146 



EIGHTH ANNUAL. REPORT OF THE 



REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS 



OF THE 



THIRTY-NINTH ANNUAL CONVENTION 



OF THE 



National Bee-Keepers' Association 



HELD IN 



The Sun Palace of the Wayne Hotel 

 IN THE CITY OF DETROIT, MICH. 



Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, October 13th. 14th and 15th, 1908 



The opening session was held on 

 Tuesday Evening, October 13th, at 

 eight o'clock. 



The President, Mr. George E. Hil- 

 ton, of Fremont, Mich., occupied the 

 chair, and after having called the 

 Convention to order, and after having 

 extended greetings to those present 

 and having congratulated the Asso- 

 ciation on the large number of mem- 

 bers and friends in attendance, called 

 upon Mr. E. Root of Medina, Ohio, to 

 give his "Moving Picture Exhibition." 



Owing to the fact that the apparatus 

 was not in readiness to give the ex- 

 hibition, Mr. Root was unable to carry 

 out this part of the programme, but 

 gave a demonstration of handling live 

 bees, adding some remarks on how 

 to quiet bees with and without the 

 use of smoke; how bees could be put 

 in condition for the purpose of uniting, 

 introducing and handling bees in gen- 

 eral. 



The pictures were subsequently 

 given on "Wednesday Evening. 



LIVE BEE DEMONSTRATIONS. 



By E. R. Root. 



On the program for the evening 

 .session for October 13th was a live- 

 bee demonstration by E. R. Root, of 

 Medina, Ohio. He had on the plat- 

 form a large wire-cloth cage, inside 

 of which was a nucleus of iive bees 



and a large dishpan. Before Mr. Root 

 began his regular demonstration work 

 he said: 



"The handling of live bees before 

 popular audiences and at bee shows 

 is very common in England. The ob- 

 ject of these demonstrations is ■ to 

 educate the general public on the sub- 

 ject of bees and bee-keeping, and, in 

 particular, how bees may be handled 

 with bare arms and face without being 

 stung. In my work for this evening 

 I hope to show you how I handle 

 bees before crowds, taking them up 

 by the handfuls, throwing them over 

 my arms and face and on my head. 

 I do not know whether the bees that 

 I have in the box inside of the cage, 

 where I am to operate, will prove 

 tractable or not. While I find a great 

 difference in the temperament of bees, 

 yet I have nearly always been able 

 to give my demonstrations without a 

 single sting; and, after showing how 

 bees' can be played with like kittens, 

 it is my custom to invite some one 

 in the audience to come inside the 

 cage with me and pick up a handful. 

 Strange as it may seem, I usually 

 have plenty of volunteers; and, on only 

 one occasion, has one of these volun- 

 tees been stung. It happened in this 

 way: 



"A little German, who had had some 

 experience with bees, volunteered his 

 services. After he had been in the 

 cage a moment or two I saw that he 



