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THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



nal, the president, Mr. M. B. Holmes, in 

 his admirable address, uttered these truth- 

 ful and forceful words: — 



It is only natural that we look back- 

 ward over the time that has so quickly 

 passed since our last meeting, and note 

 the successes, the reverses, the mistakes, 

 the griefs and the shadows which have 

 fallen to our lot; while, at the same time, 

 we lay oi:r plans to avoid (if possible ) the 

 griefs and mistakes, and to court only 

 success, and with the experience which 

 we have of necessity gained, we certainly 

 ought to be better bee-keepers and better 

 men and citizens in every way. 



In this connection I venture (with par- 

 donable pride ) the assertion that those 

 who have, for any considerable time, 

 made bee-keeping a special stud}-, are al- 

 most invariably good men and good citi- 

 zens. 



How it makes our hearts thrill with 

 pleasure to know that a leader among 

 such grand men, and masters in our loved 

 pursuit as compose the Ontario Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association, utters such words of 

 cheer; words that meet with a glad re- 

 sponse from the kindly, noble hearts of 

 so many of our fraternity; those who, 

 with loving thoughts and kindly words, 

 are not only willing, but anxious to do all 

 they can to advance the interests of our 

 specialty. 



Although we are prone to forget "those 

 things which are behind," and reach out 

 for "those things which are before," it is 

 well to be reminded by such as Mr. Holmes 

 that it is a good thing to let our thoughts 

 revert to the past and note our "success- 

 es;" and consider well what has contrib- 

 uted to our success; as well as to study 

 well the causes of our "reverses" and 

 "mistakes" so as to be able to remove 

 them. 



Experience, we know, is a splendid 

 teacher, although she sometimes "charges 

 high for tuition," and, although griefs and 

 shadows niay have been mixed with our 

 successes, they may generally, if not al- 

 ways, be but the school-master who is 

 trying to help us; and, if we accept and 

 improve by means of these lessons we 

 surely shall be better and more successful 

 "men and citizens" and bee-keepers. 



As I write these words there come to 

 me the words of one of our largest honey 

 producers and most noted bee-keepers. 

 I'll not tell you his name; but at the Buf- 

 falo Convention of the U. S. B. K. Asso- 

 ciation, in 1S97, he gave us a splendid 

 talk. Although he has not been in the 

 habit of attending bee-keepers' conven- 

 tions during late years, yet when I wrote 

 him recently asking him to write a paper 

 for the coming Philadelphia convention, 

 knowing that anything he might write 

 would be of value, his reply was: 



It would please me vastly to become a 

 factor, however small, and work once 

 more with those * * who are unselfishly 

 laboring to place our industry on a high- 

 er plane. Among the ver} pleasant mem- 

 ories of my life are the days I have spent 

 in conventions with bee-keepers. Bee- 

 keepers as aclass, toniy mind, are way up. 

 There have always been fine noble men 

 in our ranks; men whose last thought 

 would be to use the occasion for purely 

 selfish ends. I think the high moral 

 standard of the men in our business, is 

 remarkable. 



It is pleasant to feel and know that the 

 leaders in our speciality, both men and 

 women, are good and noble; working un- 

 selfishly for the good of our enchanting 

 pursuit. 



Mr. Holmes closes his address by hop- 

 ing "that the Ontario Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation may have an ever increasing 

 prosperity and flourish forever." My ! 

 but isn't that a big "hope?" "An ever 

 increasing prosperity !" Well, if his 

 "hope" is realized (and I guess we all 

 "hope" it will be) and it prospers for the 

 next decade in the same ratio it has since 

 its organization, I'm afraid its members 

 will feel a good deal "stuck up;" but I 

 hope they'll not be stuck up with any 

 thing worse than honey. 



BEE-KEEPERS WHO .\RE "CUPPERS." 



Following Mr. Holmes' address was a 

 paper by Mr. H. G. Sibbald on "Spring 

 Management," which, with the discus- 

 sion following it, is so full of good things 

 that it is a diilicult matter to select the 

 good without taking too much space, 

 and It would be too late to be of benefit 

 this Spring, but I may say that the essay- 



