1889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



981 



sociation ; but that did not lessen the 

 friendly grip of the hands, and the cordial 

 greetings. 



It was with no little pleasure that I made 

 the personal acquaintance of that scholarly 

 gentleman, Mr. S. Cornell, of Lindsey, and 

 that prince of Canadian honey- exhibitors, 

 Mr. R McKnight, of Owen Sound. 



I met many others, whose faces and 

 names 1 could not remember, but whose 

 greeting and friendship I appreciated no 

 less. 



Contrary to my expectations, there was a 

 large attendance of bee-keepers at all of 

 the sessions. While it was largely local, 

 yet there were a good many from the Unit- 

 ed States and the more distant points in 

 Canada. The Ontario Bee-Keepers' Associ- 

 ation was well represented. The total 

 number in attendance was in the neighbor- 

 hood of 125 ; but not all of these were regis- 

 tered members. As a detailed report of the 

 proceedings will appear in the American 

 Bee Journal and other journals, I will not 

 attempt to give even a summary of all of 

 the interesting papers and discussions. I 

 will only pick out here and there some of 

 the things as they stick on my memory. 



The president's address was a valuable 

 contribution. It rehearsed the year's pro- 

 gress in apiculture, and was full of sugges- 

 tions. I was sorry that it came close to the 

 adjournment of the session, so that some of 

 the things brought forward might be dis- 

 cussed. Somehow it was overlooked at the 

 next session, for the president was too mod- 

 est to bring it up himself. 



The convention gave rather more attention 

 to the subject of wintering than I thought 

 was necessary or expedient. But one fact I 

 noticed was, that there was less conflicting 

 testimony on the subject than usual, and 

 this is encouraging, for it indicates that 

 this perplexing subject is gradually reach- 

 ing a satisfactory solution. It was quite 

 generally agreed, that bees could be suc- 

 cessfully wintered outdoors packed in chaff, 

 and that, while less skill is required, a 

 larger consumption of stores is the result 

 when compared with the indoor plan. Mr. G. 

 Sturgeon, however, of Kincardine, after try- 

 ing both ways, now uses the Root chaff 

 hives exclusively, and winters very suc- 

 cessfully every year ; and, if I remember 

 correctly, he said with no larger consump- 

 tion of stores. As for cellar wintering, sub- 

 earth ventilators were considered a useless 

 expense. If they serve to lower the tem- 

 perature, they answer a good purpose ; but 

 this result could be accomplished cheaper by 

 opening doors or windows at night. It was 

 decided that artificial heat is not only use- 

 less, but positively injurious. Roaring in 

 the cellar does not indicate a desirable con- 

 dition of the bees. Just how to stop it is 

 not an easy thing to settle. Some interest- 

 ing tables as to the minimum consumption of 

 stores in cellar wintering were given in a 

 valuable paper by R. McKnight, of Owen 

 Sound. If correct, the rate «»f consump- 

 tion per hive while in the cellar is astonish- 

 ingly low. Corroborating testimony from 

 others present was given. 



When the subject of bee-keeping for wom- 



en came up, there was not a uniformity of 

 opinion. Considerable stress, however, was 

 laid upon the point that bee-keeping is suit- 

 able for women, providing they could now 

 and then call upon the men-folks to assist 

 in the heavier work. The opinion did not 

 seem to prevail that bee-keeping is a light 

 occupation. 



Shipping queens was considered by F. II. 

 Macpherson, of the Canadian Bee Journal. 

 He emphasized the point of putting up 

 queens a few hours before shipping, and 

 keeping them in the meantime in a dark 

 place. For material for queen-cages, he 

 prefers pine. He also said that too much 

 ventilation is very often given. After Mr. 

 Macpherson 's paper, I brought up and ex- 

 plained the Benton cage. The great point 

 in its favor is its almost universal success in 

 shipping queens long distances. Considera- 

 ble corroborating testimony was brought 

 forward to this effect. Some queens, after 

 a journey of forty days, have been found in 

 most excellent condition, in this cage. 



Warm hives, and how best to obtain, was 

 discussed in a very able manner by Mr. S. 

 Corneil. The relative values of packing ma- 

 terials, as determined by careful experiment, 

 was given, and the result was in favor of 

 pulverized cork. 



One of the rare treats of the convention 

 was the reading of a paper on the alimenta- 

 ry system or apparatus of the honey-bee, by 

 Prof. Cook. The paper was illustrated by 

 drawings, to which the professor referred 

 frequently. I hope we may be able to pre- 

 sent this, or something similar, to our read- 

 ers, in a short time, accompanied by some 

 good engravings. That most beautiful mech- 

 anism, the bee's tongue, and the manner in 

 which it draws up honey under different 

 circumstances is wonderful. It is something 

 that every bee-keeper ought to have more or 

 less knowledge of. 



Bee-keeping as a hobby was the topic of a 

 paper by your humble servant. I took the 

 ground that every one needs some recrea- 

 tion. As I have been a rider of many dif- 

 ferent hobbies, I touched briefly on each, 

 and decided most emphatically upon bee- 

 keeping. In my paper I alluded to the fact 

 that driving a good colt has been one of my 

 hobbies, and that I had ridden this hobby 

 so hard that I have been through a literal 

 runaway on two occasions. After I had fin- 

 ished, Mr. R. L. Taylor took the floor, and 

 made this very neat application : Hobby- 

 horses are good things, but they are danger- 

 ous. We should be careful not to let our 

 hobby-horses run aioay with us. He thought 

 many of us would have made more money 

 i£we had let hobbies alone and given our 

 whole time to business. 



Our friend W. F. Clarke made another 

 application upon'|hobby- horses, which I 

 thought was far-fetched. He said that his 

 friend A. I. Root was riding a hobby a little 

 too hard over other people, and that was his 

 tobacco hobby in the shape of the Tobacco 

 Column in Gleanimgs. He did not approve 

 of the plan of giving out smokers. He",thought 

 Mr. Moot was pushing the matter a little too 

 hard. Although a minister of the gospel, 

 Mr. Clarke said that he uses tobacco, and 



