May, 1908. 



iMerican Tiee Joarnal 



pay. As the result of much thought 

 and experiment witli various branches 

 of pouhry, the raisins of Pekin ducks 

 for market and breeding stock has 

 proved best adapted to our place and re- 

 sources, and has gradually developed 

 into a steady and lucrative industry. 



The bees have increased to 80 colo- 

 nics, and we usually obtain between 2 and 

 5 tons of honey per season. Likewise, the 

 first flock of 5 ducks and a drake have 

 grown to 140 breeders, with capacitv of 

 the plant increased to accommodate 2,000 

 young, and a product of 100 pounds of 

 feathers and $200 worth of eggs per 

 season. The reason why the duck in- 

 dustry has grown most is because 80 

 coloiiies of bees are as many as our 

 locality affords pasturage for (on the 

 principle, you know, of 'more cows, less 

 milk'), and the demand for Clovernook 

 ducks has kept well ahead of the supply. 



Bees Buzz with Their "Buzzums." 



"If I have ever nature-faked," said the 

 Rev. William J. Long, the gifted nature 

 writer of Stamford, "I have done so un- 

 consciously. My knowledge, not my ve- 

 racity, has been at fault. 



"You know," resumed Mr. Long, smil- 

 mg, "anyone may nature-fake through' 

 Ignorance. Thus : 



"One day I was addressing some 

 Stamford schoolboys on the subject of 

 bees, and turning to a bright looking lit- 

 tle chap, I said : 



"'With what part of its body does a 

 bee buzz, Jacob ?' 



"Jacob answered confidently but ig- 

 norantly, launching a tremendous nature 

 fake : 



" 'Its buzzum, sir,' he said."— Home 

 Herald. 



Yakima Valley Good for Bees. 



I live in the Yakima Valley, and would 

 say we certainly are blest with plenty. 

 You might call it a land flowing with 

 milk and honey, fruits of all kinds, etc. 

 In our Valley alone I am sure there was 

 marketed 60 tons of honey. It was pub- 

 lished in the local papers that our In- 

 spector Jesse W. Thornton's crop was 

 15 tons from 500 colonies of bees last 

 year. We got only half a crop. Our 

 honey was of excellent quality and was 

 all sold to good advantage before Christ- 

 mas. Our market is now bare of honey. 

 The highest the most of our honey 

 brings is i2i/4 to 15 cents for No. i, 

 while some fancy is higher. 



Mrs. Jesse W. Thornton. 



Ao. Yakima, Wash., April 21. 



The Birds and Bees. 



I think the bees, the blessed bees. 



Are better— wiser far than we. 

 The very wild birds in the trees 



Are wiser, far, it seems to me. 

 For love and light and sun and air 

 Are theirs and not a bit of care. 



What bird makes claim to all God's trees? 



What bee makes claim to all God's flowers? 

 Behold their perfect harmonies, 



Their common board, the common hours! 

 Say, why should man be less than these — 

 Tlie happy birds, the hoarding bees? 



— .TOAQUIN MlI.l.lR. 



C^anadian 



._:i:2 



Conducted by J. L. BYER. Mount Joy. Ont. 



Wintering Bees Without Loss. 



In a letter lately received from Allen 

 Latham, the writer is jocularly rebuked 

 for asking how his bees had wintered — 

 "he who says that one can be as sure 

 of wintering his bees as of wintering 

 his cattle." He further remarks that in 

 his locality the bees have flights every 

 month, although once they were shut 

 in for possibly 5 weeks. No doubt he 

 has thoroughly solved the wintering 

 problem for his latitude, but at the 

 same time believes Mr. Latham will 

 concede that there are more obstacles 

 in the way of successful wintering of 

 bees in the Northern States and Can- 

 ada than is the case in Connecticut. 

 Our bees never had even a partial flight 

 from early in November until March 12, 

 and from the latter date were shut in 

 till April 6. Yet at this date of writing 

 2 of the yards appear to be in good 

 condition, the Cashel yard of 86 colo- 

 nies just visited, being all alive but one. 

