October. 16lf 



American Vae Journal 



It s best where erass and weeds do not 

 crowd the plants out. When once started 

 it re-seeds itself. Being a perennial it does 

 not bloom until its second seasons growth. 



Sweet clover honey is of grood qualitj', 

 light in color, and of very good flavor. The 

 bees work industriously on the bloom from 

 early until late. 



the other 2 have not that much. I 

 there is enough to pay the feeding bill, 

 it will be better than nothing, anyway. 

 All this wet weather had one good 

 effect for the bee-keeper; that is, the 

 clover is wonderful all over, and, bar- 

 ring winter killing, the prospects are 

 good for next year from that source. 



Conducted by J. T^. BvER. Mt Joy. Ontario. 



Ontario 



Bee-Keepers' Association Will 

 Meet in Convention 



The Ontario Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion will hold their annual meeting in 

 Toronto Tuesday, Xov. 12. The pro- 

 gram is not ready, but as soon as it is 

 prepared due notice will be given, also 

 information about railway rates, hotel 

 accommodations, etc. Needless to say, 

 as usual, we are expecting a large at- 

 tendance of Canadian bee-keepers and 

 a big bunch of our cousins from "over 

 the line." At the season of the year 

 when the convention is held, most 

 of the bee-keepers' work is done, and 

 a holiday certainly does one good after 

 the busy months of the summer season. 

 (3ne unfortunate thing in connection 

 with the date of the convention is, tliat 

 it prevents many of our best bee-keep- 

 ers from attending, as a lot of them are 

 nimrods, and are away at that season 

 on their annual deer hunt in the north- 

 ern woods. 



In speaking of this, I am reminded 

 that at the north yard, established this 

 spring, an occasional deer wanders in 

 among the bees, one being seen in the 

 apiary a few weeks ago. Just how the 

 bees treat their pretty visitors I am not 

 prepared to say, as I have not seen any 

 in the yard when I have been there. 

 As there are also a few bears in the 

 same locality, I have been wondering 

 if they would visit the apiary later on, 

 but I am not anticipating any harm 

 from depredations on their part. How- 

 ever, if any should decide to visit the 

 apiary, I hope it will be when some 

 one is around so that I may have the 

 privilege of treating some of the con- 

 vention visitors to a "slice of bear 

 steak." Certainly, I would like to have 

 a menu of that variety to complete the 

 anticipations of a friend in the States, 

 who said he was taught in the schools 

 that up in Canada the winters are so 

 cold that often the inhabitants have to 

 drink raw oil to keep from freezing to 

 death. Bear steak and raw oil should 

 be warm enough diet to satisfy the 

 most cold-blooded mortal on the con- 

 tinent. 



«~*-^ 



Little Nectar in Buckwheat 



The long, cool, wet spell has stayed 

 right with us all through August, and 

 as a result the many acres of buck- 

 wheat have yielded little iiectar, and 

 heavy feeding for winter will be neces- 

 sary to keep the bees from starving, 

 as in all my experience I have never 

 seen brood-nests so full of brood as 

 they are now (Sept. 7). The bees have 

 seemingly just enough to stimulate 

 brood-rearing, and the hives denote 

 June conditions rather than September. 



September, to date, has been warm and 

 sultry, and this is aggravating the situa- 

 tion, for the fall flowers are yielding 

 just enough to keep up this heavy 

 brood-rearing. Italians, which are us- 

 ually very conservative about brood- 

 rearing at this season of the year, are 

 as bad as Carniolans. This means not 

 only a heavy feeding, but late feeding 

 as well, as it would be folly to do any 



Are Queens Fertilized Near the Hives 

 from Which they Issue ? 



Whether queens, as a rule, fly a long 

 distance from the hive when on their 

 mating flight is, I believe, a mooted 

 question. Some observations in a 

 small apiary of mine lead me to believe 

 that most of the queens are fertilized 

 near the hives from which they issue. 

 Some 6 or 7 years ago I placed about 

 20 colonies with a friend who had about 

 the same number, and the apiary con- 

 sists of about 50 colonies at present. 

 Mine were placed about 6 rods to the 



Experimental .Apiary. Manouka. Ti'nis. 



feeding under present conditions. Mr. 

 Knox, of Orono, Out., has sent me a 

 reading of the thermometer from Aug. 

 17 to Sept. 5, and a glance over it will 

 show why the buckwheat was a failure. 



Monilngr Noon 



DCK. Degf. 



.Aug. 17. 50. cool, cloudy at night 



■; i8. 5u. " 



10. 60. cloudy all day 7o. 



" 20. 62, sunshine at Markham 



21. 62, 



22. 60. foggy 



23. .=i4. sunshine 



24. 47. rain 

 2!;. 65, sunshine 



" 26, 66. rain 



27. 60. clear, windy 



28. so. cloudy 

 2«. 54. sunshine 

 10. 42, 

 M. 52. rain. 



Sept. I. 5«. " 



" 2. 58, " 



3. 64. cloudy 



4. sunshine 



5. sun and rain 



r. p.m. 

 Dee. 



64. 



76, 



62. rain. 58. 



70. 

 64. 



70. rain 

 50. " 



88. 

 «o. 

 70. 

 56. rain. 52. 



70. sun. 50. 



71. " 48. 

 70, " 54, 



72. clod' y 50. 

 70, rain, 60. 



sun. 

 Ro. •' 

 811. " rain 



southeast of those of my friend, and 

 between the 2 lots there is a heavy 

 growth of fruit trees, mostly apple and 

 plum, with shrubbery undernearth the 

 trees. My bees were mostly Carnio- 

 lans, while the others were native 

 blacks of a nervous, cross disposition. 



After these years 01 close neigh- 

 boring, my yard is still largely Car- 

 niolan, while the other bees are as 

 black and nervous as ever. I expected 

 a general mixing up, and still expect it, 

 but I am surprised at the way the two 

 different lots have preserved their 

 identity, and can form no other conclu- 

 sion than the one advanced. 



In our section we had some early 

 buckwheat, and during the first week 

 of August three or four hot days. Dur- 

 ing these days the flow was very heavy, 

 and we looked for a big crop of buck- 

 wheat honey. As it is, 5 of the 7 yards 

 have each about one full super, while 



Glad Reciprocity Was Not Carried 



Speaking of crop and price condi- 

 tions, in the Bee-Keepers' Review for 

 September, Kditor Tyrrell says that 

 first-class honey should command not 

 less than 9 cents, wholesale, in OO-pound 

 tin cans; this is, I believe, in reference 

 to raspberry, clover and basswood 

 honey. As we are readily getting 11 

 cents per pound, wholesale, for our 

 honey in Ontario, it is needless to say 



