156 



NINTH ANNUAL. REPORT OF THE 



Territory. The apathy of the bee- 

 keepers, as a class, to these scourg-es 

 is remarkable, in view of the fact that 

 information is available which sihould 

 point out the dangers now incurred 

 by inadequate efforts toward the con- 

 trol of those pests, or in most cases 

 by no effort at all. It is absolutely 

 ' known that in a few counties in one 

 of our States, a loss has already oc- 

 curred, amounting' to $25,000, and 

 there are many areas much larger 

 where disease is equally epidemic, the 

 loss imay well be estimated at $2,000,- 



000 annually. 



This and other subjects I migiht 

 dwell upon indefinitely, but it is not 

 my purpose to take the time of the 

 convention. 



There is one matter, however, that 



1 feel we are all interested in, tJhat I 

 hope may be adjusted at this conven- 

 tion, namely, the present unsatisfac- 

 tory anethod of electing the officers of 

 the Association; and when I say un- 

 satisfactory, I mean the officers upon 

 whom the great honor is conferred, 

 and the rank and file who place them 

 In office; so little is known of the 

 700,000 bee-keepers of the United 

 States and Canada, as to their fitness 

 for these important positions, that 

 there is too much of a repetition from 

 year to year; and I feel, os do .many 

 others, that could some method of 

 nomination or recommiendation be 

 made other than we have, without dis- 

 franchising any member entitled to a 

 vote, it would 'be better; and in seek- 

 ing advice from all available sources, 

 I think something like the following 

 might be an improvement upon the 

 present method: For instance, if at 

 the first day of this and succeeding 

 conventions, a committee of good size 

 representing the different sections of 

 the United States and Canada, could 

 be appointed, they to hold a meeting 

 during the convention, when all ap- 

 pointed could be present, .and they to 

 report two membership names for 

 each office to be filled at the next 

 election. These names to be voted on 

 by each member at the regular elec- 

 tion, the member receiving the ma- 

 jority of votes cast being the choice 

 of 'the entire membership. I am only 

 offering this as a suggestion, but we 

 are all at sea as it is, and it seems to 

 me we would welcome a nominating 

 committee, or something that will 

 tend to give us some intelligent meth- 



, od of choosing the best men for the 



place. I hope this matter will receive 

 due cons'ideration. 



Thanking this Association for the 

 great honor that has been conferred 

 upon me, I am, 



Very respectfully, your servant, 



GEORGE E. HILTON. 



The President — The next in order 

 upon the program is "Shaking Energy 

 into Bees," by George Williams of 

 Indiana. 



Mr. York — Before we take up the 

 next subject it seems to me we ought 

 to have the Committee appointed on 

 Nominations. I think we ought to pay 

 some attention to the suggestion ot 

 the President. This is really the first 

 session of the Convention, and I 

 would move that a Committee on 

 Nomina'tions be appointed, one mem- 

 ber from each State represented here, 

 that Committee to report before the 

 close of the Convention. 



Mr. Dadant — As a member of the 

 Committee on Resolutions I have pre- 

 pared a motion, but I thought perhaps 

 it would be premature to bring it up 

 right away; yet, if the matter is open 

 and the Associations sees fit, wiiile I 

 have not yet met the other two mem- 

 bers of the Commitee, I will read it 

 to you. 



The President — I would be very glad 

 to have any part of the paper I have 

 just read taken up and discussed; I 

 wrote it with that in mind, that it 

 would bring out some discussion, and 

 I was loathe to go to the next subject 

 without something of that kind being 

 done. I believe I have said things that 

 are worthy of your attention and con- 

 sideration; and I wish that the matter 

 might be taken up and discussed. If 

 there is any paragraph or point, or any 

 part of a paragraph, that I have read 

 that you feel should be brought up at 

 this time, it will certainly be in order, 

 and the chair will so recognize. 

 • Mr. Dadant — Here is a resolution 

 which I had prepared, and which I in- 

 tended to submit to the other two 

 members of the Committee: 



"Whereas, The present method of 

 nominating officers for the annual 

 election of the National Bee-Keepers 

 Association seems inadequate, be it 



Resolved, That a Committee of as 

 many members as there are States 

 represented at the National Conven- 

 tion be elected to select and report 

 the names of two candidates for each 



