MAY If), 1015 



wlint liltlo inoiiov tli(\v liiid a. rijilit lo, and 

 llio iiicrpasiiiy dilliculty of selliiii^ honey in 

 our Canadian ^vest, and some three thon- 

 sand dollars' worth beintr left nnsold for 

 two seasons, 1 did not feel inclined to feed 

 sugar syrup very heavily, runninsr chances 

 on the bees having- a cleansinc" llifi'hl durinii' 

 the winter, and watohiui;' them for stores 

 early. The season was very open until 

 Dec. 1. causinir the bees to consume an 

 unusual amount of stores durins: the late 

 autunni. and of tlieni the suyar svrnp went 

 Hrst. 



I tind the cause of winter 1(k«s as follows, 

 naming' the causes in the order of impor- 

 tance. 



Dysentery — from tiie hoiu\v-de\v in the 

 winter food. 



Starvation — owini;' to open fall and in- 

 creased activity caused by bad stores. 



Chilling- — owing to the poor season and 

 absolutely no late sunmier and autumn 

 uat boring by the bees, small clusters of 

 bees ]>erished. some starving to death, when 



in aiKilher pnil of tlie hive there was abun- 

 dance of honey. 



Queenle4-;sness. — Having a large number 

 of colonies, we do not examine them in the 

 fall for (]ueens, and a percentage ai'e queen- 

 le.ss, undiscovered by us until we find the 

 ])()llen-clogged combs in the hive the fol- 

 lowing spring. 



At some point in our feeding, a mistake 

 was made in the water and sugar measure- 

 ments, which gave us a much thinner syrup, 

 and, of necessity, less ripe stores for the 

 bees. There was no way of telling how far 

 this extended, and the only remedy lay in 

 giving more to feeding all that had been 

 fed, more, which I did not feel like under- 

 taking. 



If bees had wintered well, and a good 

 lioney crop had been obtained, I do not 

 know what we should have done with our 

 honey. Providence sometimes steps in when 

 experts do not know when to quit booming 

 the bee business. 



Brantford, Canada. 



EXPLOITS OF AN AMATEUR BEE- 



BY H. P. KIRBY 



One of the most fascinating outdoor 

 sports, if one would deem it a sport, is 

 bee-hunting. An ideal time to begin the 

 hunt is some bright sunshiny morning, just 

 l)efore fruit-bloom, when there is not much 

 nectar and jiollen for the bees to gather. 



First you will need a bottle of honey 

 and a bottle of vinegar to dilute the honey. 

 Vou will need something to feed the bees 

 from. Take an old chalk-box and put a 

 glass slide in the place of the wooden lid. 

 At one end place a small trough or lid to 

 hold your honey, and bore a one-inch auger- 

 hole at the other end in the bottom to let 

 the bees in. A handy arrangement by 

 which to catch the bees for the box is com- 

 jiosed of two funnels made of wire cloth. 

 Slip one into the other, so as to make it 

 like a fish-net funnel, and close the small 

 end. 



You are now ready to go after them. 

 Find some bees watering at some spring. 

 Some on flowers will do; but if you can find 

 some watering you can conclude that they 

 are close by. Catch se\eral bees in your 

 trap. Then take them out in an open place 

 close by and put them in your box through 

 the auger-hole by opening the end of your 

 catcher and thrusting it up into the bole. 

 If they do not go up at once, darken the 

 lower portion and then they will go up. 

 Then darken your box by putting a cloth 



over it and place it in an elevated position. 

 Wait about three minutes for the beas to fill 

 uj-». After this time has elapsed remove 

 your cloth and slide your glass cover out. 

 At first they will fly around and around till 

 they get their bearings. Then they will go 

 in a straight line to their home. 



After you get their line, and plenty of 

 bees are coming to your bait, close the box 

 with the bees in it. Move on in the cour.se 

 which the bees followed. Repeat this sever- 

 al times, all the time keeping watch foi 

 their den in the trees. If you will place 

 yourself in a position so that the sun will 

 be on the opposite side of the tree you can 

 see them very easily as thev fiv back and 

 forth. 



l\ry friend and 1 often hunt bees, and 

 have never failed to locate them where we 

 found them watering. If you don't find 

 them the first time, keep trying and finally 

 you will succeed. 



We found where bees were watering at 

 a mountain spring about one and a half 

 miles from home, so one bright morning w^e 

 took our outfit and went after them. After 

 we reached the place we followed the plan 

 I have related and soon found two trees 

 inhabited by bees. One was about a quarter 

 of a mile from (he spi'ing. and (he othei' 

 about a half. 



When we were readv to cut the trees the 



