The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1883-01-16 00:00:00

DORSETSHIRE BEEKEMRS' ASSOCIATION.

On Wedneediy afternoon the simnel meeting of this
association was held at the Alington Hall. There
never is • crowded &Wilmae at these meetings, bat
Interest in the subject is growing, and we hope us see
them as crowded as many others ere J. Moyer,
Esq., occupied the chair, supporta i by the M go( (H.
Mudge, Esq.), and among those present were the Row.
H. Sverett, Rev. G. H. Wynne, Rev. L. Stanton,
Rev. A. Lenoard, Mr. K Burnett, Rev. T. L &dna-
bury, Rev. H. It. Peel (secretary of the British Bee-
keepers' Association), Mr. W. H. Dtuaman jaw (boo.
secretary), Mr. W. Toms (assistantorecretjy), Mr. W.
Best. Mr. Lock, Mr. J. F. Hussey, Mr. T. Mi. Drury
and Mr. W. Vatcher. There wee also a fair umber
of ladies present.
The CHAIRMAN, in opening the meeting, said be
presumed those present knew very well what they
were assembled for. For his own part he must plead
Ignorance upon the subject of bee-keeping itself. It
was • very exoellsnt object, but one whirl he bad not
bad the opportunity, nor the time for studying,
for be was not much In the country. He should be
doing what he was quite unfit for it be were to try at
all to inform the meeting upon anything connected
with the subject they had is hand. One of ita princi-
pal object,' was the benefitting the poor cottager.; and
they certainly reinired everything they could possibly
do to promote their welfare, and to give • little ad
Clonal income to add to their moutons, which were
not more than sufficient for their went. and necessities;
another was to do what they could to prevent what
might sometimes be cruelty to the creatures that were
about them and that minictersi to their wanta, but
which sometimes originated from ignorance, and not at
all from bad feeling. An I it was that ignorance the
association sought to remove, awl it was that good
feeling they sought to cultivate. (Applause.) He then
called on the excelleot secretary, Mr. Daman, to
read the report.
.

Bet ,re he read the report, Mr. DUNMLN said be bad
receive I lettlrs from the folio wimr, expreeaing their
sorrow at not being able to be prrsent that day :
L rd Shaftesbury (President), the Ron. Colonel
Digby. M.P., W. E. Brymer, Esq., M.P., E. L.
Kiudersley, El., and the Yen. Archdeacon of Doratt.
He had received a letter from the Archdeacon from
Salisbury only that day, is which Ise said be wee
extremely sorry he was not able to be preisent.—Mr.
Duninau read the report and bilance-abeet, which
were of c maiderable length, and troll wh eh we make
the following ex•rimts . .

-
The committee hate again the p'easure of presenting •
satidact -try retort, the program of LAO •1.06/o.loa hang
limn need great) kg In every department. At the end of 1881
thy announced that they w:re Lola., to procure rs tent
suitable i.e c inducting manipulaCons at the various Row.r
0h.... held in the dietrict This they have been able to to,
through the It'erality of the pr *cleat residents in thecounty,
f-r which they are deeply thankfuL Thu tent hoe already
bean of very groat service, and has enabled the estimates to
gond their cap rt to a namher.4 t ,sens and rinse," where
bea chows had not previoutly heen held. the fl•st plot.
visaed Ora. Cern' Abbe., where the con.n. ttoe received great
esestance on this occasion from Major Batten, who did hie
utmost to inftifeli visitors in the work of the acme atlon. At
Puddletown. which bean excell ft centre for bee-keepers, and
where.. have many generous friends, the tent was sent to the
cot% tares Exhibit on held snnually under the auleiceie of vr.
R. Brynner, Meq., W.P. And here, as well as at °erne,
the whole of the wading ea ponies were covered by the
takinip. Our visa to Whitchurch Oanonloonnu WY the
loginopen-
new dietrict.
The eh • at Pm land was held in the undet of the most
tenpostrioue weather, notwithstanding which we took Z.I 3.61
for admission to the tent. There were 18 entries, Including
six stocks of Wes, which were tenderloin strung and good,
and the Interest taken in the manipuletions and exhibitiens
generatly was most gratifying,
At the inv.tation ol Lord and Lady Ikinabome, the *am-
mittes sent their tent to • brume held kb the beautiful
grounds at Canford. H,ll lordship paid the whole of the
expenses and gave • intinr• to the funds. An this we. the
means of bringing our work under the immediate notice of the
elite f the county, we cannot d übt that it will hay, a bear
kcal effect on Oar 111LOrO Caron.

