Decembkr. 1918 



G L K A N I N G S IN BEE C U E T U R E 



7:! 7 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



tho they were off the hives for some weeks, 

 yet when I warmed them up the honey ex- 

 tracted all right with no signs of granula- 

 tion present. Why the difference I cannot 

 understand; but I feel sure it does not augur 

 well for the bees that have large quantities 

 of this same honej^ for winter stores, as 

 many of our colonies have this fall, the 

 buckwheat flow having been good. This 

 leads me to remark again that while 

 honey for winter stores is often all right 

 here in our cold climate, unfortunately too 

 often it is not all right, and for our winter- 

 ing conditions unquestionably the safest of 

 all winter food for the cold months is syrup 

 made from granulated sugar. A certain edi- 

 tor some time ago stated that the writer of 

 these notes had expressed contrary opinions 

 to the foregoing at some unstated time; but, 

 needless to say, there is some mistake and 

 some one else must have been in mind. Since 

 keeping bees I have always made the em- 

 phatic claim and proved it by experience — 

 much of it costly experience — that sugar 

 syrup was far more dependable one year 

 with another, than taking chances with hon- 

 ey stored in August and September. 



As to sugar, of course the obtaining of 

 this necessary product was quite a jjroblem 

 this fall. I found it difficult to get much 

 granulated, and, acting on the advice of 

 some good beekeepers whom I consulted, I 

 fed a large quantity of raw sugar, known 

 as Jamaica Crystals, at the north yards 

 where I had no buckwheat, and brood-nests 

 were light this fall. While it. is now too 

 late to make any effort to make things dif- 

 ferent provided I have made a big mistake, 

 yet I would be glad to hear from others who 

 may have tried this sugar in former years. 

 Some of it has been sent out to various bee- 

 keepers by the Provincial apiarist by way 

 of experimenting, so, no doubt, next spring 

 we will know more about how it turns out. 

 If it does not prove a good winter food, un- 

 doubtedly I will be hit hard, as my son and I 

 have 200 colonies in our best clover location, 

 })ractically depending on this sugar for win- 

 ter stores. This particular lot of sugar fed 

 to these bees was a very fine sample as 

 compared with much other raw sugar that 

 came under my notice, the crystals being 

 quite light in color and well defined. 



"When to put bees in the cellar," as the 

 caption goes in November Gleanings, inter- 

 ests me for the first time in my beekeeping 

 experience. W^hy f Simply because this 

 fall for the first time my son and I have 

 quite a large apiary to be wintered inside. 

 To complicate the problem these bees are 

 over 70 miles away from our home, and 

 when I bid them good-bye in October after 

 seeing that all were good and heavy for 

 winter, it was with the expectation that I 

 would not see them again till next spring, as- 

 suming, of course, that I live till then. The 

 friend who lives on the farm where the 



bees are, has placed the bees in the cellar for 

 a number of years, and, naturally, I assume 

 that he can do the job as well or better than 

 I can. Then, again, it would cost me as 

 much to go to the place as would pay him 

 well for his work and at the same time al- 

 low him to hire a man to help him; and last, 

 but not least, "yours truly" will be saved 

 a lot of back-breaking work. As we get 

 older we find it easier to shift off some of 

 the heavy work on others when convenient 

 to do so, and when such an arrangement 

 can be made that is mutually agreeable to all 

 concerned, needless to say, when I happen 

 to be one of the parties getting out of work 

 — I am always agreeable. As to "when" 

 to put them in tlie cellar, of course, that 

 is the question that is bothering me, but 1 

 think it best to hold off till near the end of 

 November anyway, all depending upon what 

 the weather is like in the meantime. 



Markham, Ont. J. L. Byer. 



Jj^ Texas '^^^'^ matter of good queens in 



every 'hive is receiving more 

 attention in Texas today than it ever has 

 before. However, there are yet far too 

 many beekeepers who do not study this mat- 

 ter. There are some who are saying now 

 that every colony should be requeened every 

 year. This, it would seem to me, is rather 

 too broad a statement. Each colony should 

 be carefully studied as an individual, and 

 then in its relation to the whole and to the 

 average. For years live-stock men have 

 urged individual tests on cows, and poultry 

 men have sought individual tests on hens, 

 to show that some are not paying for their 

 keep. Queens produced side by side from 

 the same parent stock will not develop the 

 same abilities in adult life. Many can not 

 conceive that individuality in such exists 

 just as in cows or hens. One of the most 

 successful beekeepers in this State knows 

 at the end of the year what every queen 

 has done. If she has not come up to the 

 standard he has set, she is replaced by an- 

 other. In the same way, a good queen is 

 left with a colony as long as she comes up 

 to the standard, be that two or three years. 

 This same beekeeper is gradually raising 

 the standard for his queens, farther above 

 the average each year toward the best queen. 

 The outcome of this careful study and pains- 

 taking labor is wonderfully shown in the 

 results obtained. Why can not .others do 

 as well? The answer lies with them. 



Reports continue to arrive telling of im 

 proved conditions over much of the impor- 

 tant beekeeping territory. In south Texas 

 bees went into the winter in better shape 

 than for five years past. Every colony w-as 

 well stocked with young bees, and ample 

 stores were in the hive. In several locali- 

 ties a good surplus was harvested during the 



