32 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



January, 1919 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



ture among the Division of Bee Culture, De- 

 partment of Agricultural Extension, Min- 

 nesota Beekeepers' Association, and the 

 State Apiarist Department. These units 

 will function as in the past, but under the 

 new arrangements each will be an aid to 

 all the others. Mr. McMurry's territory 

 includes Wisconsin with Minnesota. Each 

 alternate month is spent in this State. Be- 

 ginning with January he will start work 

 here under the new arrangements, and we 

 trust that Minnesota beekeepers will rally 

 to his support and assist him in every way 

 possible. He is a man of large vision, and 

 is rapidly getting a grasp of the problems 

 and conditions of beekeeping in the North- 

 west. Chas. D. Blaker. 

 Minneapolis, Minn. 



In Michigan. 



Keep after your State 

 legislators. At the com- 

 ing session, let 's try to have an assembly 

 of men informed regarding the interests of 

 the beekeepers. Information is essential 

 in order to secure intelligent legislation. 



Upon returning from a trip thru the 

 northern counties of the State, Mr. Ewell, 

 extension specialist, reported a large num- 

 ber of colonies outside without protection 

 and with no prospects of any except snow. 

 This is the usual thing all over the State. 

 The time may come when all beekeepers will 

 appreciate the necessity of adequate pro- 

 tection, but the time will never come when 

 all will protect. 



The superiority of the big two- and four- 

 colony packing cases has been very evident 

 here during the last 10 days. We have had 

 some very bright but cold days. On such 

 days the bees flew from the double-walled 

 hives, and most of them were chilled before 

 returning. But no bees were seen flying 

 from the big packing cases. Surely, those 

 bees which are quiet and remain inside dur- 

 ing such weather are wintering better than 

 those that fly out whenever the sun shines 

 brightly. 



As this is being written, the prospects for 

 a beekeepers' short course at the College 

 this winter are very good. The course 

 would be designed specially for amateurs 

 and would not be particularly interesting to 

 the professional beekeepers. If sufficient in- 

 terest is manifested in this course, it will 

 likely be made an annual affair at the Agri- 

 cultural College. It is proposed to hold it 

 the latter part of March. Anyone interested 

 should write the undersigned for particulars. 



The postponed annual convention of the 

 State Beekeepers' Association will be held 

 in Lansing, Jan. 21-23. This date is final 

 and will not be changed. Unfortunately, 

 two Canadian and two Michigan beekeepers 

 did not get word of the change in date and 

 appeared in Lansing on Nov. 19. An in 



formal but interesting small-sized conven- 

 tion was held in the parlor of Hotel Downey. 

 If a complete jsrogram is not in your hands 

 on Jan. 1, write for one. The following 

 is a brief summary of it. The president 's ad- 

 dress will be of special interest to every 

 one and will be delivered at 1 p. m. on the 

 first day of the convention. President 

 Campbell will have a message which will 

 be of very great importance to every bee- 

 keeper. Be sure to be on time for this. E. 

 E. Eoot, C. P. Dadant, J. N. Harris, and 

 others will discuss the subject of ' ' Large 

 Hives." J. N. McBride, State Market Di- 

 rector, will speak on ' ' Co-operative Mar- 

 keting. " Hon. Geo. A. Prescott, Federal 

 Food Administrator, will speak on a subject 

 to be announced later. More topics and 

 speakers are as follows: "The County As- 

 sociation," Miss A. Sly; "Two Queens in 

 One Hive," Arthur Sharrow; "Combless 

 Packages," E. A. Leffingwell; "Honey Re- 

 sources of the Upper Peninsula," B. F. 

 Kindig. Others will be announced on the 

 printed programs. Headquarters will be at 

 the Detroit and Kerns (Wentworth) Hotels. 

 Place of meeting announced on programs. 



B. F. Kindig. 

 East Lansing, Mich. 



* # * 



In Ontario. — :^Y T"f' ^,T^ ^^"^^ 



had about putting bees 

 in the cellar are past for this year. If I 

 must worry, my energies in that direction 

 will have to be focused on when to take 

 them out. The good friend at the Fenelon 

 Falls yard who had agreed to put the bees 

 in the cellar (bees are 70 miles away from 

 my home) wrote under date of Dec. 5 that 

 he put bees in cellar the week before, which 

 would be the last part of November. Judg- 

 ing by weather here in York County, I 

 think they went in at as good a time as 

 could be had this past fall, for altho No- 

 vember was milder than usual, yet we had 

 no real warm day that would give a thoro 

 flight. The season to date (Dec. 9) has 

 been favorable for outdoor-wintered bees, 

 as we have had little severe weather yet — 

 only a day or two with temperature of 

 about 12 above zero for the coldest. Owing 

 to abundant moisture and a mild fall, 

 clovers have gone into winter season with 

 a good top growth, and present prospects 

 are that the clover in Ontario will be at 

 least of normal acreage next season, pro- 

 vided the winter and the spring are favora- 

 ble. By the term ' ' clovers ' ' I have rather 

 in mind alsike principally, as it is the great 

 yielder of honey here in Ontario. Of course, 

 white clover yields some in many localities, 

 but it is much more fickle than alsike. Then 

 again, white clover, so far as my observa- 

 tion proves, rarely winterkills. The worst 

 kind of weather for this plant usually oc- 

 curs when we have a hot and dry August, 