the annual show was held at Bournemouth. The visit to
Hampshire was undertaken fur the folioed)/ reeion• :—ln the
first place. It was a racy convenient rallying point for visitors
from various parts of our district, who would And fitierborno
awl Dorchester less easy of Immo'. /scrodly, we had a pram-
ing invitation and were •nxions to aid In the format on
of • Hants Bee:keepers' Assail sti n. note was • fair attend-
ance, and the reports of the Judges were very !avowable.
It should be menU iced that a, ibis sh:er the British Bee-
keepers' As•oet .4101 gave two medals tel a certilleate The
silver metal, for 211 lb sections, was won by Mr Ittickland,
of Poddletiwn, the broom me ial, fir 14 /Ob. erectione, by
W H Duiman, Jun. ; and the cur Ificate by Mr J Alsford, of
['landlord. At Sherborne, we offered two be:erten,' hives.
he manipulations were as attract ye as umal. lb*,
attendance woe larger than tinny other place, and all paused
,n mm satialectorily. AS Bast Orchanl, the weather was so
bed that the tent could not be erected ; but tbe hives brood ht
to the show were Judge I, and Vie prime aerudeal. We hope,
however, to make a more succredal effort there next year.
The vim tto Blandford was most enaouragiag. There was •
good di•play of honey, hires, lc., prises for which were
given by the local horticultural sac try. Our manipulations
were most attractive, and we took £4 As. for admlesion to
the tint. At the Mining above- ,•mcd, tee thiprorint bar-
frame hives (one of which we given by Mr Cox, the maker)
were distributed to cottager', and their bees were transferred
to them.

—A-t—tito various shows lectures were risen and great assist-
ance rendered by the Rev L Stanton (Combe Keyes.), beam
.1 F Homey (Dorchester). F fieryoulds (Portland), W Fletcher
(Wimbonse), J &Word (Blandlord), and T Stickland (Puddles
town) 'Ms kW/WM of members is most steady se.d miss
factory. We have now 121, se tenon 96 Mt year; 46 being
new ones, deaths and removals having iem.n.d lad year'. list
by 17. One of the most p.essing features of the year hut been
the increased number of cottage bee-keepers who have b morns
members of the a.sociatton. /hey are now admitted at b6l
Instead o/ 61. It Ls hoped that arrangements may be made
nett )ear to give the cettagers at least one of the medals at
the annual show, with a view to inciting them to still greater
aorta in advanced bee-culture. The attempt to establioh
depots Fail epring proved a failure, in consequence of the
inn...ability of gettleg a supply of bee keeping goods. In
order to avoid this difficulty in the future, the committee
hare taken steps to set the work In order earlier in the year,
and have already secured the services of tnelmeeen as. Dors
chaster, Biandford, aid Wimborne, sho Sr. silting to 02.
operate with them in this matter. It is sometimes objected
that there is no market for honey, even II more could be
secured This, however, is without foundation, and the loads
log honey•produoers of the county hav, always found a ready
vale for their surplus The Sonora.), Sensitary haa disposed
of nearly 7 cwt. for himself ant for members of the anon-
anon during the pest 101110 CL, and he will be glad W hear from
' others who have honey to sell, so that he may put them in
communicsnon with purchseera . _ _ _

