January, 1910. 



American Hae Journal 



Conducted bv J. L. BYER. Mount Joy. Ont. 



Late Bee-Flights and Good Wintering 



Tlie late flights already referred to 

 should be a factor towards good win- 

 tering of the bees indoors or outside, 

 and as all other conditions seemed fa- 

 vorable bees should come out in good 

 shape next spring. There is just a 

 possibility that there may be a little 

 honey-dew in the hives — at least I am 

 afraid of a little among my own bees — 

 and if there is much of that article 

 present, of itself it is sufficient to over- 

 balance all other favorable conditions 

 grouped together. At least that has 

 been the e.xperience in one or two 

 years when the honey-dew was much 

 in evidence. Indeed, the result of try- 

 ing to winter bees on that substance 

 was so disastrous that most of those 

 who passed through the experience 

 would take no chances if they knew for 

 sure that there was much of the stufT 

 in the hives. This year, if it is present 

 it is in small quantities, and came in at 

 the same time that the buckwheat was 

 in bloom. 



Good Fall Bee-Weather 



Whatever the weather conditions 

 may have been over the country as a 

 whole during the past autumn, Ontario 

 can certainly go on record as having 

 had ideal weather during that period, 

 at least in so far 4s it applies to the in- 

 terests of bee-keeping. Although some 

 men who wintertheir bees in the cellar, 

 had at the time of the Ontario conven- 

 tion (Nov. nth) already placed them in 

 winter quarters, yet the great majority 

 of bees intended for inside wintering 

 were outdoors at a later date than 

 usual. Only 40 colonies of mine are 

 being wintered in the cellar, and as thev 

 had continuous flights more or less all 

 through November, they were left out- 

 side till Dec. 4th. ,\t that date they 

 were in fine condition for going iri, 

 having had a good flight but two days 

 before, and as there was no snow on 

 the ground, the hives were nice for 

 handling. The day was warm enough 

 for the bees to fly, but having had a 

 good flight such a time before, they 

 gave little trouble when being carried 

 in. Aiter being placed in the cellar, 

 they came out of the hives a little, but 

 in the course of a couple of hours they 

 quieted down nicely. 



November '2J<th the bees carried in 

 some pollen from the few venturesome 

 dandelions that were in bloom, and 

 this I believe establishes a record for 

 our bees in the matter of late gathering 

 of pollen. Whether the bees I put in 

 the cellar on Dec. 4th would have been 

 better off if they had been in a month 

 earlier, is something I cannot know for 



a certainty, but with conditions as they 

 were, we certainly felt safer at the time 

 with the bees outdoors. 



As to the late-blooming dandelions 

 mentioned a^ the source of pollen gath- 

 ered so late in the season, it is only in 

 3 months of the year (January, Febru- 

 ary, and March) that it is impossible to 

 find any of the flowers of this true 

 friend of the bee-keeper, as I have seen 

 during the past years, at least a few 

 blooms in all the other 9 months of the 

 calendar. True, it is only during May, 

 and sometimes in early June, that the 

 blooms are in great enough quantity to 

 amount to anything, yet the flowers 

 that show up in November, and this 

 year in December, help to make the 

 more dreary season of the year more 

 pleasant. 



After all, it is not only the things 

 that bring in the dollars, that help to 

 make life inviting, but the late bloom 

 of the dandelions in November and 

 December just as truly answer their 

 purpose in helping to carry out the 

 Divine plan as do their more numer- 

 ous sisters that show themselves in 

 such profusion during May and June. 



