Mar. 14, 1907 



209 



Americar Hee Journal^^^^^^^n 



standpoint we can not do it. If I havt 

 to belittle my own ability to bring out 

 facts, belittle it is. I would not mislead 

 the ine.xperienced for the sake of keep- 

 ing or building up a mechanical reputa- 

 tion. At the high rate of wages paid 

 at the present time for intelligent labor, 

 a mechanic's time is too valuable to 

 spend it making hives out of hap-hazard 

 material, and if the person who under- 

 takes it is no mechanic, he would bet- 

 tera let the job alone, anyhow. 



One of the most astonishing points in 

 Mr. Bevins' argument is this : "A few 

 shades difference between the thickness 

 of lumber cuts no figure." In his way 

 of looking at it, it may not; in mine, it 

 cuts a big figure. The variation of a 

 few shades in thickness would com- 

 pletely upset all our plans and calcula- 

 tions. A few shades difference in the 

 thickness of the en<l-pieces would nec- 

 essitate a few shades difference in the 

 length of sides, and a few shades dif- 

 ference in the thickness of sides would 

 necessitate a few shades difference in 

 the length of cleats and cover-end- 

 pieces, and so it would go all along in- 

 definitely. 



Reasonable accuracy does not amount 

 to anrthing if we expect to do syste- 

 matic work on a paying basis. We must 

 have accuracy as close as mechanical 

 skill can produce it ; nothing short of 

 that will insure uniformity in our out- 

 fits. And vi-hilst we are speaking ot 

 accuracy, I wish to tell Mr. Bevins, 

 that neither he nor any other person can 

 cut one single hive-body end-piece as 

 true as machine-work, or, as is neces- 

 sary to put up hives in workmanlike 

 manner. 



In regard to time, the difference is 

 still more strjk-ing. By the time he has 

 bis material for one single piece picked 

 out, measured, and marked off, ready 

 to use his handsaw, dozens can be cut 

 by machinery, and before he ever gets 

 the first piece cut. another dozen can be 

 dropped. Where, then, is our gain, the 

 "saving of much money," if we have to 

 make many hives? It is right the other 

 way: The more hives we have to make, 

 the less we can afford to tinker with a 

 lot of rubbish. Then there is so much 

 other work, such as ripping, rabbeting, 

 matching, tenoning, etc., that can not 

 only be done so much faster, but incom- 

 parably better than handwork. 



When we started bee-keepmg some 30 

 years ago, we decided on 3-4 inch (1 

 wished we had made it 7-8) for all 

 thick hive-material except bottoms, 

 which we made 7-8 mch. After mak- 

 ing hives for a number of years, we 

 had sorted out a lot of 3-4-inch lumber 

 that w-as not adapted for hive-bodies or 

 supers. To dispose of it to the best 

 advantage, we decided, contrary to our 

 established plan of uniformity, to use 

 the same for bottoms. As long as we 

 wintered bees in the cellars, this dif- 

 ference in thickness cut no figure, as 

 Mr. B. says; but late years, since we 

 are wintering bees in chaff-packed cases 

 on the summer-stands, this little varia- 

 tion has caused quite an amount of 

 trouble, and I regret that that change 

 was ever made. The flight-holes don't 

 come right. When packing for winter, 

 I have to watch everv hive to see wheth- 



er the bottom is 3-4 or 7-8 inch thick, 

 and make allow.nices accordingly. Uni- 

 formity in cvrrv particular will save 

 us, soon or later, annoyances of a simi- 

 lar nature. 



To cut the m.Ttter short, although it 

 may be a repetition, I will give my views 

 and advice in a nut-shell : Any mechan- 

 ically inclined bee-keeper, who has ac- 

 cess to the necessary machinery and 

 can conveniently procure the material, 

 can do well getting out his own hives 

 and appliances. Otherwise, if he wishes 

 to make use of his mechanical skill, it 

 would be more profitable to order his 

 supplies in the flat from one of our re- 

 gular supply-manufacturers, and do his 

 own nailing, painting, wiring, etc. — in 

 short, do all the rest. If the stock de- 

 sired should be different from any regu- 

 lar standard goods, then make out a 

 list with exact description of shape and 



dimensions and send it to the firm you 

 wish to patronize. You'll be surprised 

 how close tluy will come to your meas- 

 urement, to say nothing of the fine 

 quality of their goods. It is a pleasure 

 to work them up. This is my experi- 

 ence. 