Arrangan ants ars in program for the Rev WE Butterwort%
Wilts, to take • lecturing to .r through the • runty dam
Suter; ant the Hoooraiy Secretary will he glad to com-
municate with gentians. a who will undertake heal error.s.
manna in onler that • good programme may be drawn up.
The committee cannot clam this report without acknowledt-
ing the ready help they have at •1i lima received at the
ha, Mr of the local press Our meetin.s have been fully
reported, our show, have received most appreciative notices
ant spas, Ins frequently been devoted to paradraptis and
articles reelecting bees and bee-keeping, the • hrearienal value
of a hich it would be di ffl iult to iiver-edimate. It la to this
ion great mown, th.t we hive ta attribute the hymen°,
app • lotion of our al the gradual melting away of
initialises. and the growing favour with which bee-keeping
looks I upon In the mu ity. The !Inane al atatement for the
year 1882, thowe 1 a balance in hoot .4 £l5 9s. 101.
The klayoa moved the adoption of the report, lie
bad great pleasure in doing a ,• and his pleasure was
c ,naideratily enhanced by the fact that the report was
of a favourable °store. It was far preferable to have
a balance in hand than cash due to the treasurer.
(Hear, bear.) The number of subscribers and con.
trihut 're to the association had very largely increased,
and he thought they bed good cause to congratulate
the D.reet Mee-keepers' Association on the anomie of
the past year, and he had no doubt it would be even
more successful in the future. (Applause.)
The ROW. T. L. SAIMISBURT had great pleasure in
seconding the motion. He personally felt the &moons-
tion was doing great good in the county. He was
but a novice in bee-keeping himself, but he learnt a
great deal from his failures, an I he also learnt • great
deal more from wh Lt the as.ociation and the Bee-
keepers' Journal taught him. He had been altogether
unable aa yet to get the poor in his district to give he
the old system, and he felt this was owing, in a great
measure, to his own ignorance of the bar-frame system,
which was, of course, the best He only hoped he
should be able to learn a great deal from practice awl
through the asocistion, all by other means, that
he should be able to teach them to give up the old
method ~f deetroyiog their beea. (Hear. hear.)
The Hoe. Saingragr then announced that the
report having been a lopted, the officers had finished
their duties for the year, and it remained for the
meeting to re-eleot them.
The CHalltheN : A "resignation of the Ministry !"
(Laughter.)
Mr. Annus if. L'XIC did not think such an
excellent institution ea that could be better melded
over Juan by its present president, the F.atl of
Skaftee ury. the Lord (denten& .1 of the county.
(Hear hear.) His name at the head of any society
in the county, and he might almost a 'yin tht country,
enauryl for that society success. He understood the
noble lord was willing again to take the office of
president if re-elected, and he (Mr. Lock) begged to
propose " That the Earl of Shed isebury be re-elected
prsideat of this aesocistion." He was quite sure it
would meet with the unanimous approval of everyone
present. (4planse.)
The motion was ;tarried by acclamation.

