January. 191 1. 



American ^ee Journal 



»^^^'i 



Mr. J. L. Byer — A Successful Canadian 

 Bee-Keeper 



The following biographical sketch of 

 J. L. Byer, of Mt. Joy, Ont., Can., and 

 also the two illustrations accompany- 

 ing are all taken from the October 

 number of the Canadian Bee Journal. 

 We are sure that our readers will be 

 pleased to know more about Mr. Byer, 

 who has so efficiently conducted the 

 department of "Canadian Beedom " in 

 this Journal" for a long time. Here is 

 the sketch : 



Amonj the younger generation of Cana- 

 dian bee-keepers, no one is better known or 

 more highly respected than Mr. J. L. Byer. 

 His capabilities are widely known on the 

 other side of the boundary, and Canadians 

 were pleased when they learned that he 

 had been invited to father the discussion 

 on the subject of "Extracted Honey from 

 .Xectar to Market." at this year's National 

 convention. 



Mr. Byer is a young man. and we are all 

 expecting great things of him. A brief ac- 

 count of the main features of his career 

 should prove of interest to every Canadian 

 beekeeper We have read recently several 

 somewhat discourasing statements respect- 

 ing the prospects Canada offers to would-be 

 bee-keepers. Of course, but few will take 

 such statements seriously. None of us re- 

 gard bee-keeping as a means of getting rich 

 quickly. The real bee-keeper— the genuine 

 article— is an optimist, and likewise a phi- 

 losopher. The chief consideration with 

 him is not how much money there is in bee- 

 keeping, but how much real happinesscan be 

 extracted from his profession. Now. from 

 this point of view Mr. Byer is a rich man. 



Even in the days when he started bee- 

 keeping with an almost depleted exchequer 

 he was a rich man. His is the disposition 

 that realizes iusi how much hard cash is re- 

 quisite to make a man happy, and he can be 

 happy. I believe, without a cent. Cheery, 

 ever willing to help his fellows, simple in his 

 tastes. -Mr. Byer is the man to disarm the 

 misanthrope. 



Mt. Joy. the village in York county where 

 is the home of our friend. -is the seat of a 

 little community of earnest and religious 

 folk, descendants of those grand old patri- 

 archs who, pilgrims from an unkind Father- 

 land, suffered the persecution which was 

 their making 



All around Mr. Byer's little homestead 

 one sees evidences of the persevering and 

 thoughtful character of the inhabitants of 

 the district in the splendid tillage and heavy 

 crops that are the rule. Nfr. Byer was born 

 some 37 years ago. within half a mile of the 

 house in which he is now living, his grand- 

 fathcR being the pastor of the community. 

 He attributes what he refers to as the " lazy 

 streak ' in his disposition, to thu.fact that 

 he was compelled by circumstances to com- 

 mence work at the age of 12 years, and be- 

 ing the eldest of the family, more than the 

 average share of work fell to his lot. He 

 had, however, passed his entrance examina- 

 tions to the High School when but 11. For 5 

 years after leaving school he worked stead- 

 ily on the farm, when he took a notion to 

 learn telegraphy, with the object of entering 

 upon railroad work later on. 



It is characteristic of some people with 

 " lazy streaks" to possess also alternating 

 and industrious streaks of a correspondingly 

 violent nature. Young Byer. perhaps some- 

 thing after this manner, pursued his new 

 studies with such vigor that although in 6 

 weeks he was a competent telegrapher, yet 

 the strain of the overwork was so great that 

 he was seized by an attack of brain fever. 

 His case for two months was thought to be 

 hopeless. Mr. Byer now regards the illness 

 as one of those providential sign-posts point- 

 ing out the road to prosperity. Anyhow, on 

 his recovery he lost all desire to follow up 

 his proposed plan of taking up railroad em- 

 ployment, and recommenced his old' work 

 on the paternal homestead. At the age of 

 2t he married— and those whoare acquainted 



with Mrs. B. know how singularly fortunate 

 he was in the choice of a wife. 



