38 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Jan. IS, 1903. 



fill themselves before shaking. These swarms should be as 

 much like the natural as possible. 



Mr. Evans — I prefer shaking on full sheets rather than 

 on starters. 



Mr. Holtermann — I have been practicing this more or 

 less for ten years. A colony should not be "swarmed" 

 until cells are started. When one is found in this condition 

 smoke and jar to cause the bees to fill themselves, then go 

 on to the next hive. Continue until No. 1 has had plenty 

 of time, then shake. Do not shake off all the bees. 



GETTING KID OF ANNOYING ROBBBB-BEBS. 



"How would you get rid of robber-bees following 

 around the yard and bothering while you are working ?" 



Mr. Chrysler — Fitid out which colony is doing it, and 

 shake them ofl' on starters. This gets them roused up and 

 filled with honey. Give them sections, and they go to work. 



Mr. Holtermann— I do not see how robber-bees can be 

 gotten rid of in the way mentioned. On every hive we have 

 a portico with grooves in the front into which we can slip a 

 screen and confine the bees to that portico. When any 

 work has to be done at a time when no honey is coming in, 

 and robbers are about, put on these screens early in the 

 morning. Every colony in the yard is thus confined to the 

 hive in a way that does not worry them, for they can fly 

 about in the portico. No robber-bees can leave home to dis- 

 turb at any other hive, and you can clip queens, extract 

 buckwheat honey, or do any other necessary work, without 

 the annoyance or danger of robber-bees. 



Mr. Post advocated setting out a few smeared combs 

 for the bees to clean up. After that they will be quiet for 

 the rest of the day. 



THE NATIONAL BEE-KEEPBRS' ASSOCIATION. 



" Is it advisable for this Association to adopt similar 

 work to that of the National Bee-Keepers' Association ?" 



Mr. Gemmill — As members of the National Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Association we have its full protection, and nothing 

 further is needed. 



Mr. McEvoy read an invitation from N. E. France, ask- 

 ing the Ontario Bee-Keepers' Association to join the Na- 

 tional in a body. 



Mr. Craig— The National has refused assistance in the 

 case of Brock vs. Patterson, although Mr. Patterson is a 

 member. 



Mr. Holmes— They refused on the ground that Mr. 

 Patterson's lawyer was not in their employ. 



WINTER TEMPERATURE FOR BEES. 



"Would you expect bees to winter well where the tem- 

 perature remains constantly at 41 degrees, Fahr.?" 



Morley Pettit— I would consider it a perfect cellar if 

 the temperature never varied from 41 degrees, Fahr., pro- 

 vided a chaff cushion or some such top packing is on each 

 hive. 



Mr. Byer— My cellar has that temperature, but I feared 

 it was too low. 



Mr. Holmes recommends 40 to 42 degrees as the right 

 temperature. 



Mr. J. E. Byer then read his paper on 



MARKET REPORTS. 



For different reasons it was with much reluctance I con- 

 sented to write a short paper on this phase of our business. 

 My chief objection was my lack of experience as compared 

 with a number of my hearers to day, coupled with the fact 

 of certain peculiar and somewhat unpleasant conditions 

 existing the past season ; the same, no doubt, that prompted 

 our executive committee to bring this subject before you at 

 this our annual meeting. 



From the first it has seemed to me that the term " mar- 

 ket reports" was hardly comprehensive enough. "Crop 

 reports," to ray mind, is a little more expressive. With 

 this thought in view, I have taken the liberty to use the 

 two phrases, not exactly as synonymous terms, yet in con- 

 junction the one with the other. For the sake of conven- 

 ience I have divided the subject-matter under two headings 

 — " Market or Crop Reports," as published in the regular 

 market columns of our bee-papers and other papers, and 

 " Market or Crop Reports " appearing from time to time in 

 the news columns of our dailies and other periodicals. 



With the first-named part of the subject I believe there 

 are few of our bee-keepers who have much to complain of. 

 As far as I have been able to ascertain, the bee-papers giv- 

 ing us reports of crops and prices of honey, are reasonably 

 correct, and are endeavoring, to the best of their ability, to 

 give the bee-keepers all the information they are able to do 



under conditions as they exist to-day. As to our daily and 

 weekly papers, I have never noticed that the general pub- 

 lic, or merchants either, for that matter, take much notice 

 of honey quotations in the regular market columns. Some- 

 times I have received more for my honey than the market 

 quoted, and at other times less. From the " Honey Col- 

 umn " in Gleanings for Sept. IS, I copy the following ex- 

 tract of report forwarded to said paper, under date of Sept. 