The Rev. L Warr IN raid it became his duty to
propose the following gentlemen to fill the office of .
vion-Preaktente: —Rev. (Ninon Nash, Rev. Canon I
Rooke, Rev. G. H. Wynne, Rev. Hart Dyke, Mr. K.
Kindersley, Mr. A. B micas, (Japsio Downee, Mr.
W. it Evans, and Major Mount Batten. The rev.
gentleman had not the lealt hesitation in doing so, for he
felt sure their names would be well received, and for
themselves as an association they ought to feel highly
honoured by having such names connected with them.
He felt sure through their names their emaciation
would be very much supporta I and appreciated. His
had himself been a berkeerer for some years. He
had had the '' ups" and the downs" of bee-M/601VA
and this last year wu certainly one of the "downs;
at least it had been so with him, and also, he believed,
with mod of them. At the some time they did not
Iree confilence •' and with reference to the remarks
the reverend gentleman had jut in ide with regard to
the rot•acers, he might say that it was one of the
great difficulties they ha I to contend with, and mks
of the panel', il objects they bad in view was to in-
duce the tanagers ti keep their bees on the improved
system. The great difficulty was the want of
means on the part of the o augers to parishes@
the bar-frame hive. The Donsetebire labourer with
' 10,, a week, and a family to support, could not find
' means to buy the bar.frame hives, ami for this reason
he thought they should endeavour to establish a
better use of the common Amp, or at least improved
slums with fl it tops to them. He thought that,
although no doubt three or four times as much honey
might be produced from the bar-frame hives than
could be produced from the o.mmon skep, yet a great
deal more might be produced from the common shop
by proper msnadement, old by these means save
sufficient to enable them to obt tin bar-frame hives.
They bad a very remarkable instance of this difficulty
at the Caoford Show. Although Lord and Ledy
Wimb true, who interested th missives very much in
the improvement of bee-keeping among their cottager*,
had purchreed errand of the bar-frame hives for
the manipulations at the show, they had the greatest
difficulty in even getting permission from the cottager@
to bring their hives to o the show. They were el pre-
Pidiced and so fond of their old system that they
regarded everything connected with improvements
with the greatest suspicion. Ile felt sure they would
be able to Mince the cAtagers to adopt the her-
frame hives noires they did so by an intermediate !
step, tin., by improving the common skeps—by giving ,
them fiat top skeps with supere,tbus showing them bow
to pro luce cud prepare the honey in • saleable form,
and thus by degrees bring them to adopt toe bar-frame
system, watch alter all was decidedly Bus very beat.
ivapp'ause.)
The Ser. G. H. WYNN proposed that the follow
iog gentlemen constitute the committee c--Rev. H.
Everett, Rev. N. W. Heasley, Mr. IL 0. Weston, Mr.
Beet, Mr. Burnett, Mr. T. Coombs, Mr. J. Trevor
Davies, Rev. L. Stanton, Mr. W. Fletcher, Mr.
J. V. Hussy. Mr. W. B. Vatober, Mr. 0. The,
Mr. T. Stiotland, Mr. Dominy, and Mr. Reynolds.
He had kept bees for about 13 yeac in one form or
another, and he certainly found the bar.frame system
snowed in almost every season. Beedussping wits a
most innocent and pleasant amassment, and therefore
he hail great pleasure in doing anything he could to
further the interests of tote association. (Applause.)
Mr. R. Bummer had greet pleasure in proposing
the appointment of secretary and treasurer. He
thought they would travel a great distance beim they
would find a more able officer than Mr. Denman, and
therefore be had great pleasure in proposing his re-
appointment as secretary, and mote especially as
tioaserer. (Applause.) He had increased the bal.
anos from XS to £l3, and therefore be was the
man to be treasurer for the year to come, and he
had no doubt he would flod some means of still
further increasing that balance in the year to come.
Many thanks were due to Mr. Duoman for the pains
be bad taken for the g ail of the association, and they
would have greet difficulty t fin I one with his beset
more in the work tbao their worthy secretary. (op-
plauee.)
Mr. Dustiest thanked the meeting for re-electing
him, and Mr. durnett for the way he had spoken of
him. His whole heart and soul had been in thst ob-
ject, and be was delighted to see it prosper. The
number of member, was growing steadily, he should
like to see it gr w faster, and he hoped this time next
year they would see it three times the number. At
the lan meeting of the committ a, it was dui led to
allow every cottager to be admitted at a fee of Is. and
he trusts) I they would now come and join the aro da-
tion in much larder numbers than they had hitherto
done. He agreed with everything the Rev. Mr. Stanton
ha I sal I r -a regard to the straw slops with fl at tips,
which were certainly much better than the old bell
shape; and the bardratne hive was superior to both.
The his. sec- referred Ii the liberality and kindness
of He. Hambro in giving £3 to the funds of the
lauding for fire years. It come in the hour of need,
and was very acceptable. With regard to the new
bee-Clot, they bad travails I about the county in its
dill parts, and ha I tried to go wherever they
had been asked. He endorsed what Mr. Stanton
had said with regard to prejudices of the cottagere
against any improvements or innovations in bee-keep-
ing. At Wimborne, for instance, they had a very
hard job to get bees at all to drive; Lady Wimborne ,
bought three liar-hives for the purpose, and they could
not get cottager* to bring their bore. At Cerise they
had a similar difficulty ' • Major Batten had a shep-
herd, who kept bee., and be sent to him and particu-
larly requested him to lot them have hia bees, but he
said he was not going to have his bees polled abroad.
(Laughter.) He was happy to say the higher class
was now taking it up; they were now getting at the
cottager clam, and be hoped in • very short time the
bar-frame hive would be universally adopted, and that
the old " smotheration 'system would he done away.
(Heir, hear.) They had tried very hard to establish
depOts in the county, Lukas stated in the report, it had
failed owing to their inability to get the" furniture."
The committee bad decide t to start the depats in the
fall. and he war happy to say that tradesmen in
Dorchester, Wanton-nit, Blandford, and Shoehorns,
bad proinimi to accept them. He had no doubt bee-
koepirs in this district would now be able to get their
things at these places instead of having to send away
to London. Ile also remarked that at Lincolnshire
this year had been held a honey fair, which had never
before been attempted in this country. It bad been a
succonfol undertaking, and as he did not like Dorset-
shire to be very far behind, he should certainly pro-
pose to the committtee that their emaciation should
hold • honey fair next year, and he himself knew of
no better place for it than that room. The cottager,
could bring their honey, and the committee would
send to Bath, London, Torquay, Bournemouth, and
other places, and get the honey merchants to coma and
purchase the exhibits. Another question was where
to hold their annul show. They had held it at
various places, and for his part he should like to see
it held at Dorchester—(applause)—and he trusted
some of the enterprising spirits of that town would
pot their heads together and me if they could not
revive the Flower Show, for bees and flowers usually
go t getber. (App:ause.) In conclusion the hon.
sec gave a few words of advice to bee-keepers as to
• their stock..

