42 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Jan. 17, 



Myers, also a resident of Stratford, are working hard to make 

 the meeting a grand success. Mr. Gemmill is one of our best 

 bee-keepers, and has the neatest apiary I have seen in Canada. 

 I will not say it is the neatest in the country, because I have 

 not seen them all, but it certainly presents a most creditable 

 appearance, and the owner takes great pride In it, as he is 

 justly entitled to do. 



Mr. Gemmill's "hobby," by his statement, is a' honey-bee 

 concert, which, with Mrs. Gemmill's kind assistance, (I like 

 to see a man polite to his wife,) he is getting up in connection 

 with the forthcoming meeting. The music and "Mr. Holter- 

 mann's pow-wow," as Mr. Gemmill rather irreverently calls Mr. 

 H.'s promised magic lantern exhibition, to be given the same 

 evening, are features enough to draw a big crowd of the gen- 

 eral public in addition to the bee-keepers who will be present. 

 Mr. Holterraann's part of the entertainment promises to be 

 very interesting. 



It is not intended to get up a, furore about bee-keeping to in- 

 duce a rush into business, but to enlighten the general public 

 about the nature and habitsorbees,ln order to dispel the amaz- 

 ing Ignorance there is in regard to these insects. Information 

 will be given as to the manner in which bees secrete wax scales, 

 build comb, gather and ripen honey, nurse the larvae, pack 

 pollen in the baskets while on the wing, also how it is depos- 

 ited in the cells for future use, the sting and its functions, and 

 many other matters of Interest to the general public. 



A Liilllc Innocent Rivalry. 



Editor York proposes "an innocent rivalry between the 

 departments conducted by Mrs. Atchley and Bee-Master." He 

 says, "They are far enough apart to be equally fair." As a 

 matter of fact, however, it is utterly impossible for 

 us both to be "equally fair," because one belongs to the "fair 

 sex" and the other doesn't. In my school-boy davs, one of the 

 copperplate copies set me was, "Emulation is a noble passion." 

 I hope we shall emulate all that is good in one another's de- 

 partments, and both do all we can to make the American Bee 

 Journal first In its class. 



"Canadian Rambler" in the North-West. 



We have a Canadian "Rambler" who has been traveling 

 through the province of Manitoba and the North-West terri- 

 tories, and who seems like the "Rambler" who so often ap- 

 pears in Gleanings, to be a bee-keeper, for ho says that in the 

 course of his travels he has "occasionally met a brother bee- 

 keeper." From an article of his in the January issue of the 

 Canadian Bee Journal it may be fairly concluded that bee- 

 keeping can be successfully carried on even in regions, where 

 as he says, "the mercury loves to creep down out of sight, or 

 in other words 40 or 50 degrees below zero." The accounthe 

 gives, is as follows: 



During last winter and this, so far. It has been ray privi- 

 lege to do a good deal of travelliug through the province of 

 Manitoba and North-West territories, and have occasionally met 

 a brother bee-keeper. I thought that possibly if 1 were to 

 send you a few lines In reference to bee-keeping in a part of 



our country where the mercury loves to creep down out of 

 sight, or in other words, 40 or 50 degrees below zero, it might 

 be Interesting to you and your readers. I bad about formed 

 in my own mind a poor opinion of this western part of our 

 country as far as bee-keeping was co»cerned, but thought best 

 to interview two or three parties who have a practical experi- 

 ence in connection with our Industry here, before writ- 

 ing you. 



I wrote two gentlemen here, who I believe have as good an 

 idea of bee-keeping as any one in the Province, and received a 

 very satisfactory answer from one of them, the substance of 

 which I give. 



Mr. Gilbert Gunn was born in Manitoba, and has kept 

 bees here for the last seven years. He has used the Heddon, 

 Jones and Combination, but prefers the Jones single-walled 

 hive and is using that now. Mr. Gunn tells me he never saw 

 a tame bee till he started bee-keeping seven years ago, and he 

 knew little or nothing about them at that time, and, having all 

 to learn, he has, as we may well suppose, seen the shadow as 

 well as the sunshine of bee-culture. 



He worked away with fair success till the fall of 1891 

 found him with 16 colonies, which he wintered in the cellar,and 

 took out 12 in the spring, from which he received 20 swarms 

 and 1,200 pounds of honey. The following fall he did not 

 prepare the bees properly for winter and lost, as a consequence, 

 16 colonies. During the last two years Mr. Gunn has not paid 

 the attention to the bees that they merited, consequently they 

 have become greatly reduced in numbers, he having only four 

 colonies last spring, one of which he sold, leaving him three, 

 from which he took 435 pounds of extracted honey. 



