694 



T'H® MMMKICMEf B^M® J©liJMffMI*. 



INTERNATIONAL. 



Report of the North American 

 Bee-Keepers' Convention. 



Written for theAmcricmi, Bee Journal 



BY W. Z. HUTCHINSON. 



AFXERI^OOI^ SESSIOIV. 



President Mason called the meeting 

 to order at 2 p.m., and the next busi- 

 ness in order was the 



Election of Officers. 



Considerable time was spent in bal- 

 loting, and the results were as follows: 



President— Dr. A. B. Mason, Aubumdale, O. 

 ViCK-PRESiDENTa-Thos.G. Newman, Chicago, III. 



Prof. G. W. Webster, Lake Helen, Fla. 



Joseph Nyaewander, Des Moines, Iowa. 



R. L. Taylor, Lapeer, Mich. 



O. L. Herahiser, Jamestown, N. T. 



Martin Kmlgh, Holbrook, Ont. 



Frank A. Eaton, BluflTton, Ohio. 



F. Minnick, Bessemer, Wis. 

 Sbcritart— R. F. Holtermann, Brantford, Ont. 

 THBASUHER-Dr. C. C. Miller, Marengo, Ills. 



Alter the election of officers, the 

 topic announced for discussion was, 



Comb Honey — S^M-arniing:, etc. 



Dr. Miller was called upon, but said 

 that he did not know as he could give 

 anj-thing new upon the subject. Some 

 one asked him if he could tell how to 

 prevent swarming. He replied : "No; 

 I do not know how to prevent swarm- 

 ing. I can prevent increase, but not 

 swarming. Who knows how to pre- 

 vent swarming ?" No answer. 



Br. Besse asked him how he liked 

 contracting the brood-nest. 



Dr. Miller — I practiced contraction 

 of the brood-nest — practiced it quite 

 severely, too, at times, but I am not 

 sure that I prefer it. I may yet go 

 back to having the same number of 

 hives in the apiary all the year around. 



Dx. Tinker— If we have the brood- 

 chamber too large, it becomes, to a 

 certain extent, a store-chamber. There 

 is more economy and comfort in hav- 

 ing the brood in one apartment, and 

 the honey in another. When the first 

 swarm issues I hive it upon the old 

 stand, putting the old hive to one side. 

 As soon as I have time to attend to it, 

 the bees are shaken from the combs of 

 the old colony down in front of the 

 newly-hived swarm. The combs thus 

 deprived of bees are placed over some 

 other colony. By this management 

 there is no increase, and rousing 



swarms are secured. As the bees 

 hatch out, tbe cells are filled with 

 honey. A queen-excluding honey- 

 board must be used under the set of 

 combs placed over another colony. 

 When a queen-excluder is used, the 

 bees will not destroy the queen-cells. 



In reply to an inquiry. Dr. Tinker 

 said that in hiving swarms he filled 

 frames half full of foundation. 



An Acbno^rled^enient from Mr. 

 Cowan. 



President Mason reported that Mr. 

 Cowan, upon receipt of the letter in- 

 forming him of his election as an hon- 

 orary member, had replied, thanking 

 the Society most cordially through 

 him as its President. 



Honey-Uew for '%Vinter-Stores. 



In reply to an inquiry as to whether 

 we should use honey-dew for winter 

 stores. Prof. Cook replied that, if it 

 were palatable to the taste, he should 

 consider it safe. He objected most 

 strongly to the use of the term "bug- 

 juice," as applied to honey-dew. Such 

 terms give an unpleasant impression 

 that is prejudicial. He urged all edi- 

 tors to cut out the term whenever it be 

 found in correspondence. 



Mr. Thomas G. Newman, by request, 

 gave the following address concerning 

 the work undertaken by the 



IVational Bee-Keepers' Union. 



Mr. President : — It is a well-known 

 fact — one firmly established in the 

 minds of all, that " in Union there is 

 strength." Of course we cannot ap- 

 prove of any Union to carry out an 

 illegitimate or unlawful work ; but a 

 Union to defend our pursuit from the 

 unjust attacks of ignorant or preju- 

 diced persons, is not only desirable, 

 but very necessary to our well-being 

 and general prosperity. 



Look for a moment at the object 

 and aim of the Union of the Atlantic 

 States a century ago, and see how the 

 grand design has been carried out 

 even to a grander achievement. See 

 the millions of freemen of to-day, who 

 inhabit this " land of the free and 

 home of the brave," gathered from 

 every land and clime, who are enjoy- 

 ing the blessings of "peace and 

 plenty," entirely free from oppression 

 or tyranny, and increasing in wealth 

 and power — all resulting from a bond 

 of union only a hundred years old. 



Then these sparsely inhabited States 

 — thirteen in number — were weak and 

 almost powerless. The Union has 

 made them strong and powerful — it 

 has developed strength ! A strength 

 which says to all — both friend and foe 

 — "Hands ofl";" we are able to defend 

 ourselves, and take care of our 

 rights !" 



For this cause, and for this purpose, 

 does the National Bee-Keepers' Union 

 exist ! To form a " bond of Union " — 

 to throw a safe-guard around the pui'- 

 suit as well as its devotees. It does 

 not seek a quarrel, but when one is 

 forced upon any of its member.-;, it sets 

 up a "Rock of Defense" by its very 

 existence and glorious record. Never 

 yet has it sufl'ered a defeat in all the 

 trials it has defended before the 

 courts ! That, surely, is a record to 

 be proud over — but it is more than 

 that. It is a warning to ignorant and 

 jealous enemies to beware how they 

 trifle with the pursuit of apiculture, 

 and to keep their hands off the inter- 

 ests of its devotees. It warns them 

 that the bee-keepers, as well as the 

 bees, have a sting, with which to tor- 

 ture their enemies ! 



The Union not only seeks to obtain 

 decisions from the highest courts of 

 America, but also to have on record 

 these decisions to be quoted as prece- 

 dents in all the courts of law, and by 

 all the lawyers who practice therein. 

 In the case lately tried in New York, 

 the Judge stated that there were no 

 precedents to guide the decision, and 

 hence he ruled adversely to the bees, 

 as did one in Canada, likening an api- 

 ary to a pig-sty, or a manure pit. 



Now we are beginning to make his- 

 tory — to record decisions — to provide 

 precedents! When "ignorance" as- 

 sails the bees, and charges them with 

 eating up the clover (as they did in 

 the sheep-bees case), the records and 

 courts decide that the bees are not 

 only innocent of the charge, but that 

 they benefit the pastures by fructifying 

 the flowers, and thus increase the 

 product ! 



When "prejudice" comes into court 

 with the charge that the bees injure 

 the fruit, the decisions say. No ! Birds 

 and wasps are the depredators, the 

 bees have no means of opening the 

 skin of grape or peach. They only 

 take what is running to waste after the 

 the fruit is punctured by bird or wasp! 



When " jealousy " throws a charge 

 into court against the bees, saying that 

 they are a nuisance and must be re- 

 moved, the Judge says. No. It has 

 been decided that bee-keeping per se 

 is not a nuisance — they may remain ! 



When " ignorance " complains that 

 the bees " eat up young ducks," as it 

 did at Arkadelphia, common-sense re- 

 plies most emphatically that the charge 

 is madness, and derides the accuser, 

 sarcastically averring that it may as 

 well be charged with eating elephants, 

 or destroying the mountains ! 



Wliat tlie Union has done is a guar- 

 antee for the future. It may not al- 

 ways triumph over prejudice and 

 envy and ignorance, but it will defend 

 the pursuit, and uphold th'e right. It 