Outside of shipping-cases, there is 

 only one part of our outfit — the hive- 

 stand — that can be made out of box- 

 lumber to any advantage and make rea- 

 sonable accur.icy answer. But by no 

 means take it that they can be "thrown 

 together." The better they are made, 

 the less annoyances later on. Our leis- 

 ure hours can be profitably utilized by 

 building a few now and then, but it is 

 the same with stands, and shipping- 

 cases, too, as with all the rest — if we 

 have to make many, the saw^-table is the 

 place to get out the stuff. 



LaSalle, N. Y. 



VA' 



(Convention 

 l^roceedinds 



Convention of Bee-Keepers' 

 Associations at Brantford 



REPORTED BY J. L. BYER. 



(Continued from pa^e 190 } 



Thursday Morning Session. 



The convention was addressed by Mr. 

 P. W. Hodgetts, Secretary of the On- 

 tario Bee-Keepers' Association, as fol- 

 lows : 



IMPROVINQ THE BEE-KEEPINQ 

 INDUSTRY 



Since accepting the position of Sec- 

 retary of the Provincial Bee-keepers' 

 Association last fall I have been look- 

 ing over your reports for the past 15 

 years. I have done this with the idea 

 of finding out if possible just what you 

 have been doing in the past, and what 

 your aims are for the future. In 1895 

 I find that you had thirteen affiliated as- 

 sociations. In 1905, ten years later, eleven 

 associations. In the years between the 

 number varied from nine to twelve. In 

 this respect j'our experience seerns to 

 hare been very similar to that of the 

 Fruit-growers' .Association with which 

 I have been more closely connected. I 

 want therefore to tell you a little of 

 what they have done in the past, and 

 what they are striving to do at present. 



The Ontario Fruit-growers' Associa- 

 tion has now been in existence some 

 forty-seven years and is, therefore, 

 somewhat older than the Bee-keepers' 

 Association. For about thirty or thirty- 

 five years the association devoted the 

 greater part of its time to the considera- 

 tion of questions which are called pure- 

 ly educational. Such, for instance, as 

 "Best Varieties for Planting," "Care of 



the Orchard," "Pruning," etc. It seemed 

 as if the officers had got into this rut, 

 if I may call it so, and were content to 

 stay there. However, about ten years 

 ago one of their most enterprising di- 

 rectors suggested that associations 

 should be formed in various parts of the 

 Province in afliiliation with the Ontario 

 association. 



As the Provincial association was do- 

 ing considerable work among amateur 

 horticulturists, the first organization 

 w'ork was carried on among the horti- 

 cultural societies in the cities and towns, 

 with the result that the membership 

 jumped to something over 5,000. The 

 majority of these were, of course, ama- 

 teur horticulturists only. Following 

 this movement, it was suggested that 

 local fruit-growers' associations should 

 be formed in the larger apple-growing 

 centers of the Province. Active canvas- 

 sing was carried on, organizers sent out 

 to attend a series of orchard meetings 

 and with such gratifying results that 

 some forty associations were formed, 

 with a membership of almost 700. A 

 constitution was drawn up by the Pro- 

 vincial association for the guidance of 

 these local fruit-growers' associations, 

 and the objects named there were also 

 purely educational. With the forma- 

 tion of these two sets of affiliated as- 

 sociations and societies, the work of the 

 Provincial association seemed to have 

 assumed very great proportions, and the 

 directors and officers were congratulat- 

 ing themselves on the success of both 

 these movements. 



Two years later, one would hardly 

 have recognized the Provincial associa- 

 tion. The horticultural societies had 

 broken away, and the majority of the 

 fruit-growers' associations had gone out 



