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AMERICAN BEE JOURMAj 



write up his apiary, as well as his meth- 

 ods of managing it. The fame of Mr. 

 Jones' immense exhibit at the Toronto 

 show, and the Globe's report of his man- 

 agement, led up to a bee-keepers' con- 

 vention during Fair time the next year. 



I have attended a good many bee- 

 keepers' meetings from then until now, 

 but in point of numbers and manifest 

 interest in all that was said and done, 

 that convention was the greatest of them 

 all. It met in the City Hall, Toronto, 

 and that commodious room was packed 

 from the dias to the door during the 

 three days the convention was in ses- 

 sion. The writer had the honor of pre- 

 siding at that convention, but, as might 

 be expected, Mr. Jones was the chief 

 speaker. Indeed, those present came to 

 sit at the feet of D. A., and drink in api- 

 arian knowledge from the lips of the 

 Gamaliel of Beeton, who knew so well 

 how to paint the beauties of bee-keeping 

 in pleasing and attractive colors. That 

 convention gave an Impetus to bee-keep- 

 ing all over the Province. At its close 

 the Ontario Bee-Keepers' Association 

 was organized. 



Fourteen years have come and gone 

 since then, and it is not too much to say, 

 that in the interval Canadian bee-keep- 

 ers have made a place for themselves in 

 the apicultural world, of which they 

 have no reason to be ashamed. 



I shall now briefly advert to the agen- 

 cies employed in bringing about this re- 

 sult, some of which are the creation of 

 our own people', and serves to exemplify 

 their character. In intelligent applica- 

 tion of detail, combined with a thorough 

 knowledge of the principles involved in 

 their work, they have no superior. To 

 these characteristics may be attributed 

 the high level they occupy in the api- 

 cultural world. Amongst them may be 

 found as large a proportion of men, 

 skilled in all that pertains to their call- 

 ing, as any country can produce. This 

 manifests itself in the output of their 

 apiaries. But they have enterprise as 

 well as intelligence. The substantial aid 

 they have secured for the industry 

 proves this. Organized effort is what 

 has brought them this aid. In other 

 words, the Ontario Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation is the agency through which it 

 has been obtained. 



I know I leave myself open to the 

 charge of "boasting" (in some quarters) 

 when I say, that in my judgment our 

 Association is the best and solidost or- 

 ganization of its kind on this continent. 

 It has features peculiar to itself. 

 Through its instrumentality there has 

 been secured for those engaged in the 



honey-industry, a greater share of pub- 

 lic recognition, and more substantial aid 

 than any other like association with 

 which I am acquainted has succeeded in 

 securing. If this be true, the charge of 

 boasting has no foundation. 



During the first five years of the As- 

 sociation's existence it had no material 

 outside assistance, but was steadily 

 working with that end in view. In 

 1886 it became incorporated by Act of 

 Parliament, with an annual grant from 

 the Public Treasury of $500, and the 

 free publication and distribution of its 

 annual reports. Later on it secured the 

 appointment of a Foul Brood Inspector, 

 at a cost to the country of another $500 

 yearly. (The Inspector is a Provincial 

 officer under the guidance and control of 

 the Association.) Add to these achieve- 

 ments the procural of at least .$5,000 of 

 the public money granted and expended 

 in connection with the London and Chi- 

 cago honey shows, and it presents a 

 record of activity and success that will 

 challenge comparison with any like as- 

 sociation in the world. 



Some features of the Association's 

 stability are the following : 



It has a Board of 13 directors — not 

 accidentally chosen, but each residing 

 in, and representing one, of the 13 dis- 

 tricts into which the Province is divided 

 by Act of Parliament. The directors are 

 paid their expenses in attending meet- 

 ings, and they, together with the Secre- 

 tary and Treasurer (both of which are 

 paid a reasonable salary), constitute a 

 permanent executive body, around which 

 there is little difificulty in gathering the 

 desired number of members. The Act 

 of Incorporation requires 50 bona fide 

 members on the roll to secure the Gov- 

 ernment grant. Our Constitution pro- 

 vides for these without much effort on 

 the part of the Directorate. Under its 

 provisions Local District Associations 

 may affiliate with the parent society; 

 and severally participate in the grant of 

 .$200, which is annually appropriated 

 for distribution amongst them. One of 

 the conditions of affiliation is, that each 

 local association must have on its roll 

 the names of at least five bee-keepers 

 who are members of the Ontario Bee- 

 Keepers' Association. Last year we had 

 13 such district associations in affilia- 

 tion, in which there was of necessity 65 

 men who were members of the parent 

 society. Apart from other sources, wo 

 had in these affiliated societies more 

 than the required number of members to 

 insure the Government grant. 



The Association has not contented 

 itself with securing incorporation and 



