December, 1908. 



American Hae Journal 



be surprised bow mucb faster and eas- 

 ier the work is done. 



Bees Shaking or "Waltzing"— Why. 



I have seen the question asl<ed more 

 than once as to why bees shake their 

 abdomens, or "waltz" when they enter 

 the hive with new stores. After having 

 observed bees at these peculiar antics 

 for years, 1 am fully convinced that this 

 is done to attract the attention of the 

 other bees, or in other words, to com- 

 municate to the other bees that new 

 stores are to be found. When feed- 

 ing bees I have watched them go 

 through with these "waltzing" maneu- 

 vers, and the other bees would- gath- 

 er around the bee going through these 

 peculiar motions in an inquisitive way, 

 as much as to say, "What have you 

 found now, sister, for us to help you 

 p'ather?" And the bee going through 

 with the shaking motions would offer 

 this one and that one a sip of the food, 

 wliereupon they would start at once for 



'■^7^~rf$gKFy»'lts%-rf^ '>V*^i?«i- 



the entrance to go in search of the food 

 or new stores to be found. 



Robber-Flies — Destructive to Honey- 

 bees. 



I notice in Gleanings that Prof. A. J. 

 Cook, in speaking of robber-flies, says: 



"We have both kinds here, the yellow 

 oiies that very much resemble the bum- 

 ble-bee, and the large gray ones," etc. 



We can "go you one better," Profes- 

 sor. We have the ones mentioned by 

 you, and still another pale, red kind 

 that somewhat resembles the common 

 red wasp in color. This latter kind is 

 more numerous in the fall of the year, 

 and I have reason to believe that they 

 have lessened my honey crop consid- 

 erably by catching so many of the field- 

 bees. My colonies are not so strong in 

 working force as they should be, and I 

 can account for it in no other way 

 except the unusual number of these 

 flies. L. B. Smith. 



Rescue, Tex. 



C^anadian 

 Lnac^dom 



M 



Conducted by J. L. BYER, Muunt Joy. Ont. 



Report of the Ontai-io Convention. 



The annual convention of the Ontario 

 Bee-Keepers' Association was held in 

 Toronto, Nov.. 11, 12 and 13, 1908. Sin- 

 gle fare on all railways in connection 

 with the Ontario Horticultural Show, 

 combined with good weather and other 

 favorable features, brought out a good 

 attendance of representative bee-keepers 

 from Ontario, as well as A. C. Miller, 

 of Rhode Island, and Messrs. Clark, 

 House and Hershiser of New York. 



Pres. F. J. Miller, of London, Ont., 

 occupied the chair, and in his address 

 laid special emphasis on the good work 

 being done by the apiary inspectors and 

 the crop report committee. 



Vice- Pres. Wm. Couse spoke along the 

 same lines, and referred to the fact that 

 the Ontario Bee-Keepers' Association 

 had done much for the bee-keepers, and 

 without its help the industry in the Prov- 

 ince would not be on nearly so good a 

 footing. 



We were under great obligations to 

 the Department of Agriculture for their 

 generous assistance in so many ways, 

 and anything in the lines of reason, real- 

 ly necessary, would be done for us if we 

 simply ask for it. 



"Sidelights on Marketing." 



Mr. A. C. Miller addressed the Con- 

 vention on "Sidelights on Marketing 

 Honey." He recognized the fact that 

 conditions were different in Ontario 

 from Rhode Island, and was glad to note 

 that prices on honey were better on this 

 side of the line. For his own trade he 



found that it paid to "blend" the honey 

 for the retail trade. His market called 

 for a golden honey and consumers were 

 suspicious of a "water white" article. 

 He noticed here in Toronto that the 

 honey in the stores was all white, that 

 possibly blending would not do here 

 where people were used to the white ar- 

 ticle all the time. In Rhode Island 

 no great lot of any one kind of honey 

 is produced, hence it pays to give the 

 consumer the same kind of honey as 

 nearly as possible all the time. 



