370 



November, 1916. 



American l^ee Journal 



Some Prominent Ontario Bee- 

 keepers 



BY MORLEY PETTIT, PROVINCIAL APIARIST. 



I HAVE been asked to give an ac- 

 count of some leading beekeepers 

 in Ontario. There are about 10,000 

 persons keeping bees in Ontario, and 

 many of these are making a consider- 

 able portion of their living from them. 

 It will be seen, then, that the number 

 of persons who might be called "lead- 

 ing beekeepers in Ontario," is greater 

 than the space limits of this article 

 would cover. Besides those at present 

 actively engaged in the industry, there 

 is also a long list of men who have had 

 their part in bringing the industry to 

 its present status and should not be 

 overlooked. It is hoped, therefore, that 

 the following records will be consid- 

 ered as only a partial list, rather hastily 

 gotten together, in which many per- 

 sons worthy of mention have been 

 overlooked. 



As the industry has centered largely 

 around the Ontario Beekeepers' Asso- 

 ciation, an organization which has been 

 active for about 37 years, it will not be 

 out of place to sketch briefly the his- 

 tory of this association, giving special 

 attention to those who have taken an 

 active part in its development. 



The organizing meeting of the On- 

 tario Beekeepers' Association was held 

 in the City Hall, Toronto, Aug. 14, 1880. 

 There were about 60 beekeepers pres- 

 ent, representing all sections of Onta- 

 rio, and some from the United States 

 and Manitoba. 



The following officers were elected : 



President, D. A. Jones, Beeton ; Vice- 

 presidents, Dr. Shaver, Stratford, and 

 Hon. Lewis Wallbridge, Belleville; 

 Secretary - Treasurer, R. McKnight, 

 Owen Sound. 



Although the association was or- 

 ganized as the " Canadian Beekeepers' 

 Association," it was soon after changed 

 to its present name. 



The earliest record we have of the 

 new president, Mr. D. A. Jones, is in 

 1871, when he reported in the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal, page 56, an apiary of 

 six stocks in movable frame hives and 

 one box hive. From the six he took 

 1707 pounds and nine swarms. He also 

 had apiaries away from home managed 

 by friends. In 1879, he reported 600 col- 

 onies in four apiaries, with a crop of 

 from 50,000 to 70,000 pounds. He gave 

 white clover, basswood, raspberry and 

 thistle, willow-herb, goldenrod, and 

 boneset as his main honey plants, and 

 was at that time experimenting with 

 white sweet clover. For few a years he 

 maintained a School of Apiculture, 

 using young Canadians who were anx- 

 ious to learn the business as assistants 

 in his apiary. Some of our leading 

 Ontario beekeepers received their first 

 lesson in this way. 



In 1880, along with Frank Benton, of 

 Washington, D. C, Mr. Jones visited 

 Italy, Cyprus, Palestine and other East- 

 ern lands in search of new varieties of 

 bees. He sent home samples of Cyp- 

 rian bees. Holy Land bees and others, 

 and expected great things from them. 

 While they seemed to be good workers, 

 they had objectionable features, how- 

 ever, and have not come into general 

 use. 



Mr. Jones was one of the first to ex- 

 hibit honey at Toronto Fair, that great 

 annual exhibition, which has developed 

 into the present Canadian National Ex- 

 hibition, recognized as the greatest 

 annual fair of this kind in the world. 

 He also did a considerable amount of 

 speaking at local beekeepers' conven- 

 tions. 



The president of the Beekeepers' 

 Association in 1882, was the Hon. L. 

 Wallbridge, of Belleville. His town 

 was the center of beekeeping activities 

 in the early days, the Bay of Quinte 

 Beekeepers' Association being located 

 in that district. 



The vice-president that year was Mr. 

 J. B. Hall, of Woodstock. Mr. Hall 

 was one of the best known pioneer 

 beekeepers of Ontario, being a success- 

 ful producer of comb honey, and an 

 extensive exhibitor at Toronto Fair. 

 He lived at Woodstock, was a most 

 careful and thorough man, and some 

 . of our most successful beekeeepers at 

 the present day were students of his; 

 the best known perhaps being Mr. 

 John Newton, of Thamesford, who is 

 at present a director of the association. 

 Mr. Hall was president in 1895, and was 

 for a number of years after that an 

 honorary member of the association. 



In 1883, another pioneer, Mr. R. Mc- 

 Knight, of Owen Sound, occupied the 

 chair. Mr. McKnight is one of the 

 very few founders of the association 

 still living. At last reports he was liv- 



has always been a doer of big things. 

 He was at one time editor of the Cana- 

 dian Bee Journal, and manager of the 

 leading bee supply business in the 

 country. When betook up beekeeping 

 more extensively and gave up the sup- 

 ply business, he built two very large 

 bee-cellars in the vicinity of Brantford 

 for two different firms in successive 

 seasons. Neither of these cellars is at 

 present being used for bees, however, 

 as outdoor wintering was found to be 

 more practical. Three 12-frame ex- 

 tractors are used in the business at 

 present, also, of course, an automobile 

 and motor truck for transportation. 

 For a number of years he has con- 

 ducted a sort of School of Apiculture, 

 training young men to become bee- 

 keepers in the extensive operations in 

 the large apiaries of which he has 

 charge. 



In 1884, the president was Mr. S. 

 Cornell, of Lindsay. Mr. Cornell's son, 

 George, is at present a successful bee- 

 keeper in that town. George Cornell 

 is one of the many examples of men 

 giving up other lines to become bee- 

 keepers. During a time when he was 

 out of employment in his regular trade 

 on account of a strike, he took up bee- 

 keeping. By the time the strike was 

 over he was making more from his 

 bees than he had ever made from his 

 trade and therefore, refused to go back, 

 so he is now a successful beekeeper. 



Dr. Thom, of Streetsville, was presi- 



FIG. 6.-A KROUSE OUTYARD WHERE THE AVERAGE IS loo POUNDS PER 



COLONY 



ing retired at Owen Sound, and for a 

 number of years has not taken an 

 active part in public life. 



The secretary-treasurer that year 

 was Mr. R. F. Holtermann, who is well 

 known to beekeepers of the present 

 day. He was president in 1896, and is 

 still actively engaged in beekeeping, 

 being manager of something like 800 

 colonies for the firm of Foster & Hol- 

 termann of Brantford. These apiaries 

 are located in one of the best alsike 

 districts of Ontario. Mr. Holterman.. 



dent in 1885, and during the years of 

 1886 and 1887, the chair was occupied 

 by Mr. S. T. Pettit, of Belmont. This 

 was rather an important period in the 

 life of the association, as the first large 

 honey exhibit was sent abroad, namely 

 to the Intercolonial Exhibition in Lon- 

 don, England, in 1886. Legislation was 

 also secured at Ottawa, to protect the 

 purity of Canadian honey from adul- 

 teration and imitation. A thorough 

 workman and careful investigator, Mr. 

 Pettit did much to improve methods of 



