56 



February, 19ir. 



American Vee Journal 



savages as they call them), the land 

 was divided in narrow strips, about 

 180 feet wide and several miles long, 

 and each settler built his homi- at the 

 near end of his strip in close prox- 

 imity to his neighbors and to the pub- 

 lic road; thus forming a link in an 

 ap|)arently endless chain of villages, 

 separated from each other only by 

 spots of waste land or woods. 



So trim and well painted are the 

 houses that my wife thought these 

 villages all newly built, till she was 

 undeceived by the statement of an old 

 gentleman who rode in the opposite 

 seat on the train and volunteered the 

 information that these were among 

 the very oldest settlements in Ameri- 

 ca, dating back some 250 years. 



Arriving in the city of Quebec, late 

 in the afternoon, we found the atmos- 

 phere so raw, though it was not freez- 

 ing, that we were glad we had brought 

 with us some heavy clothes. The city 

 is built on a cliff overlooking the St. 

 Lawrence and extends backwards 

 down into a valley. It is fortified, but 

 the oldest part Is at the foot of the 

 hill, where some of its streets are as 

 narrow as some of the streets of 

 European cities. The new Quebec is 

 beautiful. We visited the Armory, 

 where a few hundred volunteers were 

 drilling and ^'.nging tbe Marseillaise 

 in its native tongue, for the Quebecois 

 ar'> essentially French in language 

 and traditions. But their allegiance to 

 Great Britain is boundless and it is 

 with great enthusiasm that they sus- 

 tain the mother countries in the pres- 

 ent European struggle. 



The next morning early I called the 

 president of th local Quebec Bee- 

 keepers Association, Mr. Verret, upon 

 the telephone. Mr. Verret is a seeds- 

 man and a beekeeper, in Charles- 

 bourg, a suburb of Quebec. He was 

 delighted of our arrival and expressed 

 it in as warm terms as come to the 

 lilis of an enthusiastic French-Canad- 

 ian. He at once came after us with 

 his automobile and we started on an 

 excursion, visiting other beekeepers. 

 It was delightful. The beekeepers all 

 over the world must bo of an espec- 

 ially hospitable disposition, for we 

 find a hearty welcome everywhere 



The bees, of course, were in winter 

 tiuarters, in the cellar, or about to be 

 Ijlaced there. The cellars we visited 

 are not deen. In fact ^hey are very 

 shallow. We thought this might ca\ise 

 them to be irregular in temucrature 

 and subject to atmosi)heric changes. 

 But when we were told that the snow 

 falls to a depth of 4 to 5 feet and 

 banks against the buildings, we 

 could understand that it is unneces- 

 sary to have deep cellars. A snow 

 bank is better than an earth bank to 

 protect the cellars. 



The method of cellar wintering does 

 not differ from our own. except in 

 the length of time which the colonies 

 pass there. Mr. Verret had one of his 

 apiaries in the cellar once 1S6 days. 

 or from the 1st of November to the 

 5th of May, and the bees came out in 

 best of order. We must remark that 

 In his locality there is very little 



MRS. AND MR. OSCAR COMIRE AND FRIEND IN THEIR APIARY Al 

 ST. FRANCOIS DU LAC. QUEBEC 



honey except 'rom white clover. Un- 

 healthy or unripe honey, or honey con- 

 taining an abundance of pollen grains, 

 is rarely to be found. This is of im- 

 portance in long confinement.. 



In spite of the cool, raw weather 

 and the spitting of snow, we enjoyed 

 the ride immensely. We followed the 

 course of the St. Lawrence for 15 

 miles and passed by the Falls of 

 Montmorency, the river of the same 

 name plunging from a height of 240 

 feet. But these tails, like many oth- 

 ers have been spoiled by industrial 

 use. A dam has be n built and most 



of the water Is utilized to produce 

 electric power, just the same as with 

 the Des Moines Rapids of the Missis- 

 sippi here. 



Every home in lower Canada is pro- 

 vided in winter with storm doors and 

 storm windows, to keep out the cold. 

 Between the two sets of sashes, they 

 almost invariably have a set of lace 

 curtains, with another pair of cur- 

 tains on the inside. This double pair 

 of lace curtains gives a most cosy ap- 

 pearance to the homes. There is so 

 little soft coal used and the smoke 

 from hard coal or wood is so incon- 



ANOTHER VIEW OF THE COMIRE APIARY 