Honey Crop Sold Early in Ontario 



While we had in our province, this 

 past season, a fair crop of honey, for 

 some reason the supply seemed to dis- 

 appear in record time. No question 

 but that the Northwest provinces took 

 a great deal, but aside from that the 

 honey being of such a superfine quality 

 had no doubt a great influence in in- 

 creasing home consumption. These 

 and other factors combined, have been 

 the means of cleaning out the supply of 

 honey to such a degree that some of 

 the large dealers are now sending out 

 inquiries for more supplies — an un- 

 precedented condition for the time of 

 the year, in so far as I have any recol- 

 lection. Prices have been good, and 

 as a natural sequence you do not hear 

 of any bees being offered for sale here 

 in Ontario this year. Everything con- 

 sidered, such as prices, demand, etc., 

 coupled with the more general recog- 

 nition of bee-keeping as a imsi/n-ss, 

 certainly seem to indicate fair things 

 for the future for the apiculturist, and 

 it is not to be wondered at that in this 

 strenuous competitive age more are 

 being attracted to the calling each year. 



Speaking of the demand for honey 

 this year, my experience would cer- 

 tainly lead me to believe that honey is 

 rapidly growing into favor as a staple 

 article of food. Last year I kept about 

 double the honey for home trade, as 

 compared with other years, and as a 

 result 1 was sold out before Dec. 1st. 



This year I thought to be on the safe 

 side, and kept a half more than last 

 season, and at this date (Dec. 13th) I 

 am entirely sold out. By "home trade" 

 I mean only what is sold or ordered 

 from the house, as I have not solicited 

 a sale for honey for two years. 



It certainly is much more pleasant to 

 have people anxious to buy honey at a 

 fair price than it is to be forced to go 

 begging for sales at a ruinously low 

 figure, as was the case not so many 

 years ago. 



.'Vnd just here I might mention that 

 after making due allowance for higher 

 prices prevailing on nearly all kinds of 

 products, better times and increased 

 consumption of honey as a staple, one 

 of the main factors in helping to bring 

 about these better conditions for the 

 apiarist is the e-xistence of the so-called 

 " honey exchange " here in Ontario — 

 an institution that is justly gaining the 

 confidence of nearly, if not all, of the 

 principal producers. 



Ontario Experiment Apiary at Guelph 

 Hereafter 



The Experimental .\piary, of which Mr. 

 Morley Pettit is the head, is about to be 

 moved to the Guelph Agricultural College, 

 and become part and parcel of that institu- 

 tion. This is as it should be. There is no 

 reason why apiculture should not have 

 reached the same placeof importance at the 

 College as poultry-keeping and butter-mak- 

 ing. The start is being made very late, but 

 it is never too late to get right. The profes- 

 sor in apiculture should be a necessary part 

 of the College staff, as is any other professor 

 there. Bee-keeping offers a career as invit- 

 ing as poultry, and can often be combined 

 with it. If NIr. Pettit is given his proper 

 place at ttie College, he will have no time to 

 go out hunthig for foul brood.— CaNadtart Bee 

 JoiirTtal. 



The foregoing speaks for itself. The 

 change contemplated is no doubt a 

 good one, and Mr. Pettit will find 

 many facilities there at the College that 

 were absent at Jordan Harbor. In Mr. 

 Pettit we have an efficient helper, and 

 judging from the proceedings at the 

 late convention of the Ontario Associa- 

 tion, he will have plenty to do, /. <■., if 

 he can decide on what will be the most 

 profitable line of investigations to 

 carry on. 



At the convention Mr. Pettit asked 

 for suggestions from the members as- 

 sembled, as to what they might desire 

 to have done in the way of research in 

 apicultural work. It was most amus- 

 ing to note the different ideas of the 

 many who expressed opinions on the 

 matter, and I am afraid that Mr. Pettit 

 came to the conclusion that, after all, 

 he would have to depend mostly upon 

 his own judgment in deciding the char- 

 acter of the work to be undertaken. 

 For instance, some thought that the 

 more scientific side of bee-keeping 

 should engage the attention of the 

 Provincial apiarist, in his experiments 

 and investigations, arguing tliat it was 

 time the men who were in the business 

 for a living should he receiving some 

 help, as those were the ones who had 

 borne the brunt of the fight in getting 

 needed legislation, etc. Others thought 

 the more simpler experiments should 

 receive attention, such as, for instance, 

 deciding the different questions as to 

 wintering, indoors or outside, spring 

 management ; whether it was advisable 

 to stimulate or not in the early spring ; 