 The Altona yard of 40 colonies has a 

 different story to tell, and it is in 

 connection with the history of this 

 apiary that I wish to submit some facts, 

 and in a sense solicit Mr. Latham's ad- 

 vice as to how to be sure of wintering 

 every colony every year without loss. 



This apiary was started 7 years ago, 

 and up to this winter the losses have 

 not averaged 10 per cent from all causes, 

 such as queenlessness, spring dwindling, 

 etc. Last year, a season of excessive 

 losses, every colony in the yard win- 

 tered well, and they were so stong that 

 radical measures had to be taken to pre- 

 vent swarming in fruit-bloom. Not a 

 pound of syrup had been fed the prev- 

 ious fall, the stores for wintering con- 

 sisting mostly of buckwheat honey. In 

 the other 2 yards wintering on similar 

 stores, plus a little honey-dew, the loss 

 was quite heavy. Last fall the buck- 

 wheat yielded no honey, and following 

 a total failure of the clover crop, brood- 

 nests were light. Especially was this 

 the case at home and at Cashel, and as 

 a result, sugar syrup had to be supplied 

 liberally. 



Out of 70 colonies at Altona 30 were 

 heavy with honey, and for ought I could 

 see, the stores of these 30 colonies were 

 just the same as in other years, no 

 honey-dew, to the best of my knowl- 

 edge, being present. Among the 40 that 

 were fed, were 8 4-frame nuclei, yet the 

 whole 40 have winteretl in good condi- 

 tion. As to the 30 colonics heavy in 

 honey and fed no syrup, they are in a 

 j^condition never before met by me in all 

 imy experience with bees. For some rea- 

 |son the honey granulated in the combs, 

 d the bees actually died with dysen- 

 llery and starvation, while the bulk of 



their stores was solid in the combs. 

 Whole combs of honey have the cap- 

 pings chewed off, the bees being in 

 much the condition of shipwrecked sail- 

 ors famishing while surrounded by 

 water. On examination this granulated 

 honey appears to have an e.xcess of pol- 

 len and that is the only reason I can 

 possibly think of as being responsible for 

 the trouble. Out of the 30 colonies, 14 

 are dead and at least half a dozen more 

 are sick unto death. The point I wish 

 to make is this ; In view of the uni- 

 formly good vvintering of that yard in 

 past years, I wonder if I am premising 

 correctly when I venture to guess that 

 if Mr. Latham had been in my position 

 that possibly he would have done as I 

 did — leave those 30 colonies with their 

 natural stores. 



Finding Queens After Harvest. 



C. W. Dayton says in the February 

 Review that it is easier to find queens 

 after the harvest than before. That 

 may be right for California, but IMr. 

 Dayton, as far as Ontario is concerned, 

 I beg to differ from you. All things 

 considered, methinks that to hunt the 

 queens out of 20 colonies before the 

 harvest would not be as big a proposi- 

 tion as to hunt out S after the honey- 

 flow. All of which goes to show what 

 "localitv" has to answer for. 



Feeding Sugar Syrup for Winter 

 Stores. 



I dislike advocating wholesale feeding 

 of sugar syrup for winter stores, and in 

 some seasons no sugar is necessary for 

 successful wintering, but in excessively 

 poor seasons like the last, when so 

 much pollen is gathered, and this condi- 

 tion is followed by a severe winter, the 

 sugar is almost absolutely necessary to 

 bring the bees through in good condi- 

 tion. Last July, 20 Carniolan queens 

 were bou,ght and introduced in 2-frame 

 nuclei. Owing to almost total dearth 

 of nectar all the season, and the fact of 

 the writer's being away quite a great 

 deal, these nuclei had no chance of 

 building up strong. Most of them went 

 into winter quarters on 5 Jumbo frames, 

 although 4 frames would have accom- 

 modated the bees easily. These frames 

 were fed nearly solid with sugar syrup, 

 and today those 20 colonies are among 

 the best that I have. Not a bee was 

 ever noticed leaving these hives from 

 early in November till March 12, and 

 whiie the well-known hardiness of the 

 Carniolans may help to explain results, 

 yel I believe in a large measure the 

 nature and f^nsitlon of the stores was 



