THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



755 



^^MJgiaiCAS^v^^ 





TEOUAS a. KEWUAK, Editor. 



yoLimi. Not. 30,1881. No. 48. 



Tlic Gatlierlng of the Clan,— Our 

 fiiend, Mr. Eugene Secor, of Forest City, 

 Iowa, has sent us the following rich poem 

 about the late convention : 



At Chicago they met, a right jolly set. 



On a soft, balmy day in November ; 



Such a "buzz" and "roar" 1 heard once 



before — 

 At an old cider-mill in September. 



From the West and the East, to this sac- 

 charine feast. 



Came the " worliers " cheerfully " singing," 



And tho' each had a wish to " sip " from the 

 dish. 



But few were inclined to be " stinging." 



They talked about bees— their "legs" and 



their " knees "— 

 Of the God-given nectar In flowers. 

 Of Its value as food, of bare-headed brood, 

 And the late sad failure In showers. 



Our " countryfled ways," the reporter says. 

 Betrayed the bent of our calling. 

 At this we're not mad, but exceedingly glad 

 That our looks far exceeded his scrawling. 



Such a constant "hum" without " smoke " 



or "drum 1" 

 'Twas said each had a " bee in his bonnet ;" 

 But whether that's so. one thing I do know. 

 The " hive " bad a Miller upon It. 



The Mmon bee took the Miller to Cook, 

 Who adjudged from its size and demeanor, 

 There was no need to tread on, nor even put 



a Heddon 

 As it lived on Sassafras Root— a gleaner. 



For three days and nights, surprises, delights. 

 Made ua happy as bees In sweet clover ; 

 'Tis a bright Oreen spot, not soon forgot— 

 In memories Hutch, a rich trover. 



'Twould fail me to tell, how the " honey- 

 dew" fell 

 From many sweet lips, though human ; 

 But I for one, when convention was done, 

 Went home from Chicago a New man. 



It Is Tvlih Pleasure that we record the 

 fact that Thomas Wm. Cowan, Esq., editor 

 of the British Bee Journal, was , by a unani 

 raous vote, made an honorary member of 

 the North American Bee-Keepers' Society, 

 In recognition of his recent visit, and the 

 eminent services he had rendered to pro- 

 gressive apiculture. 



Organization of Bee^Keepers.— This 



is what the Chicago Trihune says on our 

 eCTorts In that direction at the late Chicago 

 convention : 



Thomas G. Newman, of Chicago, advo- 

 cated better organization for the obtaining 

 of reliable aplcultural statistics, for the en- 

 couragement of bee and honey shows at 

 Fairs, and for the better education of the 

 public concerning the uses of honey. He 

 urged that a honey company, such as exists 

 in England, be established, and a proper 

 uniformity of grades and prices be intro- 

 duced. 



Mr. Newman advocated the formation of 

 State auxiliary societies, and thought that 

 the future conventions should be represen- 

 tative assemblies, and not mass-meetings 

 of bee-keepers as at present. 



The Herald remarks as follows on this 

 snbject : 



The Bee-Keepers' Convention was brought 

 to a close yesterday afternoon after its ses- 

 sion of three days at the Commercial Hotel. 

 During that time, bees and honey have 

 been thoroughly discussed, and each mem- 

 ber leaves for home richly benefited by the 

 suggestions and advice contained In the 

 papers read. 



From statistics presented to the conven- 

 tion, the honey Interest of the country was 

 shown to have increased so materially dur- 

 ing the past few years that a more thorough 

 organization of beekeepers becomes a 

 necessity. Steps should therefore be taken 

 at once to that end, in order that bee-keep- 

 ers may better control the sale and price of 

 the product. 



Mr. John Aspinwall, editor of the Bee- 

 Keepers' Magazine, at Barrytown, N. Y., 

 writes us as follows : 



I am heartily in accord with most of your 

 views as set forth in the new constitution you 

 suggested at the North American Conven- 

 tion. There are great possibilities for bee- 

 keeping in this country. If such an organi- 

 zation is effected. I am sure, if we go at it 

 with ai«<H, the object can be accomplished. 



All New Sabscrlbers for 1888, will get 

 the remaining numbers of this year/ree. 



I<egIslatton Tor Bee-Keepers, as ad- 

 vocated by Dr. C. C. Miller, Marengo, Ills., 

 was brought before the union convention 

 last week, met with a Waterloo defeat. On 

 motion, it was voted almost unanimously 

 that It was " not desirable or feasible." 



