22S 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



April, 1918 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



will coTiie thru, but prospects are not improv- 

 ed by the snow leaving so early. As clover 

 is our main standby, we know nothing at this 

 date as to what honey j^rospects will be. As 

 to stores, have had no reports and can only 

 say that I believe our own bees have suffi- 

 cient to see them thru. Where the bees have 

 dysentery, stores disappear rapidly and those 

 affected in my home yard may be short, but 

 it makes little difference as colonies having 

 dysentery badly as early as the end of Febru- 

 ary seldom amount to anything for they 

 rapidly spring dwindle. 



At this date, no appointment has been 

 made to fill the position made vacant by the 

 resignation of Mr. Pettit. It is to be hoped 

 that when this appointment is made, that a 

 worthy successor may be found to take Mr. 

 Pettit 's place. As near as we can figure out, 

 it looks as if many men, whom the depart- 

 ment think capable of doing the work, will 

 not under any consideration accept the office; 

 while, on the other hand, many whom the 

 department do not think eligible for the job 

 would gladly accept, if they had the chance. 

 As I have no ax to grind, my sincere wish 

 is that a man may be appointed who will be 

 a real help to the industry, and that political 

 pull (or any other kind of a pull)- will not 

 influence the powers-that-be to place any oth- 

 er kind of man in the position. 



Much is said in March Gleanings about 

 sugar for spring feeding. Canadian apiarists 

 will be thankful that unless something unusu- 

 al happens, they will not have to get sugar 

 for spring feeding — at least, it will be their 

 own fault if they do, as there was no sugar 

 shortage in Canada at time fall feeding was 

 necessary last year. Sugar is fine for winter 

 stores, but only a last resort for spring use, 

 as colonies in spring do not seem to be in 

 condition to make the necessary chemical 

 change in the sugar syrup, and they will not 

 build up like they will on honey at that time 

 of year. 



February has given us welcome relief from 

 the long spell of very cold weather prevailing 

 thru December and January, by being fairly 

 moderate so far as cold is concerned. As a 

 climax to a winter of more than usual inter- 

 est in many ways, there were heavy down- 

 pours of rain with lightning and thunder at 

 different times during the last two weeks of 

 the month. This rain coming on top of great 

 banks of snow caused bad floods m many 

 places, particularly in western Ontario. In 

 a few cases, at least, stock and bees W3re de- 

 stroyed by the high water. Some apiarists 

 near here, including one of my own, had the 

 water right up to entrances of hives, and I 

 found it necessary to pry the hives loose and 

 block them higher. Yes, they are likely to b^^ 

 placed higher another fall, and then the con- 

 ditions of this spring are not likely to occur 

 again for many years. 



Some time ago I mentioned in these col- 



umns that a well known wholesale man in 

 Toronto was telling me of his intentions of 

 getting a carload of honey from California 

 for Ontario use. Only a few days ago I hap- 

 pened to meet him again and on inquiry as 

 to where that honey was, he replied: "Oh, 

 I got a chance to clean up handsomely on 

 the car and it came no farther than New 

 York City." Possibly it made up part of 

 that big cargo that was so damaged, as men- 

 tioned in February Gleanings. 



Honey is about off the market, and what 

 little is moving, is quoted at 22 cents, for 

 white and 18 cents for buckwheat. That 

 ought to be high enough to suit anybody, 

 even the consumer, by the time he pays in 

 addition, the wholesale and retail profits. 

 Personally, I am among those who think 

 that honey can be hoisted too high even for 

 the good of the beekeeper, as it can get so 

 high that people will think it is out of reach 

 — in fact, they will begin again to class it 

 as a luxury rather than a staple. 



Markham, Ont. J- L. Byer. 



» * * 



Tj.nr'gyg^g There is yet much talk about 



how the bees came thru the win- 

 ter. Revised reports have been necessary 

 for two reasons. In those sections vv^liere 

 excessive losses were inevitable, many bee- 

 kcc-iicrs did not attenc^ to theii bees and the 

 evact loss is hardly determined \et. It is 

 thru such beekeeping methods that the loss 

 of Te.\as will be mad'.- mof-e severe than it 

 should be. In some ser'titns it has only been 

 possible to ascertain recently if there is any 

 winter loss of Lees or not. In the extreme 

 southern part of the State, the bees wintered 

 well and have been at work long enough at 

 this drite to be good, etioii:.'; colonies. In the 

 •,'jlulf Coast region, the loss has been cxce^- 

 five, due to exceedingl/ trying climatic con- 

 •litioiis and neglect. Th 3 Siinie Uiay be said 

 of the southwest sect'r-n, bat here the total 

 loss in colonies will be greater because of 

 the larger holdings. Lr^. the v'estern section, 

 the loss has been light where attention has 

 been given; but where the bees were neglect- 

 ed the loss will be considerable. In the east- 

 ern section, the bees came thru in fair shape; 

 but very short on stores. In the central 

 section, the losses have been heavy, largely 

 due to neglect, as the fall honey-flow was 

 cut very short last year. In the northern 

 section, the bees came thru in good shape and 

 most of the colonies have stores enough to 

 last until the spring honey-flow. 



With bees starving in many sections and 

 very weak in stores in other sections, it is 

 interesting to learn the conditions of the 

 honey plants. In the lower valley section, 

 the plants are about normal and the bees 

 have already done very well. In the coast 

 i-egion, the honey flora has suffered by the 

 drouth of last year and the excessive cold of 

 the past winter. Except in the locality of 



