rHE BEE-REEFERS' REVIEW. 



181 



terest has grown until he feels that he would 

 like to have a journal of his own. The re- 

 sult is the Enterprise, which is well named. 

 Pleasant indeed are such pictures of success 

 from humble beginnintj?. as the result of 

 perseverance and enterprise. 

 O 



MICHIGAN IS TO HAVE AN EXPEBIMENTAL, 

 APIAKY. 



At several of the bee-conventions that I 

 have attei Jed there have been resolutions 

 passed .liking that the general government 

 or that tlie State Experiment Stations do 

 some experimental work in the bee-keeping 

 line. At one or two of them a committee 

 was appointed to try and secure the desired 

 action. If this is all that is done, no expe- 

 rimental apiary wid be established. 



At the last meeting of the Michigan State 

 Bee-Keepers' Association, this subject was 

 discussed and a committee appointed to try 

 and induce the State Board of Agriculture to 

 secure the services of a competent bee-keep- 

 er for managing the State apiary in an ex- 

 perimental way, for, be it known, Michigan 

 was already the possessor of an apiary. The 

 Hon. R. L. Taylor, the Hon. Geo. E. Hilton 

 and myself were the members of the com- 

 mittee. As chairman of the committee I 

 addressed a letter to each member of the 

 State Board of Agriculture. 



I called their attention to the fact that of 

 the $15,000 received by each State from the 

 general government for experimental work, 

 almost nothing was devoted to apiarian re- 

 search ; I pointed out the fact that each 

 State ought to conduct experiments in the 

 lines that would benefit the industries of 

 that State. Experiments in cotton growing 

 would not be appropriate in Michigan. Ex- 

 periments in bee-keeping would. Isot only 

 is bee. keeping important for the wax and 

 honey produced, but for its benefit to the 

 fruit grower and horticulturist. Without 

 bees, these two industries would languish. 



I then called attention to the different ex- 

 periments that ought to he made, and in the 

 name of the bee-keepers of Michigan I most 

 respectfully but most earnestly urged that 

 they give the matter an early consideration. 



I then had circulars printed showing what 

 I had done and urging the recipient to write 

 to the members of the Board and ask that 

 bee-keeping be recognized by the appoint- 

 ment of an apiarist for doing experimental 

 work. These were sent to about 100 of the 



most prominent bee-keepers of the State. I 

 also wrote about twenty personal letters 

 urging these friends to write. Mr. Hilton 

 also wrote and sent out circulars. All this 

 was done shortly before a Board-meeting, 

 and when the Board met, Mr. Taylor and 

 myself went before it and urged our case. 

 The matter was urged almost solely upon 

 the ground that bees were a benefit to other 

 purtuits ; that the honey and wax were of 

 less consequence than the benefits derived 

 from the bees by other pursuits. ,Mr. Taylor 

 said that bee-keeping was looked upon by 

 many as a small business, as one beneath the 

 dignity of a man — a bee-keeper was looked 

 upon as a sort of a " hen-wife." If the 

 State would recognize and encourage it, it 

 would add dignity to the pur.-uit, and lead to 

 more extensive keeping of bees. 



The Board then wanted to know what were 

 the experiments that bee-keeping so much 

 needed. Said one member: "The sheej) 

 and dairy men, and those from other indus- 

 tries, come before us just as you have done 

 and say ' do something for us,' and when we 

 ask what, they are at a loss to answer. Tell 

 us what experiments you want done ard we 

 will try and see that a man is found to do 

 the work." 



I then went to work and prepared a list of 

 perhaps a dozen different experiments that I 

 considered the most important, and, as none 

 of the members were practical bee-keej er- 1 

 went into details and explained each jioint 

 so that the importance of the work could be 

 understood even by one not a bee-keeper. 



It was then asked if a bee-keeper could not 

 do this work cheaper in his own apiary, than 

 he could come to the College and do the 

 work. I replied that he could. I thought he 

 could do the work for half the money that he 

 would need if he were obliged to move to 

 Lansing and pay rent. The next question 

 was, "How much pay ought a man to receive 

 for conducting experiments in his own api- 

 ary ?" I thought .*.500 a year a fair com- 

 pensation. 



To make a long story short, $500 a year has 

 been appropriated for paying a man to con- 

 duct experiments in apiculture, and the 

 Hon. R. L. Taylor, of Lapeer, has been ap- 

 pointed to do the work. He has had ex- 

 perience, he is careful, methodical and con- 

 scientious, and it is no disparagement to 

 other bee-keepers to say that probably no 

 better man could have been chosen for the 

 work. 