The Doctor, as many know by the discus- 

 sion In the Bee Journal of last spring, 

 advocated the Introduction of measures Into 

 the various State legislative bodies whereby 

 specialists in honey-produotlon could obtain 

 an exclusive right to areas of territory sur- 

 rounding their apiaries, by payment of a 

 license fee. That such legislative measures 

 would lead to a greater Introduction of 

 nectar-bearing plants and grasses, and 

 insure better quality and cheaper honey. 



The action of the convention settled that 

 matter for some time to come. Dr. Miller is 

 evidently far in advance of the times, and 

 will have to wait until public opinion catches 

 up with him, on that subject. 



The 7nt«r Ocean remarks concerning this 

 matter thus : 



Dr. Miller discussed the question of giving 

 the apiculturlst the exclusive control of a 

 certain portion of territory. If a man plants 

 clover for his bees, he does not want to feed 

 the colonies of the whole township. The 

 writer stated that If the committee were to 

 report It should be to the effect that It con- 

 siders It Inadvisable at the present time to 

 do anything In this direction. There were 

 many misconceptions on the subject, but he 

 was firmly of the opinion that legislation 

 was desirable, even If not feasible. 



A member suggested that bees be exempt 

 from taxation, and pay a license which 

 should give them an exclusive t«rrltory. 



The Legs of the Bee.— The address of 

 Prof. A. J. Cook, on the above-named sub- 

 ject, was very Interesting, and as the Pro- 

 fessor promised to write It out for publica- 

 tion, we do not attempt to give any digest of 

 it, but will publish It as soon as it can be 

 obtained. The dally papers of this city, on 

 Friday, referred to It in these words : 



Prof. A. J. Cook, of Agricultural College, 

 Mich., then made an address on "The Legs 

 of the Bee," Illustrating his remarks by a 

 pictorial chart. He treated at length the 

 structure and use of the various parts of 

 the bee, his words being listened to with 

 great interest, and a vote of thanks was 

 tendered him.— Inter-Ocean. 



Prof. Cook, of the Agricultural College, 

 Michigan, gave a very able address upon 

 bees, their formation and functions, with 

 particular reference to the structure and 

 functions of the legs of these winged glean- 

 ers of the sweets. He explained how It was 

 that In Its search for the sweets of the 

 flower, the pollen (or the life fertilizer of the 

 blossom) adhered to the legs of the busy 

 collector which, carrying It to the hive, 

 shook it off, when It was used as a valuable 

 part of the food for the young bees. The 

 Professor urged the members of the con- 

 vention to pay more attention to the scien- 

 tific side of bee-culture. He was sure the 

 interest of the research would amply repay 

 them.— Time*. 



His remarks were closely followed by the 

 assembled bee-keepers— the subject appear- 

 ing to be one but rarely understood.— 

 Herald. 



iviiat Honey Costs to produce, was 

 discussed at the Chicago Convention, and 

 Dr. C. C. Miller (the President) said that 

 upon a carefully computed estimate, the 

 cost of every pound of honey produced In 

 his apiary this year, was $2.47. His crop 

 was about 300 pounds, but he had to feed 

 the bees some 4,000 pounds of sugar syrup 

 for winter stores. 



The Author of Query 491 writes us that 

 he Intended to have asked, " Would one 

 hundred pounds of prairie hay, etc.," In. 

 stead of " one thousand pounds." Yes ; 

 there is no use of any such an extra amount 

 of hay. 



The First catalogue of bee-keepers' sup- 

 plies for 1888, is on our desk. It is that of 

 Mr. George E. Hilton, of Fremont, Mich. 

 This shows that he Is a wide-awake business 

 man. He has just built a new and com- 

 modious depot for supplies. 



New Subscribers can obtain the full 

 numbers for 1887 and 1888 for $1.80, as long 

 as we have any sets of 1887 left. There 

 are only a few, and to get them an early 

 application will be necessary. 



The Deeember Number of Frank 

 I,esUe's Sunday Magazine closes the twenty- 

 second volume. It contains interesting 

 articles on " Gardens," by Walter Edgar 

 MoCann ; "Old Stage Coach Days" by H. 

 W. DeLong; "Old New Orleans," and "A 

 Fairyland of Science " by Christian Hied, all 

 fully, and even profusely Illustrated. The 

 number ends with a vigorous hymn tune by 

 C. Wenham Smith, which is set to the hymn, 

 " Brightly Gleams Our Banner." 



