112 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVir /u . 



point to insure succees. His directions carry 

 the idea that combs are free from moth eggs 

 until they are hiid in them in the ppring, 

 and that they are free from eggs dei-osited 

 in them the previous season, awaiting only 

 suitable temperature to hatch. This idea 

 is incorrect. Only such combs as have bein 

 subjected to the action of some freezing can 

 be preserved by the method he describes. 



Under theSrd head he says : "Another way 

 that is entirely ttfective against the moth is 

 to hang the combs up to tiie light and air 

 with the space of at least one inch between 

 each comb and neighbors. " This is al. o 

 incorrect. While both of these methods are 

 excellent, among the best there are, yet, 

 whoever follows them, thinking they are 

 " entirely effective, " will be apt to lose some 

 combs. 



In speaking of rendering wax he says ; 

 " At best, the solar extractor is cumbersome, 

 can be used only about two nioi:lhs in the 

 year and is of no practical utility in render- 

 ing combs containing cocoons. " I clud- 

 lenge all three of those statt ments. A prop- 

 erly made solar extractor is easier to han- 

 dle and less cumbersome than is a large 

 boiler to be lifted on and off tiie stove, tilled 

 with water, etc. It can be used at least 

 three, if not four, months in the year, in- 

 stead of only two, and I have always met 

 with excellent success in rendering the old- 

 est and toughest of combs. Perhaps Mr. 

 Taylor's experience with solar extracior 

 has been limited. I cannot concieve any 

 other reason why he should think as he 

 does. 



One spring in lowo I rendered out over 

 500 old combs in better shape and more 

 satisfactorily than if I had used the method 

 he describes. These combs had been sub- 

 jected to some freezing, and could be kept 

 as long as I wished before rendering. 1 

 couldn't have done this, of course, had the 

 combs come from colonies that liad died 

 from spring dwindling. The principal ob- 

 jection to the solar wax extractor, is, tliat 

 if one needs to work up a large amount of 

 comb in a short time, they cannot do the 

 work. 



I have used solar extractors for about '10 

 years, for apiaries vaiying fiom 25 to f.CO 

 colonies, and I have yet to be in a situation 

 that it was best to use the old fussy methods 

 of rendering wax over a stove or any kind 

 of a tire. I had supposed that such methods 

 were entirely out of date, and relegated to 



the past, except in rare cases of emergen- 

 cies. 



( )f course it requires some knowledge and 

 experience to enable one to handle solar ex- 

 tractors, or any other kind of extractor or 

 method, to the l)est advantage. 



Stuakt Fla. Mar. :?0, 1896. 



The Ontario Bee-keepers' Association— Some 



of the Causes for Dissension in 



Its Ranks. 



ALLEN PRINGLE. 



T HAVE been re- 

 1 quested to 

 write some ac- 

 count of the recent 

 annual convention 

 .)ftlie Ontario Bee- 

 l^eepers' Associa- 

 tion which was 

 held in Brant ford, 

 Out., on January 

 15111 , IGlh , and 

 17th. Tlie attend- 

 ance was fair, though not up to the average 

 at the annual meetings. The convention 

 put in some half dozen sessions besides the 

 public entertainment in the evening of the 

 second day, which, however, was rather 

 poorly attended compared with the public 

 attendance at Stratford the previous year, 

 though the weather was very bad the night 

 of the Stratford meeting while it was ex- 

 ceptionally good at Brantford. 

 i Hon. A. S. Hardy of the Ont. Government 

 was present at one session and addressed 

 tlie convention, and the Mayor elect of 

 Brantford presided at the evening entertain- 

 ment. 



Hitherto the society has had thirteen 

 Directors, each Director representing a 

 District embracing several counties. Since 

 the previous annual meeti> g a change had 

 been made in the Agricultural Act by the 

 Provincial L3gislature reducing the legal 

 number of Directors to nine ; and in com- 

 pliance with this regulation it was decided 

 t)y the meeting that the President, first and 

 second Vice Presidents and the Secretary, 

 each rei)resent on the Board tiie District 

 from which lie comes, and that each of the 

 nine Directors represent one of the remain- 

 ing nine districts, so that all of the old 

 Districts or Divisions iiavo representation 



I 



