Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1979-08-30, Page 1• 120th Year WhOle NO, 5,4 O,FAFORTHi ONTABLO4 THIaltia,Alft OWCitIS:r 1979, '07,1.77X 24 PAGES 513. a year in advance Single Copy 30 cents • BY WILMA On A, letter, written by a Seaford), citizen, James Crocker, who is also town clerk, •caused some confusion at the regular .meeting of the Seaforth Fire Area Board meeting Teusday, Mr. Croeker, who addressed •his letter dated August 28 to. Mrs, Dorothy Elligseni secretary treasurer of the Fire Area Board, said, he was writing "as a citizenwho is concerned about the ill -feeling that has been created over Seaforth's withdrawal from, the. Fire Area Board". Mr. Crocker said. "as clerk for the Town of Seaforth, I have access to more information than the 'average citizen, and, having such, Would like the members of. the Fire Area, inlcuding Seaforth, to conisder suggestion:'. He said he knew that Seaforth believes that the proposed agreement to sell fire protection is a sound one, He stated, "It _ appears that the Main objection to the agreement from the four Townships is the fact that if the townships signed the agreement, then decided to pull out, they would lose their equity in the fire equipment,'" Continuing he said, "I offer the following as a suggestion approach the Town of Seaforth to amend. the agreement to read that if all four townships give Six months notice, within 'one year of signing the 'agreement, to withdraw from the agreetnent, then the four townships will be 'allowed to retain the original fire equipment to carry on their own fire board, . "Gentlemen, I offer this suggestion as a workable so lution to the probleni before 10 days. "I believe this solution' will cost neither the Town nor the Townships anything to try it, and if it doesn't work, then no municipality is any worse off than at present. If you believe the suggestion has Any merit 1 urge all councils to meetas soon as possible to work out the details." signed James Crocker PERSONAL William Leeming, McKillop representa- tive pointed out it was only a personal letter from a citizen as did Hibbert representative Roy Swart and Tuckersmith representative Robert ,Fotheringham, who agreed that if the town council backed it then it would have merit. Seaforth representativesGerald Groothuis and Irwin Johnston said the letter was not authorized by Seaforth council, Mr. Groothuis said that there was merit in it for the townships but not for the town as the town council was going to open tenders for fire equipment "tomorrow night" iand the town would face higher prices next year if it did not buy the equipment now. Both Fire Chief Harry Hak and Deputy Chief Tom Phillips who attended the board meeting thought the letter had merit.. They, along with the fire board members, were confused as to which fire. agreement Mr.' Crocker was referring to- -the original 1979 (Continued on Page 3) you, not as a stalling tactic. Time is of the Two area barns, both filled with hay and essence, as Seaforth intends to award grain, were lost in fires last week.' tenders on a new fire truck within the next On Wednesday afternoon, at about 5 p.m. • ARTISTRY ON SKATES — Linda Kramers of Dublin demonstrates you can be as artistic, on roller 'skates as you can on figure skates at the Sunday r011er-skating session at the Dublin Lions Club Community Centre, • , 4(ExpositotPhoto) heads SCH board BY WII2VIA OKE replacing some bricks and resealing window trim. Wayne Ellis was elected president of the Board of the Seaforth Community Hospital at a meeting last night, Mr, Ellis, who was vice president, succeeds the Rev. Harry Laragh who was transferred to the parish of Our Lady of Mercy in Sarnht. Gordon Rimmer was elected, viee.president, Mrs. Betty Cardno was appointed a director to fill Father Laragh's term of office• . Allan •Searle, property committee chairman reported On the extensive Maintenande work being done to the hospital •'Olch as painting up the bdck Work and Audrey McLlwain, public relations, chairman said the hospital will have a booth at the Seaforth Fall Fair to promote the hospital. A thousand buttons will be given Ottt and informative literature as well, Audiovisual TN. and Rests Anne will be Used for demonstrations. ' Dr, Tom Devereaux will be given the priviledge of sending his patients to the hospital for x-rays when he sets up his Chiropractic office in Seaforth. The x-rays will be read, by a radiologist. , The board, dinner will be held in September when retiring members of the hospital staff and board will be honoured, Seaforth firemen answered a call to a farm owned by Joseph Lane, RR 2 Dublin. The barn was already engulfed by flames when firemen reached the scene, and two small sheds and part of an adjoining 'field were also burned in the fire. Mrs. Lane said her son Frank' was using a tractOr,-nowerod blower to put straw itt tire barn, when. he smelled smoke. He tried to douse the fire with a pail of water, but it spread So quickly that he had to jump from the upper floor of the barn to escape injury. Mrs. Lane said the family doesn't know how the fire started. She said when she went in the , house to phone the Seaforth fire department there wasn't even a sign of smoke at the barn, and when she came back out, the whole south side of the building was engulfed in flames. She said the fact the barn doors were open may have centributed to the rapid spread of the fire. . - • , Heat from the fire was so intense, the Lanes were unable to save 55 pigs inside the barn. Also destroyed were 3,500 bushels' of grain, 3,500 bales of hay, a quantity of straw, the sheds and some farm implements including a new plow and hay wagon. Mrsi Lane said the damage would be between 870,000 to 880,000 for the loss of the barn and its contents. She said the loss was partially covered by insurance. She said right now her husband is considering rebuilding the structure.' Seaforth fire cheif Harry Hak said it seemed to be dust combustion from blowing in the straw that led to the rapid spread of the fire. He said the entire structure was destroyed in about an hour and a half.. Firemen did' manage to save a baler, tractor and blower near the barn by keeping them wetted down. Mrs. Lane said people