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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



hood. In payment thereof ho cut twenty 

 cords of wood — beech and maple — on a 

 piece of land which has since come into 

 the possession of the writer. Soon after, 

 he tried frame hives of various kinds, 

 but with the result in the end that they 

 were finally used for kindling wood. 



The indomitable perseverance of Mr. 

 McEvoy is well brought out by the fol- 

 lowing incident : The use of the ex- 

 tractor had been employed some before 

 he had even come in contact with it. 

 The writer informed Mr. McEvoy of one 

 he had seen in use in Kilbride — a village 

 80 miles distant. He at once perceived 

 the advantage it would be to him in his 

 business, and promptly set off to see it 

 working. He came back exultant over 

 the knowledge he had gained, after a 

 journey of 60 miles on foot. 



The two box-hive colonies have long 

 since multiplied to a number beyond 

 which Mr. McEvoy does not care to go. 

 He har labored to prevent increase 

 rather than to encourage it, as his pres- 

 ent duties will only allow him to give 

 personal attention to but a limited num- 

 ber of colonies, of which he has about 

 90 at the present time. 



Mr. McEvoy commenced exhibiting 

 honey and wax at the exhibition in 

 1868. He was a prominent exhibitor 

 at the leading Fairs of the Province 

 until 1886. During those 18 years he 

 was the grefitest success as an exhibitor 

 ever known in this country, or perhaps 

 in any other. He was successful on 

 every occasion except one, viz. : at one 

 of the Provincial exhibitions, where he 

 lost the award through incapable judges, 

 who had been hurriedly chosen in the 

 absence of the regularly appointed 

 judges. 



In 1875 the dreaded scourge — foul 

 brood — originated in Mr. McEvoy's own 

 apiary at Woodburn. He at once set to 

 work to discover the cause and cure, 

 and in both was triumphantly success- 

 ful. This is unquestionably the most 

 valuable discovery of modern times in 

 reference to the apiary. The ablest 

 scientists in the bee-keeping world had 

 been laboring earnestly to get at this 

 root of the great bee-scourge, but in 

 vain, and when Mr. McEvoy first gave 

 his discovery to the world, by those best 

 versed in bee-lore, it was received with 

 cold scorn. Mr. McEvoy was not a 

 writer, nor a speaker, and he had 

 always lived in Woodburn, an obscure 

 country village of about 100 souls. It 

 was incredible that so valuable a dis- 

 covery could emanate from such a 

 source ! But in the wonderful success 



that has attended Mr. McEvoy's efforts 

 to stamp out foul brood in all Ontario, 

 we find the most fitting answer to the 

 uncharitable criticisms of those selfish 

 days. 



In 1881 he gave the essentials of his 

 discovery to Gleanings in Bee-Culture, 

 but the article never appeared. In 1884 

 his methods of dealing with the plague 

 appeared in the January number of the 

 Canadian Live Stock and Farm Journal, 

 then under the editorial management of 

 the writer. This was the first time that 

 Mr. McEvoy's opinions on this question 

 appeared in print. It was announced 

 beforehand that the February number 

 of the Bee-Keepers' Review, of 1890, 

 would contain only articles on " Foul 

 Brood." Mr. McEvoy, with great pains 

 and labor, forwarded a summary of his 

 methods, but on the principle, I suppose, 

 that no good thing could come out of 

 Woodburn, the article was suppressed. 



In 1890 he was appointed Foul Brood 

 Inspector for Ontario, and has held the 

 appointment since that time. The wis- 

 dom shown in the appointment has been 

 more than justified in the grand results 

 that have been realized. The fell dis- 

 ease, though not exterminated, has been 

 smitten, hip and thigh, wherever Mr. 

 McEvoy has gone. He justly feels 

 proud of the fact, that in the wholesale 

 cures that have been effected under his 

 supervision, the work has been done in 

 the hives in which the diseased colonies 

 were found, and never in his 17 years' 

 experience with the scourge has he had 

 to scald, boil or otherwise disinfect a 

 hive from which foul brood had been 

 dislodged. 



At the bee-keepers' convention held in 

 London, Ont., in January, 1892, Mr. 

 McEvoy drew attention to the fact that 

 bees were being destroyed, wholesale, 

 by the needless spraying of fruit-trees 

 with poisonous liquids when in bloom. 

 He succeeded in getting a committee 

 appointed to lay the matter before the 

 Ontario Legislature. The result was, 

 that an Act was passed the same year, 

 prohibiting the senseless and exceedingly 

 injurious practice of spraying trees with 

 poisonous liquids when in bloom. ' 



It is not surprising, therefore, that 

 Mr. McEvoy should be regarded on all 

 hands as standing in the front rank 

 amongst living authorities on all practi- 

 cal questions relating to the bee-keeping 

 industry. The great discoveries which 

 he has made is another instance of the 

 success which is sure to follow patient 

 investigation, combinedwith untiring in- 

 dustry in any line. Thomas Shaw. 



