1917 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



271 



much of the regular information sup- 

 plied in the reports that we make of 

 the apiary at the Central Experimen- 

 tal l''arm, Ottawa, anil those of the 

 brancli farms, such as notes on the 

 honey plants and the yield per col- 

 ony, spring count. Two such co- 

 operative experiments have been car- 

 ried on last year in the north coun- 

 try—one at Thornloe, near New Lis- 

 keard, by Mr. William Agar, who re- 

 ports an average of 2i pounds honey 

 crop per colony, spring count, and 

 the other at a large apiary at Mont- 

 cerf, Quebec, in the upper Gatineau 

 valleyr by Mr. Jos. Martineau, with 

 an out-apiary at Lytton, six miles 

 further north in a moister spot. The 

 average yield for Montcerf last year 

 was only about 65 pounds per colony, 

 spring count, on account of the fail- 

 ure of the fireweed, but the average 

 for the past seven years has been 

 about 132 pounds, mainly from fire- 

 weed. In the best year, 1914, the 

 average yield was 263 pounds per 

 colony. In the poorest year, 1912, the 

 average was 142 pounds per colony. 



The average -at Ottawa in 1916 was 

 228>^ pounds per colony, spring count, 

 the highest on record, and the aver- 

 age for the past four years has been 

 98.2 pounds per colonv, the lowest 

 being 46 pounds, in 1913 and 1914. 



I have here charts showing the 

 daily weather and gain and loss of a 

 hive on scales last summer at these 

 three places, and also at Ottawa. 

 These charts show several interest- 

 ing features. These three places rep- 

 resent large areas which as yet con- 

 tain very few beekeepers. To get 

 definite results the experiments must 

 be carried on for a number of years 

 to reduce to an average the great 

 variations in crop from season to 

 season caused principally by varia- 

 tions in weather. It is hoped that 

 these experiments will also give us 

 detailed information about the secre- 

 tion of nectar of the principal honey 

 plants under the different conditions. 

 In addition to the co-operative ex- 

 periments above outlined, I placed 

 two colonies for the season of 1916 on 

 a barren sandy plain at Kazubazua, 

 Quebec, where the best yielding 

 species of goldenrod and aster and 

 also blueberries abound. The weather 

 during the blueberry and goldenrod 

 flow was less favorable than average 

 years, no period of settled, fine 

 weather occurring. The total yield 

 of one of the colonies was 241j.'^ 

 pounds, consisting of 64 pounds of 

 blueberry honey gathered at the end 

 of May, of an amber color and pe- 

 culiar, though not disagreeable, fla- 

 vor; 118.)4 pounds of white honey 

 gathered between that date and the 

 5th of August, principally from al- 

 sike, white clover, raspberry and 

 kalmia, and 58}4 pounds of honey 

 from goldenrod gathered after Au- 

 gust 5th, and containing a little 

 buckwheat and juice from overripe 

 blueberries. The other colony yield- 

 ed a surplus of 280 pounds, consist- 

 ing of 69J/2 pounds of blueberry 

 honey, 146j^ pounds of white honey 

 gathered before August 5th, and 64^ 

 pounds of goldenrod honey gathered 

 later. A colony was also taken to 



Sully, a swampy location nearby, 

 also containing much goldenrod. 

 Here 34 pounds were obtained from 

 blueberry, 132^ pounds of white 

 honey before August 5th and M 

 pounds of principally goldenrod 

 honey after August 5th, a total of 

 220'/, pounds for the season. 



An out-apiary experiment to test 

 the value of the sheep laurel, (Kalmia 

 Angustifolia) was tried in the An- 

 napolis Valley N. S. this year. A 

 colony of bees was taken from our 

 station at Kentville and placed in the 

 middle of a bog covered with this 

 plant. The bees gathered a larger 

 surplus than any of the colonies at 

 the Experimental Station. It amount- 

 ed to 70 pounds of white honey which, 

 however, had a ranker flavor than 

 clover honey. The three best colo- 

 nies 't the station averaged only 

 iSYz pounds. Bogs covered with kal- 

 mia occur in many places in the Mari- 

 time Provinces and Quebec and in 

 several places in Ontario. 



I will dwell more briefly on the 

 honey-producing areas of the Middle 

 West and of the Pacific Coast region. 

