174 



TENTH ANNUAL REPORT OF THE 



general manager to be permitted to 

 do anything. He must first write and 

 get replies from all 12 directors, and 

 by that time it is probably too late 

 to act. The experience of almost 

 anyone is, that a committee of one is 

 the easiest to get together to do any- 

 thing! Of course, I would not advise 

 a board, or committee, of only one, 

 but I think that no one will question 

 that a board of three or five members 

 would be more eflUcient, and accom- 

 plish all that a board of a larger num- 

 ber could do. 



Second, our annual meetings can 

 never be more than a small represen- 

 tation of the whole membership. 

 State meetings can be fairly large, 

 and can consider many things that 

 would be of interest to the National 

 Association. I would have the State 

 associations branches of the Na- 

 tional, and not merely, as now, in- 

 dividual members working independ- 

 entlj^. The State brianches should 

 elect at their annual meetings one or 

 two delegates to the National conven- 

 tion, and then these National meet- 

 ings should be a law making body for 

 the whole, and meet at some central 

 place, the expenses being cared for 

 out of the general fund. Suppose this 

 present meeting were made up of 

 delegates from all the States and 

 Territories, who had been elected and 

 given authority to represent their 

 State and Territorial memberships; 

 then we could have an attendance of 

 about 100 of those most capable and 

 most interested and, doubtless, the 

 best able to consider the things of 

 vital interest to the bee-keeping in- 

 dustry throughout the whole country. 

 We must get away from discussing 

 the minor things of bee-keping at 

 our great annual National conven- 

 tions. The matters of the best way 

 to produce honey, the best way to 

 introduce queens, and the best way 

 to do a lot of things in bee-keeping 

 can best be left to the columns of the 

 bee-papers, all of which ought to be 

 taken and read by those who desire 

 to accomplish anything worth while in 

 bee-keeping. These National gather- 

 ings should be devoted to the larger 

 things of honey-production. They 

 should be business meetings through- 

 out, and have to do mainly with the 

 marketing and distributing of the 

 honey crop, beeswax, etc. If bee- 



keeping is ever to be put upon a busi- 

 ness basis in this country, there must 

 be co-operation in marketing the 

 honey crop. The producers of citrus 

 fruits in California during the past ten 

 years have simply worked wonders 

 for those engaged in that line of busi- 

 ness, and they have done it through 

 co-operation. 



'The time is rapidly passing away 

 when a single producer in any line 

 can make a success all by himself. 

 These are "get together" times, and 

 bee-keepers have lost much during the 

 past decade in not being properly 

 organized so as to protect their own 

 interests, and realize a proper return 

 for their efforts in the production of 

 honey. Again I say, leave the methods 

 of production and the details in 

 that line to the bee- papers of the 

 country, but the larger and more diffi- 

 cult work — the marketing of the prod- 

 uct — let that be controlled by a Na- 

 tional organization made up of the 

 branch organizations in the various 

 States and Territories. 



Third, we should all help to make 

 the (State conventions a great success. 

 If possible, have some National of- 

 ficer, or officers, always present. Let 

 the National get out the programs for 

 the State conventions, or at least 

 assist them in doing it. By unitedly 

 working together, every State conven- 

 tion can be made "a hummer." 



The honey-marketing question is 

 surely a live one. The b§e-papers can 

 not deal with it in a practical way 

 as they are not in a position to do 

 so. As before mentioned, ■ they can 

 tell the bee-keepers how to produce 

 honeyi but when it comes to selling, 

 it is another question. The beginner 

 desires to know where to sell, and 

 how much to charge for his product. 

 This advice can be satisfactorily 

 given him if someone is studying the 

 markets, and thus is in position to 

 know how to advise. 



•This is not a new thing I am talk- 

 ing about. 'The 'Colorado and Mich- 

 igan Associations have been working 

 along this line for several years, and 

 they are gaining ground every year. 

 The Ontario Bee Keepers' Association 

 is also making progress in the same 

 way. Our National Association will 

 soon have to "get in the swim," or it 

 will pass away. It can't exist long 

 now by simply drifting. There is no 