Te Ken. Mr. PEEL (Hon. Sec. of the British Bee.
keepers' Association) then delivered& most interesting
address. Alluding to the main difficulty which they
experienced, viz., the prejudices of the cottsgers, he
saki wherever they Went they found the same, and he
mentioned one or two amusing instances which had
come under his notice. He spoke of the immense
value of the ()minty aesocietions—a movement due to
Mr. Charles Tile. While admitting the value of
shows, lectures, and other means. Mr. Peal said there
was one thing they needed, and that was the regular
visits of an expert to the gnawers. He attached
especial importance to this. He gave some good
advice in taking this important step. The expert
should go Mind to the cottager', examine their Ws.,
tell them what condition they were in, and what was
best for them. The exp•rt should be one of them-
selves, a resident in the county, one who showed an
c.tneas for bee.keeploor and of more than ordinary
Intelligence. He should be sent by the sasodation to
London, to the examination which the Central Asso-
ciation hold, where he would undergo a competitive
examination, and be awarded a let, Ind, or 3rd class
certificate according to merit. They would then know
whom to employ. He must be not only en intelligent,
but an honest mac. a man whose honesty must be
above suspicion, and whom they would not be afraid
to trust with • receipt too ilt ; for as he went on his
rounds he could collect subscriptions for the agenda
-
lion. It had been adopted in Hertfordshire, and they
hat no less than 400 menthe's, and a subscription list
of over I:100. Then again the expert must have
certain social 'militia, about him, and not be a con-
cOted man, and la4t of all be meat have the interest
of the catenate at heart. With regard to the cost he
advised them not to be afraid. Don't wait for the
funds, but send the expert on his rounds, armed with
his receipt b nok, and he could promise them if be
came here next year he would find their balance not
£l5 brit 1:30 The plan had
treated a lit.le oonfidesee, and • little plook. Let
them try the experiment, and he would promise them
this-011Ce try it, their members would not let them
leave it off. (Applause.)
Rev. H. Evcscrr proposed a vote of thank* to M.
Floyer for his great kindness in coming theri to take
the chair. He h lent Mr. Floyer would quite under.
stand, just as esery single mamba if the corn•
thorouzhly realized, what a weal benefit
it was t their ats.oiation that untie's:len of
his psition should come forward at their annual
meetinr and tilts the chair. It was of the greatest
possible advent qv to the association. They never
expected to have a large meeting in Jarmary, but
thanks to the kindness and courtesy of the Press,
what was said and done there went out to the whole
ninty, and when people heard that Mr. Floyer bad
token the chair. they would say this association did
a good murk, for if it did not they would limey
precious well Mr. Floyer would have nothing to do
w:th them. (Applause)
The CHAISMAN said he WAS very much indebted to
the meeting for the vote of thanks. They were es
pecially obliged to Mr. Peel who had given them •
nto.t interesting address. (Applause.)
The proresclings then terminated.