Title: Wisconsin Honey Producers Association Records
Inclusive Dates: 1875-1979

Creator:

• Wisconsin Honey Producers Association

Call Number: Mss 697; File 1898 July 13 Oversize; Tape 1159A; CA 899

Quantity: 2.2 c.f. (5 archives boxes, 1 flat box, and 1 oversize folder), 1 tape recording, and 1 film

Repository:

Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

Wisconsin Historical Society (Map)

Abstract:

Records of an organization formed in 1885 as the Wisconsin State Beekeepers Association to educate Wisconsin beekeepers about trends in honey production and to lobby on honey-related issues. Included are constitutions, convention programs, minutes of the executive board (some available only in recorded form), general correspondence, financial records, and subject files on some of the organization's lobbying efforts and other projects. The collection also includes a print of a promotional film distributed by the association.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mss00697

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The Wisconsin Honey Producers Association was established in 1885 as the Wisconsin State Beekeepers Association in order to inform apiary owners about trends in honey production and to serve as a forum to sell honey. In 1919 WSBA affiliated with the Wisconsin Horticulture Society. In 1965 the organization officially changed its name to the Wisconsin Honey Producers Association.

WHPS's most valuable contribution has been its educational program which includes regional and state conventions and the publication of a journal. From 1919 to 1934 this publication was known as Wisconsin Beekeeping. From 1934 through 1945 the journal was issued as a part of the horticulture society's journal. Since 1945 the journal, renamed Badger Bee, has been published as a separate journal.

Throughout its history WHPA has been concerned with the passage of legislation favorable to beekeepers, particularly the control and eradication of bee diseases, standards for beekeeping licenses, and the grading of honey. Other activities include annual Honey Queen contests and promotional exhibits at the Wisconsin State Fair.

The collection consists of minutes and other administrative material, information on projects and activities, financial records, photographs, and a film. In addition to original material in the collection, the Society Library holds an almost complete edition of Wisconsin Beekeeping and Badger Bee which must be regarded as the single most valuable source on the association's history.

The series titled ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS includes a centennial history of the organization by Warren Doede, printed and draft constitutions, and official gubernatorial proclamations regarding special honey promotions. The minutes include not only business conducted at the annual conventions, but also minutes of meetings of the board of managers. For the 1968 meeting the minutes are only available in recorded form. Also included here are minutes of the short-lived Wisconsin Honey Producers Cooperative Association, an offshoot of the WSBA formed in 1920 to market honey, and correspondence and miscellaneous minutes of various WHPA committees. The general correspondence is rather fragmentary and does not provide as complete coverage of organizational history as either the minutes or the published newsletter. An oversize folder of material pertaining to the Wisconsin State Beekeepers Association, the original name of the organization when it was founded in 1885, is also included.

ACTIVITIES AND INTERESTS include information on the Honey Queen contests (including honey recipes of the contestants) and reports, financial information, and committee material for the association's annual State Fair participation. The files on AB 150 refer to a beekeeper registration law which the WHPA vigorously opposed in 1977 and 1978.

FINANCIAL RECORDS include journal of receipts and expenses, federal and state income tax forms, correspondence, a 1919 dues record/membership list and annual financial statements of the treasurer.

Also part of the collection is a FILM, The Wonderful World of Honey, produced by the California Honey Advisory Board, but distributed by the Wisconsin organization for promotional purposes.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Steenbock Memorial Library, via David Oyler, March 3, 1974 and by WHPA via Art Kehl, Watertown, Wisconsin, March 20, 1987. (Originally placed on deposit by Richard Dieter, May 17, 1984.) Oversize folder of additions, 1898 and 1921, were transferred from the State Historical Society, Iconographic Section, August, 1963. Accession Number: M84-197, M74-116

Processing Information

Processed by Laura H. Katz (Intern), 1986.

Mss 697	Series: Administrative Records
Box   1 Folder   1	History, constitution, and proclamations, 1969-1978
	Convention material
Box   1 Folder   2-5	Minutes of annual meetings and Board of Managers, 1905-1977, undated
Tape 1159A No.   1	Recorded proceedings of the annual meeting, 1968 Note: Includes minutes of the 1967 meeting.
Mss 697 Box   1 Folder   6	Annual meeting programs and leaflets, 1939-1978
Box   1 Folder   7	Wisconsin Honey Producers Cooperative Association, Minutes, 1920
Box   2 Folder   1	Committee lists and minutes, 1953-1978
Box   2 Folder   2	District material, 1947-1979
Box   2 Folder   3-5	General correspondence, 1937-1973
Box   2 Folder   6	Miscellany, 1936-1973
File 1898 July 13 OV Oversize Folder	Wisconsin State Beekeepers Association Records Scope and Content Note: Statement, February 13, 1898, by Dr. John Dzierzon; statement, January 5, 1921, concerning Dr. Dzierzon, a prominent European beekeeper; and certificate of incorporation, March 7, 1921.
Mss 697	Series: Activities and Interests	⇧
Box   2 Folder   7	Honey Queen material, 1957-1976
Box   2 Folder   8	State Fair material, 1957-1971
Box   2 Folder   9	AB 150 (Beekeeping licenses), 1975-1978
	Series: Financial Records	⇧
Box   3 Folder   1	Dues record/membership list, 1919
	Cashbooks, receipt and expense journals
Box   3 Folder   2-3	1906-1937
Box   4 Folder   1-2	1924-1926
Box   3 Folder   4-5	1924-1939
Box   5 Folder   1-5	1939-1951
Box   6 Folder   1-3	1957-1973
Box   6 Folder   4	Tax information, 1954-1978
Box   6 Folder   5	Annual treasurer's reports (“Financial statements”), 1937-1977
CA 899	Series: Film: The Wonderful World of Honey	⇧