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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Nov. 1 



NOTES FROM CANADA 



By R. F. Holtermann. 



THE SEASON. 



After reading all the discouraging reports 

 as to the honey crop in the United States, I 

 feel a little elated at having produced two 

 carloads of honey this season. Let bee-keep- 

 ers who have colonies with much honey-dew 

 in the hives for winter stores be warned. 

 Even yet, feed 10 to 15 lbs. of sugar syrup, 

 or next spring such colonies may be found 

 dead unless frequent cleansing flights are 

 available. 



SLOW FEEDING. 



G. M. Doolittle, page 561, I believe rightly 

 condemns slow feeding in September. The 

 queen may deposit eggs when the bees are 

 fed rapidly, but the bees will destroy the 

 eggs or brood when the "flow" ceases. 

 Prolonged feeding tends to brood-rearing, 

 activity, and excitement, and in my estima- 

 tion it is a disadvantage to the colony. 



FEEDING THICK OR THIN SYRUP FOR WINTER. 



Sept. 15th Gleanings has a good deal of 

 timely advice about feeding for winter. 

 Nov. 1 is not too late to feed bees packed for 

 winter providing the right feeders are used 

 and the syrup is thick. I now prefer late 

 feeding to early, because the bees are less 

 Hkely to begin brood-rearing, and because 

 the sugar syrup is placed in the brood-cham- 

 ber, covered by the bees; and the largest 

 amount of it is utilized during the period 

 when the bees are confined to the hive. 



TARTARIC ACID. 

 In my estimation tartaric acid is much 

 safer than honey to put in sugar syrup. 

 With the prevalence of foul brood it is un- 

 safe to feed back honey You will remem- 

 ber, Mr. Editor, that I sent you a small tin 

 of nice white smooth-grained syrup in the 

 early spring. It was granulated sugar syrup, 

 two parts by weight of sugar and one of wa- 

 ter brought to a boil and treated with tartar- 

 ic acid, one teaspoonful to 13 lbs. of sugar. 

 This substance granulated much like honey 

 during winter. I showed it to several who 

 mistook it at first sight for honey. Remem- 

 ber, it was not crystallized hard and solid, 

 but like honey. 



WIRING FOUNDATION WHEN IT IS MADE. 



On page oli? the editor brings up the ques- 

 tion of milling the foundation 17 or 18 inches 

 wide, and wiring it at the same time. I have 

 made many tons of foundation, and believe 

 that, with a much stronger and heavier roll- 

 er, the difficulties in working the extra width 

 could be overcome. As brood foundation is 

 now made it must hang in the hive with the 

 strain on the sheet in the direction from 

 which it stretches and breaks most readily. 



I would be willing to pay several cents a 

 pound more for foundation milled the other 

 way. 



ANNUAL MEETING OF THE ONTARIO BEE-KEEP- 

 ERS' ASSOCIATION. 



The above association will meet in Toron- 

 to, Ontario, York County Council Chambers, 

 57 Adelaide Street, East, Nov. 10, 11, and 12. 

 The first session will be at 2 P.M., Nov. 10. 

 The fruit, flower, and honey show will be 

 held in Toronto at the same time, giving ev- 

 ery one, as soon as he sets foot on Ontario 

 soil, reduced railway rates to the convention. 

 For fuller particulars address T. W. Hod- 

 getts. Sec. Ontario Bee-keepers' Association, 

 Department of Agriculture, Toronto, Ontario. 

 ■^ 



CANADIAN NATIONAL EXHIBITION. 



The apiarian exhibit at the Canadian Na- 

 tional Exhibition was placed in the dairy 

 building this year. The writer of these notes 

 understands that the worthy president of 

 the Dairymen's Association, Senator Dan 

 Derbyshire, did some " kicking " about the 

 arrangement. At first sight this combina- 

 tion might appear to be somewhat novel to a 

 dairyman; but we read of a land flowing with 

 milk and honey; and no land, even including 

 Canada, can have, from a material standpoint, 

 a better reputation than to be such a land. 

 Many visitors, particularly those dwelling in 

 the cities, do not go into the dairy buildmg, 

 because there is not much there to plea&e 

 the eye. The honey exhibit attracted them, 

 and was a drawing card for the dairy depart- 

 ment. The time may come when the program 

 for lectures and demonstrations in dairying 

 will, at certain hours, be set aside for demon- 

 strations and lectures pertaining to the bee. 

 I have been advocating this for some time. 

 What crowds we shall then have! what an 

 interest there will be in the honey-bee and 

 its product! and what an enormous increase 

 there would be in the demand for honey 

 should this line of work be followed up! The 

 Canadian climate makes honey a desirable 

 food, particulai'ly during the winter. 



The quality of honey at the National Ex- 

 hibition was not equal to that of last year, 

 much to my surprise, and yet it was a credit 

 to Canadian apiculture. The leading exhib- 

 itors were E. Grainger & Co., Geo. Laing, 

 D. Anguish, J. T. Timbers, and G. E. John- 

 ston. The exhibit of E. Grainger & Co., To- 

 ronto, took the firtt prize as being the most 

 attractive. The prize was given by the On- 

 tario Bee-keepers' Association. It occupied 

 a space 12x20 feet. The total amount of 

 honey in the display was 2000 lbs. The dec- 

 corations were in yellow, white, and green. 

 There were two ball pyramids, which were 

 over 8 ft. high; and besides these there were 

 eight others; also a grocer's window display. 

 The exhibitors already referred to made at- 

 tractive displays, and no doubt drew atten- 

 tion to honey, from which bee-keepers all 

 over the country reap a benefit. 



[In our next issue we will show a fine en- 

 graving of the first-prize exhibit. — i. D.] 



