August, 1913. 



American IBee Journal 



Death of Wm. McEvoy 



It is witli tlie deepest regret that we 

 announce the death of one of the pio- 

 neers in the treatment of diseases of 

 bees, Mr. Wm. McEvoy, of Woodburn, 

 Ontario, Canada, which occurred at 

 his home June 211, 1913. Mr. McEvoy 

 was born at Zimmerman's Mills, Ont., 

 March 26, 1814. While a young man 

 he worked on the farm, and at the age 

 of 18 secured his first bees. For two 

 or three years after this he was fire- 



IUE LATEiW.M. McE\ov 



man in a grist mill, but soon gave this 

 up to spend his entire time in bee-keep- 



ing, which occupation he pursued until 

 his death. 



As a foul-brood inspector and au- 

 thorits' on foul brood Mr. McEvoy is 

 especially well known. His method of 

 treatment of .\merican foul brood is 

 known by all bee-keepers who have 

 had to deal with this dreaded disease. 

 It stands as an unfailing treatment for 

 the disease if practiced exactly to the 

 letter, as laid down by its originator. 



Mr. McEvoy, besides being an ex- 

 perienced and practical man in bee- 

 keeping, and in the controlling of bee- 

 diseases, was also an able writer. As 

 early as 1890, we find him writing on 

 American foul brood in the American 

 Bee Journal. By that time, too, he had 

 formed an opinion as to the causes of 

 foul brood, and also the treatment by 

 which it could be eradicated. There 

 was no middle course with him in the 

 treatment of this disease. His plan 

 was to be thorough. Briefly stated, the 

 plan consists in shaking the bees from 

 their old combs on strips of founda- 

 tion. These strips are left in the hive 

 for four days, by the end of which time 

 all the honey carried from the diseased 

 combs has been consumed. The bees 

 are then put on full sheets of founda- 

 tion and given a fresh start. 



For many years Mr. McEvoy was 

 foul brood inspector, and to him is due 

 a great deal of the early advancement 

 in bee-keeping in Ontario. 



Always a large bee-keeper, he was 

 firm in his convictions that a living 

 could be made from this pursuit alone. 

 .•Mmost his last words to his son Ewart 

 were, "Stay with the bees." 



We have lost a great man and a 

 great bee-keeper, but his name is writ- 

 ten down on our pages where it will re- 

 main indellible. All sympathy to the 

 bereaved family in their loss. 



Conducted by J. L. Byek, Mt. Joy. Ontario. 



Crop Conditions 



.\t this date, July 10, the clover honey 

 harvest is just closing in Ontario. Very 

 few reports are in, but those I have re- 

 ceived seem to indicate a short crop 

 for the eastern part of Ontario, with a 

 full yield in central counties along the 

 lakes. In our own yards the yield is 

 from light to very good. .A.t the north 

 yard, 90 miles from home, the late, 

 hard frosts damaged the clover badly, 

 and the yield is light. No prospects 

 from basswood, as up there the frost 

 hurt the buds, and then a plague of 

 caterpillars stripped all foliage from 

 the trees. 



At the yards near my home the yield 

 has been excellent; in fact, the best I 

 ever had, and the quality is of the very 

 best. What few basswoods we have 

 here look promising, but we rarely get 

 much from that source. Prospects were 

 never better for buckwheat, so all 

 things considered, it looks like the 

 year '' '13 " will be a good one for most 

 Ontario bee-keepers. 



Moving Bees 



Mention was also made of my inten- 

 tion to move a large apiary over 250 

 miles. The lot comprising two car- 



loads, including supplies, etc., were all 

 moved safely without a hitch. I in- 

 tended to send a picture of the large 

 apiary taken the day after the bees 

 were put on the stands. Although I 

 have the negative developed, I have 

 not had time to do any printing, so I 

 will send the picture for next issue if 

 all goes well. 



The Crop— Different Races of Bees 



•Although we have secured a nice 

 crop, we have had practically no 

 swarming with the e.xception of one 

 yard, where the bees got ahead of us 

 and went crazy for a lew days. Many 

 have reported heavy swarming with 

 only one yard to look after, and I have 

 wondered how they would like to 

 tackle a .5-yard proposition, with no 

 help except in extracting time. Abun- 

 dance of room in lime is one of the 

 main factors in preventing swarming, 

 but sometimes nothing will stop an 

 outbreak. Fortunately for us the bees 

 were easily controlled this year, for 

 with all the other work. I hardly know 

 what might have happened if all the 

 yards had acted like that one did. I 

 have mostly Carniolan blood in my 

 yards, but as I use big hives, the 

 swarming is not usually a serious fac- 

 tor. 



I do not like to tier up too high, as I 

 believe more honey will be secured by 

 extracting often and using but two full 

 depth supers to a hive. This year I 

 had to do the best I could, and at pres- 

 ent I have many colonies with 4 full 

 depth Quinby supers — 10 frames in a 

 super, and all full of sealed honey. 

 Some work ahead of us yet before we 

 can fold our arms and " go fishing." 



While, as I have said, Carniolan blood 

 predominates in our apiaries, yet we 

 have some Italian as well, both golden 

 and leather colored. It is interesting 

 to note the traits of the different races 

 in the same yards. This season I have 

 been taking note of some of these char- 

 acteristics. 



In the great rush of work I simply 

 extracted from the top stories to give 

 immediate relief, and these empty 

 bodies were placed back on top again. 

 Not good practice I know, and I never 

 did it before, but there is a time when 

 you are apt to get so tired as to say, 

 " What does it matter anyway, ' and do 

 things contrary to what you know to 

 be best. In fact, I had no time to place 

 empty supers on the bottom, and with 

 the rush of nectar coming in, the bees 

 went any place they had a chance to. 

 I believe they would have stored it in a 

 pail if one had been placed on top. 



We are now having very cool weather, 

 and these top stories recently emptied 

 are interesting to look at. With the 

 dark bees the super is overflowing with 

 bees, but with the Italians hardly a bee 

 is seen above, even if the colonies are 

 clustering outside the entrance. Car- 

 niolans, like the black bees, are far 

 more free to store honey a long ways 

 from the brood-nest than are the Ital- 

 ians ; and while this fact was not so 

 apparent in hot weather, it is plainly 

 evident in cooler weather. 



This is a well known fact, but I never 

 noticed it so prominently before. 

 During the heavy flow the black bees 



