1897. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



69 



still a Rood place — for some things — but which au echo from 

 California might answer, "Oh, yes, a very few things at that" 

 I — such as Canadian thistles and freezing weather ! 



There is yet another thing which particularly interested 

 me — the great facilities for fruit production, especially where 

 Irrigation can be called into requisition, as also the large quan- 

 tities and numerous varieties of your flowers and foliage, to say 

 nothing of your big mountains, big trees, big gold and silver 

 mines, and your big everything else ; including the many big 

 stories we have all so often read and heard about, the latter 

 of course I only mean you accept in a literal sense, as no in- 

 sinuations are intended that they are not true. 



But I have not the time, no matter how well disposed I 

 may be, to here mention all that should be mentioned. I will 

 leave such for Rambler, whom I had the pleasure of meeting 

 among others; or Mr. Wilder, as depicted in his glowing des- 

 cription of your laud, some time since, and which through his 

 kindness now lies before me. However, before leaviug the 

 descriptive part of my letter, I must not overlook the fact that 

 I also admired the beauty and size of the young la — (Oh, I de- 

 clare, I almost forgot I was a married man); I mean of the old 

 UuUes, all of which no doubt is attributable to your salubrious 

 and health-giving climate, and if my present intentions are 

 carried to completion, I hope at some future time to embrace 

 the opportunity of being benefitted by all, except the latter, as 

 of course I feel tolerably sure I am pretty well supplied in this 

 direction already. 



Now, then, assuming that your climate was to capture me, 

 I should not want to be idle, for after all too much idleness is 

 not good for any one. Apart from this, however, I fear neith- 

 er my disposition — nor the extent of my money-bag — would 

 permit such a state of aflairs, and as a consequence I should 

 expect to engage in agiculture, which has been a hobby 

 from my youth up, and this I would do as already stated, 

 partly from my love of the pursuit, but principally for the re- 

 muneration that I would naturally expect to accrue from fol- 

 lowing the more modern principles of honey-production. In 

 doing so, I should not want to injure any who are now fol- 

 lowing such a vocation, either by selling honey (if "fortunate 

 enough to secure any) below what the majority consider a rea- 

 sonable paying price, or by trenching on fields already sutBc- 

 ieutly occupied by other apiarists, or naught else besides that 

 is not consistent in a good citizen. I would also favor your 

 honey exchange project, and now regret that I did not give you 

 more encouragement on this subject, when askt ray views at 

 your meeting in March, 1895, respecting it ; this, however, was 

 owing entirely to my not having even thought over, much less 

 studied, the matter from your standpoint, and not from any 

 desire that you should not succeed in securing the end in view; 

 ;is I have had not a little experience in marketing honey, even 

 in our own country, and consequently do know for a fact that 

 such a scheme would be a great benefit to ourselves, and I 

 doubt not that the time is coming when similar action will 

 to be taken if honey-production is to continue a paying busi- 

 ness with us. 



Now I do not wish it to be understood that I am an advo- 

 cate of advising everyone to go to California, nor indeed for a 

 single person to do so, particularly if they enjoy good health 

 and are succeeding tolerably well where they are. "A bird in 

 the hand is worth two in the bush," and this motto holds as 

 good in this case as in any other of importance, as people who 

 are continually moving from oue locality to another with no 

 good prospects in view of bettering their condition, either mor- 

 ally, physically, financially or otherwise, are of no benefit to 

 themselves or the country in which they reside ; and, let me 

 add, you have a few such even in your State, as unfortunately 

 in every place else, and this among many other things of minor 

 importance was observed by your humble servant. (On this 

 particular point. I could not but agree in toto with Rambler, 

 Mr. Brodbeck, Dr. Gallup, Prof. Cook, Mr. Dayton, Mr. Mc- 

 Intyre, and many others, in their articles which have from 

 time to time appeared in the different bee-periodicals, all of 

 which endorse my opinions to a nicety.) Especially was this 

 true in regard to the advice which Mr. Martin informed me he 

 had given a friend who thought of leaving his native State, 

 who at the time was and still is doing well, and enjoying good 

 health where he is ; " Let well enough alone," was, in his opin- 

 ion, a good motto, and I need only add that in my humble opin- 

 ion, it was the " wholesomest kind of wholesome advice." 



