40 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



secure them other farm products to 

 sell on commission besides honey. 

 They do not in fact need to expend a 

 dollar in legitimate advertising to get 

 all the farm produce to sell on com- 

 mission they desire to handle. So, 

 you see, what a nice thing it is for 

 the commission men to get control of 

 a whole column of our bee-papers, 

 free gratis, for nothing 1 



In view of the foregoing, who now 

 thinks that the bee-papers are really 

 benefited as much as the commission 

 men? 



St. Charles, 5 Dls. 



For tTie Amencan Bee JoumaL 



Ontario Bee-Keeners' Association. 



REV. W. F. CLARKE. 



The adjourned annual meeting of 

 the above-named body was held in the 

 City Hall, Toronto, Jan. 5 and 6, 1887. 

 The meeting had been adjourned 

 from September last, to give time for 

 the return of the commissioners who 

 had been to England in charge of the 

 display of Canadian honey at the 

 Colonial and Indian Exhibition. The 

 expectation that these gentlemen 

 would be present, and give a report 

 of their doings, was a special attrac- 

 tion of the occasion. Three out of 

 four were on hand, but to the regret 

 of all, Mr. D. A. Jones had been de- 

 tained in England too long to admit 

 of his arriving in time for the meet- 

 ing. The others, Messrs. S. T. Pettit, 

 president of the association,S. Cornell, 

 and B. McKnight received the hearty 

 congratulations of their fellow bee- 

 keepers on their safe return. 



President Pettit, in the course of 

 his annual address, said : The events 

 of the year 1886 truly mark an epoch 

 m the progress of our association. It 

 has emerged from its chrysalis state 

 to enjoy its higher and better, its 

 fully-fledged legal existence. Through 

 the generous assistance given by the 

 members of this association, your 

 commissioners succeeded in putting 

 on exhibition at the Colonial Exhibi- 

 tion the largest, and perhaps the 

 nnest display of honey ever made in 

 the world. The English people of all 

 classes received your commissioners 

 with marked attention, and treated 

 us with the greatest kindness and 

 courtesy. Our brother bee-keepers 

 over in the Mother Country gave us a 

 right royal reception, and vied with 

 each other in making us feel happy 

 and at home during our stay with 

 them. 



The President introduced Mr. J. A. 

 Abbott, of Southall, EngJand, son of 

 a noted English bee-keeper. Mr. Ab- 

 bott, who was warmly greeted, briefly 

 expressed his appreciation of the 

 hearty reception tendered him. Mr. 

 Abbott was elected an honorary 

 member of the association. 



A resolution was introduced look- 

 ing to legislation with a view of ex- 

 terminating foul brood. Mr. F. Mal- 

 colm, Mr. J. B. Hall and others testi- 

 fied to the prevalence of the disease 

 in various quarters, and urged the 

 necessity of vigorous measures being 

 adopted in order to stamp it out. 



A memorial from the Oxford Bee- 

 Keepers' Association was presented, 

 asking for action in regard to the 

 matter. There was considerable dis- 

 cussion as to the possibility of enforc- 

 ing legislation, if it were obtained. 



Sir. Abbott, in reply to a question, 

 said there was no law in England in 

 regard to this disease ; in fact, there 

 was no legislation on bee-keeping 

 at all. 



The resolution was laid on the 

 table, but at a subsequent session was 

 taken up again, and a committee ap- 

 pointed to confer with the govern- 

 ment and endeavor to secure a strin- 

 gent law to suppress foul brood. 



Mr. Cornell introduced a resolution 

 asking aid from the public funds to 

 enable the association to invite Mr. 

 Cheshire to pay a visit to this coun- 

 try and deliver lectures on bee-keep- 

 ing. He said that he had sounded 

 Mr. Cheshire on the subject, and be- 

 lieved he would come if his expenses 

 were guaranteed. He spoke of Mr. 

 Cheshire's eminent ability, and scien- 

 tific researches, expressing the opin- 

 ion that no other living man equaled 

 him as an authority on apiculture. 



Rev. W. F. Clarke concurred with 

 Mr. Cornell as to Mr. Cheshire's great 

 acquirements, and spoke in the high- 

 est terms of his book on bee-keeping. 

