722 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



NOVKMBEB, 1919 



FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



lumbia environment apicultural practices, 

 successful elsewhere, must be modified and 

 often radically altered. The beginners in 

 the newly settled districts especially suffer 

 from the dearth of beekeeping traditions. 

 However, the honey industry gains ground, 

 and nowhere are there more enthusiastic 

 and progressive beekeepers than those in 

 this province. 



British Columbia is an immense territory, 

 an empire which extends to the arctic circle 

 on the north, and in the south has regions 

 where there is practically no snow in winter. 

 Much of the interior is semiarid to arid. On 

 the Lower Mainland, which is the center of 

 population, and north to Prince Eupert the 

 average rainfall is above 55 inches per an- 

 num, and some localities get as much as 90 

 inches. That is some rainfall. It is an il- 

 lustration of the variety in conditions under 

 which beekeepers in this province operate. 

 They believe the general welfare of the in- 

 dustry can be improved by organization. 



Beekeepers have been getting good prices 

 — many averaging 20 cents a pound or more 

 for their entire extracted output. In recent 

 years honey-produ( ers have received prices 

 comparing most favorably with those ob- 

 tained in other parts of America. One rea- 

 son is the isolated situation of the province 

 and the distance that imported supplies 

 must come. Another is the slim local indus- 

 try which has utilized only a small portion 

 of the available forage. White clover, fire- 

 weed, and alfalfa are important sources of 

 nectar. British Columbia beekeepers are 

 sideliners, altho some of them have incomes 

 from their bees which would recompense 

 ■v\ell for their entire time. 



James Eeagh at Ladner in the fertile 

 Fraser delta has an apiary of about 30 colo- 

 nies beneath fruit trees in his village back 

 yard. He is probably the most successful 

 beekeeper in the Fraser Valley; but not the 

 least of the fun for him must be the local 

 distinction. Scores have failed with bees in 

 the Ladner district because of problems 

 created by breaks in the spring succession of 

 nectar-bearing flowers. Eeagh produces al- 

 most all the honey surplus in his region. 



Mr. Eeagh learned how to handle bees in 

 Ontario; but he says he had, in many re- 

 spects, to learn all over again when he came 

 to Ladner, as local conditions were so differ- 

 ent. He began his apiary with wild bees 

 captured in the timber several miles from 

 Ladner, which is on a delta plain. That was 

 away back in the 90 's. For several years 

 he had but little surplus; but he plugged 

 away, learning the "how" of it. He now 

 has always a nice income from his bees. 



The Lower Mainland has an early spring 

 and a late fall. Ladner is on a delta plain; 

 and after willow bloom in early March there 

 are practically no flowers until clover in 

 June. Elsewhere fruit blossoms come along 

 to furnish nectar, but thruout the district 



April is ordinarily the crucial month of the 

 year, and it is not safe for a beekeeper to 

 count his losses until this period is passed. 

 Spring managemert is, therefore, of much 

 importance. At Ladner, Eeagh found two 

 dangers created by the hazard of the flower 

 succession, and he meets them at the same 

 time. One is the storing of honeydew, im- 

 periling winter health when there comes a 

 dearth of nectar and pollen-bearing flowers 

 after the summer honey flow. The other is 

 the great danger cf a cessation in brood- 

 rearing after willow bloom, and in that 

 lengthy period before clover when forage 

 is scant or non-existent. 



On the Lower Mainland there is the in- 

 evitable difference of opinion as to the best 

 way to bring colonies thru these weeks. 

 Stimulative feeding is followed by some. 

 Others are just as positive that nothing but 

 ample honey stores will accomplish the ob- 

 ject. Mr. Eeagh 's practice for years has 

 been to introduce sufficient honey in the fall 

 to carry the bees thru to the clover-honey 

 flow. He introduces the honey just before 

 honeydew, filling a compartment with solid 

 comb placed beneath a brood-chamber, from 

 which all but the frames actually containing 

 brood have been taken. When the brood 

 hatches out, the frames are taken away. 

 This strategy compels the bees to cluster on 

 the solid comb; and as there is no room for 

 storage they gather no honeydew. 



W. H. Collins, a veteran beekeeper at 

 Grand Forks in southern British Columbia, 

 finds cellar wintering best. He has a gravel- 

 ly soil, neither very damp nor very dry, 

 with a temperature around 38 or 40 degrees. 

 The hives are kept about a foot from the 

 ground, and 18 inches apart. The cellar is 

 kept dark, and as quiet as possible. 



L. Harris of Vernon, our genial provincial 

 foul-brood inspector, is in the dry belt and 

 winters outdoors. At Invermere in the Upper 

 Columbia Valley, wintering in an outdoor 

 trench has been successful in an experi- 

 mental way. 



As in the newer sections of the American 

 West, most British Columbia beekeepers are 

 ' ' from ' ' somewhere. L. Harris came from 

 England; and his experience goes back to 

 the primitive, much-pictured, old-style Eng- 

 lish hives. He brought bees with him on 

 the trip out — a journey of over 6,000 miles. 

 His apiary is in an irrigation district where 

 orcharding is general. The bees are under 

 one disadvantage common in the mountain 

 regions of British Columbia — ■ they must 

 range largely in two directions. On two 

 sides are dry sagebrush slopes for cattle- 

 grazing, and the more productive bottom 

 lands at this point are rather narrow. Mr. 

 Harris bottles much of his honey for the 

 local stores. He also has a small but well- 

 equipped shop where he manufactures bee 

 supplies. J. T. Bartlett. 



Ft. Collins. Colo. 



