246 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



4-5 EDWARD VII., A. 1905 



THE APIARY. 



The Apiary, as in the past, has been under the management of Mr. John Fixter, the 

 farm foreman, whose ca^^ovt I aprond herewith. The same experiments whicli have 

 been carried on for some years have most of them been repeated on account of the 

 Icrge amount of interest which has been evinced in the subject by correspondents and 

 \isitors to the Central ExporinKntal Farm. The services of Mr. Fixter have been 

 asked for at a great ma-xy meetings of bee-keepers, and, whenever his duties at the 

 Central Experimental FiTm wnil I permit of it, he has attended these meetings and 

 given addresses. 



REPORT OF MR. JOHN FIXTER. 



Season of 1904. 



The honey crop in the Experimental Farm Apiary has been a fairly good one, 

 giving an average yield of 63 pounds per colony. 



In many parts of the Dominion the honey crop was light, owing chiefly to the very 

 heavy losses of the past winter. Many colonies of bees perished from cold, while they 

 had abundance of stores in their hives. The continued long spells of severe weather 

 prevented them from breaking their clusters to reach their stores. Losses were greater 

 in outside than in inside wintering, although many perished inside, either from insufli- 

 ciency of stores or from confinement in cool, damp and badly ventilated, cellars. 



Experiments have shown that bees can be successfully wintered in a good cellar, 

 even if it is damp, providing it is well ventilated. Many colonies died also during the 

 spring after being set out, owing to the cold, backward season. 



The number of colonies, which was 35 in the spring, was increased by swarming 

 to a total of 50 when the hives were put into winter quarters on November 23. 



Meetings were attended at the following places in Ontario : — Merivale, Metcalfe, 

 Crossland, Phelpston, Minesing, Grenfell, New Lowell, Stayner, Elpin, McDonald'c! 

 Corners, Balderson, Innisville, Drummond Centre, Locust Hill, Markham, Gananoque, 

 Toronto and Barrie; and in the province of Quebec at Shawville, Buckingham and 

 Venosta. 



Experiments, 1903-1904. 



i. cellar wintering. 



Description of the Bee Cellar. — The cellar is below a private house. The walh 

 are of stone and the floor of cement. The bee-room, 11 feet 6 inches wide by 15 feec 

 long and 7 feet high, allows three tiers of shelves and two passages. It is boarded off 

 from the remainder of the cellar by a partition which extends all around the chamber, 

 and far enough from the stone wall to allow of an air space. Should a person have 

 en.iugh bees to fill the cellar the boarding could be left out. Under the cement floor 

 a layer of one foot of stones of different sizes acts as a drain and keeps the cellar perfectly 

 dry. The lowest shelf is 18 inches from the floor, the second 20 inches in the clear 

 above, and the third 20 inches above that. Neither the hives on the third or upper- 

 most shelf nor the uprights supporting the shelves touch the ceiling, so that no vibra- 

 tion can reach the hives from above. This chamber is thoroughly ventilated, as is also 

 the whole cellar. 



Before entering the bee room is a smaller compartment with a door leading to the 

 outside and another leading to the bee-room. Both rooms have sliding ventilators in the 

 doors, so that outside air may be let in at will. Ventilation is carefully attended to, 

 and sudden changes of temperature are avoided; for this, a thermometer which is 



