November, 1016. 



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383 



American Bqc JoarnaJj 



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tions asked by those who have met 

 with perplexing situations which they 

 are unable to handle successfully or 

 the solving of the beginners' problems. 

 Bulletins and reports which deal with 

 beekeeping especially under Ontario 

 conditions are sent out from time to 

 time. The reader of general literature 

 must make due allowances for differ- 

 ences in location, climate, flora, etc. 

 The greatest value of the local bulle- 

 tins lies in the fact that they apply to 

 the exact conditions of the people 

 among whom they are distributed. 

 This extension work on the part of the 

 college is largely responsible for the 

 fact that the Ontario Beekeepers' Asso- 

 ciation has the largest membership of 

 any like organization on the American 

 continent, and that the beekeepers aver- 

 age high in their production. 



REGULAR COURSES. 



The work given to students in Onta- 

 rio is unlike that of most colleges in 

 that all students must take the beekeep- 

 ing work during their first years, re- 

 gardless of which course they are tak- 

 ing. During the last part of the course 

 the student is permitted to follow his 

 specialty to the exclusion of other 

 lines. Under this plan the graduate 

 will have a much broader agricultural 

 education than would be possible if he 

 were permitted to confine his attention 

 to the narrow field of a specialty from 

 the first. Although but few of these gen- 

 eral students will take up beekeeping 

 seriously after leaving school, they will 

 have a much better idea of the business, 

 and beekeepers will receive more favor- 

 able attention in localities where men 

 with such training reside. 



Beside the regular four year college 

 courses, there are short courses given 

 both summer and winter which are 

 designed to give the student a good 

 general idea of the fundamentals of 

 beekeeping. Beginners who attend 

 these courses are able to read the gen- 

 eral literature with much better under- 



standing and make fewer blunders in 

 their operations. 



In addition to these courses held at 

 the college, local short courses are 

 sometimes given where the interest 

 justifies. ■ The local short course takes 

 the work to the student's home and is 

 in line with the extension work in 

 general farming now generally pro- 

 vided for in most of the States. 



At the college apiary various experi- 

 ments are carried on. Such practical 

 matters as wintering, swarm control, 

 etc., are under investigation. Various 

 cooperative experiments are carried on 

 under direction of the college, many 

 beekeepers in various parts of the prov- 

 ince working on the same problem at 

 the same time and all reporting the re- 

 sults at the end of the season. As many 

 as 400 cooperate in this work. 



The library of beekeeping is very 

 complete, containing files of most of 

 the existing bee journals printed in the 

 English language, as well as current 

 books and those which have long been 

 out of print. There is an extensive 

 card index which enables one to locate 

 most that has been written on any sub- 

 ject relating to bee-culture. 



Our picture shows Mr. Pettit and his 

 assistants. Of these Mr. Stanley Stew- 

 art is a special inspector and has charge 

 of the mechanical work of the depart- 

 ment. Mr. Joseph Roberts is apiary 

 assistant and photographer. Mr. Geo. 

 F. Kingsmill is assistant in charge of 

 apiary demonstrations and assists also 

 with lectures and experimental work. 

 Miss Koch is department stenographer 

 and bookkeeper, while Miss Hamilton 

 has charge of the filing of records, cor- 



A DEMONSTRATION IN WAX RENDERING AT THE ONTARIO COLLEGE 



A GROUP OF STUDENTS AT THE ONTARIO SHORT COURSE 



respondence, etc. 



Prof. F. E. Millen who now has 

 charge of the beekeeping work in the 

 Michigan State University, Mr. Kings- 

 mill who is assistant professor with 

 Mr. Pettit, and E. M. Aitkins who is 

 assistant to the Dominion Apiarist at 

 Ottawa, are among the early graduates 

 of the department. 



INSPECTION WORK. 



There are 20 inspectors in the prov- 

 ince appointed by the Lieutenant-Gov- 

 ernor on recommendation of the min- 

 ister of agriculture. Each inspector has 

 from one to three counties, which is 

 plenty for one man to cover thoroughly. 

 Mr. James Armstrong is chief inspec- 

 tor and assists Mr. Pettit during short 

 courses, etc., by giving instruction in 

 the detection and treatment of disease. 

 While the provincial apiarist is not re- 

 sponsible for the appointment of the 

 inspectors, they work under his direc- 

 tion and report to him. This makes 

 possible uniform work and the practi- 

 cal cooperation of the inspectors in 

 different counties. 



While inspection of the individual 

 apiaries still is carried on, they have 

 found that apiary demonstrations are 

 the most effective method of reaching 



