THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



311 



branch of agriculture : important in gather- 

 ing the vast stores of nectar, and perhaps 

 more important in increasing the fruitage 

 of orchards and gardens through poUeniza- 

 tion by the bees. 



The bee-keeper, then, has a right to claim 

 recognition in each and every college, where 

 bee-keeping is located : and in what State 

 or Territory is it not ? 



Now that we have proved the right, we 

 next consider the policy. Is it desirable to 

 have bee-keeping taught in the agricultural 

 colleges ? To say no, is to say that the bee- 

 keeper may as well be ignorant of the 

 sciences relating to his business, and igno- 

 rant regarding general matters. To be 

 thoroughly taught gives to the bee-keeper 

 the same general advantage that it gives the 

 horticulturist or farmer. If not, why not ? 

 No intelligent bee-keeper would say that a 

 knowledge of botany, entomology, and a 

 general education in science would not be of 

 great benefit to him. Not only in matters of 

 utility, but in adding to life's pleasure. 



Again, if bee-keepers are trained, strained 

 honey in fact as well as name will soon be 

 no more, and will cease to injure our mar- 

 kets. If each neighborhood could have a 

 bee-keeper taught to put his honey upon the 

 market only in the finest condition, prices 

 would not be depressed as they must be by 

 ungraded comb honey sent in soiled and 

 broken combs. 



Again, if we do not claim and maintain 

 our rights, we shall not only receive less than 

 is our just due, but oar business loses in 

 prestige, and instead of assuming its right- 

 ful dignity our business will have no stand- 

 ing, and when we appeal for legislation re- 

 garding spraying fruit trees, or in regard to 

 foul brood, etc., or ask for appropriations at 

 fairs, or for publications, or to exhibit at 

 great expositions, we must expect the taunt, 

 'your business is of no account," and we 

 are denied our just requests. 



It seems to me that no bee-keeper who ap- 

 preciates the importance of his vocation can 

 feel for a minute that he and his business 

 are not entitled to this recognition in our 

 college, just as general agriculture, horticul- 

 ture, and floriculture are ; and can he hesi- 

 tate longer, when he knows his rights, to de- 

 mand them ? He will thus encourage a 

 better market, because of the excellence of 

 the product, and will do much to make the 

 dignity and importance of his business felt 

 in all the community. Thus with the rights 



and importance of instruction in apiculture 

 at our agricultural colleges shown, can it be 

 accomplished ? I haven't a doubt of it. Let 

 bee-keepers rise en masse and demand this 

 right, and their demand, hedged in on every 

 side by justice, connot be refused by any 

 College Board. A good committee appoint- 

 ed to urge the matter, sustained by numer- 

 ous personal letters will succeed every time. 

 If bee-keepers in any State will demand this 

 right, the right will be given. This was 

 done in Michigan when bee-keepers deman- 

 ded that their Experimental Station recog- 

 nize bee-keeping ; and though I believe they 

 lost more than they gained, they proved, that 

 energetic action would secure rights. This 

 will always prove true if those who demand 

 their rights are sufficiently in earnest to per- 

 sist, and urge until success comes. 



Like our Agricultural Colleges, so, too, our 

 Experimental Stations are endowed by the 

 general government. Only here the govern- 

 ment gives $15,000 annually to each State 

 and Territory, and entirely equips and 

 maus the stations without expense to the 

 State. As before, the bee-keepers have a 

 rigut to recognition ; they need the experi- 

 mentation, unless we now have reached bot- 

 tom facts, which no intelligent bee-keeper 

 bolieves. Here, too, insistance will bring 

 recognition, as was proved in Michigan. In 

 Michigan, however, while the experimentor 

 was secured, the station was removed from 

 the college where it should be located as I 

 showed a year ago, and all chance to teach 

 bee-keeping at the college was lost, for to 

 teach apiculture without an apiary is sheer 

 nonsense. I am sure that the Michigan bee- 

 keepers when they realize what was done, 

 will insist that not only shall the station be 

 ably manned as it is at present, but that it 

 shall be re-located at the college, and that 

 apiculture shall again be taught, and the 

 station and college be mutually helpful to 

 each other, as they must needs be when they 

 have so much in common. Would not the 

 farmers protest were the farm to be re- 

 moved, or the horticulturists kick if the 

 gardens and orchards were moved hence ; 

 and why not then a wave of indignation at 

 this strange move at the Michigan Agricul- 

 tural College ? 



Ag'l Col., Mich. 



Sept. 16, 1893. 



[I fully agree with Prof. Cook that each 

 Agricultural College and Experimental Sta- 

 tion ought to have an apiary just as much as 



