212 



NINTH ANNUAL. REPORT OF THE 



Dr. Bohrer — I agree with what has 

 been said with regard to holding these 

 meetings with reference to some oth- 

 er meeting of a National character, or 

 State character, that draws out a great 

 many people. The over-charges in 

 comparison with the railroad rates, 

 more than over-balances the reduction, 

 and aside from that, I notice that 

 these attractions, these other gather- 

 ings outside, call people away, and 

 they do not give the time and atten- 

 tion to the bee-keepers' meeting that 

 they should, and that they would do 

 if there was nothing else going on; 

 and I believe in having this organiza- 

 tion stiff /enough and having its spinal 

 column sufficiently stout to carry it- 

 self. When you go to a place, go 

 there and pay your railroaa fare, and 

 pay such rates as they charge the peo- 

 ple when there is not a great big 

 meeting there. It seems to cost more 

 to serve people when there is a great 

 big crowd in town than when there 

 are only a few. Denver is about the 

 only city that has treated us right. 

 Philadelphia came next. This Associa- 

 tion ought to be getting sufficiently 

 attractive and large enough, with the 

 improvements and discoveries and in- 

 ventions that have been made, to call 

 out more people than glvfe attention to 

 the bees. They do not give it the 

 attention they ought to. I am willing 

 to admit it does not yield money to 

 the average bee-keeper like the farms 

 w^e have in the West, or the large 

 stock growing farms do in the Middle 

 East and West. If there is any good 

 in having this Assocfetion move 

 around in a migratorial circle, it is in 

 this, that the business will not favor 

 the men going very long distances. I 

 don't go because I am expecting to 

 make any money out of bees, but it is 

 for the information and for pleasure, 

 satisfaction and pastime that bee- 

 keeping affords me. I go to it for 

 what I hope to be able to learn and 

 teach others. I hope the organization 

 will widen out and get to be worth 

 enough so that in the future it will be 

 better attended. 



The President — If this matter of the 

 reduction of rates is so wonderful an 

 incentive for the people who live with- 

 in a radius of 200 miles — and I think 

 I will say again within the jurisdiction 

 of this 200-mile radius rate there are 

 four times as many bee-keepers inter- 

 ested in this industry as have attended 

 this entire convention — I say again, if 



this reduction of rates and this at- 

 traction of the Fair is such a factor- 



'] in bringing people together, why have 

 we less than one-quarter of the bee- 



\; keepers represented within this State 

 and adjoining States in attendance- 



i liere? Those of us who have come one 



' thousand miles receive no benefit 

 whatever; it costs me just as much to- 



/come here, or more, than it would if 

 I had come on an ordinary business 

 trip. So I say it is not worth the con- 

 sideration. I feel it is not worth con- 

 sidering the reduced rates and the 

 counter attractions, and I believe the 

 committee would do well when they 

 place the next meeting of this Associa- 

 tion, to place it somewhere where it 

 shall be a National Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation, and nothing else. (Ap- 

 plause.) 



Mr. York — I don't know whether I 

 can say anything for the good of the 

 meeting or not. I suppose I am the 

 only one present who has attended 

 every meeting during the past sixteen 

 years. If not, I would like to know if 

 there is anybody else here. A gentle- 

 man told me yesterday that unless we 

 had a different kind of program he 

 wasn't coming any more. He says, 

 "What you want to do is to assign your 

 subjects to i-nen who know what they 

 are talking about, and let them pre- 

 pare their best, and let them have it 

 "here to be read." I think he is right. 

 The last three meetings, in a meas- 

 ure, have been very poor as to the pro- 

 gram. At the San Antonio meeting, 

 the Secretary was not present, and 

 neither a year ago, nor this year. 

 That certainly is not right. We have 

 a membership of 3,500, and still, in the 

 past three years, we have not had a 

 Secretary who has wholly done his 

 duty. That is pretty plain talk, but it 

 is true. It is a shame in a member- 

 ship of that size that we cannot And 

 someone who will do the duty of Sec- 

 retary as it ought to be done. That 

 is one reason why the members do not 

 come. We ought to have a good pro- 

 gram, and have it published a month 

 or two in advance, so that the bee- 

 keepers will know what they are going 

 to have. I represent a paper, and I 

 expect to be here, but there are a great 

 many others who do not come for that 

 reason. 



There is one matter that the General 

 Manager spoke about, and that is pat- 

 ronizing fraudulent queen-breeders. 

 We have had several this year. I 



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