American l&e^ Journal 



Conducted by J. L. Byer, Mt. Joy. Ontario. 



Difference Between Ontario and North 

 Carolina 



In a letter just to hand from my 

 father, who is spending the winter in 

 North Carolina, he tells me that they 

 are planting cabbages, onions, etc., 

 where he is staying. The cabbage 

 they plant so early is very hardy and 

 will stand quite hard freezing with no 

 ill results, and he asks how soon he 

 can mail me a few plants to see how 

 they will do in our climate. 



As I look out of the window in the 

 direction of our garden, and see that 

 there is two feet of snow all over the 

 ground, his question seems quite amus- 

 ing, and I guess the change of climate 

 he has experienced this winter has 

 made him forget what our Canadian 

 weather can be -ike even on March 

 loth, when we happen to have what the 

 old settlers call an "old-fashioned" 

 winter. 



March up to the date mentioned was 

 very fine so far as sunshine and ab- 

 sence of storms are concerned, but it 

 has been unusually cold, in keeping 

 with the former two months. As a re- 

 sult our roads are still deep with snow, 

 and there is still a covering of "the 

 beautiful" all over our fields. Bees 

 have not had a flight as yet, and it is 

 really surprising how they can stand 

 such a long, cold spell of weather like 

 we have had since early in January. 



As already stated, our garden has 2 

 feet of snow all over it, so needless to 

 say I am directing father not to trouble 

 shipping cabbage-plants to us until 

 further notice. 



Facing of Hives in Winter 



Editor Root, in summarizing winter- 

 ing conditions in their own apiaries, 

 says that the bees in hives facing north 

 have not wintered quite as well as 

 those facing other directions. A num- 

 ber of our best men here in Ontario 

 claim they see no difference in this 

 matter, while I have no posiliiu- evi- 

 dence to refute their claims, yet I con- 

 fess to being prejudiced againt a north 

 entrance in our climate for wintering, 

 and always give the other points of 

 the compass the preference. In the 

 early spring, a north entrance is some- 

 times a great advantage, while, on the 

 other hand, should the bees be in ur- 

 gent need of cleansing flight, some- 

 times hives facing south will allow of 

 such a flight, when those in hives fac- 

 ing north would have no such chance. 



Bee-Keeping and the " Better Farming 

 Special " 



The " Better Farming Special" fitted 

 up by the Department of .'\griculture 

 for Ontario, and run over the Canadian 

 Pacific railroad, passed through our 

 section a few days ago. On this train 

 bee-keeping was represented, and we 



had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Pettit 

 and listening to a lecture by him dur- 

 ing the stay of a few hours made at the 

 station. Lack of space forbids saying 

 more at present, but in the next issue I 

 hope to give a few items. Suffice to 

 say that we had a joke on Mr. Pettit, 

 when we reminded him that there was 

 a stap/e on the frame he was passing a 

 capping-knife over. More anon. 



European or American Foul Brood 



Mr. Greiner, in telling about treating 

 foul brood in his apiary last summer, 

 does not state which variety of the dis- 

 ease he is "up against." By reading 

 the article I would judge that it is Eu- 

 ropean foul brood — what we commonly 

 called black brood a year or so ago. I 

 merely mention this matter to point 

 out how easy it is to have confusion 

 with two names so nearly alike for two 

 diseases that act so very differently. I 

 was never in love with the term " Eu- 

 ropean foul brood," and my affection 

 for it is not increasing with age. 



" Virulent " or " Malignant " Foul Brood 



What do we understand by the terms 

 "virulent " and "malignant " as applied 

 to cases of foul brood ? I confess to 

 having used the terms both in print 

 and in sending in reports of inspection 

 when engaged in that work, and after 

 all I just wonder if the terms are not 

 misnomers so far as our understand- 

 ing of the matter amounts to. We 

 know so little about black brood (Eu- 

 ropean foul brood) that I would not 

 discuss the terms in relation to that 

 disease, but so far as our old-time 

 friend Foul Brood (American foul 

 brood) is concerned, I have yet to see 

 one case more "virulent" or "malig- 

 nant" than another, and, in using 

 either of those terms, we generally 

 mean rather to designate how bad a 

 colony is affected than to intimate that 

 the disease is more virulent or malig- 

 nant than any ordinary type. 



