'[^•^•TT^^rvft?.--;^^ 



State Bee-Keepers' Association. 37 



I ■ - , .■"-'■ -■' ■ ■ 



"You will pardon me for making so many suggestions in reference to 

 the contents of your first annual report and duly consider the deep interest I 

 have in the future success of your Association as an agency for developing the 

 wealth of the State. 



"In closing these remarks I desire to call your attention to the import- 

 ance of making an attractive exhibit of honey and apiary supplies at the 

 State and all the county fairs in Illinois each year. 



"Some of our local bee-keepers have found the exhibit of honey, etc., at 

 the fairs an excellent method of advertising their product and creating a de- 

 mand for the same. 



"The attendance of this meeting and the interest taken in the proceed- 

 ings by bee-keepers froai all sections of the Stajte is a very encouraging 

 evidence of the necessity of, and speak? well for, the permanent usefulness 

 of the Illinois State Bee-Keepers' Association. " 



At the conclusion of Col. Mills' address, a vote of thanks was given him 

 for his continued usefulness to the Association rendered in numerous ways. 



Motion by Mr. Black that a committee of three be appointed for the 

 gathering of statistics and on legislation. Prevailed. 



Committee — ^J. M. Hambaugh, Mrs. L. Harrison and Dr. C. C. Miller. 



Dr, C. C. Miller's paper (Marengo, 111.) was then read as follows : 



THE FUTURE OF THE ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS' ASSO- 

 CIATION. 



"I don't know its future. Neither do you. But it will do no harm to 

 talk about it, and perhaps to do a little plannmg. Weighing the probabili- 

 ties in the case I can see no reason why Illinois may not have one of the best 

 State societies in the Union. There are plenty of good men in the State 

 keeping bees, and at the outset the infant society has taken the lead of all 

 others in the item of an appropriation from the State treasury 



"It may be worth while to give considerable attention to the matter of 

 securing a large membership. Numbers have weight, and a strong society 

 may do more good. Is it not possible to secure a membership of three to 

 five hundred ? I know it may sound a little wild to ask such a question in 

 face of the fact that the oldest societies in the country have never reached 

 any such numbers, and that the national society does very well if it secures a 

 hundred names annually. But across the sea they have large memberships 

 and large gatherings, and I think Canada is in this respect away ahead of 

 any of the States. What's the trouble ? I don't pretend to know in full, but 

 I thmk we might find out something about it by investigation. 



"For one thing, however, elsewhere there is some inducement to be- 

 come members other than the mere privilege of attending the meetings. In 

 Germany there are privileges to members, such as obtaining bee journals, 



