December, 1910. 



American l^ee Journal 



This address being given also, at a 

 session in wliich I was not present, it 

 will have to wait till the report comes 

 out before making any comments. 



.A. Talk to Beginners, 



Mr. A. Dickson, of Lancaster, gave a 

 talk on " Lessons for Beginners," in 

 which many valuable hints to prospec- 

 tive bee-keepers were given. ^Ir. Dick- 

 son, among other things, advised be- 

 ginners to buy bees in the spring, and 

 have some competent bee-keeper look 

 them over before buying. Be careful to 

 leave the honey on the hives till well 

 ripened ; give intelligent care in every 

 way to the bees, and in the fall be sure 

 that all colonies have abundant stores 

 to carry them through till fruit-bloom 

 the following spring. 



Mr. Dickson is an enthusiastic ad- 

 mirer of the bee-escape method of 

 clearing bees from supers for extract- 

 ing, and said that he had brushed bees 

 for 10 years before finding out the val- 

 ue of the escapes. Mr. McEvoy en- 

 dorsed Mr. Dickson, but Mr. Chrysler 

 and some others stated that while the 

 advocates of escapes were adjusting 

 these articles to the hives, they, with 

 their methods, could have the honey 

 away from the bees in the same time. 

 Mr. Chrysler stated that all his escapes 

 were for sale cheap. All of which goes 

 to show how different methods appeal 

 to dilTerent men in a different way. 



Women .■vs .A.pi.\rists. 



Miss Ethel Robson gave a splendid 

 address on the question," Can a Woman 

 Run an Apiary?" Miss Robson is a 

 splendid platform speaker, and demon- 

 strated without a doubt that a woman 

 could run an apiary — at least, this was 

 clearly proven in Miss Robson's case, 

 as she gave facts and figures to prove 

 the assertion. One of the amusing in- 

 stances given to show how a woman 

 can make the best of an emergency was 

 the following : 



.■\s the family was starting for church 

 one Sunday morning, a swarm was 

 noticed coming from the apiary. Miss 

 Robson told the rest to go on, and she 

 would follow shortly, as she fully ex- 

 pected that the bees would settle in a 

 hurry. However, they had no such in- 

 tentions, and off they went across the 

 fields with their mistress giving pur- 

 suit, firmly intending to " stay with 

 them " as long as it was possible. They 

 headed for a strip of woods, and alight- 

 ed on a small tree, low enough down 

 to be in reach. But how was she to 

 get them to the apiary ? — that was the 

 query. -\ man would have had to 

 tramp back a mile or so for some re- 

 ceptacle to carry them in, or else aban- 

 don them to their own devices. Miss 

 Robson had no intention of doing any- 

 thing of that nature, and quickly the 

 inspiration came to utilize one of her 

 skirts; and at once this resolve was 

 put into action. The skirt was tied at 

 one end and the bees shaken into the 

 ■ swarm catcher," and carried home in 

 triumph ! 



Mr. Sibbald volunteered the informa- 

 tion that not a nnni in the audience 

 could have done such a thing, and no 

 one ventured to dispute the accuracy of 

 the assertion ! 



In giving the reasons that led her to 

 go into bee-keeping. Miss Robson said 



that after leaving college the world did 

 not appreciate her ability to her satis- 

 faction, and bee-keeping was then un- 

 dertaken with three objects in view — 

 she needed something to do ; she want- 

 ed some money of her very own ; and 

 she wanted to show the people that she 

 was good for somtl/ihiff, after all. As 

 an evidence that she convinced the On- 

 tario .A.ssociation of tlie latter fact, it is 

 only necessary to say that they ap- 

 pointed her one of the directors. Miss 

 Robson thus has the honor of being 

 the first woman to be on the governing 

 board of this Association. 



.■\pi.\ri.\.\' exhibit.s — europe.vx foul 

 Brood. 



Mr. Morley Pettit gave an address 

 on the subject. " The Large Exhibi- 

 tions and the Bee-Keeper," in which 

 the fact was made apparent that for big 

 exhibits, the Counties or Provinces 

 should take up the work together, un- 

 der the auspices of the head associa- 

 tion. 



The discussion that followed was 

 right in line with that idea, and quite 

 likely, by another year, a radical change 

 from the present system of exhibits 

 will be in evidence. 



