Jan. 3, 1907 



American Hee Journal 



tliat. ill order to carry out this work 

 and keep in direct touch with the 

 bee-keepers, it might be advisable to 

 have the Secretary of the Associa- 

 tion located in the Department. We are 

 not anxious, in the Department, to 

 monopolize any of the work or privileges 

 of the Association, but if you think it 

 would not interfere with the work of 

 your Association in any way, but rather 

 improve its working, to have the secre- 

 taryship here, we beg leave to say that 

 that can be arranged. The Secretary of 

 the Fruit-Growers' Association, Mr. 

 P. W. Hodgetts, is an officer of this 

 Department, and we understand that he 

 would be willing to take the secretary- 

 ship of the Bee-Keepers' Association 

 also. But that is a matter that we do 

 not wish to force on you in any way, 

 but submit for consideration. You may 

 consider the question with the utmost 

 freedom. Mr. Hodgetts is not seeking 

 it, and we are not unduly urging it. 

 We would hope to bring the work of 

 the Association into closer relationship 

 with other branches of work, more par- 

 ticularly the Farmers' Institutes, and 

 it is just possible that some improve- 

 ment might be made to the advantage 

 of the Association and the Institutes. 

 Please have this matter considered by 

 your Executive. C. C. J.\mes. 



Deputy Mhiisttr of Ayriculture. 

 Toronto, Ont., Oct. 31, 1906. 



J. D. Evans — The bee-industry is not 

 only for the honey and money, but the 

 bees as fertilizers bring millions of dol- 

 lars to the fruit-growers every year. 



Mr. Sibbald approved the proposed 

 plan. 



Mr. Couse thought the Department 

 could handle the secretaryship much bet- 

 ter than any private individual. 



Mr. McEvoy thought if he is to be 

 referee in inspection, he should be al- 

 lowed to choose the inspectors. He de- 

 clared he would not act at all unless he 

 could choose the other 5 inspectors. 



Mr. Chrysler approved of the pro- 

 posal. 



Mr. Miller considered the proposition.- 

 of untold worth to the Association. 



W. J. Craig thought we should get 

 together, and be unaninunis. 



jMr. Pettit — It might be wiser to leave 

 the matter of appointing inspectors in 

 the hands of the Department. We have 

 had so much discussion and difference 

 on appointing inspectors that it came as 

 a relief that the matter of appointing 

 was taken out of our hands. 



Ed. Dickinson, Jr., agreed with this, 

 that the Department might well retain 

 the appointing. 



Minister of Agriculture — The Depart- 

 ment desires to be given a free hand, 

 and we have endeavored to keep free 

 from political appointments. It is from 

 these organizations that we get the best 

 advice. We hope you will settle your 

 differences and agree on a line of policy. 



Mr. McEvoy no doubt has the inter- 

 ests of bee-keepers at heart. 



Mr. Couse was pleased to think of the 

 secretaryship going into the Department, 

 where the office machinery would great- 

 ly increase its efficiency. 



Many expressed appreciation of Mr. 

 McEvoy's superior knowledge of the 

 cure of foul brood. 



Wi.xTER Repositories. 



Wm. Couse, Streetsville, made the 

 keynote of his address on this subject 

 "drjness." He argued from his experi- 

 ence from the "good old brimstone days" 

 when every boy could smell brimstone 

 in the fall for "three miles" and it 

 spelled "honey" for him, to the present 

 day of modern appliances. The first 

 winter repository he remembered was 

 a hollow pine log with a hole half way 

 up for entrance and in this the bees in- 

 variably wintered because it kept them 

 dry. 



IDr. Thorn and the Alpaughs were the 

 first cellar winterers in his section (Cen- 

 tre Wellington). Their cellars some- 

 times had water on the floor but the 

 atmosphere was dry and they wintered 

 well. A little later Mr. Couse went to 

 Beeton, where D. A. Jones wintered in 

 sawdust houses. The loss here was al- 

 ways in the bottom rows where the bees 

 were not kept dry as in the upper rows. 