In the discussion that followed, Jacob 

 Alpaugh said he often practised blend- 

 ing, and he thought 100 pounds of dan- 

 delion added to 2000 of clover, decidedly 

 Jniproved the honey. Messrs. McEvoy, 

 Timbers, Chrysler, and others, strongly 

 advised against the practice, and thought 

 it best to sell each kind of honey on 

 its own merits. 



Wild Mustard Honey. 



"What is the quality of wild mustard 

 (charlock) honey?" 



Various answers given to this ques- 

 tion, some said it was "bitter," others 

 "sharp," and still others thought it a 

 good honey. The writer suggested that 

 probably different tastes explained the 

 differences in opinion. 



Pickled Brood. 

 "What causes pickled brood?" 

 Mr. McEvoy — Poor feeders. Rcqueen 



is the remedy for this disease. 

 Some members thought that black bees 



were more subject to this complaint than 



are Italians. 



Engine for Extracting. 



"Does it pay to use a gasoline en- 

 gine for extracting honey?" 



Mr. Nolan had found the gasoline en- 

 gine a great acquisition ; his weighed 

 only 200 pounds, and had cost but $80. 

 He used it for many other purposes be- 

 sides extracting; being so light it was 

 easy to move from one place to an- 

 other. 



Mr. Sibbald stated that he had visited 

 Mr. Nolan and was surprised and de- 

 lighted with the work of the engine. 

 Pres. Miller had also used one for 3 

 years, 'and would not think of doing 

 without it. 



Foul Brood Inspectors' Reports. 



The 8 foul brood inspectors all gave 

 their reports. It was generally conceded, 

 that the work was progressing nicely, 

 and many suggestions — some original — 

 were made bv way of keeping along 

 in the eradication of foul brood. Among 

 the latter was a suggestion by Messrs. 

 Chalmers and Chrysler, that an experi- 

 mental apiary be established, and all dis- 

 eased colonies be sent there for treat- 

 ment. The idea, however, met with little 

 support from the members. The ques- 

 tion was raised as to whether it would 

 be wise to compensate for foul-broody 

 colonies destroyed ; but the opinion of 

 the convention was against this, and it 

 was pointed out that this would open 

 up a convenient way of selling out. 



Again, it was mentioned foul brood 

 colonies have no value aside from the 

 bees and wax in the combs, so why 

 compensate? 



Black brood was reported only from 

 one section in Ontario, but here the 

 disease was particularly virulent. Mr. 

 House, of New York, said that this 

 disease was far more to be dreaded 

 than ordinary foul brood, and the writ- 

 er's experience in combatting the disease 

 in the infected district would lead him 

 to believe that Mr. House was putting it 

 mild. 

 Government Work for Bee-Keepers. 



"What has the Department of Agri- 

 culture done in the way of apicultural 

 experiments at Guclph?" 



Sec. Hodgetts admitted that practical- 

 ly nothing had been done as yet, but at 

 the present time the Government was 

 considering the establishment of an ex- 

 perimental apiary, and was looking for 

 a suitable man to be put in charge of the 

 work. 



A paper by Mr. Dickson, on the pro- 

 duction of extracted honey, was read 

 by Mr. Nolan. Preparations for a crop 

 should begin the previous year. Requeen 

 all colonies having old queens, and see 

 that all colonies go into winter quarters 

 strong in young bees. Aim for quality as 

 well as quantity. Tier up supers until 

 well sealed, and remove the honey with 

 bee-escapes. He would store honey in 

 tanks to give time for all bits of comb, 

 etc., to rise to the top. The running 

 of honey into permanent containers di- 

 rect from the extractor was characterized 

 as "nonsense," and he would strongly 

 advise against the custom. There are no 

 cast-iron rules in the production of ex- 

 tracted honey ; every one must be guid'^d 

 by the requirements of his own locality 

 and individual ideas. 