 Still he thought there were serious 

 objections to the proposal made. It 

 would be impolitic to ask the govern- 

 ment to make a special grant of 

 money for this purpose. They had 

 shown great liberality in connection 

 with the exhibit of Canadian honey in 

 England, which they had aided to the 

 extent of $1,000, and they had prom- 

 ised an annual grant of $500 in aid of 

 this association. We must not keep 

 crying " give, give," or we should be 

 looked upon as greedy and hard to 

 satisfy. We might by asking too 

 much, jeopardize what we had already 

 obtained. By and by, when the 

 fruits of the liberal expenditure made 

 began to be manifest, we might, per- 

 haps, ask for more. With all respect 

 to Mr. Cheshire, he doubted if his 

 lectures would be of much practical 

 value to Canadian bee-keepers. His 

 scientific researches taxed the intel- 

 lectual capacity of our most advanced 

 bee-keepers, but in the practical work 

 of the apiary, he could teach us very 

 little, from the difference of climate 

 and circumstances between this coun- 

 try and Britain. We would not think 

 of getting English agriculturists or 

 horticulturists to come here and in- 

 struct our farmers and gardeners. 

 When any of them settled here, they 

 had to become learners to a large ex- 

 tent. It would be the same with 

 English bee-keepers. It would be 

 wiser to invite some leading United 

 States bee-keepers to come over to 

 our associations, and he believed they 

 would cheerfully do so, if their ex- 

 penses were paid, and the cost would 

 be much less while the gain would be 

 far greater, than to bring a lecturer 

 all the way from England. 



Mr. Abbott conferred in the opin- 

 ion that British bee-keepers could not 

 instruct their Canadian brethren, 

 owing to the difference between the 

 two countries. After some discus- 



sion strongly setting against the pro- 

 ject, the resolution was put and nega- 

 tived by a large majority. 



THE ENGLISH EXHIBIT. 



The evening session having been 

 devoted to a reception of the commis- 

 sioners to the Colonial and Indian 

 Exhibition, and the hearing of their 

 reports, Mrs. McKechnie, of Angus, 

 the second vice-president, was, in the 

 absence of first Vice-President Prin- 

 gle, called to the chair, which she 

 filled with much grace and ability. 



Rev. W. F. Clarke, chairman of the 

 reception committee, expressed the 

 sense of obligation which all felt in 

 view of the task these gentlemen had 

 undertaken and fulfilled on behalf of , 

 the honey interests of Canada. When J 

 their reports were heard he believed | 

 all would feel that they had acquitted i 

 themselves nobly, and earned the 

 lasting gratitude of all the bee-keep- 

 ers of this country. This feeling had 

 become so general in advance of their 

 formal report being submitted, that 

 it had been proposed that something 

 should be done in the way of a pre- 

 sentation, or a reception banquet, but 

 difliculities had interposed, rendering 

 anything of this kind impracticable, 

 still he felt sure the commissioners 

 would not consider that their wel- 

 come lacked cordiality, or their grati- 

 tude sincerity on this account. He 

 understood that no written report had 

 been prepared, but that each gentle- 

 man was to give his own individual 

 account of things, and he had no 

 doubt that what they had to say 

 would be heard with the deepest in- 

 terest. After their addresses, he had 

 a motion to propose on behalf of the 

 reception committee. 



President Pettit gave an interest- 

 ing account of his impressions of the 

 exhibition, particularly in regard to 

 the honey exhibit. He quoted the 

 following notes in regard to honey 

 exhibits from the other Colonies of 

 the Empire: 



Cape colony— Two Samples. One good one. 



and one dark and poor. 



Gambia, West Africa— One sample. This was 

 granulated at top and bottom, liquid in the centre, 

 and quite dark. It had tlie flavorof brownsugar, 

 and I think it can never become popular. 



VlCToRTA, Australia, liad some broken sections. 

 Honey dark, thin, and the tlavor resembling the 

 juice of baked sweet apples. The sections were 

 well tinished. and separators were used. 



Queensland— Honey very thick. About as 

 dark as buckwheat, with one-third clover mixed 

 with it, but more transparent. The flavor was 

 verv good, and agreeably pleasant : unlike any- 

 thing on exhibition, and might possibly become a 

 dangerous rival to the Ontario product. 



QPEBEC had 3 pounds of clover and one of buck- 

 wheat. 



British Guiana— Honey dark and thin, of 

 peculiar but somewhat pleasant flavor. Liquid on 

 top. settled granules to the bottom. Does not set 

 solid. Color, from light to dark, bottom to top. 

 Kesembling raw sugar, the lightest colored of 

 which is placed in the bottom, and then a semi- 

 transparent thin honey poured upon it. 



The President said there was some 

 fair honey from Kew Zealand, while 

 that from the West Indies was fair in 

 flavor, but dark. Not one of the 

 honeys he bad noted, with the excep- 

 tion, perhaps, of that of Queensland, 

 need be feared as a rival to Canadian 

 honey in the British markets, or the 

 markets of Europe. As people there 

 became educated to light honey, it 

 would take the preference over any 

 other quality. He made no compari- 

 son with British honey ; it was good, 

 and some people said it was superior 



