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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 1. 



tant places, are not as prolific as they were in 

 the apiary of their birth. Sonie doubt that 

 shipment ever injures the prolificness of any 

 queen; but scores of us are convinced to the 

 contrary. I have shipped queens to parties, re- 

 questing their return, had them returned as 

 not being mailable to foreign countries, etc.; 

 and while some were not injured as to their 

 prolificness. others never came up to the stan- 

 dard of egg-laying after\\ ard which they did be- 

 fore; yet, so far as I could see, their daughters 

 were fully equal, reared after shipment, to those 

 reared before, when they gave a maximum num- 

 ber of eggs. Therefore I would say to all, don't 

 buy high-priced queens unless you expect to 

 breed from them, and do not hesitate to breed 

 from a purchased queen because she is not as 

 prolific as you wish. G. M. Doolittle. 



□ Borodino, N. Y., Jan. 10. 



[Nearly all practical bee-keepers and queen- 

 breeders will admit the truth of your state- 

 ments. We have often been pained to see 

 beginners order high-priced queens when we 

 felt pretty certain that they did not know really 

 what ihey were doing, or what they wanted 

 them for. But as it is our rule to fill orders 

 promptly, and send what a customer orders, so 

 far as we can, we have no right to ask questions. 

 Once we ventured to suggest to the intending 

 purchaser of a $7.50 imported queen, that he had 

 better get a few cheap queens first, as the letter 

 plainly showed that he was a beginner. We 

 received quite a sharp response, to the effect 

 that, if we would mind our business, he would 

 mind his. We have a number of times had 

 complaints because the honey-queens which we 

 sold a couple of years ago did not produce bees 

 that would bring in from :.*5 to 50 per cent more 

 honey than the other bees in the apiary, and 

 that, therefore, the queens were a fraud. The 

 only thing that we have ever expected of the 

 honey-queens was. that they would produce a 

 little mbre honey than the average. What we 

 sold them for was for breeding purposes, in the 

 hope that the daughters bred from them would 

 be crossed with a new stiain of drones, and 

 thus make an unusually active lot of bees. We 

 have had a good many letters showing that, in 

 the hands of a careful and intelligent bee-keep- 

 er, such results have been obtained; and on the 

 other hand we have been scored pretty severely 

 by well-meaning but ignorant bee-keepers be- 

 cause no marked results were secured. We 

 always advise beginners to purchase cheap 

 queens first. 



With regard to the egg-laying of queens be- 

 ing impaired on account of long joui'ueys, we 

 have always held that such long shipments had 

 little or no effect one way or the other; and we 

 do not believe that it does iu a majority of cases. 

 On the other hand, we have had many excellent 

 testimonials of strong egg laying on the part of 

 queens after forty days' journey eii route to 

 Australia. As some of our good friends differ 

 with us.it maybe well to admit that a few 

 queens may be so injured.] 



THE CANADA (ONTARIO) BEE-KEEPERS' 

 CONVENTION. 



A CONDENSKI) AND INTEKKSTING liEPOKT FROM 

 W. Z. HUTCHINSON. 



Friend Root: — I have been over to the On- 

 tario Bee-keepers' Convention. I went by the 

 way of Stratford, and stopped and took tea with 

 our friend Gemmill. His bees are all in packed 

 hives out of doors. They are not chaff hives, 

 but there are outer cases filled wilh sawdust, I 

 believe. The cases are used in the summer to 



give shade, the packing being removed. I find 

 that quite a number in Canada prefer this style 

 to the permanently packed chaff hive. The 

 chaff hive is too heavy and clumsy for manipu- 

 lation. Mr. J. B. Aches was also the guest of 

 Mr. Gemmill. In the evening we started for 

 Walkerton, where the convention was to be 

 held. Mrs. Gemmill went with us. I wish 

 that more bee-keepers' wives could go with 

 them to these annual gatherings. All along 

 the way we kept picking up bee-keepers. I 

 soon had for my companion that jolly, thor- 

 ough-going bee-keeper. Mr. J. B. Hall. He is 

 a splendid talker. I wish he would write, but 

 he won't. At the Brantford meeting of the 

 N. A. B. K. A. he said very little "in meeting." 

 I wondered why, when what he said was so 

 good. At Walkerton he was the life, or one of 

 the " lifes ■' of the convention. Perhaps he felt 

 a little more free to talk at the Ontario conven- 

 tion—that it was a little more " his own folks." 

 By the time that we reached Walkerton, one 

 car was pretty well loaded with bee-keepers. 

 The convention was not to begin until the next 

 day. in the afternoon; yet these Canadians 

 have a way of getting there on time— they don't 

 come straggling in one or two at a time after 

 the convention is half over. 



Walkerton is in a valley surrounded by hills 

 and terraces. There were two or three feet of 

 snow. The thermometer was below zero. As 

 the sharp jingle of the sleigh-bells greeted my 

 ear, and I looked upon the quaint snow-covered 

 buildings, and felt the crispncss of the air 

 creeping through my overcoat, the words, "a 

 stern Canadian winter," kept running through 

 my mind. Never before did 1 see so many men 

 clad in big fur overcoats and caps. 



Before saying any thing about the convention 

 itself it might be interesting to say a few words 

 about the Ontario Association. 



In the first place, it is incorporated. It is 

 incorporated that it may receive aid from the 

 government. It receives 1.500 per annum, and 

 there are no hard and fast restrictions as to 

 how this money shall be used. The Associa- 

 tion has to report to the government how the 

 money is used, but it can be used for the good 

 of apiculture, as the Association sees fit. The 

 Illinois State Association receives a similar 

 grant from the State, but it can use ihe money 

 only in getting out a report and mailing it. 

 This is more than is needed for this purpose, and 

 it could be used— that is, some of it— to a great 

 deal better advantage. The society has a 

 board of thirteen diiectors. The expenses of 

 these directors are paid when they attend the 

 conventions. In choosing these men there is 

 an attempt to secure the best men. It will be 

 seen that the attendance of this many repre- 

 sentative men is assured. Then there are affili- 

 ated societies that receive an annual grant out 

 of the government grant: but before a society 

 can be affiliated with the parent society, said 

 society must have five members that belong to 

 , the parent, or Ontario Association. It will be 

 seen that each affiliated society means five 

 more members added to the parent society. 

 Each year the Ontario Association makes a 

 present, or gives a piemium, to each of its mem- 

 bers. One year it is a smoker, another a book, 

 another a bee- journal, etc. All these things 

 help to keep up the membership and atten- 

 dance. I may also say that the Ontario Society 

 pays its secretary $50 a year, and the treasurer 

 f'35. So far as organization is concerned, the 

 Canadians are away ahead of us. 



I might also add, that they have, iu the per- 

 son of Wm. McEvoy, a most efficient foul-brood 

 inspector. While lie is not exactly orthodox in 

 his views of how foul biood may originate (that 

 is, if I understand him correctly), he knows 