 The dominating feature of most of 

 the prairie and of the dry belt of 

 British Columbia is the dryness of 

 the air and also often of the soil, es- 

 pecially in Southern Alberta and in 

 Columbia. More honey is obtained in 

 wet seasons than in dry. While white 

 clover is probably at the present 

 time the plant from which most nec- 

 tar is obtained in this region and is 

 spreading, the dry weather is not 

 very favorable to its development 

 and secretion. In moist years in 

 Manitoba and around the cities and 

 towns in certain districts in Saskat- 

 chewan and Alberta, such as Indian 

 Head, Sask; Lacombe, Wetaskiwin 

 and Edmonton, AltE.. a considerable 

 amount of nectar is obtained from 

 this source. Besides white clover, 

 there are a great number of prairie 

 flowers that secrete nectar. Unfor- 

 tunately, the majority of these flow- 

 ers are too deep for the bees to reach 

 the nectar and only bumblebees can 

 obtain it. Two comparatively short- 

 tongued species of bumblebees. Bom- 

 bus terricola and Bombus occiden- 

 talis, bore holes at the base of the 

 corollas to extract the nectar, and 

 honeybees will visit these holes and 

 obtain a little. The amount they get 

 in this way is, however, insignificant. 

 More honey is obtained from the 

 timber and scrub lands of the prairie 

 than in the open prairie. The timber 

 and scrub lands are usually in moist 

 places and are but little cultivated. 

 If we except clover, all the import- 

 ant sources of honey except alfalfa, 

 which has proved to be of considera- 

 ble value in Southern Alberta, are 

 wild. Probably the most important 

 wild honey plant of the prairie is the 

 wolfberry, Symphoricarpus occiden- 

 talis, a low shrub, very like the snow- 

 berry The nectar is easily reached 

 by the bees, but very little is se- 

 creted in dry weather. It flowers in 

 July and early August, and the honey 

 is white and mild-flavored. Another 

 valuable honey plant is the anise 

 hyssop, Agastache foeniculum, flow- 

 ering in July and early August. It is 



not found in Southern Alberta or 

 liritish Columbia, but is well dis- 

 tributed from Winnipeg along the 

 northern margin of the prairie to Ed- 

 monton and Lacombe. I found it so 

 abundant between Tinsdalc and Mel- 

 fort, Sask.. as to give the prairie here 

 a blue tinge. Unfortunately, the 

 flower is too deep for the bees to 

 reach all the nectar. Another princi- 

 pal source of honey on the prairie is 

 Hcdysarum boreale, a plant related 

 to the sainfoin of Western Europe, 

 found throughout the prairie, but 

 commoner northwards. It flowers 

 from mid June to the end of July, and 

 the nectar, though not secreted 

 abundantly under some conditions, is 

 entirely within reach of our bees. 

 Fireweed is scattered through the 

 timber lands and goldenrods of un- 

 known value are plentiful in certain 

 places. Alfalfa has produced about 

 100 pounds per colony in the apiary 

 of the Experimental Farm at Leth- 

 bridge. Here high winds interfere 

 somewhat with the work of the 

 bees. 



On the lower mainland of the Pa- 

 cific Coast we find again white and 

 alsike clover and fireweed to be the 

 principal sources of honey, as in the 

 east. All grow in luxuriant profusion 

 in the Vancouver district, and in a 

 season of favorable weather produce 

 a considerable crop of honey, but 

 during the last two years the honey 

 crop has been a failure in this dis- 

 trict, owing to the prevalence of cool, 

 cloudy and wet weather during the 

 honey flow. The beekeepers, how- 

 ever, live in the hope of a good sea- 

 son. Probably an average of 50 to 80 

 pounds of honey per colony, with 

 good management, can be counted 

 upon. In the Okanagan district, be- 

 tween Salmon Arm and Vernon, and 

 at Nelson, the weather is warmer in 

 summer, and probably an average of 

 SO to 100 pounds can be gotten from 

 clover, etc., in these valley districts. 

 These valleys are usually narrow and 

 widely separated. In the southeast 

 part of Vancouver Island we get 

 clover and fireweed again. Here tke 

 summers are dry and sunny, though 

 cool, and a moderate crop of good 

 honey, sufficient to make beekeeping 

 quite profitable as a side line, is al- 

 most certain every year. 



Let me say, in conclusion, for the 

 sake of the inexperienced beekeepers 

 here present that the figures of 

 yields I have given have been ob- 

 tained by good management, and that 

 the past summer was an exception- 

 ally good one for clover honey pro- 

 duction in Ontario, and let me repeat 

 that it takes at least two years, us- 

 ually longer, for a man to learn to 

 manage bees successfully. 



If the Bee Division can supply in- 

 formation to those who, after the 

 necessary training, have become suc- 

 cessful in getting a fair return in 

 their home locality, information 

 pointing out what locality conditions 

 to look for in order to greatly in- 

 crease their return, it will have ac- 

 complished some good. This is what 

 I am working for in this experiment, 



Ottawa, Ontario. 