 '02, by a Toronto firm that handles considerable honej' each 

 year: "Extracted honey, white clover, good body, 8c per 

 lb." Some was bought at 9c, even at 10c, but the crop turned 

 out better than was expected, and bee-keepers are willing to 

 take less. It seems a mistake that beekeepers are all 

 crowding their product on the market at the same time, and 

 what they can not sell they consign to commission houses 

 that always break the price. The facts, as outlined in this 

 report, are so simple as to need no comment from me. 



While not aware that any considerable quantity of 

 honey was placed in the hands of commission men so early 

 as Sept. 10, I am, however, quite alive to the fact that it is 

 quite natural for the bee-keepers (especially men of slim 

 pocket-books) to exchange their honey for money just as 

 soon as they can get what they consider a fair Vemunera- 

 tion for their product. Let me add that as long as the 

 marketing of the honey crop is conducted in the haphazard 

 manner of to-day, any amount of preaching to the contrary 

 will not prevent the bee-keeper of limited circumstances 

 from converting his honey into hard cash at his earliest 

 opportunity. These remarks might perhaps be applied to 

 the small producers as well, a class, by the way, that has 

 been censured so much in the past that we can well afford 

 to leave them alone in the discussion to-day. 



The second division of our subject is, no doubt, by far 

 the most important one for us to take into consideration — 

 perhaps the only part of the question that we are much in- 

 terested in. For some inexplicable reason anything appear- 

 ing in the news columns of our papers is at once swallowed 

 as gospel truth by the majority of their readers. This fact 

 has often been the means of prompting people to circulate 

 false items and reports for the sake of the "sensational," 

 for notoriety, individual gain, and other selfish reasons. 

 It ma)' be that some who took the baits held out in our papers 

 the past season, and who are yet smarting from the effects 

 of the baits, will be hoping that a tirade of abuse will be 

 showered on the headsof those " awful fellows " — the whole- 

 sale men. While not in sympathy with methods of busi- 

 ness as practiced by certain firms, yet I realize, as every 

 fair-minded man must, that this question, like all others, 

 has two sides to it. So, instead of denouncing the " other 

 fellow," my purpose today will be rather more to see if we 

 as bee-keepers are not sometimes, to a certain extent, in- 

 directly responsible for reports being circulated adverse to 

 our interests. "Charity begins at home," likewise some 

 other virtues, so I win give an instance in my owh experi- 

 ence the past season, which taught me a little lesson. 



During the busiest part of the season the editor of one 

 of our local papers paid us a visit in the apiary one after- 

 noon. Being very busy, I forgot to " put a flea in his ear " 

 before he left us, as to any report of his visit he might write 

 up in his paper. The following week I was surprised to 

 find in a quite racy account of his visit with us the state- 

 ment that we would have so many to>is of honey this year. 

 While the item was not so much of an exaggeration, yet I 

 felt sure that it would have a bad effect, for, to the average 

 reader, a ton of honey seems like something prodigious. 

 Although I at once interviewed the editor of our other local 

 paper, and asked him not to copy the item in question, this 

 did not prevent local editors in adjoining towns from copy- 

 ing the same. Now, as to results : In a short time letters 

 came to me asking for quotations on honey, coupled with 

 statements like these, " Honey must be a great crop this 

 year ;" "As you have so much it must be very cheap," etc. 



A much more forcible illustration in this line was the 

 notorious statement, published in one of the Toronto dailies, 

 purporting that honey was a great crop in all sections of 

 Ontario, consequently it would be cheaper than for some 

 years ; also stating that a certain wholesale firm had had 

 the refusal of a large quantity of extracted honey. To make 

 matters worse, the; Associated Press copied the article, 

 which was scattered broadcast over the land, and somehow 

 the authority of the Department of Agriculture became 

 attached to the same. It is only fair to say that the firm in 

 question, aftersome time, repudiated the statements credited 

 to them. However, that did not prevent a number of bee- 

 keepers from stampeding in the meantime, and selling their 

 honey at a very low figure. 



Now, as to the bee-keepers part in causing reports like 



