1910 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



G8:>, 



Notes from Canada 



By P.. F. riOLTERilANX 



My bees are in winter quarters (outer 

 cases), with an eight-foot fence about the 

 apiaries. They are fed, and ready for win- 

 ter; and at this date, October 13, I look for 

 a quiet time — shall I say a holiday in more 

 northerly Ontario? 



MOISTURE AND NECTAR SECRETION. 



Friend Byer comes to the conclusion, p. 

 ;U7, American Bee Journal, that the reason 

 I give for alfalfa secreting nectar is wrong 

 because it did not hold good with alsike clo- 

 ver. The best conditions for secreting nec- 

 tar from alfalfa are, in my estimation, not 

 the best conditions for the alsike-blossom to 

 secrete. That is my answer to that. 



COMB OR EXTRACTED HONEY. 



Editor Root states that the tendency is 

 for the production of extracted honey, aban- 

 doning comb-honey production. The same 

 is true in Canada. There are many things 

 which tend to make the production of ex- 

 tracted honey less risky and more j^rofitable. 

 I was at one time a comb-honey producer; 

 but I fail to see the money in it unless there 

 is a very great difiference in the price of 

 comb and extracted honey. 



STRONG COLONIES FOR FALL FLOW. 



Mr. D. M. McDonald has a practical api- 

 cultural pen, and in his article on page 617, 

 Oct. 1, he strikes at the root of many fail- 

 ures to obtain fall honey when he states, 

 "For working any late flow, crowded colo- 

 nies, doing quick and expeditious work, are 

 of the greatest importance." 



In writing about strong colonies, Mr. Mc- 

 Donald, in referring to the work of these in 

 comparison with the work of weaker, says, 

 "so much so that results would astonish 

 bee-keepers accustomed to medium colo- 

 nies." The article is well written, and 

 worthy of careful perusal. 



AMERICAN FOUL BROOD. 



When I think of all that I have read 

 about European foul brood I am forced to 

 the conclusion that this name at present is 

 given to different diseased conditions or else 

 the powers of observation or description of 

 some writers is very defective. I confess I 

 am afraid of the disease. It is, perhaps, 

 not generally known that European foul 

 brood was brought into Canada with bees 

 from New York, in the Niagara Peninsula. 

 I understand, however, that it has been 

 stamped out. 



As to American foul brood. Editor Root, 

 page 611, Oct. 1, writes: "While Mr. House 

 did not go so far as to say that requeening 

 with Italian blood would cure American 



foul brood, he was most decidedly of the 

 opinion that it was a very important element 

 in any treatment." 



I am strongly convinced as to the superi- 

 ority of Italian and Carniolan bees, and 

 would not keep a black colony 24 hours long- 

 er than necessary; but I doubt very much 

 indeed if black blood has any practical bear- 

 ing upon foul brood, and I do not believe it 

 has any bearing on the cure when the hive 

 is once infected. 



REMEMBER. 



Under the heading " Letting Bees Rob 

 out Wet Extracting-combs," Editor Root 

 has the following caution: "Of course, if 

 one has foul brood in the vicinity, such 

 wholesale cleaning-out of combs is danger- 

 ous in the extreme, for practically every 

 colony in the yard will have a hand in rob- 

 bing out the combs; and should they contain 

 any germs of disease, foul brood will be 

 spread right and left." I have begun to 

 doubt if it is ever wise to set out combs in 

 this way. If there are many bees in the 

 neighborhood, the bees will fight for the 

 honey, and sting one another to death. If 

 any one doubts this, let him watch the 

 bees or see the large number of dead bees 

 about the pile afterward. Such excitement, 

 too, in the fall of the year, must take very 

 much from the vitality of the bees which 

 go into winter quarters. 



AUTUMN. 



There is no time of the year when that 

 well-known sentence, "Oh for a lodge in 

 some vast wilderness ! " appeals to me more 

 than during the month of October. How 

 the noise and bustle of city life distracts! it 

 may for a time fill a life that does not want 

 to take the time to weigh the things of eter- 

 nity; but to the one who has been redeemed 

 by the jirecious blood of Christ, and who 

 seeks to live for the one who loved and gave 

 himstlf for them, that season of the year, 

 alone with God and nature, should have a 

 special charm. 



When we look upon the beautiful autumn 

 tints of the woods, and think that what has 

 brought these tints about is that the trees 

 no longer give their strength to the old leaf, 

 but are setting unseen butls for resurrection 

 life, we can see a parallel to what should be 

 the case in the life of every child of God. 

 We should be dying to the old unregenerate 

 life, and laying up fruit which shall adorn 

 us in resurrection, and how beautiful it is 

 to see such lives! and what an influence and 

 power such have over us! Israel of old had 

 cities of refuge, and there were to be no 

 stumblingblocks in the way of those fleeing 

 to such a city. Instead, there were to be 

 finger-posts to point the way. Our city of 

 refuge is Christ. Are our lives finger-posts 

 pointing to him, or are they stumblingblocks 

 causing those to stumble who might other- 

 wise reach him? For myself, how often I 

 have to say, "Alas! alas!" 



