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DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF THE PRODUCERS OF HONEY. 



VOL. XX. 



CHICAGO, ILL., NOVEMBER 5, 1884. 



No. 45. 



Published every Wednesday, by 



THOMAS G. NEWMAN, 



Eurror ^nd Pkoprietor. 



The National Convention. 



As we were unable to be present at 

 the meeting of the Xorth American 

 Bee- Keepers' Society, last week, (not 

 feeling well enough to leave home), 

 ■we sent a reporter, so as to be able to 

 present our readers with a detailed 

 account of the proceedings, as early 

 as possible. Our reporter wrote us on 

 Oct. 28, as follows : 



Your correspondent and reporter 

 cannot resist ttie temptation to nar- 

 rate " the wanderings of a pilgrim " 

 in search of the annual meeting of the 

 2s'orth American Bee-Keepers" Socie- 

 ty. The last notice that he saw in the 

 Bee .Journal, prior to starting for 

 Rochester, closed by saying that par- 

 ticulars as to place of rneeting would 

 be given ''hereafter". Supposing 

 that the time of assembling would be 

 10 a. ra., he rode on the cars all night, 

 arrivhig in Rochester at 7 a. m. The 

 morning papers which he got on the 

 train, gave no notice of the hour or 

 the place of meeting. One of them 

 said, '• The Xorth American Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Society will commence its annual 

 meeting in the city to-day." 



On reaching the city, he set out in 

 search of the convention, called at 

 several hotels, and at two or three 

 stores where honey was sold, but fail- 

 ed to learn anything more about the 

 meeting. Sallyingout after breakfast, 

 he recognized among the pedestrians 

 on the sidewalk, the pale but familiar 

 face of Silas M. Locke, of Salem. 

 Mass.. from whom he learned that the 

 City Ilall was the place of meeting, 

 2 p. m., the hour, and the Litster 

 House the Apicultural Head-quarters. 

 Mr. Locke kindlv guided him to where 

 Messrs. L. C. Root, ^V. E. Clarke, F. 

 C. Benedict, and others of the early 

 arrivals could be foimd, so that he 

 was very soon at home. During the 

 forenoon, Messrs. I. Barber, R. Bacon, 

 F. Bacon, .J. Thompson, and perhaps 

 a dozen more turned up at the City 

 Hall, and an hour or two of good fel- 

 lowship was enjoyed. 



Your correspondent blames nobody, 

 but it was unfortunate that the hour 

 and place of meeting were left to be 

 announced " hereafter ". The Presi- 

 dent and Secretary state that notifica- 

 tion of time and place was sent to the 

 bee-periodicals, and are at a loss to 

 know why the information was not 

 put before the public. The Editor of 

 the Bee .Journal can, no doubt, clear 

 himself from the " soft impeachment " 

 herein implied, and others are hereby 

 invited to "do likewise." 



Our correspondent must have been 

 asleep, or dreaming ! On page 660 of 

 the Bee .Journal for Oct. 1.5, is an 

 editorial notice stating that the meet- 

 ing was " to be held at the City Hall, 

 in Rochester, X. Y., commencing at 

 1 p. m., on Tuesday, Oct. 28, and con- 

 tinuing three days." It is a fact, 

 however, that the Railroad and Hotel 

 arrangements have not been publish- 

 ed, and this probably was what vexed 

 our correspondent, and made him call 

 for an explanation. 



The Bee .Journal can very easily 

 clear itself from the slightest blame in 

 this matter. We presume that the 

 cause was a complication of circum- 

 stances; unavoidable, perhaps, but 

 none the less perplexing. We do not 

 know why the Committee did not 

 make their arrangements earlier, nor 

 why the notice was not sent direct to 

 the Bee Journal, seeing there was 

 no time to lose in order to give even 

 one insertion of such an important 

 matter. 



The facts are that the notice was 

 sent to the Secretary, Dr. Miller, of 

 Marengo, 111., while he was in attend- 

 ance at the Chicago Convention, and 

 he did not return to his home until 

 the evening of Oct. 20. He wrote the 

 •' notice " next morning and we re- 

 ceived it on Oct. 22, one day after 

 every number of the last Bee .Jour- 

 nal before the meeting, had been 

 sent out to subscribers. Had the 

 notice been sent to the Bee .Journal 

 direct, it would have duly appeared. 



Accompanying the notice. Dr. Miller 

 wrote us that he feared " it would not 

 be in time." He was not well during 

 the Convention, and for that reason 



was absent at one session and he did 

 not return to Marengo as soon as the 

 Convention adjourned, but remained 

 at Austin, with his wife, with some 

 friends. On this account he seemed 

 to think it was his fault that the 

 notice could not be published, and he 

 added : 



" Although there is some excuse, it 

 is my fault. I think it may be as well 

 for you to say as much, for it is pos- 

 sible that the Bee .Journal may be 

 blamed for the delay." 



We think this explanation will 

 wholly clear us of blame in the mat- 

 ter. We regret that the notice was 

 not in time, for we have always done 

 all we could to further the interests 

 of tlie Xational Society, as our readers 

 must be well aware. We regret this 

 circumstance the more so, because 

 some of the Eastern apiarists have an 

 idea that those in the West are not 

 in accord with them. This idea, how- 

 ever, is unfounded and should be 

 instantly dismissed. The Western 

 apiarists are united and harmonious, 

 and will, if permitted, labor with all 

 others for the best interests of the 

 fraternity in America. 



We announce with pleasure the fact 

 that the Continental Convention was 

 well attended, and, so far as heard 

 from, the deliberations were conduct- 

 ed so as to merit universal approba- 

 tion. For the next place of meeting 

 Detroit was unanimously selected, 

 and from the fact that it is centrally 

 located and easy of access from all 

 sections of the United States as well 

 as Canada, there will doubtless be a 

 large attendance. 



We publish as much of the Report 

 in this .Journal as we have received, 

 and will give the rest next week. 



Trial Subscribers.— The Weekly 

 Bee Journal will be sent to any ?iew 

 subscriber in North America from now 

 until the end of 18,^1 for 2-5 cents. 

 This offer is intended to aid those who 

 are getting up clubs at Fairs, Conven- 

 tions, etc., and should add several 

 thousand to our readers during the 

 next month. 



