74 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Jan. 31, 



"Why not each one keep his own combs from year to year, 

 same as we do?" For the simple reason that the moor-uian can't 

 extract his honey. It is too thick, and must be used in the comb 

 or else pressed out. Of course that settles it that the combs 

 in which heather honey are stored can never be used a second 

 time, only the wax can be saved, and If he can get enough 

 more honey with combs fully built out he can afford to pay a 

 price for them that will make it profitable for the man farther 

 south to renew his combs every year. 



There have been, and I think are now, places where wax 

 rather than honey is the source of profit. Is all the profit 

 made of wax that should be in this country? 



GETTING WORKERS FOR THE HARVEST. 



Gravenhorst, the septuagenarian editor of the Deutsche' 

 illustrierle Bienenzeitung, repeats what he has always 

 strongly insisted upon, namely, that it is absolutely necessary 

 for highest success that each bee-keeper know the time of the 

 blooming of the flowers that yield a surplus in his locality, so 

 that he may have workers ready for the harvest at exactly the 

 right time, and then he quotes from the American Bee Journal 

 Doolittle's article on the same subject. 



THE "MUTUAL ADMIRATION" BUSINESS. 



Editor Merrill, of the American Bee-Keeper, enters a 

 mild protest that his position has been sadly misconstrued, as 

 he fully believes in having everything harmonious. But he 

 still thinks that what one puts in the columns of his paper 

 "should be of Interest to <ill his readers, and not to some in- 

 dividual one. For instance, who cares if 'Bro. A. has lost a 

 valuable cow,' or Editor B. had the grippe last week?' If 

 Bro. A. or Editor B. is a personal friend, convey your sym- 

 pathy to him by a personal communication. Don't take valu- 

 able space in your editorial columns to do so." All of which 

 has a good deal of sense in it, even if it does get a bit a>wa)' 

 from the question in hand. And yet, what some other editor 

 might consider an individual matter may be of interest to 

 every reader of the American Bee-Keeper. Common sense 

 must be used. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL FOB JAN. 10. 



Rev. E. T. Abbott starts out in a very interesting manner 

 talking about comb honey, but does he know what a "swarm" 

 he's likely to bring about his ears by his reckless way of 

 striking at the pet plans and projects' of others? "Italians 

 not best for comb honey," and "It is the swarming bees that 

 gather honey." Whew! Look out for breakers. But please, 

 Mr. Editor, don't allow Dr. Miller to interrupt any more with 

 his frivolous objections. 



Seems good to have Dr. Gallup telling us about bees 

 again. I'm sure "Business" must be very fault-finding if he 

 can object to anything on page 19. 



Mrs. Harrison says sweet clover is classed among noxious 

 weeds. Does that mean law? If so, it would be a good thing 

 to have the law printed, for fear some one may unwittingly 

 break it, and if there's anything unjust about the law it may 

 as well be known, and possibly the law might be changed. 



What an aggravating man Prof. Cook can be when he 

 tries! In that note on page 24 he tells us that he talks bees 

 at every institute, and then shuts his lips tight when 

 we're expecting him to tell how that thing was brought 

 about. 



Conducted hy " IiEli-MA.STER." 



At the Stratford Coiiveiitiun. 



To-day (Jan. 22,) the annual meeting of the Ontario 

 Bee-Keeper's Association commences at 1:30 p. m. Already, 

 this a. m., there Is quite a gathering of the clans, and inter- 

 ested groups are discussing matters and things in various parts 

 of the Windsor House, which has been made headquarters. 

 President Pickett is handing around a fine large picture of his 

 apiary and part of his family, which is much admired. 



There Is much sympathy felt and expressed for F. A. 

 Gemmill, whose health is in a poor state, so that he is seeking 

 leave of absence from the railroad company for three months 

 in order to take a trip to California. 'We are afraid a visit to 

 that sunny southland may unhinge him, and lead him to go 



there " for good," as the saying is. J. Allpaugh, a prominent 

 Canadian bee-keeper, is there now reconnoitering, and, it is 

 said, he has fallen deeply in love with the country and climate. 

