THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



739 



TSOUAS a. NSWUAN, Editor. 



yoimi. 



Tbe Union Convention at Chicago last 

 week was attended by over a hundred en- 

 thUBlaatlc and well-pogted apiarists. The 

 meeting was the eighteenth of the North 

 American Bee-Keepers' Society, and the 

 sixth of the " Northwestern." 



By the list of names found on page 742, It 

 will be seen that quite a number of promi- 

 nent apiarists were present and took part In 

 the deliberations. 



The discussion was lively on almost every 

 subject— three or four often claiming the 

 recognition of the President at the same 

 time. In addition to those who were report- 

 ing the proceedings for the bee-perlodlcals, 

 there were five or six of the Chicago daily 

 papers represented, and reports were pub- 

 lished every day by the metropolitau papers. 

 Some of the latter tried to be "funny" at 

 the expense of those In attendance, as will be 

 seen by the following extracts from some of 

 them. One starts his report thus : 



The bee-keepers of North America, who 

 are meeting in the ladies' ordinary of the 

 Commercial Hotel, are mighty clever people. 

 They all look like wide-awake men, and they 

 make one think It's Sunday. Not Sunday In 

 Chicago, but Sunday in the old white meet- 

 In'-bouse " jlst acrost the crick over yonder, 

 fornenst Hankses school-house." 'They've 

 all got their store-clothes on, and have a 

 Sunday, clean-shaved upper-lip, and their 

 collars and shirts are snowy white— gloss- 

 less and spotless like the newly fallen snow; 

 not the yellowish, shiny things town laun- 

 dries send home Saturday night. 



Then they all seem to have that handlness 

 with tools that was once the characteristic 

 of Americans, but It is fast disappearing 

 with the march of progress. They've all got 

 that knack of making thinps, and they look 

 at the new wrinkles In bee-lilves with a keen 

 appreciation of every bit of ingenious con- 

 trivance, and say with a kindly sort of envy, 

 " Gosh 1 why d'nt I think o' that ? Dod burn 

 It all, alnt that 'cute ?" 



Then after some more foolishness, that 

 reporter Introduces Brother A. I. Root, 

 editor of Gleanings, In this style : 



There was one man there with a vlsored 

 fur cap on, pushed back on his head, with 

 strong wrinkles round his eyes because he 

 has laughed so much all his life, and an 

 even white set of teeth. These old bee- 

 keepers would walk up to him and ask : 

 " Are you A. I. Root ?" 



"Yep." 



"Well, howdy," and the bee-keeper would 

 Jerk blm by the hand with such fervor that 

 one feared In the exuberance of his cor- 



diality he would pull Mr. Root's arm out of 

 the socket. 



He then says that he tried to puzzle Mr. 

 Root with the old Wiley M« about "making 

 combs of parafline and filling them with 

 glucose ;" but even according to his own 

 silly story, he " barked up the wrong tree," 

 when he assailed our friend and co-worker 

 on that subject. He is represented as mak. 

 ing this reply : 



" Artificial honey I My boy, did you ever 

 eat any artificial strawberries or manufac- 

 tured eggs ? They used to say that they 

 had got eggs manufactured so that they 

 would hatch out, but that the chicks had no 

 feathers. And the newspapers had all sorts 

 of pretty yarns about comb honey being 

 manufactured. I have offered a prize of 

 f 1,000 for a piece of comb honey artlflcially 

 manufactured, but, although the offer has 

 been standing several years, the $1,000 Is 

 still there, and our flag still floats. The 

 strongest proof of this statement of mine is 

 afforded by the present honey market. The 

 drouth of last summer has very much 

 diminished the honey crop. Here was the 

 opportunity of the honey manufacturer. 

 Why didn't he Improve It? Simply because 

 comb honey can't be made by man, but only 

 by bees. About every attempt to adulterate 

 extracted honey with glucose and sugar has 

 been a financial failure, too, and I'm glad of 

 it. A fraud ought to tall." 



This settled the reporter, and he was con- 

 tent to let Brother Hoot alone. He then 

 tackled the President, and Is reported to 

 have asked him how many bees it took to 

 gather his honey crop, and here is the an- 

 swer he Is said to have obtained : 



" The heaviest crop of honey I ever had," 

 said Dr. C. C. Miller, who is the President of 

 the Association, " was 16,549 pounds, and as 

 nearly as I can estimate. It took about seven 

 million bees to make It for me." 



This rattled the reporter, and he subsided. 



Now another reporter thought he must 

 have some /un, and he starts his report of 

 the proceedings in this way : 



A peculiar assemblage of about seventy- 

 five persons. Including half a dozen ladies, 

 met In the ladies' ordinary at the Commer- 

 cial Hotel yesterday morning. A few of 

 them had the appearance of scientists and 

 solid business or professional men, but the 

 great majority wore a very countrified look, 

 seeming to be of the class who, as a matter 

 of precaution, should be provided with 

 candles and lamps when they retire to rest 

 in a city. On a table In the apartment was 

 a large collection of odd and divers articles, 

 cups and jars of peculiar shapes which 

 were the centre of attraction, and of a large 

 amount of discussion before the opening of 

 the meeting. 



