THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



375 



was all. Of my 59 colonies some are 

 weak. l>nt )wne'are dead. 

 Port Wasliiiigton, O., May 12, 1884. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Western Fair, London, Ont. 



WM. n. WESTON. 



The Western Fair, which is to be 

 held in this city on Sept. 22 to 27 in- 

 clusive, has adopted the following 

 price list. I might just remark in 

 reference thereto, that this is the lirst 

 year the Fair directors have formed a 

 separate class for bees, honey, and 

 apiarian sujjplies ; and it being their 

 tirst attempt, they have done hand- 

 somely, hoping thereby to draw a 

 large number of exhibitors from both 

 Canada and the United States ; and at 

 the same time to educate the public 

 in this very important industry. 



For the benetit of exhibitors from 

 the United States, the directors are to 

 make arrangements with the Custom 

 anthorities for the free passage of all 



foods for exhibition. The Western 

 'air is the most important one held 

 in Canada, and always draws a large 

 concourse of spectators. The follow- 

 ing is the price list : 



Queens and colonies cannot compete for more 

 than one premium. 



First. Second 



Display of Comb Honey in the most 

 marlietahle shape, product of one 

 apiary in 1><h4 $10.CK) $5.00 



Display of Extracted Honey in the 

 most marketable shape, product of 

 one apiary in 1S84 10.00 5.00 



Display of comb honey in the most 

 marketable shape, by a lady, product 

 of her own apiary in 1884 10.00 5.00 



Display of Extracted Honey in the 

 most marketable shape, by a lady, 

 product of her own apiary 10.00 5.00 



The first prize in the above section is offered by 

 James Watson, Esq. 



Comb Honey, not less than 20 lbs.. 



quality to covern f4.00 12.00 



Extracted honey, not less than 20 lbs., 



quality to Kovcrn 4.00 2.0O 



Best Granulated Honey 2.00 1.00 



Crate of Comb Honey, not less than 20 

 lbs., in best shape for shipping and 



retailing 4.00 2.00 



Colony ot Bees, properly named, must 

 be the progeny of one queen, and 

 exhibited in such shape as to be 

 readily seen on two sides. Purity of 

 race, docility, size of bees and nu- 

 merical strength to be considered. . . 5.00 3.00 

 Display of Queens, to be put up in such 

 shape as to te readily seen by visi- 

 tors (blacks not to ci'mpetei 3.00 2.00 



BestraarkedQueenBee.bredinCanada 3.00 2.00 

 Greatest variety of Queens put up in 



same Shane as for display of queens Diploma 

 Best Bee flive for all purposes in the 



apiary 3.0O ■ 2.00 



Best Bee Hive for Extracted Honey. . Diploma 



Best Bee Hive for Comb iioney Diploma 



Honey Extractor 2.00 1.00 



Wax Extractor 2.00 1.00 



Foundaticin Mill Diploma 



Fount ation Tress Diploma 



Beeswax, not less than 5 lbs 3.0ti 2.U0 



Comb Foundation for surplus honey, 



not less than 3 lbs 2.G0 1.00 



Comb Foundation for brood chambers, 



not lessthan 5 lbs 2.00 1.00 



Comb Foundation Machine, making 

 best foundatifrn for brood chamber, 



ontheerounds 8.00 4.00 



Best pound-sections, not less than 50. . 1.00 .50 



Best one-piece section for honev 1.00 .50 



Best dovetailed section for honey 1.00 .50 



Package with labels for retailing ex- 

 tracted honey 1.00 .50 



Bee-Soitiker 1.00 .50 



Bee-Ffeder I.oo .50 



Honey-Knife 1.00 .50 



Display of apiarian supplies 4.00 2.00 



Largest and best display of honey- 

 bearing plants, properly named and 



labeled Diploma 



Queen Cage, such as is admitted to the 



mails by postal laws 1.00 .50 



Honey-Vinegar, not less than 1 gallon 2.00 1.00 



Honey-Wine 2.00 1,00 



Extras 



London, Ont. 



Read before the Soutbern Cal. CoDventlon. 



The Honey-Interest in California. 



J. E. PLEASANTS. 



You are all aware of the wonderful 

 progress made in apiculture in the 

 last quarter of a century. Of all the 

 modern improvements " I will only 

 mention three ot; the greatest: The 

 movable comb hive, the extractor, and 

 the artilicial comb ; but these three 

 have revolutionized bee-keeping, for 

 with their use the quantity of honey 

 is greatly increased. But, notvvitli- 

 staiiding the great increase, the de- 

 mand for honey to-day is greater than 

 the supply, and so it will continue ; 

 for tlie more easily an article is pro- 

 duced, the cheaper it can be sold, and 

 the cheaper itr is sold the nearer it is 

 brought within the reach of all. 



As a nation, we should rejoice that 

 America leads the van in all that re- 

 lates to apiculture ; and as the demand 

 for honey increases, America is called 

 upon to supply that demand. I am 

 sure that California will, in the fu- 

 ture as she has in the past, come to 

 the front with her tons upon tons of 

 unsurpassed and insurpassable honey. 

