mason 

 had his hands full in looking after the program. 



The Philadelphia Bee-Keepers' Association, composed 

 of some 80 local apiarists, " did themselves proud " in en- 

 tertaining the visiting members of the convention. Special 

 mention should be made of Messrs. Wm. A. Selser and Sec- 

 retary Hahman. They were untiring in their efforts, and 

 lavish in their expenditure of time and money. 



Mr. Selser lives ten miles north of the city, where he 

 has his apiary and honey-bottling works. Of these latter 



we will have more to say later. Mr. Selser took six mem- 

 bers home the first night, and nine the next. And all were 

 royally entertained. Mrs. Selser is a charming hostess, 

 and every one fortunate enough to be a guest at the Selser 

 mansion was delighted. We know of at least one member 

 who felt so much at home that he really didn't care to leave. 

 We must tell "one" on Dr. Mason. He took supper at 

 Mr. Selser's the next day after the convention. At the 

 table Mrs. Selser, iti her winsome way, said that she was 

 glad that one bee-keeper had finally come that could eat a 

 hearty meal. She seemed to think that none of the other 

 Western or Southern bee-keepers who had been there had 

 good appetites. But Dr. Mason made up for all the rest. 

 His capacity was ample ; and his ability to cause tempting 

 viands to disappear was remarkable. Mrs. Selser appeared 

 to be satisfied, tho Dr. Mason certainly tnust have been un- 

 comfortable. 



Prof. H. W. Wiley delivered one of the very best ad- 

 dresses we ever had the pleasure of listening to at a bee- 

 keepers' convention. It was on the food value of honey, its 

 adulteration, etc. Prof. W. is the chief chemist of the De- 

 partment of Agriculture at Washington, D. C. We hope to 

 be able to publish his address in full. It will be read with 

 great interest and profit. 



Mr. W. E. Flower, a member of the local association, 

 and also the able conductor of the apiary department in 

 American Gardening, gave an illustrated lecture on bees- 

 and bee-keeping, the second evening of the convention. 

 He began by throwing upon the canvas a picture of the 

 great Langstroth, and spoke in eloquent and fitting terms 

 of his life and work. Then followed pictures of apiaries in 

 and around Philadelphia. It was a very interesting feature 

 of the convention, and Mr. Flower deserves a vote of 

 thanks for his effort. It certainly was appreciated. 



One picture showed Mr. F. manipulating the frames 

 with bees in his own apiary. He said that just before the 

 photograph was taken he wanted to go to the house and put 

 on his "other clothes," but concluded that anybody could 

 see that those were not his other clothes, so he let it go. 

 His talk was punctuated with many such dry hits that 

 simply captivated his hearers. 



Another one was when he showed a picture wherein 

 one visitor among the half-dozen or so in -it seemed to be 

 making a quick movement. Mr, Flower said that he was 

 sliitig in lite rear — but he quickly corrected himself by say- 

 ing that he was in the rear when stung. The audience 

 must have finally concluded that both statements were 

 likely correct, for when they fully comprehended the joke, 

 they simplj' let themselves loose with a roar and hand-clap- 

 ping that were deafening. 



We should have mentioned before that during the first 

 session, Tuesday evening, the local association, at no small 

 expense, had provided some fine musical talent in the way 

 of solos. A lady and gentleman each sang twice, we be- 

 lieve, and all seemed to appreciate their singing very much. 

 There was a good attendance at that first session, which 

 augured well for the success of the annual gathering. 



The following day after the convention Mr. Selser took 

 us and several others in his two-seated carriage, with high 

 and fast stepping sorrels, about a 30-mile drive over the 

 stirrounding country, which is covered with the mansions 

 and estates of the wealthy Philadelphians, such as John 

 Wanamaker, Mr. Curtis, of the Curtis Publishing Co., pub- 

 lishers of the Ladies' Home Journal ; also a Mr. Harrison, 

 of the Havemyer sugar trust, the latter's castle costing 

 about three hundred thousand dollars. Also we saw Mr. 

 Cramp's place, one of the great ship-builders. But perhaps 

 the most delightful of all was the drive along the old Wis- 

 sihickon River. It was by far the finest ride we ever had. 



