REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



245 



SESSIONAL PAPER No. 16 



May 17 and 18. — 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 first drones were noticed on May 28. A considerable ainount 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 

 biickwheat 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 Eiscertain how 

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

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

 found to weigh less thaia 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, 51| pounds. 

 On November 12, 49 pounds. 



The forty colonies had therefore lost altogether 110 pounds, 

 of any colony was 4J pounds, the smallest i pound. 



All were put into winter quarters on ISTovember 12. 



The greatest loss 



List of Plants, Trees and Shrubs on which the bees wei-e 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- 

 25- 

 27- 

 29- 

 31- 

 31- 

 1- 



June 



-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 (Daphne Cmortim). 



-Vinca, several varieties. 



-Anemones and alpine poppies. 



-Adonis vernalis. 



-Doronicuni Caucasirum. 



-Sand cherry. 



-Currant bushes. 



-Siberian Pea-tree fCaragana). 



-Pear and cherry trees. 



-Lilacs, several sorts. 



-June berry. 



-Polemoniums. 



-P'seonies and Irises. 



-Honeysuckles and barberries. 



-Purine baccata. 



-Mountain Ash. 



-Strawberries. 



-Buckthorn bushes and hedges. 



-Forget-me-not. 



-Ginnalian maple 



June 4 — Rhubarb. 



4 — Mountain Centaury. 



4 — Ajufia 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 rugosa. 



8 — iSiiirwa VanHouttei. 

 12 — Golden-leaved Spiraea. 

 12— Highbush Cranberry (Viburnum Opu- 



lus). 

 14 — ^Geranlums. 

 14— Wild vetch. 

 19 — Large red poppy. 

 1 9— Strawberry-flowered Cinquefoil. 

 10 — Liipinus. 

 21— Golden Groundsel. 

 21— Wild Mustard. 

 21 — Dictamnus. 

 2:1 — Locust. 



23 — Rosa multiflora Japonica. 

 24 — English horse beans. 

 2S— Broad-leaved Bellflower. 

 2S^Anehusa altissima. 



