710 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



November, 1919 



MANITOBA MANAGEMENT 



Our Location Because of Difference 

 in Weather Conditions and Crops 

 Demands Modification of Methods 



By H. W. Sanders 



AEECENT in- 

 ^ quire r in 

 one of the 

 bee journals ask- 

 ed how far north 

 bees could be 

 kept, and the an- 

 swer was given, 

 that as far 

 north as men 

 live bees are kept. Just how far this is 

 literally true, I cannot say; but I hardly 

 think that anywhere else do they have a cli- 

 mate quite as severe as that of Manitoba, 

 and the fact that beekeeping is getting to 

 be quite a considerable industry here speaks 



Ten-frame Langstroth (3) beside an eight-frame 



Jumbo hive (2). The Jumbo was made by fixing a 



shallow super to a standard eight-frame body. 



well both for the wonderful adaptability of 

 the honeybee and for the perfection of 

 modern beekeeping methods and appliances. 

 The provincial Government of Manitoba has 

 announced that the 1919 honey crop will 

 exceed one million pounds, and the lively 

 demand for swarms and colonies at high 

 prices is an indication of how far and how 

 fast is travelling that interest in bees that 

 is only gratified by the purchase of stock. 

 Ordinary Methods Need Modification. 



Most of our bee literature has been ob 

 tained from the writers in the Northern 

 States who have made such wonderful ad- 

 vances in the art of honey production, and 

 have so unselfishly given them to the world; 

 and while some few of our beekeepers learn- 

 ed their methods in older beekeeping coun- 

 tries such as Ontario, or England, a good 

 many have started right out with modern 

 ideas and modern equipment. We have 

 found, however, that our shorter season has 

 necessitated quite a little modification or 

 the methods perfected by Doolittle, Dr. Mil- 

 ler, A. I. Root, and other authorities; and 

 the account of the methods given by Bro. 

 Ambrose of the monastery at St. Norbert, in 

 a recent number of Gleanings, really needs 

 an explanation to harmonize it with the 

 proved and successful practices of the great 

 beemen mentioned. 



Your season begins sooner, lasts longer. 



and has a gap in 

 the middle. Our 

 bees often do not 

 get carried out 

 of the cellar un- 

 til mid - April, 

 sometimes not 

 till May; and 

 we, therefore, 

 have less time to 

 build up in the spring before the clover be- 

 gins to bloom. We have a great abundance 

 of natural pollen from poplar and willows, 

 and a little nectar from the latter and from 

 wild-fruit bloom. Cultivated fruit has not 

 been successfully acclimated except in one 

 or two favored localities. We have an abun- 

 dance of dandelion in May, and soon after 

 the bees are out of the cellar they begin to 

 build up with great rapidity and in favora- 

 ble seasons sometimes swarm early in June. 

 Clover opens about the third week in June, 

 but so far it has proved a most uncertain 

 crop. With an abundance of bloom the bees 

 often get nothing and are inclined to rob. 

 Brood-laying is curtailed, and unless feeding 

 is resorted to they will not build up as they 

 should for the later and more important 

 flows. 



Our real honey season comes in July, and 

 from about the 10th of this month until 

 the frosts come in late August or early Sep- 

 tember, there is practically an unbroken 

 flow from wild mint, wolfberry, Canada and 

 other thistles, goldenrod, and aster. The 

 honey from the mints when first taken has 



The extractor is screwed to a heavy platform, the 



top of which is hinged so that after each extracting 



it can be tilted forward, as shown, to drain it. 



the characteristic smell and flavor of mint, 

 but soon loses this on being kept. 



Alexander's Methods Applicable Here. 

 The conditions outlined above, in practi- 

 cal honey production, make the methods of 

 the late E. W. Alexander of especial interest 

 to beekeepers in this locality, for his famous 

 buckwheat honey flows came at about the 

 same time of year as our heavy flows, and 

 his system apparently relies on this buck- 

 wheat honey as the "bread and butter" of 

 his business. Mr. Mendleson of California 

 is reported as having said that in any loca- 