He continued to work on the farm until 

 the death of his mother — an event which re- 

 sulted in the break-up of the home. Pos- 

 sessing practically no capital, he had now to 

 turn around, seeking a means of obtaining 

 a living. The idea of taking up the bee- 

 business presented itself to our friend, and 

 Providence happily furnished an acquaint- 

 ance who had bees to sell, and who was 

 willing to wait a year for his money. 



In addition to tending the bees, which the 

 first season more than paid for themselves, 

 Mr. Byer worked out on neighboring farms. 

 More bees were purchased, and in due 

 course he was under no necessity to work 

 away from home any more. From that day 

 to this our friend's affairs have prospered. 

 At the present time he possesses some 360 

 colonies. Of these about 250 have been pur- 

 chased at different times. There is a want 

 of uniformity in the patterns of the hives, 

 as will be seen from the photograph illus- 

 trating these pages. In the circumstances 

 this could not be avoided, but Mr. Byer has 

 now set out to transfer his colonies grad- 

 ually into hives of uniform pattern. The 

 hive that obtains the preference in the Mt. 

 Joy yards takes a frame of unusually large 

 dimensions. It goes without saying that fine 

 results are obtained. A master of the craft 

 will be successful, we believe, with any type 

 of hive. We should not. however, care to 

 recommend such a large hive to a beginner. 

 It has its advantages, doubtless, and. after 

 all. every man must decide for himself 

 which hive he can best work with. 



We had the pleasure recently of spending 

 several days at Mt. Joy. We visited the 3 

 yards which are all situated at convenient 

 distances from the Byer home. The buck- 

 wheat was in full bloom, and there was a 

 fair crop of buckwheat honey in the supers. 

 Carniolans are the race chiefly in evidence, 

 although we saw some very fine specimens 

 of Italian queens Mr. Byer imported re- 



nost s wife. Our photograph of the family, 

 taken under adverse conditions at 6;30ona 

 wet morning, show Mr. and Mrs. Byer with 

 their children. 



If we desired to mention an example of 

 the truly successful bee-keeper, we should 

 point to the proprietor of the bee-yards at 

 Mt. Joy. W. W. 



Mr. Byer is one of the leading bee- 

 keepers of Canada. We had the very 

 great pleasure of ineeting him at the 

 National conventions held at Detroit, 

 Mich., in 1908, and Albany, N. Y., in 

 1910. He has made a large success of 

 bee-keeping, which has been his spe- 

 cialty for a number of years. His wife 

 is indeed a real helpmeet, and together 

 they have an interesting quartet of 

 children, which will be seen by re- 

 ferring to the family group. 



Mr. Byer is a safe adviser along the 

 lines of practical bee-keeping; having 

 had the experience, he knows whereof 

 he speaks — and writes. We are glad 

 to be permitted to place in our col- 

 umns both the pictures and the inter- 

 esting biographical sketch, which the 

 Canadian Bee Journal has so kindly 

 consented to our reproducing. 



" The Townsend Bee-Book " 



This is a new publication of 87 pages, 

 6 by 9 inches in size. It is a practical 

 treatment of the subject, " How to Make 

 a Start in Bees," by Mr. E. D. Town- 

 send, of Michigan, one of the most ex- 

 tensive and successful bee-keepers in 

 the United States. In 11 chapters Mr. 

 Townsend tells just how to manage 

 bees for the largest success. A few of 

 the chapters are devoted to such topics 

 as " What Hive to Adopt;" "How to 

 Buy Bees;" "How to Take Care of 

 Swarms;" "Spring Management;" 

 " Making Up Winter Losses ;" etc. The 



Mr, J. L. Byek in One of His Bee-Yards. 



cently. The colonies showed a quiet tem- 

 per, and but little smoke was necessary for 

 their subduing. 



Like the majority, perhaps, of bee-keepers, 

 Mr. Byer has an able assistant in his wife. 

 Indeed, we doubt whether there is another 

 lady in the world who has wielded the un- 

 capping knife to the same extent as our 



book is published by the A. I. Root 

 Co., and the postpaid price is 50 cents. 

 If you wish a copy in connection with 

 a year's subscription to the American 

 Bee Journal, send $1.35 to this office, 

 117 N. Jefferson St., Chicago, 111. 