Prof. Cook, Dr. Mason, and Dr. Miller 

 took this " scribbler " to task, and politely 

 told him If he could not make a fair report, 

 he had better make himself scarce In that 

 assemblage. Much merriment and applause 

 was the result of some sharp hits between 

 the latter two doctors— they are both jolly 

 and full of fun. 



Another " funny " reporter gives the fol- 

 lowing In any article In the News, Illustrated 

 by five of the familiar faces of the conven- 

 tion, viz : Dr. C. C. Miller, Thomas G. New- 

 man, M. M. Baldridge, Mrs. L. Harrison, and 

 Dr. A. B. Mason. Here Is the Introduction : 



Buzzing and flitting from corner to corner, 

 gathering sweet morsels of knowledge from 

 each other, the congress-room of the bee- 

 keepers' convention looked yesterday like a 

 vast hive. The bee-farmer Is naturally of a 

 sharp, stinging, and aggressive disposition, 

 especially so when one touches upon his 

 hobby— apiculture. He cares nothing— as a 

 rule— for politics, though frequently he has 

 a bee in his bonnet. He disdains all bees but 

 those of honey gathering propensities, and 

 utterly eschews quilting-bees, husking-bees, 

 ' or spelling-bees, though he says, concerning 



the latter, that " if a feller wuz consid'ble 



Eeart and spry-lookin" apurty fair article of 

 oney might be gathered If the gal wuz 

 wlllin'." 



Another daily paper started the report of 

 our proceedings In this manner : 



Appropriate to the time when rose- 

 growers hold flower shows, and breeders 

 and owners of blooded horses and prize fat 

 cattle convene to compete for gold medals 

 and blue ribbons, come the bee-keepers to 

 hold their annual meeting In the convention 

 city. They assembled yesterday at the Com- 

 mercial Hotel, to the number of nearly a 

 hundred, and their convention will last 

 until Friday, inclusive. The convention 

 includes gentlemen who have acquired a 

 national reputation as experts in the delicate 

 pursuit of bee keeping, and who are recog- 

 nized authorities upon the natural and 

 technical knowledge necessary to success- 

 ful bee-culture. Among them are Dr. C. C. 

 Miller, of Marengo, Ills., who devotes his 

 entire time and attention to the manage- 

 ment of a remarkably extensive and aclen- 

 tiflcally managed apiary of many colonies 

 of the finest bees : A. I. Root, of Medina, O., 

 editor of OUanings, and said to be the most 

 extensive dealer in apiarian suoplies In the 

 world ; E. J. Oatman, of Dundee, Ills., rep- 

 resenting the largers number of colonies, 

 and the greatest yield of honey of any bee- 

 fancier in the convention, and other well- 

 known and representative bee-men. 



Can these accounts do the pursuit of 

 honey-production anything but good ? They 

 call attention to " honey " and its produc- 

 tion, and no matter how silly are some of 

 the statements, they will be of value in call- 

 ing attention to honey and its uSfes— they 

 serve as advertisements for this pure sweet. 



nr. R. F. Holterniann, editor of the 

 Bonty Producer, published at Brantford, 

 Ont., and Mr. A. I. Root, editor of Qleaningi, 

 published at Medina, O., were present, and 

 took part in the Convention. Both are very 

 genial gentlemen, and appeared to thor- 

 oughly enjoy that re-unlon of bee-keepers. 



Mr. Root had not been in Chicago for 18 

 years, and it had changed so much that he 

 could not recognize It at any point. In fact, 

 " the great fire " had occurred since then, 

 and in the " up-building" so many magnifi- 

 cent and imposing structures had been 

 reared, that there was nothing left to look 

 familiar to one who had not seen it since 

 the " blotting out " took place. 



Brother Root must come oftener and 

 smile on us and the city, and keep up the 

 acquaintance and pleasure of meeting and 

 conversing on Interesting topics. These 

 conventions help to keep up acquaintance, 

 and promote harmonious action. 



Ttae Enthusiasm at the Convention last 

 week was kept up until the final adjourn- 

 ment. Toledo was selected as the next 

 place of meeting, the time to be arranged by 

 the executive committee. 



The officers elected were as follows : Dr. 

 A. B. Mason, Toledo, O., President : Mr. W. 

 Z. Hutchinson, Flint, Mich., Secretary ; Mrs. 

 L. Harrison, Peoria, Ills., Treasurer. Vice- 

 Presidents : Illinois, Dr. C. C. Miller, Ma- 

 rengo ; Indiana. I. R. Good, Nappanee ; 

 Florida, G. W. Webster, Lake Helen ; Iowa, 

 Eugene Secor, Forest City ; Michigan, W. E. 

 Gould, Fremont ; New York, G.M. Doolittle, 

 Borodino ; Ohio, Miss Dema Bennett, Bed- 

 ford ; Ontario, Canada, R. F. Holtermann, 

 Brantford ; Wisconsin, Franklin Wilcox, 

 Mauston ; Vermont. A. E. Manum, Bristol j 

 Quebec, Canada, H. F. Hunt, Seaton. 



