1911 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



63 



Notes from Canada 



By J. L. Byer, Mt. Joy, Out. 



Those moving pictures shovving Mr. Met- 

 calfe's assistant at work are good; but it 

 seems to me, by the bend in the oi)erator's 

 back, that the hives are too low down for 

 comfort. This is a fault in too many yards, 

 including some of my own, and in the future 

 I want to have the hives higher than they 

 have been in the past. A man can work 

 all day at a job if he can be upright most of 

 the time, without getting fatigued; whereas 

 if he has to be stooped OA'er most of the time, 

 half the amount of work will tire him. 

 <^ 



Somewhere, in our house, search would 

 reveal one or more pairs of trousers with the 

 legs scorched on the inside below the knees, 

 It is not necessary to say that said scorch- 

 ings, and burnt holes sometimes too, have 

 been the subject of inquiry on the part of a 

 certain woman in the household. Imagine 

 with what elated feeling the writer read to 

 this woman the words of Mr. Metcalfe, page 

 791, Dec. 1, where he says that, if a man 

 came to him asking for a job to take off 

 honey, and he noticed that his overalls were 

 smoked and scorched between the knees, 

 he would sav "yes" without asking him 

 a single question. It might not be out 

 of the way to add that one time, at least, 

 the damage was more than smoke or scorch- 

 ing, and that a fair-sized fiarne was in evi- 

 dence before the fire was extinguished. 



That picture showing the interior of Hans 

 Matthes' house, page 15, Jan. 1st, certainly 

 gives one a cosy feeling. The open fireplace 

 a ad comfortable old-fashioned chairs around 

 the table remind one of many homes in this 

 Iticality some years ago, as this section was 

 originally settled with Dutch who came 

 here from Pennsylvania. As I showed an 

 aunt of mine the picture, she at once re- 

 marked, "Those chairs are just like those 

 grandfather used to make;" and I might 

 add that at all sales where a few of these ar- 

 ticles of furniture are now offered they 

 bring good prices from people who make a 

 fad of saving up old-fashioned things as rel- 

 ics. We have but one of these chairs in our 

 home; and I confess that, although not a 

 relic-hunter, yet it would take quite a price 

 to buy that chair, as every time my eye 

 rests on it I am reminded of the dear de- 

 parted grandfather who made it years ago. 

 This same grandfather, by the way, was a 

 very successful bee-keeper when bee-keep- 

 ing was hardly looked upon as a specialty 

 as it is now; so it will be seen that, what- 

 ever bee-keeping blood the writer may have 

 in his veins, it has been inherited. 



The Dominion Railway Commission which 

 has had the express companies of Canada on 

 trial, as it were, have handed in their judg- 



ruent, which is sweeping in its denuncia- 

 tion of the accused. The tariffs are declared 

 to be altogether too high, and many of the 

 provisions attached to the printed contracts 

 to be unfair to the shippers. The compa- 

 nies are given three months to revise and 

 formulate new rates and contracts, and to 

 hand the same to the Commission for their 

 inspection at the expiration of that date. 

 The officials of the companies met in Mon- 

 treal; and, although some of them were in- 

 clined to kick at the verdict, yet they wise- 

 ly concluded to accept the ruling in view of 

 the fact that they could not well do other- 

 wise. We notice that the chairman of the 

 Dominion Commission, J. P. Mabee, and 

 Martin A. Knapp, Chairman of the Inter- 

 state Commerce Commission of the U. S. 

 A., have come to an agreement regarding 

 the control of railways crossing the bound- 

 ary, and this is certainly a good omen to- 

 ward the successful formation of an inter- 

 national commission in the near future that 

 would have the same power over all the ex- 

 press companies, as the Dominion Commis- 

 sion now has over the Canadian companies. 

 This is of interest to the bee-keepers; for if 

 any class of producers have to pay the price 

 with a vengeance, we certainly do. The 

 powers of the Dominion Board are supreme, 

 and it is only by the show of the "big 

 stick" that heartless corporations can ever 

 be brought to time. 



■^ 

 In stepping into the breach caused by 

 the retirement of friend Holtermann from 

 this department, it is with a feeling that 

 perhaps we are "biting off more than we 

 will be able to chew," and certainly if left 

 entirely to our own devices such an outcome 

 is but a logical conclusion. However, we 

 feel that many bee-keepers on this side of 

 the line will give us their active support; 

 and to such we would say that at all times 

 it will be a source of pleasure to us to have 

 items of news sent in; and if any one has 

 practical suggestions to offer as to how this 

 page can be made of more interest to the 

 apiarists of Canada in particular, these will 

 be thankfully received and given due con- 

 sideration. At the same time, be it under- 

 stood, the editor has given me a free rein, 

 and liberty to meddle in the affairs of the 

 people in other parts of the country — in 

 fact, has even given me the privilege of dif- 

 fering with him on any matter whenever so 

 prompted — a privilege pretty sure to be 

 taken advantage of quite freely, and we 

 warn the aforesaid editor to keep his "blue 

 pencil " well sharpened. Mr. Holtermann 

 was often able to give extracts from the dif- 

 ferent German bee journals; and I am sorry 

 to say that, from now on, as long as we are in 

 charge of the department, extracts of that 

 nature will be conspicuous by their absence. 

 While the writer has quite a percentage of 

 German blood in his veins, yet he is not 

 familiar enough with the language to speak 

 it, let alone make intelligent interpretations 

 of printed matter. Perhaps some of our 

 German friends will come to our aid. 