 Mr. Couse now winters about half in the 

 cellar and half outside, and finds that 

 they invariably winter better in the cel- 

 lar and should not be taken out in spring 

 till on towards the middle of April. 



R. H. Smith said that old, black combs 

 are warmer for wintering than new ones. 

 He had bees winter well in a cellar 

 where the floor was covered with water. 

 The water seemed to purify the air. He 

 thought the best temperature is 45 to 

 48 degrees above zero. The cellar is per- 

 haps the best method of wintering bees 

 in this countrv. 



Mr. Holtermann — The only way to 

 know the moisture of a cellar is to have 

 a hygrometer to measure the moisture 

 of the air. 



O. L. Hershiser — It may or may not 

 be true that water in a cellar consti- 

 tutes a damp cellar. Mr. Couse has 

 struck the keynote of successful win- 

 tering when he says it is dryness. 



J. L. Byer — Wintering outside in an 

 exposed manner is done at the e.xpense 

 of stores. ,A real strong colony with 

 abundance of stores w'ill winter in al- 

 most any shape outdoors. 



Mr. Holtermann — It is more difficult 

 to get bees into shape for outdoor win- 

 tering than for indoor wintering. 



Mr. McEvoy — That might be. 



A Member — I don't want winter 

 brood-rearing before February. I can 

 tell any time in winter when they are 

 rearing brood. In that case they must 

 stop the brood-rearing. Cool them off 

 by taking off the cover, etc. 



]Mr. Miller said it is possible that a 

 combination of conditions affects cir- 

 cumstances. He finds that it is not nec- 

 essary to give upward ventilation. 



Mr. Holtermann doubts the wisdom 

 of sealed hive-covers in the cellar. 



Mr. Bruune said the cellar should be 

 on a slope. Dampness is necessary for 

 wintering. Have the honey-board on 

 top, but leave off the cover and bottom- 

 board so the air can circulate through 

 the whole hive. 



(Continued ne.xt week.) 



The " Old Reliable '' as seen through New and Unreliable Glasses, 

 By E. E. Hasty, Sta. B. Rural, Toledo, Ohio. 



Are Climbing Bees a Sign of 

 Robbing? 



About the climbing of bees being a 

 sign of robbing. Dr. Miller sticks to 

 his t'other-way position like a good 

 fellow. If the Question-Box wasn't 

 dead beyond resurrection, I'd ask to 

 have the thing submitted to the ex- 

 perls. If we could get an overwhelm- 

 ing majority against him maybe he'd 

 down. And then, again, maybe he 

 wouldn't. (.\nd then, again, maybe I 

 wouldn't get the majority.) About 

 that time I might be saying, "Those 

 experts are worse than a petit jury, 

 anyhow." The question, mind you, is 

 not whether it always means robbing, 

 nor whether it usually means robbing, 

 but, Is it robbing often enough that 

 the apiarist ought to see about it 

 promptly when it occurs? Page 985. 



Position of Fk.^mes in Extractor. 



So the Canadians are figuring on 

 putting combs into the extractor in 



such a way as to capture the upward 

 slant of the cells to help along the de- 

 sired result. Evidently there is an 

 item there that might be secured. But 

 whether it is a valuable item, or an 

 item so small that it is hardly worth 

 bothering with, even my guessing 

 prowess does not enable me to say. 

 Decisive experiments not easy to hit 

 on, either. And while you're at it, re- 

 member that gravity can also be made 

 to help some by running the frames 

 bottom upward. Page 983. 



Bees .\nd Grapes. 



John Kennedy thought hard of us 

 all, and names me for one, because 

 when he was deeply- stirred up about 

 something destroying his grapes, not 

 one of us would say anything. He 

 didn't realize what a dreadfully worn- 

 out and threshedout subject "Bees 

 and Grapes" has become. And I — 

 well, I had an additional reason for 

 " holding my whist " in that my opin- 



