1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



781 



arrived at Springfield at 5:30 the next morning, very tired 

 and sleepy. (No sleeping-car is run to Springfield on that 

 line.) We proceeded to the various hotels, hoping to discover 

 where the head-quarters of the convention were to be. But 

 finding no familiar names on the hotel registers, we began 

 to investigate the restaurants, where we replenished the inner 

 man, and then waited until about 9 o'clock, when we went to 

 the State House. This is a beautiful structure, massive and 

 substantial, and costing about $5,000,000. 



The convention was held in the Senate Judiciary room. 

 There was not a large number present, but all who were there 

 took a very active part in the various subjects discussed. Pres. 

 J. Q. Smith being absent, Vice-Pres. S. N. Black called the 

 meeting to order. Mr. Smith was on hand at the afternoon 

 session, and all through the remainder of the meeting. Both 

 Mr. Smith and Mr. Black are good presiding officers, and did 

 their share iu making the meeting a success. 



Col. Chas. F. Mills addressed the convention iu a very 

 pleasant manner immediately after the opening prayer by 

 Kev. A. P. Cobb, the popular pastor of the Christian church. 

 Mr. Mills welcomed the convention to Springfield, and out- 

 lined the work of the Farmers' Institutes that are to be held 

 in each county the coming year. He assured the convention 

 that bee-keeping would receive a prominent place in all the 

 programs, and expressed the hope that bee-keepers in every 

 county in the State would do all they could to aid the managers 

 of the Institutes in securing able persons to properly present 

 the subject of bee-culture. 



Secretary Jas. A. Stone was on hand, and attended to his 

 duties in his usual efficient and businesslike way. Mrs. Stone 

 was in attendance the second day. The convention was in- 

 debted to her kind thoughtfulness for a market-basket full of 

 delicious Sangamon county apples, which were "passed 

 around " until only the basket was left. 



Mr. C. P. Dadant — always good-natured and cheerful — 

 was present, and contributed much to the interest andjprofit 

 of the meeting. 



Mr. W. J. Finch, of Springfield, is one of the youngerly 

 men, who is now doing what he can to " sweeten up" the resi- 

 dents of that town. Besides his comb foundation business, he 

 is endeavoring to build up a local honey market, in which he is 

 succeeding also. Mr. Finch informed me that at the State 

 Fair at Springfield in September there was the finest and 

 largest apiarian exhibit they have had tor years — about 5,000 

 pounds of honey being shown. Some ^.300 in cash premiums 

 was offered. Besides the exhibitors from this State there were 

 Mr. O. L. Hershiser, of New York, and Geo. H. Kirkpatrick, 

 of Indiana. 



Among the others who took an active part in the conven- 

 tion discussions were, Mr. Geo. F. Robbins, of Mechanicsburg, 

 and Mr. Chas. Becker, of PleasantPlain. Mr. J. M. Hambaugh, 

 who heretofore had been the President and one of the hardest 

 working members, was greatly missed. He has within the past 

 year removed to Escondido, Calif., only a few miles from the 

 southern border of the State. Of course he is keeping bees 

 there. 



Tuesday evening, there being no session of the convention, 

 several of us had the pleasure of listening to Mr. George Ken- 

 nan, the lecturer on Russia, Siberia, Arctic Asia, etc. It was 

 a rare treat. 



During our stay in Springfield we stopped at The Deli- 

 catessen—a boarding-house run by Mr. E. A. Staley, at 308 

 S. Fifth St. Special rates were given the members attenc'ing 

 the convention, and especially fine meals. The waiters were 

 unusually courteous and attentive, and the "essen" was ex- 

 ceptioually " Delicat." Don't forget the above excellent place, 

 should you ever be in Springfield. 



Dr. Miller and I returned to Chicago Wednesday night, 

 " right side up with care." lam glad to be able to say that 



the Doctor's health is greatly improved. He seems 10 years 

 younger than a year ago. 



Every bee-keeper in Illinois, and all who can possibly 

 come from surrounding States, should arrange to attend the 

 Chicago convention, to be held Jan. 9 and 10, 1896. Those 

 who have in former years enjoyed the bee-conventions held in 

 Chicago, ought to come and help to make it equal, if not ex- 

 ceed, any of the old-time meetings. Remember, you are all 

 invited to come. 



A I>eli8;litful Banquet was given by the Frank B. 

 White Co., of Chicago, the evening of Nov. 14, to about 100 

 agricultural publishers and advertisers, in the Auditorium 

 Hotel. It was the nicest banquet I ever had the pleasure of 

 attending. The menu was the finest, and the literary pro- 

 gram — toasts — the most entertaining I ever enjoyed. Best of 

 all, nothing stronger than coffee was served in the line of 

 drinks. 



After the address of welcome by Mr. Frank B. White — 

 whose business methods and daily life are in strict keeping 

 with his name — the following took a prominent part: Mr. 

 R. Roy Sherman, of the Wm. Deering Harvester Co.; Gen. C. 

 H. Howard, of the Farm, Field and Fireside; Mr. R. P. Sharp- 

 less, an advertiser of cream separators ; Mr. W. J. Adam, a 

 wire-fence manufacturer; and W. J. Taft, a stock-breeder. 



After the set addresses were finished, the meeting was 

 thrown open for general discussion, which was participated in 

 by many. 



The Frank B. White Co. are Chicago advertising agents, 

 and their plan was to get the prominent agricultural pub- 

 lishers and advertisers together, so that they might the better 

 come to know and understand each other. It was a thorough 

 success, and all credit is due Mr. Frank B. White, the head of 

 the excellent firm before mentioned. 



A California Honey-IHan.— In last Gleanings 

 the following paragraph appeared, from the pen of that ban- 

 ner " skipper" of the Golden States, better known as "Ram- 

 bler :" 



Mr. D. A. Wheeler, of Riverside, who owns about 1,000 

 colonies of bees, and has produced about 55 tons of honey 

 during the past season, soon leaves for Chicago, where he will 

 establish a house for the sale of California honey. Mr. 

 Wheeler proposes to pay cash for all of the honey he handles 

 for other parties. The present ruling price here is 3 to 3% 

 cents for extracted honey, and S to 93-2 for comb, and but 

 little demand at those figures. 



Chicago will be glad to welcome Mr. Wheeler when he 

 gets here. There is lots of room here for the right kind of 

 dealers in honey. If the nearly 2,000,000 people in Chicago 

 were to consume annually as much honey as they should, 

 what a large quantity it would require ! Some day they may. 

 •*—*■ 



Three Bee-Papers, I understand, have dropped 

 out of existence within the past less than six months, and one 

 has changed over to something else. Thus only three of the 

 oldest are left in the United States, viz.: Gleanings in Bee- 

 Culture, Bee-Keepers' Review, and the American Bee Journal. 

 There are, however, two others five or more years old — the 

 Progressive Bee-Keeper and the American Bee-Keeper. 

 And Canada still has her Canadian Bee Journal. 



Ilouey SIS Fo4»<1 anti Metlioine.— A new and revised 

 edition of this 32-page pamphlet is now issued. It lias .5 blank 

 pages on whicii to write or paste recipes taken from other sources. 

 It is just what its name indicates, and .shouM be liberally dis- 

 tributed among the people everywhere to create a demand for 

 honey. It contaius a number of recipes on the use of honey as 

 food and as medicine, besides much other interesting and valuable 

 information. Prices, postpaid, are: Single copy. 5 cts. : 10 copies 

 35cts.; .50 for SI. 2.5; 100 for $3.00. Better give them a trial. Send 

 all orders to the Bee Journal office. 