In concluding, I particularly desire to express the hope 

 that none of those who may have either the opportunity of 

 hearing or seeing this article, may for one moment cherish the 

 thought that it has been written from any selfish or hidden 

 motive; it so, I request that such be not entertained, as my 

 Brst, last, and only object in penning it, is to place matters in 

 the real light as I found them, coupled with the assistance 

 and experience gleaned from others. 



Long live the Republic, and long live the bee-keepers ; yet 

 longer live your big honey crops, is the wish of one who may 

 never realize it, but who nevertheless hopes that others may 

 continue to reap from this time henceforward. 



Stratford, Ont., Canada. 



Report of the Ontario Bee-Keepers' Couveu- 

 tioa, Held at ToroHto, Dec. 8—10, 1896. 



Taken PriucipaU/j from thr Fiintierx^ Advovate. 



The 17th annual meeting of the Ontario Bee-Keepers' As- 

 sociation was held at Toronto, Dec. 8, 9 and 10, with a good 

 average attendance from all over the Province. Great inter- 

 est was shown in the questions askt, but all were not agreed 

 as to how they were to be answered. A number of samples of 

 honey-vinegar were shown by some of those in attendance. 



Soon after the meeting started, Hon. Sydney Fisher, Do- 

 minion Minister of Agriculture, came in, and was introduced 

 to those present. In speaking on the importance of bee-keep- 

 ing, he said that the highest form of agriculture is to utilize bul- 

 ky products and send them out in as condenst a form as possi- 

 ble. This bee-keeping did. He was not an authority on bees, 

 and so would wait for the Association to make suggestions, 

 which he would duly consider. 



Bi'-Laws — The report of the committee on by-laws, which 

 recommended several changes, chiefly for the purpose of bring- 

 ing the by-laws into harmony with the new Agricultural and 

 Arts Bill, was past, with the exception of the clause which 

 proposed sending lecturers into districts where noaEBliated so- 

 cieties exist, the parent society to bear the expense. 



A vote of condolence to the widow and family of the late 

 Allen Pringle was also past. 



Sui'ER IN Two Parts. — Mr. Pettit asked If it were advis- 

 able and profitable to have supers made in two parts. Mr. 

 Gemmill thought it better to put on part of the super at first, 

 as bees till one side first ; then turn the super around. Mr. 

 Pettit's method was to have strong colonies when the honey- 

 flow was on hand. If he had two weak colonies he united 

 them. He raises the front of the hive one inch higher than 

 usual with wedges. If bees have ventilation it checks the 

 swarming impulse. He found that by using this method the 

 bees filled the outside of the supers as well as the center. Mr. 

 McEvoy. in reference to this, said that it was to the interests 

 of beekeeping to fill sections full with foundation in place of 

 using a starter. 



DroneEgg.s — The questions were asked, "Why do old 

 queens lay more drone-eggs than young queens ? and do queens 

 ever lay worker-eggs in drone-cells ?'' Mr. Gemmill said that 

 if we hive bees on starters an old queen will lay drone-eggs. 

 A young queen lays few drone-eggs. Mr. McEvoy would do 

 away with the queen after she is two years old, and some of 

 the members agreed with him. but others disapproved of the 

 practice. Mr. Mclvnight's theory as to the reason why an old 

 queen lays so many drone-eggs is as follows :' The queen has 

 ovaries, in which the eggs lie, one on each side of the body, 

 with Fallopian tubes connecting with the sac in which the 

 male's seed is deposited. When the egg comes down the 

 tube the queen-bee can control its passage. ; To get worker- 

 eggs the embryo egg has to pass into the sac, and is impregna- 

 ted with the male principle, while to get drone-egg is past out 

 without going into the sac. Every egg impregnated with the 

 male principle weakens the queen. The queen deposits drone- 

 eggs in worker-cells through her desire to get workers, but 

 owing to her age the eggs are not fertilized. 



The President's Address dwelt on the possibilities of 

 bee-keeping and the adaptability of Ontario for its prosecu- 

 tion. Itcreates wealth. The honey crop displaces no other 

 crop on the farm, and further, the primary object of the exis- 

 tence of the honey-bee is not to gather honey, but to assist by 

 the distribotion of pollen the cross-fertilization of plant life. 

 The honey-bee is of the greatest value to the fruit-grower, and 



