REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



245 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



May 17 and IS. — Very dull and cold ; scarcely any flying. 



May 19 to June 7. — The bees gathered a great amount of pollen, but very little 

 new honey ; nearly every hive was full of brood and young bees. 



The iirst drones were noticed on May 28. A considerable amount of honey and 

 syrup was fed from May 1 to June 8 in order to keep up brood-rearing and to prevent 

 starving. 



On June 7 and 8, White Dutch Clover and Alsike came into bloom, and there 

 were many flowering trees and shrubs in bloom, but there was very little increase in 

 honey. 



June 8 to July 15, the bees gathered a small amount of honey from clovers and 

 basswood. 



On July 15 the first honey was taken off ; bees were very thick on flowers ; but 

 there was very slight increase in weight of hives during the latter half of July. 



After August 3, the bees gathered very little honey, and there was no increase 

 in weight of the hives. The autumn flowers gave no surplus, and, there being no 

 buckwheat sown in this district in 1900, no honey was gathered from that source. 



September 1 to 10. — All colonies and hives were weighed in order to ascei^tain how 

 much they had lost or gained. They were weighed again on October 1 and on Novem- 

 ber 12, just before they were put into their winter quarters. Any colony and hive 

 found to weigh less than 50 pounds on September 1 was either given full frames of 

 sealed honey or fed syrup to make up the difference in weight. While our experi- 

 ments show that each colony consumes only from 9 to 14 pounds during the winter, 

 it is a very wise policy to have 10 or 15 pounds extra in each hive to be used in spring 

 before the honey flow. 



Average weight of forty colonies and hives : 



On October 1, 51f pounds. 

 On IsTovember 12, 49 pounds. 



The forty colonies had therefore lost altogether 110 pounds. The greatest lo33 

 of any colony was 4^ pounds, the smallest i poxind. 



All were put into winter quarters on November 12. 



List of Plants, Trees and Shrubs on which the bees were seen working well during the 

 summer, and dates at which the visits were first noticed. 



April 18- 

 20- 

 21- 



May 10- 

 11- 

 12- 

 19- 

 22- 

 22- 

 23- 

 23- 

 23- 

 23- 

 24- 

 24- 

 24- 

 25- 

 25- 

 25- 

 23- 

 27- 

 29- 

 31- 

 31- 

 1- 

 2_ 



4- 

 4- 



Ju 



no 1— 



-Snowdrops and squills. 



-Manitoba maple and .soft maple. 



-Willows in swamps and on lawns. 



-Tulips. 



-Plum and apple trees. 



-Dandelions. 



-Wild black cherry tree. 



-Grape hyacinth. 



-Garland Flower f Daphne Cneorum). 



-Vinca, several varieties. 



-Anemones and alpine poppies. 



-Adonis vernalis. 



-Doronicum Caucasicnm . 



-Sand cherry. 



-Currant bushes. 



-Siberian Pea-tree (GaraganaJ. 



-Pear and cherry trees. 



-Lilacs, several sorts. 



-June berry. 



-Polemoniums. 



-Fseonies and Irises. 



-Honeysuckles and barberries. 



-Pi/riis haccata. 



-Mountain Ash. 



-Strawberries. 



-Buckthorn bushes and hedges. 



-Forget-me-not. 



-Ginnalian maple. 



June 4 — Rhubarb. 



4 — Mountain Centaury. 



4 — Ajiiga Genevensis. 



4 — Anemone narcissiflora. 



7 — White Dutch clover. 



8 — Alsike and sainfoin. 



8 — Raspberries and blackberries. 



8— Sharp-leaved common Cotoneaster. 



8 — Alliums. 



8 — Rosa riigosa. 



8 — Spirwa VanHouttei. 

 12 — Golden-leaved Spirsea. 

 '12— Highbush Cranberry (Viburnum Opu- 

 lus). 

 14 — Geraniums. 

 14— Wild vetch. 

 19 —Large red popuy. 

 19— Strawberry-flowered Cinquefoil. 

 10 — Lvpinus. 

 21 — Golden Groundsel. 

 21— Wild Mustard. 

 21 — Dictamnus. 

 2"! — Locust. 



23 — Rosa multiflora Japonica. 

 24— English horse beans. 

 28— Broad-leaved Bellflower. 

 2S^AncJiusa altissima. 



