114 



ment fosters any industry in agricultural 

 colleges, or in any other way, so long we 

 may expect to see systematic instruction 

 given in that industry; and all who will ai'e 

 at liberty to take advantage of that instruc- 

 tion. At the same time, care should be 

 taken not to. exaggerate the possibilities of 

 the calling as an income-getter, and espe- 

 cially should all be warned of the veiy seri- 

 ous problems confronting the would-be bee- 

 keeper; for when all is said and done, even 

 tlie most enthusiastic beekeeper must admit 

 that our business is one peculiai'ly fraught 

 with dangers, and often unexpected difficul- 

 ties, all out of proportion to any other ru- 

 ral industry. 



Again, let us remember that, in this mat- 

 ter of giving encouragement to beginners, 

 the Government or its officials are not the 

 cliief sinnei's by any means. Without any 

 desire to try to resolve ourselves into a 

 mutual-admiration society, I would ask the 

 question, " Are not beekeepers as a class 

 the most unselfish lot of mortals that ever 

 existed?" Do you ever feel like "turning 

 down" some eager (perhaps needy) young 

 fellow when he comes asking, in all earnest- 

 ness, something about your business — the 

 business you love? If you are feeling a 

 bit out of sorts when you start to answer 

 these questions, perhaps you may try to 

 squirm out of them by saying, " What other 

 business men are inclined to tell the secrets 

 of their business and ready to lend a help- 

 ing hand to others?" The very fact that 

 you thus hesitate in answering, proves the 

 truth of my first question. After all is said 

 and done, that very trait in the make-up of 

 most beekeepers has been the means of my 

 getting so much enjoyment out of life dur- 

 ing the past few years that we have been 

 making our living from the bees alone. Of 

 course, there are some few, even among 

 beekeepers, who are as "business-like" as 

 lots of people in other professions; and 

 they will refuse to ttll any thing about 

 their methods, and will treat almost with 

 contempt any one wh^ would be so foolish 

 as to ask for help. If you are not one of 

 that class (and I don't believe you are), in 

 all honesty how do you like to iiib shoul- 

 ders with such men when at conventions or 

 other places? And, by the way, very few, 

 like the ones described, ever come to con- 

 ventions or attempt to mingle with the bee- 

 keepers at large. 



Yes, life consists of more than business; 

 and while self-preservation is, we are told, 

 the first law of nature, yet none of us liveth 

 to himself; and, generally speaking, all we 

 can do for the other fellow will return us 

 good interest — ^if not in dollars, in some- 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



thing worth much more than can be esti- 

 mated by the currency of our land. 

 Mount Joy, Dec. 29. 



[Deeming it no more than fair to let Mr. 

 Pettit make his own comment on the above, 

 we submitted to liim as well as to Mr. Byer 

 a proof. Mr. Pettit says:] 



I don't know that there is very much to 

 say, as Mr. Byer has answered himself pret- 

 ty well before he has finished; but it does 

 look to me like setting up straw men for the 

 fun of knocking them down. First, the im- 

 plication is made that I am inviting people 

 to go into beekeeping instead of helping 

 those who are already engaged in the busi- 

 ness. In reply, let me say that I have been 

 repeatedly asked by my chief to prepare a 

 bulletin especially for beginners in beekeep- 

 ing, but so far have not had time to do so. 

 My work has been fully occupied in an edu- 

 cational campaign, principally for those al- 

 ready engaged in beekeeping, and more 

 particularly for the benetit of those who 

 have or expect in the near future to have 

 foul brood to contend with. I can say, with- 

 out fear of contradiction by those wlio 

 know the facts of the case, that 19 out of 

 20 of those receiving benefit from the ex- 

 penditure of government money for bee- 

 keeping in Ontario were already engaged in 

 keeping bees before this department was es- 

 tablished. The whole trend of educational 

 work is along the line of making them bet- 

 ter able to contend with foul brood. 



Surely Mr. Byer is joking when he speaks 

 of the advancing prices of honey as a 

 " boom." It is not keeping pace with other 

 food products, and there is no indication of 

 their prices being reduced in the near fu- 

 ture. 



Mr. Byer makes the statement that during 

 the past season, " when traveling, me-r-ting 

 in convention, or in other ways associating 

 with the majorit}' of our producers." he 

 found by actual inquiry that nearly all are 

 of the same opinion as our friend in this 

 matter. Now, there are 10,000 beekeepers 

 in Ontario, and I imagine I am safe in say- 

 ing that at least half of them are producers 

 of honey; but supposing only one in five 

 were a producer, Mr. Byer was not on gov- 

 ernment work of any kind except to attend 

 two or three demonstrations in one county, 

 and at the Toronto convention in November. 

 How, then, did he come in contact with 

 2,000 Ontario 'beekeepers, and have the op- 

 portunity of questioning each one as to his 

 opinion of the work done by the Ontario 

 Agricultural College in order to find that 

 the majority of them thought as he does in 



