1&2 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 



cers ought to be able to make more uniform work 

 to act continuously through the convention than to 

 begin at the middle of one convention and stop at 

 the middle of the next. In other words, a change 

 of officers during a convention makes more or less 

 of a break. Considering that I am an officer in the 

 North American, my suggestion may not seem a 

 Very modest one; but, in spite of the immodesty, 

 the principle looks to me correct. I am quite will- 

 ing, however, to let the old custom continue during 

 the next convention. 



On one point I feel a little hesitancy about speak- 

 ing, but I believe I ought. It is quite common for 

 a number of persons to attend the sessions of the 

 conventions and pay no membership fees. It is. In 

 general, those from no great distance. The man 

 who has been to the expense of coming 100 or 

 1000 miles, and perhaps brings more to the conven- 

 tion than betakes awaj', pays his full share of all 

 expenses, while others who have all the benefit of 

 the discussions, and are at little or no expense in 

 coming or going, absorb the whole with not even a 

 " thank you." Bee-keepers are such a liberal set 

 that their conventions have been made even more 

 free than political conventions. Is it right? If you 

 will ask the secretary or treasurer at any of our 

 large meetings, you maybe surprised to find how 

 many dead-heads are present. I don't know just 

 what is the best thing to do about it, but I think in 

 some way every man should pay his fee on his first 

 arrival. C. C. Millek. 



Marengo, 111. 



Thanks, friend M. I heartily indorse ev- 

 ery point you make ; and most especially do 

 I indorse that matter of ventilating the 

 room we meet in. When the room is poorly 

 ventilated I get dull and blue, and am very 

 apt to make up my mind that I won't come 

 next time ; whereas, if I can be near an 

 open window I often get real happy, and 

 wonder why it is I ever stayed away from a 

 single national convention. — On some ac- 

 counts I rather like our customary way of 

 changing officers in the middle of the meet- 

 ing. We are enabled to get somewhat ac- 

 quainted with new comers. — This matter of 

 each one paying his share of expenses is a 

 difficult thing to manage, and I presume it 

 always will be. Even in our churches it is 

 customary for a limited number of the mem- 

 bers to bear the heaviest burdens, and they 

 are often those not very well off in this 

 world's goods either, t don't believe I 

 would ask each person to pay his dues on 

 arrival, for it would be quite embarrassing 

 to the class that are not in the habit of pay- 

 ing at all, and perhaps might cause some of 

 them not to "arrive." If they want to 

 come, and don't want to pay a membership 

 fee, I should say, let them come. As you 

 say, bee-keepers" are whole-souled as a riile, 

 and, as a rule, clever and liberal. Now, if 

 we make too much fuss about this sad fact, 

 that a great many come and participate in 

 the meeting without paying their share of 

 the running expenses, we might get the rep- 

 utation of being close-fisted. I am glad you 

 spoke about it in print, and may be this will 

 stir a good many up to their sense of duty. 

 I am very glad indeed that you are one of 

 the officers, for then we shall be sure of 

 your presence. 



A CALL ON FRIEND JONES. 



W. F. CLAt^kti GIVES US SOME GOOD NEWS. 



ip BOUT sixteen months had passed since my 

 i^ last visit to Beeton, which is some 70 miles 

 If distant from Guelph. Unexpectedly called 

 '^ to take a journej' overthe line of road which 

 runs through Beeton, I gladly availed my- 

 self of the opportunity to stop over a train, and 

 make a brief visit. The home apiary was the only 

 one I had time to look at. It is in much better or- 

 der than when I saw it last. High fences and neat 

 trellises conceal it from the public street. Quite 

 close to the business part of the village, it is yet 

 retired and secluded. At the time of my last visit, 

 Mr. Jones was busy removing evergreens from the 

 woods, about six miles away, and planting them for 

 a hedge. I predicted that it would be labor lost, 

 for I have often tried to move such evergreens, 

 three or four feet high, from the woods, but could 

 never make them grow. They must be dug up 

 when quite small, and first transplanted into a sort 

 of nursery. A considerable percentage of them 

 will die, and then your hedge can be made with the 

 survivors. Nurserymen who raise them from seed, 

 or import them from Europe when very small 

 plants, move them three or four times before they 

 attain a height of three feet, thus getting a ball of 

 fibrous roots which insures their growth when final- 

 ly transplanted to some permanent location. My 

 experience leads me to the conclusion that it pays 

 in the long run to buy evergreens of nurserymen, 

 rather than go to the woods for them. 



Three pleasant surprises met me this time at 

 Beeton. The first was to find that our friend Jones 

 had I'ecently taken a decided stand religiously, hav- 

 ing joineci the Presbyterian church at its last com- 

 munion season. I had noticed a considerable change 

 in him from about the time that father Langstroth 

 attended the Toronto convention, whence he ac- 

 companied Mr. Jones to Beeton, staying over Sab- 

 bath, and preaching. Other circumstances deepen- 

 ed the impressions then made. A Sabbath in Scot- 

 land, where Mrs. Jones's cousin is minister to a 

 large congregation, was not without its effect. The 

 Lord has an infinity of wise methods whereby he 

 leads us to himself. What cause for thankfulness, 

 if we are led to fall in with them, so as to find the 

 summitm honum {the supi-eme good) of life! There 

 arc some others of our leading bee-keepers concern- 

 ing whom it would rejoice my heart to be able to 

 make a similar record. 



This isn't bee-keeping, but it is something that 

 lends a new fascination to every interesting human 

 pursuit— gives nature fresh charms, brings peace 

 and rest to the heart, and makes life worth living. 



My second surprise was in the i-ealm of apicul- 

 ture, and connected Avith the theory of hibernation. 

 In ihe course of some experiments for the cure of 

 foul brood by the fasting method, Mr. Jones has 

 demonstrated that bees can live without food for a 

 considerable space of time. Three weeks is the 

 longest period he has proved to be safe, but he is 

 inclined to think that bees can fast longer than that 

 without risk. I have no doubt that, in the winter 

 cluster, they can go for a month without eating. 

 Of course, this does not prove the fact of hiberna- 

 tion, but it harmonizes with the theory most com- 

 pletely, and naturally suggests a species of doi"- 

 mancy during long fasts. It would seem a wise 



