290 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' HEVIEW. 



Lamb, that I should use some modification 

 of this style of register instead of a book. 



Queen breeders who are engaged at all 

 extensively in the business find a register of 

 this character indispensable. The dial for 

 the dates is, of course, the same, but the 

 other is used to indicate " eggs, "J" cell, " 

 " hatched, " " laying, " " missing, " etc. 



THE TOKONTO CONVENTION. 



It is evident that there is little use of again 

 trying to secure and take advantage of re- 

 duced rates on the certificate plan at meet- 

 ings of the North American. Certainly not 

 unless there is a change somewhere. Only 

 twice in the last dozen years have there been 

 sufiicient members present to make the 

 certificates available— once at Detroit and 

 once at Albany. Depending upon getting 

 reduced rates on the certificate plan and 

 then not getting them always leads to loss 

 and disappointment. Considering that 

 Canada's great Industrial Fair would be in 

 full blast, and that there would be half fare 

 on all the roads of Canada, I felt so certain 

 that 100 persons would be present that I took 

 the responsibility of making arrangements 

 for taking advantage of the certificate plan. 

 This cost the Association $11.00 and was not 

 one cent of benefit, as there were only about 

 70 members present. It is evident that con- 

 ventions are not attended as they were once, 

 and that it is high time that some change is 



made. 



The arrangements for holding the con- 

 vention were most excellent. The hall was 

 a pleasant one, located in a fine building, 

 surrounded by beautiful groundH, and easily 

 reached by the street cars from the Palmer 

 house where we were taken care of right 

 royally. 



One very pleasant feature of this conven- 

 tion was the presence of father Langstroth 

 accompanied by his daughter, Mrs. Cowan. 

 I enjoyed several long chats with him, and 

 it is really wonderful to see how well he re- 

 members every little fact regarding the 

 early history of bee-keeping in this country. 

 His daughter tells me that when he has these 

 long spells of mental trouble that in one 

 sense his mind is at rest, certainly it is not 

 active, and when it wakes up again, so to 

 speak, it is in a vigorous and rested condi- 

 tion, ready to again do good service. 



With the exception of the discussion re- 

 garding the delayed report of last year's 



convention, and some following the reading 

 of Mr. McKnight's paper on legislation for 

 Bee-Keepers ( the part that touched upon 

 the sugar-honey bill ) everything passed off 

 very smoothly and with the best of feeling, 

 and there was nothing so very objectionable 

 in these two, butthey were decidely spirited. 



Size of Bkood Chambers was the title of a 

 short essay by Jas. Heddon in which he took 

 the same grounds that I have often taken, 

 viz., that localities, seasons, and other con- 

 ditions are such that what may be the best 

 size of brood nest at one time, or in one 

 locality, or under some certain system of 

 management may not be the best size for 

 other conditions. Mr, A. E. Hoshal asserted 

 that a hive so large that it would contain 

 sutficient stores for winter at the close of a 

 July honey harvest, was too large to secure 

 the best results in surplus honey. A large 

 brood nest is all right if it is filled with 

 brood, but if it contains both brood and 

 winter stores in July it is too large. If 

 necessary, sugar is fed in the fall for winter 

 stores. Mr. J. B. Hall objected to the feed- 

 ing, not because of the cost or work, but be- 

 cause of the suspicion that attaches to our 

 produce if sugar is fed for any purpose. 

 Mr. Hoshal had found no difficulity in mar- 

 keting on this account. 



Selling Honey was a subject upon which 

 there was a little talk one evening. By en- 

 ergetic work, and care in educating the 

 people, a grocer of Toronto had built up a 

 retail trade in honey that amounted to four 

 or five tons in a year. Mr. Hoshal called 

 attention to the fact that all packages for 

 extracted honey should be " sealers. " A 

 prospective customer is almost certain to 

 pick up a package of hopey hold it to the 

 light, and tip it up. Unless it is perfectly 

 tight the honey will work out under the cov- 

 er and eventually run down the side of the 

 package. The flies soon attack it and the 

 result is soon a mussy affair. It is no wonder 

 that grocers often become disgusted with 

 the handling of honey. If tin is used it 

 should be bright and the labels of such a 

 color that they harmonize with the tin. 

 Bronze and red harmonize well with bright 

 tin. 



Comb Honey and the best and surest way 

 of securing a crop was the title of a paper 

 by B. Taylor in which considerable space 

 was devoted to the wintering of bees. He 

 would have young bees and winter them in 

 a dark, dry, well-ventilated cellar having a 