have been very good to them since the fire and neighbours have all pitched in to help with the cleanup effort, On Friday, just at nodn, Seaforth firemen were called to another barn fire at the farm of Roy Beuermann, of RR 1 Dublin. The Beuermanns were away at a baseball tournament in Milverton when neighbours discovered the barn was on fire. TheSeaforth fire chief said the fire was going very strongly by the time firemen 'reached the scene, and flames were coming out both ends of the barn: He said all the firemen could do was protect the surrounding buildings which included a calf shed and driving shed. Damage is estimated at 875,000 in the fire that destoyed the large steel dairy barn and its contents of hay, and grain. The dairy herd was in the field at the time of the fire, so no livestock was lost. The dairy herd is presently being housed at a neighbours. . • Before the fire engulfed the barn, neighbours were able to save a, number of pieces of milking equipment Fire chief Harry Hak said it isn't known what caused the barn fire., The Seaforth pumper truck stayed at the scene for three hours and jthe tank truck "stayed longer rin case the wind Changed direction and threatened the Beuerman home. Seaforth firemen were called back out to the scene on Friday evening -when it was discovered haylage in the silo was also burning• . Mrs. • Beuerman sad the family hasn't • decided yet whether or not to rebuild the • barn. Fire chief Harry Hak said he can't recall two such serious barn fires in one week in the riine he has been with the Seaforth fire department. On Thursday night, firemen were also called out when a resident of the Heritage , Estates mobile home park, reported seeing a barn fire. It turned out' the fire was a controlled brush fire on the farm of John Van Doornik, RR 4, Seaforth, The assistance • of the firemen wasn't required. Bill Ferguson, wearing the traditonal beekeeper's veil, applies smoke to. calM his bees. (Photo by D.P. Reynolds) LANES LOSE STOCK AND BARN—Joseph Lane of RR 2, Dublin, lost 55 pigs, a barn and shed in a fire Wednesday which swept through the buildings. In *addition to the hogs, grain, hay and farm implements were lost in the $60,000 fire. The heat was so intense in the fire that no one was able to enter the building. - (Expositor photo) • • • glituroul9afxPa5ithr Inside this week • Beuerrnann barn burns . ... . . P. 3 Anne Melady, Arctic nurse . .• • , P. 5 LaWn bowling a success . . P. 12 Kids say thanks . . P. 21_ • Bee keeper Iearns ...• from his "employees" BY YVONNE REYNOLDS Bill Ferguson has hives, but he is neither complaining nor seeking medical attention. He is a beekeeper with ,an apiary three miles west of liensall. Bill first became interested in beekeep- ing when he was a high School student. He had a few hives of his own, and worked in his free time for a beekeeper in Zurich. He started his own business in 1963, and moved to his present location almost two years ago. Ferguson Apiary now has at any one time from 900 to 1,000 hives nestled in suitable locations from 'Arkona to Mitchell. Most farmers gladly pay host to a few hives, knowing their hard-working, lithe guests will amply repay their hospitality by pollinating crops. The farmers reap a bountiful harvest and so do the bees. Mr. Ferguson points out ,that a hive is made up of a top board (which goes on the bottom) and three of four supers. A super is simply a box containing nine honeycomb frames, The bottom -most super is the brood chamber, where the queen lays 2,000 eggs each day during the honey season. This box is separated from the tipper boxes by a wire mesh excluder, •which gives the worker bees access to the honey supers but prevents the queen from climbing up and laying eggs in the honeycombs. • DANDELIONS When the hives are set out in the bee 'yards in the spring, each hive contains about 30,000 bees; the population soon more than triples to approximately 100,000 bees, As soon as the trees, especially the maple, and the dandelions begin to bloom, the bees start gathering nectar, The elm Was a big supplier, but disease has destroyed most: of those stately trees, The basswood is another favourite, Mr. Ferg- uson said, because its bloaSotria hang .upside down, protected from the rain Which washes the nectar from other flowers. Basswood honey, a gotirniet'S delight, an still be obtained, from some apiaries. • The first honey, primarily from clover, begins to flow in July. The flow is determined by the season and the weather - the bees; require 10 days of perfection when temperature, crop and humidity are ideal, to produce the Ontario average of 75 pounds of honey per hive. If the wind is from the north, the bees stop working. After a heavy rain, the blossoms require two days to replace the nectar that has, been washed away, and once again the • bees are idle. • MAKES tll ROUNDS In the spring Mr. Ferguson makes the rounds of his bee yards every two weeks. Twice during the season he brings home full honey supers and extracts their golden ccintents. The frames, laden with wax - capped honeycomb, are opened with a hot knife. and put into an extractor which separates the honey from the comb by centrifugal force. The honey is then filtered through a device invented by Bill that looks like a nylon stocking, Bill Ferguson has also applied his. inechanititl skills to the invention of a valve controlled by a foot pedal and an air compressor that ingeniously regulates the flow of honey into the bottles, "We had a spring type valve," 'Mr, Ferguson ex- pIained, 'that was affected by the weather, and either overflowed the cofl. tainers or didn't put in enough." A manufactured control would retail at 8.500, while "mine cost me 130." Over the years, Mr. Ferguson hu developed admiration and respect for his millions of little employees. Experience has taught him that bees have their little •idiosyncracies • they hate idleness, Sod become very annoyed if they have been put out of work foi'4 few days because of adverse weather "tenditiOns. They also detest working in alfalfa. When a bee begins to probe for nectar in an alfalfa flower, it triggers the blossom and gist ft bangs the bee 00 the head, "I can always tell when Ihe leek (Continued on Page 3)