170 EIGHTEEXTII AXXUAL EEPOET OF THE 



about three per cent, get our colonies ready for the honey flow at 

 about the right time, and get good average years. Now if I put enough 

 packing there to do away with that moisture that I have got to have 

 the top ventilation for, what benefit would I derive? ,^ 



Dr. Phillips. — Well, I don't suppose you would derive very ' 

 much, because I understand you are getting about the best crops in 

 Ontario, and if that is the case, it is pretty hard to beat. What strength 

 of colony do you have before the coming of the honey flow? 



Mr. Keause. — Well, I am like Mr. Foster here, I don't want to 

 have a colony ready in the spring of the year. If you can get the colonies 

 ready for the honey flow at just the right time, you will get twice as 

 much honey from your colony as you would from one that was ready 

 say six weeks before that time. 



Dr. Phillips. — It is pretty, hard to get bees ready six weeks 

 before hand in Ontario. 



Mr. Krause. — Well, I have had them swarming on the 4th of 

 May. 



Dr. Phillips. — Now that brings up the point that was made in 

 the small part of Mr. Foster's talk that I heard. The time to get bees 

 ready for the honey flow is within eight weeks of the honey flow. Now 

 for white clover, in the northern part of the United States, which I 

 might say is the only place where white clover amounts to very much, 

 it keeps a bee-keeper hustling to have eight weeks of time before white 

 clover begins. He has to keep moving right along. To do that he 

 must have three things, room, protection, and stores, and where most 

 of them fall down is in having protection and stores but not enough 

 room. For example, a few years ago I visited a number of bee-keepers 

 in one of the clover states, and I found it very commonly said among 

 them that those colonies that were too strong early in the spring were 

 not the colonies that gave the best crop. 



We generally say that about eight weeks of preparation period is 

 right for getting colony up to maximum strength, and if you have a 

 queen in there and plenty of room for development the bees will usually 

 be ready just about the proper time. 



As far as getting ready too early is concerned, of course Mr. Foster 

 is in a region of country where the honey flow, as he says, comes late, 

 and consequently it is not so incumbent on him to get his colonies 

 strong in May as it is with us. He has two months more than we have; 

 that is, a month or a month and a half longer. If he could just keep 

 his colonies at the right level up to say the first of May or say the 

 last week of April and then turn them loose, he probably would get 

 the maximum strength. But after bees do reach the peak of egg- 

 laying there is bound to be a slight, a very slight, decrease, but the 

 critical thing at that point is to have plenty of storage room in the 

 hive. 



Mr. Taylor of Oregon performed some experiments a few years 

 ago which were of rather far-reaching importance, when he was con- 

 nected with the Agricultural College of Michigan. I don't remember 

 just what cooperative plant was, but they had some experiments there, 

 and he found that roughly speaking for every frame of brood reared in 

 the hive it takes one frame of honey. Now if we are going after these 



