(yj^' 



WitMis ^u Jowrnal, 



DEVOTKD TO THE INTERESTS OF THE PRODUCERS OF HONEY. 



VOL. XX. 



CHICAGO, ILL., MARCH 5, 1884. 



No. 10. 





Published every Wednesday, by 



THOMAS G. NEWMAN, 



Editor asd Proprietor, 



The Report of the National Society. 



Conceining this matter, we have the 

 following from Mr. McPherson, who 

 has been mentioned before in connec- 

 tion witli the matter. He says : 



I see by late issues of the Bee 

 Journal that numerous correspond- 

 ents have asked about the report of 

 the Toronto Convention, and also Mr. 

 Root's and Dr. Miller's replies. Per- 

 haps an explanation from myself 

 would not come amiss, but first I must 

 thank Dr. Miller for his kind words, 

 and assure liim that I shall endeavor 

 to sustain his impressions regarding 

 myself. Representing the World of 

 this place, I caused arrangements to 

 he made with one of Toronto's best 

 reporters, to have him report the 

 meeting, for the benefit of the World 

 alone, and at a set figure. I had sup- 

 posed there would have been other re- 

 porters there representing other pa- 

 pers, and that the regular minutes 

 would be taken by the secretary. I 

 did not imagine that my reporter was 

 to take the official report of the meet- 

 ing, nor was I aware that he had been 

 doing so until after the convention 

 was over. 



During the second day (I think) my 

 reporter came to me and said that at 

 the rate they were going, it would be 

 be worth more than I was paying. 

 Not supposing for a moment that he 

 would go back '' on the arrange- 

 ment first made, the matterstood, and 

 he finished reporting the meeting. 

 The next day Mr. Jones informed me 

 that a resolution had been passed to 

 have the report publislied and a copy 

 sent to eaeli member, and then I 

 learned that mine was the official re- 

 port. I called at the office of the re- 

 porter to learn how long he would be 

 in furnishing the report transcribed, 

 and was told tliat the job would be 

 worth SlOO— four times the amount of 

 the first arrangement. 



I consulted ^ix. Jones, and lie called 

 twice to see what he could do. I threat- 

 ened legal proceedings. The reporter 

 , had the matter in liis own hands, 

 ' however, and knew that he lield the 

 official report, and, I suppose, thought 



we could not get along without it. 

 After a good deal of war-like corres- 

 pondence, I determined, rather than 

 pay a premium for such unbusiness- 

 like conduct, to let him have tlie labor 

 he had been at, for his pay. Thus the 

 matter stands. I did not tliink that 

 it was going to pay me to expend SlOO 

 for the manuscript (nearly $1.00 per 

 member) and tlien put it into shape, 

 print and bind the reports and get, 

 perhaps, 2.5 cents each for my trouble. 

 Besides, I did not wish to encourage 

 that style of doing business. I will 

 endeavor to get the names of the vice- 

 presidents of each State for the asso- 

 ciation. Kindly excuse my having 

 taken tip so much of your space. 

 \ ours very truly, 



F. H" McPhekson. 

 Beeton, Out., Feb. 22, 1884. 



Dr. Miller sends us the following in 

 explanation of his connection with 

 the affair : 



In reply to Dr. Basse's inquiry, I 

 can only repeat what has been already 

 stated in the Bee Journal (which 

 Mr. Besse had probably not yet seen 

 when he made the inquiry), that, by 

 vote of the society, the publication of 

 the minutes of the North American 

 Bee-Keepers' Society was left in the 

 hands of the old officers, so that the 

 present secretary has nothing to do 

 with it more than any other member 

 of the society. C. C. Miller. 



Marengo, 111., Feb. 26, 1884. 



A series of " blunders '' seem to 

 have made this whole matter very 

 unsatisfactory to all concerned. As 

 it is pretty certain now that there will 

 be no official report, it is quite useless 

 to further agitate the matter. If the 

 list of vice-presidents can be obtained, 

 it may help some, and save that much 

 from the wreck. The " Report " is 

 too stale now to be of much value, and 

 may not be worth the $100, but bee- 

 keepers generally will think that, 

 even it had cost that sum, it should 

 have been promptly published, as or- 

 dered by the Society. There were 

 funds enough in the Treasury, and 

 these should have been used to carry 

 out the wishes of the members, as ex- 

 pressed by vote at the meeting, both 

 as regards pul)lishing tiie official re- 

 port and procuring tlie badges. 



However, let the matter rest until 

 the next meeting, and then we hope 



that the officers will strictly attend to 

 business, and not be led astray with 

 "emotional excitement." The Na- 

 tional Society should, in its methodi- 

 cal management, be a pattern to all 

 other societies ; but we fear that, so 

 far as the last annual meeting is con- 

 cerned, it will be hardly so considered 

 by any thoughtful or systematic per- 

 son. 



The Conventipn at Davenport, Iowa. 



As announced previously, we at- 

 tended this meeting, and found quite 

 a number of the bee-keepers of Iowa 

 and Illinois present. We have a por- 

 tion of the proceeeings ready for pub- 

 lication, but our columns are too 

 much crowded this week to admit 

 them. While there, we were the 

 guest of the Rev. and Mrs'. M. L. 

 Williston and family. Mr. W. is the 

 pastor of the Congregational Church 

 at Davenport, is a reader of the Bee 

 Journal, and is very much inter- 

 ested in bee-culture. Col. McCagg, 

 the president of the society, is a thor- 

 oughly wide-awake and progressive 

 bee-keeper and horticulturist, under 

 whose guidance the society has grown 

 from 2 or 3 to over .50 members, rep- 

 resenting 70,000 lbs. of honey produc- 

 tion ; among whom are the Rev. O. 

 Clute, Rev. E. L. Briggs, J. V. Cald- 

 well, J. B. Lindle, C. H. Dibbern, 

 Capt. L. II. Scudder, and many others 

 whose names are familiar to our read- 

 ers, as will be seen when the Report 

 is published— probably next week. 



Catalogues for 1884.— Tlie following 

 new Catalogues and Price Lists are 

 received : 



E. L. Goold, Btantford, Out.— 44 

 pages— Bee-Keepers' Supplies. 



II. H. Brown, Light Street. Pa.— 20 

 pages— Bees and Apiarian Supplies. 



O. Clute. Iowa City, Iowa— 2 pages 

 —Italian Bees and Queens, and Class 

 ot Students. 



J. P. Mcdregor, Freeland, Mich.— 1 

 page— Hives and Sections. 



Hillside Fruit Farm. Palmyra, N. 

 Y.— 2 pages— Plants. 



