THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



He iiiusl also know thai ihere is work to 

 do. He must not only have a stronj^ rep- 

 resentative lobby before the committees 

 of the two houses, but from all parts of 

 the State must come slronti appeals from 

 the constituent bee-keejicrs, to the vari- 

 ous members composinj^ these commit- 

 tees, to vote favorably on the measure. 

 The more cudgels that can be wielded 

 over the heads of members bv their con- 

 stituents, the better; and, remember, that 

 a favorably consideration of a Bill before 

 the committee is eejuivalent to tine-halt 

 the battle. 



.Vfter the bill is favorably considered, 

 see after the measure closely that it is not 

 ])ushe(l to the rear and "pigeon-holed," 

 but promptly brought to its place on the 

 calendar. 



.\nd now is the time for the importun- 

 ing of the members for a favorable con- 

 sideration, with all the force that can be 

 brought to bear, from every bee-keeper 

 that can be mustered into service, in the 

 way of writing to their rcjiresentatives and 

 senators, and sending petitions, etc., in 

 behalf of the measure, and see to it that 

 a .strong, vigilant vanguard is ever on deck 

 to throttle opposition in whatever way it 

 may pre.sent itself, by counter active ar- 

 guments and work from its advocates and 

 the opponents' constituency. 



.\nd now, fellow bee-keepers, if you 

 are in earnest and need the law, it is your 

 duty to work for the same. I appreciate 

 Mr. Stone's energy and grit. I know 

 him of old, but it is not within the prov- 

 ince of any one man to convince a whole 

 legislative body of men to enact a law, 

 where there is no appro\al at his back 

 from the jieople who are directly interest- 

 ed, and a legi.slator is quick to note this 

 point. 



Xow, as neither Mr. Dadant nor Mr. 

 Stone are members of that "disreputable" 

 body, vou must secure the services of the 

 next best man you can get, and, let me 

 beu of vou, don't get one to introduce the 

 Hill and then sit back and let the Rill 

 take care of itself, as was done with a for- 

 mer foul brood bill, which I have a recol- 

 lection of. It was a case of "The father 

 of the Rill didn't father it." 



What is now needed is that bee-keepers 

 all over the State of Michigan write to 

 their representatives in the legislature 

 and urge the passage of the bill. The 

 American Bee Journal has already pub- 

 lished the bill and urged its readers to 

 write. Gleanings has been requested to 

 do the s^nie; and I presume that it will 



do it. The Review has once before urged 

 upon its readers the importance of this 

 duty; but it requires line upon line to 

 get bee-keepers stirred up sufficiently to 

 do so simple a thing as to write a letter. 

 Mr. Rankin says that he has written 200 

 letters to bee-keepers urging them to 

 write to their representatives. He has 

 also written an article on the suDJect for 

 the Michigan Farmer; and "has spared 

 neither time, ])ains nor postage. 

 That is the only way to get the law. 



Now, friends, let me ask you once 

 more, and it is probably the last time that 

 I will have an opportunity to ask you, to 

 not neglect this matter. Don't think that 

 you are only one, and that if all the rest 

 write it won't matter. Suppose every 

 one should do that way? Don't argue 

 with yourself that there is no foul brood 

 in your apiary nor in your vicinity. Don't 

 be too sure of that. It may be nearer 

 than vou thijik; and the way to keep it 

 away is to have it stamped out before it 

 conies any nearer. As I have said before, 

 it is not necessary to write a long nor an 

 elaborate letter. Simply write your re- 

 presentative that there is a bill before the 

 hou.se for the appointment of a commis- 

 sioner whose duty it shall be to work for 

 the suppression of the bee-disease known 

 as foul brood; and ask him to vote for the 

 measure because the disea.se is present 

 in nearly every county, and is rapidly 

 spreading. Tell him that this disease 

 not only destroys the colony of bees in 

 which it gains a foothold, but that when 

 the colony becomes weakened, it is rob- 

 bed bv the bees of some healthy colony, 

 and that in this way the seeds of the dis- 

 ease are carried to the colony that does 

 the robbing; and so the pestilence is spread 

 from hive to hive, and from apiary to 

 apiary. Call his attention to the fact 

 that a bee-keeper with a few colonies of 

 bees is likely to be careless and indiflfer- 

 ent in the matter: uiu\ that there is need 

 for some one ])ossessed of authority an<l 

 skill in the matter. Mention the fact 

 that bee-keepers alone are not the only 

 ones who will suffer from a decline of the 



