1901 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CUlvTURE. 



595 



APIARIAN EXHIBITS AT THE PAN-AMERICAN. 



BY OREL t,. HERSHISER. 



Now that we have settled warm weather the 

 daily attendance at and interest in the Pan- 

 American is rapidly increasing, and this has 

 been especially noted in the Apiarian Depart- 

 ment. Besides the many visitors who take 

 only a passing interest in the fine appearance 

 of honey, and marvel at the instinct of the 

 bees, we are now having daily visits from 

 scientific gentlemen eager for the more sub- 

 stantial and practical knowledge of apicul- 

 ture. One professor of agriculture, of an ag- 

 ricultural college in one of our Southern 

 States, contemplates the teaching of apicul- 

 ture as a part of the course, just as it has been 

 taught for many years at the Michigan Agri- 

 cultural College, and was therefore greatly 

 interested. One Pan-American commissioner 

 of a South-American Republic is seeking 

 knowledge as to whether bees would be likely 

 to do well on the tablelands in equatorial 

 South America, and when, in the course of 

 our conversation, I learned that bees were 

 practically unknown in his country, and that 

 alfalfa was very extensively and generally 

 grown there, it created that longing for " pas- 

 tures new" that so many apiarists have ex- 

 perienced in these recent years of failure of 

 the honey crops. Another scientific gentle- 

 man and extensive fruit-grower, after a short 

 discussion of the great value of bees as pol- 

 lenizers of fruit-bloom, expressed a wish that 

 he had a thousand hives of bees within reach 

 of his 200 acres of fruit-trees. 



At present New York is the only State rep- 

 resented in the apiarian exhibits of honey and 

 bees. The show-cases in this exhibit are sim- 

 ilar in appearance to those used for apiarian 

 exhibits at the Columbian Exposition. All 

 the cases are 10 feet high from the floor, and 

 about 2}4 feet wide by 7 feet high, inside 

 measure. The space allotted to New York is 

 approximately 16)4 feet deep by 39 feet front. 

 On the west end of this space is a case ap- 

 proximately 2}i ft. by 11>^ ft., and set at 

 right angles with the front line of space, and 

 the south end of case on the front line, leav- 

 ing a spacious passageway between its north 

 end and the wall. A large case about 2}4 by 

 23 feet rests with its outer edge on the long 

 dimension of the space next to the main pass- 

 ageway, with its west end about 5^ ft. from 

 the first mentioned case. A third case of the 

 same dimensions as the first mentioned is 

 placed at right angles with the front line and 

 on the east end of space, leaving a space of 

 about 5^2 feet between the east end of the 

 second mentioned case and the west side of 

 the third case. A fourth case, about 4>^ by 

 11^ feet, is built against the wall, covering a 

 large window, the glass of which have been 

 removed. This case is built at right angles 

 with the third -mentioned case, and its east 

 end about 2j^ feet from the west and north 

 corner thereof. In this space, and between 

 the north end of the third-mentioned case, is 

 constructed a small locker for the storage of 

 supplies for the exhibit. Thus the entire 



space is enclosed, making a spacious booth 

 with a passageway at either end opening into 

 the main passage, and another spacious pass- 

 ageway between the wall and the first-men- 

 tioned case opening into the exhibit of The 

 A. I. Root Co. and that of The W. T. Fal- 

 coner Mfg. Co. 



The fourth-mentioned case is for the exhi- 

 bition of a small apiary of bees at work in 

 hives of various patterns, one of which is an 

 observatory hive. This case has glass front 

 and glass on the west end, and the hives rest 

 on a platform about 9 inches high. The third- 

 mentioned case has glass on the side facing 

 the booth and the end facing the main pass- 

 ageway. The second-mentioned case has glass 

 on both sides and both ends ; and the first- 

 mentioned case has glass on both ends and 

 the side facing the booth. The back of this 

 case also forms the background of the exhibit 

 of The W. T. Falconer Mfg. Co., between 

 which and the exhibit of The A. I. Root Co. 

 is a spacious passageway opening into the 

 main passage at the south, and into the New 

 York booth at the north. An ornamental 

 railing and cornice bearing the legend, "The 

 A. I. Root Co." and "TheW. T. Falconer 

 Mfg. Co.," surmounted by three beautiful 

 bronzed or golden imitation straw bee-hives, 

 one at either end and one in the center, the 

 latter marking the dividing line between the 

 two exhibits, completes the front of this dou- 

 ble booth. The background of the exhibit of 

 The A. I. Root Co. is also 10 feet high, and 

 extends from the main passageway to the wall, 

 a distance of about 16>^ feet. The combined 

 width of these two spaces is 11 >< feet. 



Owing to the very general failure of the 

 honey crop of 1900, the exhibits in this line 

 are not what might have been expected under 

 more favorable conditions, and there is no 

 doubt that this failure has deterred several 

 States from making exhibits early in the ex- 

 position. I am informed, however, that Can- 

 ada and several of the States will make ex- 

 hibits of the present season's honey as early 

 as possible, and we may therefore expect a 

 large showing of the apiarian interests. It is 

 well known that there are many Canadian 

 beekeepers who understand well the art of 

 exhibiting apiarian products. In fact, I be- 

 lieve the Ontario Bee-keepers' Association an- 

 nually appoints a representative to each of 

 their principal expositions. Buffalo being 

 quite convenient to Canada, we may therefore 

 expect some very handsome exhibits from 

 that quarter. 



All the apiarian exhibits are to be placed in 

 the wtrst end of the gallery of \he Agricultural 

 Buildii g, which, when the moving stairway is 

 in operaiion, will be very easy of access. This 

 gallery makes a beautiful promenade and bal- 

 cony, from which to view the collective agri- 

 cultural exhibits on the main fl>ior. Many 

 other interesting exhibits are in this gallery. 



Our white-clover harvest came to a close yesterday 

 —owing to extreme heat and dry weather — 22,500 lbs. 

 clover. Ba.sswood is opening, but bees so fat fail to 

 find honey in the bloom. N. E. France. 



Platteville, Wis., July 1. 



