94 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Feb. 15 



duced in 1883, were similar to the systems 

 later exploited by Henry Alley and E. L. 

 Pratt. His baby nucleus was almost iden- 

 tically the same as our twin-baby nucleus 

 of to-day. We copied Pratt, but later im- 

 proved the Pratt nucleus until it \\as almost 

 the same as the old Jones model. 



He was the inventor of the Jones hive, 

 the Jones uncapping-knife — a knife which 

 may yet displace all others, 



Mr. Jones' knowledge of bee lore, of the 

 domestic economy of the hive, of how lo 

 produce extracted honey, was second to 

 none of his day. 



To give the reader an idea of Mr. Jones' 

 progressive ideas, and how he spared nei- 

 ther time nor money in carrying his ideas 

 into effect, we may state that he early saw 

 that, in order to raise Cyprian, Holy Land, 

 and Carniolan bees in their purity, they 

 would have to be reared on separate islands. 

 He therefore purchased or leased several is- 

 lands in Georgian Bay. One he called 

 Cyprus, another Palestine, and still anoth- 

 er Carniola. On each of these islands he 

 had a complete queen-rearing outflt and a 

 race of bees according to the name of the 

 island; but, unfortunately, the islands were 

 barren, and it was necessary for him to feed 

 his bees almost constantly. For two or 

 three years he raised Cyprians, Holy Lands, 

 and Carniolans on those islands; but, if we 

 are correct, the venture never paid. It cost 

 him enormously to keep a competent man 

 there and necessary boats and camping- 

 outfits, and to feed sugar to the Cyprians 

 and Holy Lands that bred so rapidly that 

 their owner had to feed almost continuous- 

 ly; but, nothing daunted, our friend kept 

 on rearing queens on those islands. 



Well do we remember the visit that we 

 made to those island apiaries in 1884. Mr. 

 Jones had just come from a trip to the is- 

 lands when we arrived at Bee ton; but he 

 was so enthusiastic over his project that he 

 said he would be glad to go right back with 

 us to the islands. We took a hundred-mile 

 ride by train, and then a steamer at Col- 

 lingwood for what is known as the Forty 

 Thousand Islands, where Mr. Jones had se- 

 lected three islands that were best suited to 

 his purpose. How we hunted duck and 

 deer, and fished, talked bees and the great 

 possibilities of mating queens to select 

 drones; how we could make desirable cross- 

 es on other islands, it is not necessary to 

 relate here; but suffice it to say we never 

 met a more whole-souled and genial host or 

 a more enthusiastic bee-keeper in all the 25 

 years that we have been at the editorial 

 helm of this journal. The reader, if inter- 

 ested, will find a full account of this in 

 Gleanings for 1884, pages 620 and 696. 



Mr. Jones was one of the most genial men 

 we ever met. He liked a good joke, and 

 knew how to perpetrate one on his friends. 

 If space did not forbid we would tell how he 

 got the laugh on T. G. Newman, then edi- 

 tor of the American Bee Jownal, and A. I. 

 Root; of how he got a "goak" on us. He 

 was a leading spirit in the conventions of 



his day, and always the center of a jolly 

 group of kindred spirits between sessions. 

 He was at one time the leading manufac- 

 turer of bee-supplies in Canada. He found- 

 ed the Canadian Bee Journal over 25 years 

 ago; and all through Canada we can find 

 to-day the impress of this most remarkable 

 man. 



During his later years, pressure of other 

 business seems to have absorbed his atten- 

 tion until he dropped out of bee-keeping al- 

 together. He was a man of large ideas and 

 large affairs; always generous with his mon- 

 ey and time, he did much to advance api- 

 culture in the early days, especially in Can- 

 ada. 



We notice that his town paper, the 

 Beeion World, credits Mr. Jones with the 

 introduction of Italian bees into this coun- 

 try. This is a mistake. While he did in- 

 troduce Eastern races of bees, and Carnio- 

 lans, as already ex))lained. the Italians 

 were introduced bv Richard Colvin, away 

 back in the early 'eO'f', many years before 

 Mr. Jones went to the Orient. 



We can not close this sketch without 

 making an extract from the Beeton World, 

 the paper founded by Mr. Jones, and pub- 

 lished in his own home town. He was a 

 prophet in his own home town. Read what 

 his own townspeople think of him: 



Although it was known he was very ill, the news 

 of the death of Mr. D. A. Jones on Sunday morning 

 came as a shock to all. He had always been an ac- 

 tive and energetic man, both mentally and physi- 

 cally, but for some months was troubled with a 

 weakness of the heart, and the immediate cause of 

 his death was angina pectoris. 



During his early residence here he bought a tract 

 of land which now comprises part of Beeton. This 

 land was surveyed into plots, and he laid out the 

 streets of the village and planted the beautiful 

 shade trees which now adorn the streets and will 

 stand as monuments to his energies for some time 

 to come. His whole aim was given to the building 

 up of the town. How much the community owes 

 to him it is impossible to estimate. His many char- 

 itable acts and kindnesses will never be forgotten, 

 but he is gone and another name is stricken from 

 the ever-lessening roll of our old settlers. His very 

 last act in lile was to send a consignment of cloth- 

 ing contributed by himself and others to poor set- 

 tlers in Parry Sound district, with whose conditions 

 he was personally familiar. 



In politics Mr. Jones was a strong Liberal, and on 

 two or three occasions he conducted exploring par- 

 ties in the north country for the Government, pen- 

 etrating the wilderness from the main line of the 

 C. P. R. nearSudbury, and on one trip going through 

 Hudson's Bay as far north as Baffin's Bay. 



He had been a life-long Presbyterian, and con- 

 tributed largely toward the erection of the Presby- 

 terian church here. When the contents of the will 

 are made known it is expected that all religious de- 

 nominations and the citizens generally will be ben- 

 efited by a provision made for the erection of a 

 mausoleum in the cemetery. 



He had been postmaster here almost continuous- 

 ly since his arrival in town, 46 years ago. 



That "last act," as given in the foregoing 

 extract, of sending clothing to the poor set- 

 tlers in Parry Sound, is only an outcrop- 

 ping of that irrepressible, generous, kindly 

 spirit, the love of his fellow-men, that per- 

 vaded his whole life. He was indeed a truly 

 great man and a Christian brother. 



Four ministers of the gospel conducted 

 his funeral — another estimate of the high 

 esteem in which he M'as held by the Chris- 

 tian ministry. 



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