72 



THE MMERICJtM ®E® JO^IJRKSlr. 



f «>A^>^»^>^»«><iax 



should be at the top of the rim, the 

 other ill the rear, at the bottom of the 

 rim ; this allowed a gentle current of 

 atmosphere to pass through the hive. 

 The entrance, or ventilator, should be 

 regulated b)' the strength of the col- 

 ony, an average colony having the 

 ventilator equal to about one square 

 inch in size. If the bottom-boards 

 were tight, the rim could be placed 

 over the brood-chamber. The venti- 

 lators should always be placed at the 

 ends of the frames. 



Mr. Corneil, at the close of his essay, 

 was plied with numerous questions, 

 which showed the interest that the 

 members took in the question. 



Mr. Allen Pringle, of Selby, then 

 read an essay, on 



Bees for Pleasure and lor Profit. 



The number of persons who keep 

 bees merely for the pleasure of tlie 

 thing, is probably very small, com- 

 pared witli those who keep them for 

 the profit that is in them. A few, 

 however, actuated by the spirit of re- 

 search, or by curiosity, or a love of 

 natural history, or perhaps in quest of 

 recreation and health, keep bees with- 

 out the usual dollars-and-cents motive. 

 I think that I will be quite safe in as- 

 suming that everj' member of the 

 Ontario Bee-Keepers' Association, how- 

 ever much pleasure he maj' get from 

 his bees, has, at the same time, his 

 " weather-ej-e " oijen for the profit — 

 be the same more or less. 



Wherefore, I may, I think, dismiss 

 this minority class of pleasure apiar- 

 ists with this brief reference, throwing 

 after them our very best wishes, if not 

 our admiration, and turn attention 

 briefly to bees for profit. 



It appears to me that the bees-for- 

 protit-man also gets a great deal of 

 the pleasure, especially when the profits 

 are large. There is one advantage he 

 has over the otlier fellow. It is almost 

 astonishing how pleasant nearly every 

 kind of business (or no business) will 

 become to a man when it " pans out" 

 properl}-. Tliis is human nature as it 

 is — what it ought to be we will leave 

 for those who come after us. I shall, 

 therefore, verj- briefly consider the 

 question of bees for profit. 



Bee Keepins"n'itli otUerBiisiness 



In the first place, I think that bee- 

 keeping pays best in connection with 

 some other business. I would not care 

 to advise any friend to go into the 

 business of bee-keeping, as an exclu- 

 sive means of support. The past few 

 seasons have brought to light new and 

 better conclusions on this subject. If, 

 like Manitoba farms, and their wheat, 

 we could raise so much honey that we 

 could aftbrd to go without any the next 

 year, the case would be diflerent. But 



as the profits of bee-culture, at best, 

 are only say good, or in the fairly 

 living line, the specialist with nothing 

 else to fall back upon, will occasionally 

 find himself coming " out of the little 

 end of the horn," as he comes out of 

 his fiscal year. 



As to what kind of business may be 

 pcofitably supplemented by bee-cul- 

 ture, that depends upon circumstances, 

 and must be decided by eacli one for 

 liimself. The farmer natnrally thinks 

 that bee-keeping ought to be in asso- 

 ciation with farming or some branch 

 of agriculture. So of the school- 

 teacher, mecliauic, and others. Al- 

 though the unavoidable drawbacks to 

 bee-keej^ing for i)rofit are numerous 

 enough and formidable enough, much, 

 very much, as in everything else, de- 

 pends upon the man. There are cer- 

 tain conditions of success in every 

 business. Only in rare cases do people 

 stumble upon profitable success. We 

 must work for it, and the work must 

 be well directed. 



The bee-keeper who succeeds and 

 makes the business pay, must work 

 well, with his hands, and still better 

 with his head. To come down from 

 the general to the particular, he must 

 have the right kind of bees in a good 

 style of hive, and then must look after 

 them as carefully and intelligently as 

 he would after his stock, or even the 

 children. What might be the best 

 hive for somebody else, might not be 

 the best hive for him, and the same of 

 bees. 



For lady bee-keepers and timid men 

 I should recommend the Carniolans or 

 Italians. In hives, the Jones or Lang- 

 stroth for amateurs is easily handled. 

 So long as the hive is a good movable- 

 frame one, not so much depends upon 

 it as upon the man, and strict attention 

 to business. 



The profits of bee-keeping are ma- 

 terially affected by the mechanical part 

 of the business. To economize in this, 

 the bee-keeper ought to make himself 

 handy with tools, and get everything 

 made and read}- during the winter 

 months when he has time. 



Marketins- tlie Honey. 



The profits are also largely aSected 

 by the bee-keeper's method of market- 

 ing. He may liave a good crop and 

 fool it away, as I have seen people do 

 more than once. He gets in a great 

 hurry to sell it as soon as he gets it, 

 and either consignsitto some unknown 

 and irresponsible commission man, or 

 unloads it ujion his local market just 

 for what it will bring. In either case 

 the result, as to profit, is generally not 

 profit, but loss. 



I would say, be patient in market- 

 ing, and sell at home. As a rule, 

 leave the commission man alone. 



When you have a surplus from the 

 home market, send your sample ahead, 

 make your bargain, and then ship 

 according to agreement, C. O. D. 

 When you cannot sell for cash (as 

 also happens with excellent home cus- 

 tomers) resort to barter — goods for 

 goods — and these .can always be used 

 or turned to account some way. 



I know of but one way to make bee- 

 keeping p.a}-, and that is to handle the 

 bees and their proilucts as they ought 

 to be handled. As to how, in detail, 

 both ought to be handled, each must 

 learn for himself by observation, re- 

 flection, experience, books, bee-papers, 

 etc. AxLEN Pringle. 



The Hon. Charles Drury, Minister of 

 Agriculture, was elected an honorary 

 member. After some changes in the 

 Constitution and B3--Laws, the conven- 

 tion adjourned to meet at Belleville 

 in 1890. 



Brantford, Out. 



SWARMING OUT. 



Cure for Xew Colonies Leaving 

 the Hives, etc. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY WILLIAM CEOULEY. 



What apiarist has not had trouble 

 from this cause ? I think that I am 

 original in discovering a very simple 

 remedy for it ; at least I have not seen 

 it in print. It is as follows : 



As soon as I hive a swarm, I put a 

 drone or queen trap at the entrance of 

 the hive, and leave it for three days. I 

 had several swarm out through the 

 trap, but they came back faster than 

 thej- went out, as soon as thej' dis- 

 covered that the queen did not come 

 out, and went to work in earnest, and 

 did not try it again. The trap should 

 reach clear across the front of the 

 hive. 



Preparing B«'es for Cellar Win- 

 tering. 



My bees are wintering finely. I 

 never had them so quiet in the cellar 

 as they are this winter. I never lost 

 but one colony in the cellar, and that 

 one starved last winter. I think that 

 my plan of preparing them for the 

 cellar is a good one, and as it may be 

 beneficial to some of the fraternity, I 

 will describe it : 



My hive bottom-boai'd is the same 

 width as the hive, with a 2-inch rim on 

 the under side, and 4 inches longer 

 than the hive. I use the blank-strip 

 super, the same size as the hive. I 

 put a quilt in the bottom of the super, 

 and fill it with sawdust, dry leaves or 

 chafl", and put it on top of the hive. 



