12 



GLEANlr^GS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 1. 



Yes, sir; there is a good deal in getting used 

 to a thing. If you can got used to the cleats 

 projecting downward, and can be convinced 

 that they make a better and stronger cover, 

 then why not get used to an arrangement that 

 may appear to be a little awkward a.i first/ 



Yes, 1 know you prefer cleats nailed on to 

 the hives in lieu of handhoies ; but here again 

 is the old saw, " getting used to a thing." The 

 handhoies for the last year are not the small 

 scrimpy things that they once were. They are 

 made wider and deeper; and I do not know but 

 they can be made wider yet, so as to give the 

 same handhole grip, practically, that you ob- 

 tain from the hive-cleat, without its awk- 

 wardness.— Ed.] 



HIVE-COVERS. 



THE TORONTO CONVENTION AND HONEY-UEE 

 CONCEHT. 



Bij F. A. Oemmill. 



There are two items of particular interest to 

 me in Gleanings for Dec. 1 that I desire to call 

 attention to. As, however, I do not wish to 

 write a long article on either one of them, I 

 will endeavor to be brief and give them in the 

 order as per the above heading. First of 

 all is the illustrated gable ventilated hive- 

 cover and your comments thereon. I fully 

 agree with you respecting the " 20-pounder," as 

 I have used it, as well as the shade-board. I 

 do not, however, use a quilt in summer when 

 producing comb honey, and seldom for any 

 purpose except when feeding small quantities 

 of thin syrup or honey for stimulative purposes 

 between fruit-bloom and clover, and for win- 

 ter covering under the packing. The latter 

 plan I am to some extent discarding, finding 

 them not an actual necessity when the other 

 conditions are satisfactory; and as for enamel 

 cloths, I never used even a single one for ex- 

 periment. My flat wooden covers all have the 

 requisite bee-space under them; consequently, 

 for the reasons you advance, the quilts are not 

 at all necessary, whether or not producing 

 comb or extracted honey. I have, therefore, 

 concluded to give the new covers a trial, in the 

 hope that some labor and time may be saved, 

 without altogether sacrlljcing the needed pro- 

 tection from the hot sun, etc. * 



THE TORONTO CONVENTION. 



Like Mr. McKnight, I am also glad that To- 

 ronto has been chosen as the next place of 

 meeting of the International convention; and 

 as that gentleman has given your readers his 

 views so well, it is needless for me to attempt 

 to add any thing more in this direction. I 

 trust, notwithstanding this, that Americans or 

 Canadians (Yankees or Canucks), will be car- 

 ried away with the idea that no other conven- 

 tion of importance is to be held in Canada dur- 

 ing the coming year of 1895, as the Ontario 

 Bee-keepers' Association is to meet in my city 

 (Stratford), Jan. 22, 23, 24; and although we 

 have had some excellent meetings of this asso- 



ciation n Canada, we expect the coming one to 

 eclipse ill former ones. If it does not do so it 

 will b. a disappointment to those who have the 

 matter in hand. 



For the benefit of those who desire to attend, 

 I may say that our railway facilities are un^ur- 

 passed by any other point in Ontario. Numer- 

 ous trains arrive daily from the east, west, 

 north, and south; and for a city of its size the 

 hotel accommodation can not be excelled. The 

 court-house, for holding the regular sessions, is 

 not only commodious but central as well. 

 Having stated this much, I want specially to 

 bring before the notice of the readers of Glean- 

 ings that a new departure is going to be at- 

 tempted, which, I am quite satisfied, will be an 

 improvement; and as it may possibly be looked 

 upon by some as one of my hobbies, I am the 

 more eager that it be successfully carried out 

 on this occasion, as several attempts at my re- 

 quest, in other places, did not meet my antici- 

 pations. As a natural consequence, I am in 

 hearty cooperation with a few others in endeav- 

 oring to see my scheme materialize. It is, in 

 fact, nothing short of a public entertainment 

 to be held on one of the evenings, while the 

 association is convened in this city, for the 

 special benefit of the public, so that they may 

 be educated or instructed in regard to the value 

 of honey as a food, accompanied with a magic- 

 lantern expose, and lecture on the anatomy of 

 the honey-bee, illustrating at the same time 

 the manner in which the insects fertilize the 

 flowers, secrete wax, build comb, gather and 

 ripen honey, etc., interspersed with both vocal 

 and instrumental music suitable for such an 

 occasion. 



We Canadians are not going to be behind the 

 times; and as Dr. Miller on one occasion in 

 Stray Straws referred to "a man up in Cana- 

 da" as advocating a honey-bee concert, we 

 want him up here to see how we do things, and 

 then he will know all about it, and can do like- 

 wise; but then, he is not going to be allowed to 

 do or say any thing except " I don't know noth- 

 ing," or something like that. But in case he 

 might be off'ended, I'll show him up in my 

 apiary, as I have his name painted on a bee- 

 hive, in good company with some prominent 

 German, French, American, and Canadian 

 apiarists, who, I guess, will " kinder " smooth 

 him over, and he will then feel at home, even 

 if among good " basswood " honey-producers. 

 Of course, it is generally conceded by Canadians 

 that, in the matter of basswood hams and 

 wooden nutmegs, the Americans, or, if you 

 please, the citizens of the United States, take 

 the cake. 



Stratford, Ont., Dae. 11. 



[Your scheme for the next Toronto conven- 

 tion is an excellent one, and we shall be glad to 

 boost and boom it in Gleanings, in every way 

 possible. Our conventions might do us vastly 

 more good if we would make them more a 



