AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



115 



Address to tli^ Honcy=Becs. 



W. J. CULLINAN. 



Now rest, oh, busy toilers ! - 

 Your working daj's are o'er ; 



You " made hay while the sun shone," 

 From hill and dale you bore 



The sweets we prize so highly, 

 And loVe to have in store. 



You've won sweet rest, enjoy it. 



And if you can, be gaj' ; 

 Sip deep your cups of nectar. 



And this shall be your pay, 

 For honest, faithful service 



You've rendered day by day. 



We strove to guide your efforts. 

 And sought, without abuse. 



To turn them in our favor. 

 And mould them to our use— 



And by manipulation 

 Endeavored to induce 



Your tireless, toiling forces 

 To work as we should guide. 



And bear the precious nectar 

 From fell and flowery side. 



And store in white an' snowy comb— 

 The apiarist's pride ! 



Yet, lo, we did not drive you— 



Let instinct do that part — 

 Perhaps you work'd no harder, 



Play'd just as light a part. 

 As if you toil'd in tree or cave. 



Unfettered by our art. 



No doubt you dine as richly. 

 Forsooth, shall dine as long. 



As bees out in the forest, 

 Or rocks and caves among ; 



And will come through the blizzards 

 In numbers quite as strong. 



So "calmly rest, and sweetly sleep," 

 In that " ideal hive " of mine. 



Till the snow has left the hillside. 

 And the sun has warm'd the vine ; 



And warmer winds an' softer skies 

 Proclaim th' appi'oach of spring-time. 



Then, wake ! and to your labors 



Go, with your old-time zeal ; 

 And labor then, as always. 



Unto your master's weal- 

 Proclaiming thus the wonders 

 That little things reveal ! 

 Quincj', Ills. 



Why Complain because others do not 

 agree with us ? a little reflection would 

 show us that each one's conception and 

 understanding, must be according to 

 the^r culture and experience. — Exchange. 



Topics ul Interest. 



Essays at Conyentions. 



EUGENE SECOR. 



I have not been as regular an attendant 

 at, nor of as long experience in, conven- 

 tions as Dr. Miller, but I cannot agree 

 with him in the essay controversy. 



In my limited knowledge of convention 

 worli, I have been led to believe that 

 those meetings were the most satisfac- 

 tory where the principal work was 

 blocked out in advance, and some plan 

 followed. It does not always happen 

 that the ones assigning topics make the 

 best selections, or the best persons to 

 treat them, but if a mistake is made one 

 year it need not be repeated the next. 

 It is impossible for persons in charge of 

 such matters to always know the best 

 men to put on the programme. But a 

 convention called together, without any 

 definite work for it to do, is a good deal 

 like a mob, and there are but few pre- 

 siding officers capable of directing the 

 deliberations of such an unwieldy crowd. 



I believe in assigning topics for discus- 

 sion and designating a member to lead. 

 Whether he does so by a carefully 

 written paper, or orally, depends on cir- 

 cumstances. If a report of the meeting 

 is to be published, and no stenographer 

 is present, I think the written paper 

 best. In any event it ought to be as 

 well prepared as the ability and time of 

 the leader permits. The subject, then, 

 is before the convention for discussion. 



I agree with the Doctor that all sub- 

 jects are not proper for such meetings, 

 but who is to be the judge ? We are not 

 all made after the same mental pattern 

 any more than corporeal. I might get 

 the laugh on the Doctor by saying a bee 

 convention was no place to tell "How 

 Sockery Set a Hen," nor to illustrate the 

 weakness of parental government, when 

 besieged by juvenile questions, while 

 reading the story of George Washington 

 — but I will not do that because I like 

 my intellectual food seasoned quite as 

 well as I like pepper and salt in my 

 victuals, and I go to conventions quite 

 as much for the social enjoyment I get 

 out of them, as for any new thing I 

 expect to hear pertaining to bee-keeping. 



I wish to say though, in the matter of 

 essays and discussions, that I think the 

 sessions ought not to be prolonged to 

 interfere with the cultivation of those 

 social qualities, which are only to be dis- 

 covered by closer personal contact than 