 That "Rambler" man, who writes those vivid and funny 

 California articles in Gleanings, is doing mischief unsettling 

 folks. It is a pity he doesn't get married and stop wandering 

 all over creation, picking out nice places for people to move to. 

 Some of us are fixtures, and must console ourselves with the 

 reflection that we can produce far bettor honey than the Call- 

 fornians, though not In such large quantities. 



Tlic Best and Solidest Orsauization. 



The following "Stray Straw" will be found in Gleanings 

 of Jan. 15th : 



" R. McKnight, in his St. Joe essay, says the Ontario Bee- 

 Keeper's Association is ' the best and solidest organization of 

 Its kind on this continent.' The worst of it is, that what he 

 says is true. Yankees can't come up to Kanucks in that sort 

 of thing." 



Why not ? Whatever man has done, man can do. 



Sivcet Clover — Cellar- Wintering. 



Sweet clover appears to be feared by some as a bad weed. 

 It Is nothing of the kind here in Canada, but can be extirpated 

 with the greatest ease if it is thought desirable to do so. But 

 there is great difference of opinion among our bee-keepers as 

 to the value of it as a honey-producing plant. g'-.^ 



Cellar-wintering of bees is preferred by many Ontario bee- 

 keepers, especially in the more northerly parts of the country 

 where the thermometer sometimes registers 10° or 12° below 

 zero for a couple of weeks at a time. In other localities where 

 the weather is more moderate, and there are spells of warm 

 weather, out-door wintering in double-walled and chaff-packed 

 hives is preferred, because of the opportunity thus afforded 

 for beneficial out-door flights. During these warm spells, too, 

 bees in the cellar are apt to become uneasy, leave the hives, 

 and get lost. 



The JLambton Bee-Keepers' Convention. 



The annual meeting of the Lambton Bee-keepers Associa- 

 tion was held at Wyoming, Ont., Saturday, Dec. 24th. There 

 was a large number present, some of whom drove a consider- 

 able distance. The President, Mr. Mowbray, occupied the 

 chair. The minutes of last meeting were read and adopted, 

 and the Secretary-Treasurer presented his report. 



The election of officers and directors for the ensuing year 

 resulted as follows: — President, W. Mowbray, ofSarnia; Vice- 

 President, C. Boyd, of Petrolea ; Secretary-Treasurer, J. R. 

 Kitchen, of Weidmann. Directors, E. A. Jones and Geo. 

 Forbis, of Lertch ; W. Granger, of Wyoming ; John Arm- 

 strong, of Wansted. 



The President gave an address on " Bee-keeping of the 

 Past, and Present." He showed that years ago the expense of 

 the apiarist in securing a crop was less than at the present 

 time, and that prices for honey were better. He also spoke of 

 associational gatherings and how to keep up an interest. He 

 wished to know the condition of the members' bees at the 

 present time. "The reason," he says, " I ask this question is 

 that my own bees are weak in numbers and are principally old 

 bees, all on account of the short honey crop, which I am afraid 

 will bring mortality to many a bee-yard." Some of the mem- 

 bers' bees were in the same condition, while others were not, 

 the condition of them varying according to locality. The 

 President stated that had he attended to the bees as he should, 

 he could have remedied the existing condition of affairs. A 

 member : " How would you have remedied it?" " By feeding 

 earlier in the fall, which would have stimulated brood-reariug 

 and secured plenty of young bees to go into winter." 



The question was asked : "Has anyone tried the Wells' 

 system of producing comb honey ?" Mr. Jones said that he 

 had been trying some new experiments and that some of the 

 neighboring bee-men had been laughing at him, but it was by 

 experimenting that the industry advanced. During the past 

 summer he had placed four separate hives in one case with 

 one tier of sections above and queen-excluding zinc between. 

 The bees from the different queens then freely mixed together 

 In the one case of sections, but, as he stated, one poor season 

 was not enough to test its merits or demerits. 



The next meeting will be held at Petrolea, on the second 

 Saturday in May, 1895. J. R. Kitchen, Sec'y-Treas. 



