APRIL 1, 1913 



205 



Notes from Canada 



J. L. Byee, Mt 



It is to be hoped that the ruling relative 

 to sliipping beeswax in boxes instead of 

 bags will never be in force in this country, 

 as it would be a lot of bother for nothing. 

 I have shipped many hundreds of pounds 

 of wax in bags, and never once had the first 

 complaint. But I always double the sacks, 

 and take no chances. Being able to buy 

 large sacks at about 3 cts. each, the package 

 is vei-y cheap, and always handy to use. It 

 seems a pity that the carelessness of a few 

 ^vill often make trouble for a great many 

 other people as well as themselves. 



HOW BEES ARE "WINTERING. 



We are getting all our " winter " at the 

 tail end of the season here in Ontario. We 

 had a mild January; but February and 

 March, to date (7th), has been steadily 

 cold with high winds. There has been no 

 snow here in York Co. to speak of; but 

 north 100 miles at the Lovering yard it is 

 mountain-high. Hives have been exposed 

 all winter to the cold; and often have we 

 wished for snow to shelter them somewhat. 

 Reports received during the past two weeks 

 are not as good as early in February, and 

 present prospects point to heavy losses out- 

 doors wherever bees were not fed well last 

 fall. Natural stores do not seem to be of 

 good cjuality, and much granulation is re- 

 ported. 



« * * 



In reviewing Mr. Sladen's splendid work 

 on the bumblebee, p. 73, the editor says that 

 " the sting of the bumblebee is not very 

 severe." I don't know about that. It all 

 depends on the size of the bee doing the 

 stinging and the size of the fellow getting 

 stung. My earliest recollection of bumble- 

 bees is of having been told by a chap older 

 than myself that " queen bumblebees can 

 not sting." Shortly after getting tliis bit of 

 knowledge in my cranium, I sauntered out 

 into a patch of sunflowers where numerous 

 members of the bumblebee family were dis- 

 porting themselves ; and after a careful look 

 a '* queen " was found on one of the blos- 

 soms. I was only five years old at the time ; 

 and whether that has any thing to do with 

 my recollection of the affair or not in so far 

 as the size of the bee is concerned I am not 

 prepared to say. Any way, my memory 

 says that this particular "queen" was about 

 an inch long; and when I confidingly grasp- 

 ed her in my hand the sting I received felt 

 much longer than an inch, and the small 

 drop of blood that oozed from the puncture 



Joy, Ont. 



gave me such a scare that the pain, coupled 

 with the sight of blood, made me exceeding- 

 ly emotional for the time being. Since then 

 I have learned that, while the queen can 

 sting, the drones — at least those of some 

 species — can not do so. Especially is this 

 so of the chaps tliat are often found under 

 trees on hot days; and in schoolday times 

 we used to call them " shade bees," and 

 catch the poor fellows with impunity. 

 » * * 



]Mr. Pettit's footnote to my article on 

 page 113, Feb. 15, requires some slight ex- 

 planation. In the first place, I cheerfully 

 admit that I am to blame for not being 

 more careful in writing copy for the bee 

 journals, as I never rewrite any thing. That 

 explains why I am made to say, " during 

 the past season," when I certainly meant 

 to say, "during the past few seasons." Aside 

 from that I have no apologies to make, as 

 I have simply stated facts as given to me. 

 What my own opinion is, that is another 

 matter; but Mr. Pettit knows, or should 

 know, my attitude, as actions speak louder 

 than words. I have nothing but the best 

 wishes toward all educational movements, 

 let it be in beekeeping or any thing else; 

 but I do not tliink it is wise to publish in 

 the daily press reports of big honey yields 

 and profits, when often gross returns are 

 given instead of net receipts. 



As to doing " government work," there 

 are other methods of getting information 

 aside from being on the civil service; and 

 as to the term " producers," all will under- 

 stand that I had in view the people who 

 mainly depend upon beekeeping for a liv- 

 ing. 



By the term " boom " I rather had in 

 mind the great activity in the bee business, 

 the attendant high prices of bees, etc., in- 

 stead of the high price of honey as Mr. 

 Pettit seems to think was the case. And 

 yet I am not at all dissatisfied with the ad- 

 vance made in honey during the past few 

 years ; for although honey has not increased 

 as much as some food products, yet no one 

 will dispute that the raise has been substan- 

 tial. Only seven years ago, if I remember 

 correctly, I sold my first large amount of 

 honey at 7%, cts. delivered, and was very 

 glad to get that price. This year I sold 

 very readily honey no better, at fully a 

 half more than that figure. Honey is not 

 too high in price — many honesth^ think it 

 is not high enough; but, all the same, I am 

 very thankful that prices are as good as 

 they are — things might be worse. 