 All of us will concede that the last 3 

 or 4 years have been unpropitious for 

 the bee-business in this State ; but 

 with all the unfavorableness of the 

 seasons, California has produced 

 enough for home consumption and 

 some to spare for our cousins over the 

 seas, whose palates we love to tickle 

 with our sweet product. The fear of 

 glutting the market of the world with 

 good honey is as absurd as to think of 

 glutting it with wheat. Honey put 

 up in a neat and marketable package 

 will always bring remunerative prices. 

 The honey interest is an industry 

 which deserves encoura^emeut from 

 all. In a good year it brings into this 

 district alone over half a million of as 

 virgin dollars as those which the 

 sturdy miner delves from the earth 

 while the industrious bees extract it 

 out of the blossoms which would 

 otherwise go to waste on the desert 

 air. Read over the list of premiums 

 offered by the managers of the Fair of 

 the Sixth Agricultural District, and 

 see what you find there to encourage 

 this great pursuit. Not one dollar. 



This great industry has its enemies 

 among the fruit growers. While ad- 

 mitting that bees are injurious to the 

 raisin industry, I will defend them in 

 most of the charges brought against 

 them by their enemies, who oftentimes 

 do not know the diSerence between a 

 bee and a yellow-jacket. The damage 

 done to fruit is always commenced by 

 other insects or birds, but it is invari- 

 ably laid at the door of the bee. Some- 

 times the fruit grower knows so little 

 of the physiology ot the bee that he 

 accuses him of gnawing through an 

 inch boaril to get to his fruit. So the 

 cry is, " The bee must go." If not, 

 they will be trapped and destroyed. 

 Such work is both cruel and unlawful. 

 I am opposed to keeping bees in the 

 valleys between May and November, 

 where there are orchards and vine- 

 yards. Generally the bees which are 

 in the valleys are not owned by pro- 

 fessional bee-keepers, but by men 



who just keep a few for their own 

 use. It is to the interest of profes- 

 sional bee-keejiers to confine bees to 

 the mountains exclusively, as the 

 honey produced in the valleys is of 

 inferior quality, ami therefore inju- 

 rious to the reputation of California 

 honey. I am eonlident that the ma- 

 jority of the true bee-keepers will 

 coincide with me. 



As we all know, there are always 

 two sides to a question; for, once upon 

 a time a keejier of bees in the mount- 

 ains, who for years had been quietly 

 pursuing the even tenor of his way, 

 had his tranquillity interrupted by a 

 tiller of the soil, who moved into the 

 vicinity and planted his vines and 

 melons. In.tlie course of time the 

 pioneer's bees fed upon the sour 

 grapes and melons of his neighbor, 

 and as it was not their natural food, 

 they became diseased and perished. 

 Whereupon their owner became en- 

 raged and called an anti-fruit-grow- 

 ers' meeting, the decision of which 

 was that the husbandman must go. 



Query : Will he go ? 



Somerset Co., Maine Convention. 



The Somerset Bee-Keepers' Asso- 

 ciation held a convention at Athens, 

 Me., on May 7, 1884, which was char- 

 acterized with much interest to the 

 bee-keeping fraternity in this and 

 western Piscataquis county. There 

 were about 2.5 members present. 



The forenoon was occupied in dis- 

 cussing the methods of wintering 

 bees, and relating the experiences of 

 members of their successes the past 

 winter. This subject was introduced 

 by Isaac ITutehins, of Wellington, who 

 read a paper on " Conclusions drawn 

 from wintering bees on the summer 

 stands the past winter." There was 

 some diversity of ideas pertaining to 

 wintering, by the members, but two 

 methods were most fully endorsed : 

 1. In warm, dry cellars; 2. On the 

 summer stands with some oqtside pro- 

 tection, as of chaff or sawdust, with 

 holes made through the combs for 

 bees to pass through from frame to 

 frame. It was claimed that holes 

 were preferable to sticks laid on top 

 of frames, as bees would not pass up 

 over the frames if the temperature 

 within was at all low. 



In the afternoon an election of of- 

 ficers resulted in re-electing Wm. Mc- 

 Laughlin Fresident ; Wm. Lawrence, 

 Secretary; Isaac Ilutchins, Treasurer; 

 W. II. Norton, S. J. Ward. G. II. Al- 

 len, II. J. Fogg and S. II. Whitehouse, 

 Vice-Presidents, from as many differ- 

 ent towns. Then followed an '• in- 

 quiry meeting." on the management 

 of bees from this time until our next 

 meeting in August. Mr. Norton 

 would prevent swarming and work 

 for surplus honey until after the 

 honey season, then divide the colonies 

 and build them up for winter. If 

 bees become too numerous, he would 

 give them more room. He would in- 

 duce bees to work in sections, by tak- 

 ing out a frame of sealed honey, un- 

 cap it, and then hang it in the centre 

 of the frames when the bees are rear- 

 ing brood, and the bees will remove 