Mr. Pettit also gave a general resume 

 of the year's inspection work, as fur- 

 nished him by the 16 inspectors who 

 were on the force during the past sea- 

 son. Nothing new was brought out, 

 only the fact was impressed on us 

 again most forcibly, that foul brood is 

 still with us in many localities — in 

 some to quite an alarming e.xtent. 

 Black brood has crossed the border on 

 the Niagara peninsula, and is spread- 

 ing badly in the eastern part of the 

 Province. While the most of us have 

 different views on the tariff question, 

 all on this side of the line are in favor 

 of a proliibitivc tariff on the disease 

 known as black or European foul 

 brood. Pity is that the matter was not 

 attended to sooner. 



Young Men as Bee-Keepers. 



Mr. Homer Burk, one of our success- 

 ful young men, gave a talk on " Bee- 

 Keeping for Young Men," in the course 

 of which many encouraging thoughts 

 were brought out as to the induce- 

 ments of the calling. In his opinion, 

 we do not appreciate the efforts of our 

 forefathers enough, as they had paved 

 the way for us today, making it possi- 

 ble for us to operate a great many col- 

 onies with less labor than was formerly 

 necessary for a small number. Bee- 

 keeping is fast becoming a business 

 recognized to be very important, and, 

 all this considered, we have much to be 

 thankful for in the pursuance of our 

 chosen vocation. 



Disposal of Cappings. 



Mr. Chrysler talked on the disposal 

 of cappings, in which many valuable 

 points were brought out. The capping 

 melter came in for a good deal of dis- 

 cussion, and in the main the machine was 

 not appreciated very much. Mr. Pettit 

 showed one made somewhat on the 

 Beuhne principle, and at some future 

 time I hope to illustrate it in this de- 

 partment. According to Mr. Pettit's 

 views, it is the best thing in the line of 

 capping melters that has thus far been 

 brought out. 



Co-operating with Honey Customers 



Mr. Couse gave a talk on co-opera- 

 tion, dwelling mostly on the line of 

 co-operating with our customers in the 

 way of increasing sales, but saying lit- 

 tle about the matter of the producers 

 getting together in an extensive way 

 for the systematic handling of the 

 honey crop of the Province. On this 

 phase of the matter of co-operation, 

 Mr. Hurley, of the Canadian Bee Jour- 

 nal, gave a most masterful address, and 

 clearly showed that he had given the 

 matter a lot of earnest study. .\t a later 

 date I hope to have the address in full — 

 to comment on it briefly would in no 

 way give the force of his arguments. 

 The subject received a lot of discussion 

 on the part of many members, and as a 

 start a committee was appointed to 

 look into the matter and see as to let- 

 ters of incorporation, etc., $-50 from the 

 funds of the Association being voted 

 to defray the expenses of the commit- 

 tee. 



-As stated in the past, while tlioroughly 

 in sympathy with a co-operative move- 

 ment of some nature, yet I feel that 

 with present good prices ruling, it will 

 be difficult to get enough bee-keepers 

 interested to make the scheme a suc- 

 cess. W\ the fruit-growing and other 

 co-operative organizations have been 

 forced by circumstances to their pres- 

 sent status — whether the bee-men will 

 be wise enough to co-operate without 

 being forced to do so, remains to be 

 seen. 



The officers for the following year 

 are as follows : 



President, W. J. Craig, of Brantford; 

 1st Vice-President, Denis Nolan, of 

 Newton Robinson ; 2d Vice-President, 

 J. L.. Byer, of Mt. Joy ; and Secretary- 

 Treasurer, P. W. Hodgetts, Parliament 

 Buildings, Toronto. 



Directors: — Division No. 1, A. Dick- 

 son ; No. 2, A. Mac Laughlin ; No. 3, 

 M. B. Holmes; No. 4. C. F. Chisholm ; 

 No. 5, Jas. Storer; No. 0, J. L. Ever; 

 No. 7, J. F. Switzer ; No. 8, U. H. Bowen ; 

 No. 9, W. J. Craig ; No. 10, D. Chal- 

 mers; No. 11, Miss Ethel Robson; No. 

 12, D. Nolan; and Ontario -Agricultural 

 College, Morley Pettit. 



" Langstroth on the Houey-Bee" 



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Worth Many Times Its Price. 



To one who takes an interest in honey- 

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Tacoma, Wash. P. A. NoRUAJt. 