He keeps the Italian bees, and winters them In the cellar 

 under his house, and said in answer to the following ques- 

 tion, — Do you not find the winter very hard on the bees ? — "As 

 far as I know it Is not as hard as the Ontario winter. Of 

 course we can't winter bees outside." 



His honey is all extracted, and gathered principally from 

 the Canada thistle, golden-rod and wolf-berry, and is mostly 

 bright in color, the golden-rod however being dark. 



I am pleased to find that they have prizes offered for 

 honey at the Provincial Exhibition held in Winnipeg, as well 

 as down east, and it appears that Mr. Gunn has not been let- 

 ting the other bee-keepers have it all their own way with the 

 prizes, as he got the best of one of Mr. D. A. Jones' right- 

 hand men. 



The prairie here in summer is said to be literally covered 

 with wild flowers for several months, and of course the bees 

 would gather some honey from them, but I have wondered 

 If the nectar was in proportion to the flowers. The 

 almost unceasing hot winds of summer, and terrible cold of 

 winter, I had thought too much for any bees, but Mr. Gunn's 

 experience says not so. Canadian Rambler. 



I knew before that bees could be and were being kept in 

 some localities of the North-West, but supposed that it must 

 be done under difficulties. In my "Salutatory" I spoke of Ca- 

 nadian Beedom as "a comparatively narrow strip or belt 

 stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific." Mr. Gunn's ex- 

 perience widens the strip or belt considerably, and now one is 

 curious to know how far north "the little busy bee" can be made 

 a success. Possibly as far north as flowers secrete nectar. 

 How far north is that? Like Dr. Miller, "I don't know." 



'I'he l>«'s ^loinos In<-ii1>a(or Co., 



of Des Moines, Iowa, has issued a neat cata- 

 logue of .SB pages, illustrating and describ- 

 ing fully their incubators and brooders. It 

 also shows the principal stages of the de- 

 velopment of the chick from the egg, in a 

 series of pictures. Better send for this 

 catalogue, and see what the above firm 

 have to offer. 



Mainpit- 4'o|»io'-i of the "American 

 Bee Journal" will be mailed free to all who 

 ask for them. The next three or four 

 months will be just the time for getting 

 new subscribers, and if any of our friends 

 can use sample copies among their bee- 

 keeping neighbors, in order to get them as 

 new subscribers, we will be glad to mail the 

 samples, it the names and addresses are 

 Bent to us. Better educated bee-keepers 

 will mean better things for all. 



Xlie Seo<1 and Plant (iiuifle is- 

 sued by H. W. Buckbee, the noted seedman 

 of Rockford, 111., is one of the finest we 

 have ever seen. It contains ItiO pages, is 

 beautifully illustrated, and is complete in 

 every particular. Send for it. Your name 

 and address on a card will get it. See ad- 

 vertisement on page 44. Be sure to men- 

 tion the Bee Journal. 



Kin«l«*r!!< for this size of the American 

 Bee Journal we can furnish tor 7.5 cents 

 each, postpaid; or we will club it with the 

 Bee Journal for a year — both for .^1.00. We 

 have a few of the old size ((ix9) Binders 

 left, that we will mail for only 40 cents 

 each, to close them out. 



Cole's Oarden Annnal for 1895, 

 treating of Garden, Farm and Flower SeedS' 

 is an SO-page pamphlet of unusual neatness 

 and beauty. It offers a full line of seeds. 

 Address, Cole's Seed Store, Pella ,Iowa, 

 and get a copy of his nice Annual. 



A B < ' of l<e«>-<'uliiii-<> — just see the 

 magnificent olfers on page 15. Everyone 

 of our subscribers can now have a copy of 

 that splendid book 



1'lic Aniat<*iir Itoc-Krepei- is the 



name of a neatWpage pamphlet, 4x7 inches 

 in size. It is written by that practical 

 Missouri bee-keeper, Mr. J. W. Rouse, and 

 published by the Leahy Mfg. Co. It should 

 be read by every bee-keeper, whether an 

 amateur or not. A new and second edition 

 has just been issued, the first 1,000 copies 

 being disposed of in only two years. It is 

 nicely and fully illustrated. Price, post- 

 paid, 35 cents ; or clubbed with the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal for a year — both, *1.15. 



Great Premiums on page 33 I 