I have been led to think over this 

 matter of nomenclature bv reading in 

 the British Bee Journal for Feb. 20, 

 how D. M. Macdonald is "rubbing it 

 into " advocates of non-disinfection of 

 hives and other fixtures." He quotes 

 from the Foul Brood Act of Ontario 

 the following clause : 



"Whenever the Inspector is satisfied of 

 the existence of font brood in its virulent or 

 tnaliun.int type, it shall be tlie duty of said 

 Inspector to order all colonies, etc.. to be 

 immediately destroyed by fire." 



Now, I admit that the words of that 

 quotation certainly imply different 

 types of the disease, yet, in common 

 practise, I'll wager dollars to dough- 

 nuts that all the inspectors would con- 

 demn colonies that have the disease so 

 far advanced as to make them prac- 

 tically useless and not worth saving. 



As intimated, I am yet to be con- 

 vinced that there is any dift'erence in 

 the types of the old-time foul brood — 

 it is simply a matter of how long a 

 colony has been affected, or as to the 

 conditions that have prevailed after 

 the infection was conveyed to the hive. 



Let me whisper to Mr. McDonald, 

 that although the quotation about dis- 

 infecting hives, etc., as embodied in 

 the Ontario Act, is stringent enough, 

 yet, as a matter of fact, very few Cana- 

 dian bee-keepers believe in disinfec- 

 tion to the same degree as seems to 

 prevail on the other side of the pond; 

 and as to using drugs for the treat- 

 ment of the disease, not one man in a 

 liundred would for a moment think 

 there is any efficacy in such lines of 

 treatment. 



A peculiar thing in connection with 

 this latter matter, is that while drugs 

 seem to be very popular for foul brood 

 treatment in the British Isles, Ihave 

 yet to meet the first man from the " old 

 sod " who professes to have any use 

 for them since in this country. We 

 have a number of very smart men en- 

 gaged in the craft who come under the 

 heading referred to, and if there are 

 any of a different view from what I 

 have represented, I have yet to meet 

 them. 



Some Failures in Bee-Keeping 



On the same page where Mr. Mac- 

 donald speaks of the disinfection ques- 

 tion, he has a word to say about the 

 common mistakes made by beginners 

 in bee-culture. He summarizes them 

 under two heads — failure to bring the 

 colony into the right condition by the 

 time the main honey-flow begins, and 

 failure to have the colony in the right 

 condition for winter. 



He says that under the first head a 

 loss of crop will result, and under the 

 second a loss of the bees themselves. I 

 am not sure but what we could, on the 

 most cases, put the two causes under 

 one head — the second one given by Mr. 

 Macdonald. If bees are put in proper 

 condition for winter, the first cause he 

 gives will be headed off already. And 

 the bees need not die to render invalid 

 all the work that can be given in the 

 spring, as many colonies survive the 

 winter that are of no use for a crop of 

 honey the next season, no matter what 

 kind of attention may be given them in 

 the spring. 



The longer I keep bees this fact is 

 more forcibly impressed on me each 

 year, that the bulk of the preparation 

 for getting the bees ready for the next 

 year's crop nuist be done in the fall. 

 Given abundance of good stores, and 

 proper packing for outdoor wintering, 

 or a good place for inside wintering, 

 there need be little worry about getting 

 the bees ready for the honey-flow when 

 it comes, be it early or late in the sea- 

 son. 



This present hard winter I have a 

 few colonies outside with no packing 

 around the hive, but having lots of dry 

 material over the tops. VVhile this has 

 answered in some seasons, this winter 

 will tell a different tale, and you may 

 rest assured that any spriiii; attention 

 that I may give the survivors, will not 

 make up for what could have been done 

 last October. 



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