518 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



TVotes from Canada 



J. L. Byer, Mt. Joy. Ont. 



TEN-FRAME COLOXIES READY FOR THE SUPERS 

 FIRST. 



P. C. Chadwick, page 441, reads more out 

 of that item of mine taken from the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal tlian I intended. He says 

 that, when I say my bees always enter the 

 supers quicker from the large hives than 

 they do from the eight-frame L., I upset the 

 theory of an eight-frame hive for comb 

 honey. By " supers " of course I meant 

 extracting-supers, as I produce extracted 

 honey almost exclusively. Entering comb- 

 honey supers is a different matter altogeth- 

 er, as we all know that, for producing comb- 

 honey, the bees have to be crowded to a cer- 

 tain extent. I have no ax to grind in the 

 matter of sizes of hives; but it has certain- 

 ly been my experience always, that the 

 larger hives are ready for the extracting- 

 supers nearly always before the few eight- 

 frame hives that I have. 



I am strongly in favor of having an 

 abundance of old stores in the liive during 

 a long period of cold weather like that 

 which we experienced this year. Two of 

 my apiaries were rather short this spring 

 although no colonies actually starved. The 

 other apiaries had an abundance. All were 

 equally strong in bees at the staii, but what 

 a difference later! Those that were heavy, 

 stored honey in the supers — many did that 

 in willow i)loom. The ones a bit short 

 merely held their own through all the cold 

 weather, and many had to be fed to keep 

 them going; while as to measuring up 

 with the other colonies refeiTed to, they are 

 not in the same class. Yes, the longer I 

 keep bees the more I am in favor of " mil- 

 lions at our house," as friend Doolittle ex- 

 presses it, and spring feeding is more of a 

 nightmare to me than ever. Good job that 

 this is a free country, as the man who likes 

 to have the colonies light in the spring and 

 then tinker with them for months is quite 

 free to do so ; while on the other hand, care- 

 less free-and-easy chaps like the writer can 

 '• stuff them " in the fall and leave the bees 

 alome until willow and fruit bloom. 



SEASON PROSPECTS. 



The wi'iter of these notes has been going 

 at a teiTific pace for the past three weeks; 

 and at this date, July 7, his fingers are 

 gummed with propolis so that it is hard 

 work to run the typewriter. Perhaps tliis 

 is an exaggeration ; but at any rate my fin- 

 gers are sore from handling frames ; and the 



hum of the bees is so persistent in my ears 

 that writing is almost out of the question. 

 We have had a fine crop of honey here in 

 York Co., and the quality, I think, is the 

 best I ever handled. The yield at the north 

 yard has been light, owing to late heavy 

 frosts that cut the clover badly, and then 

 the damage was increased by severe drouth 

 which followed the cold. Reports received 

 as yet are meager; but those from the east 

 say failure, while from western and central 

 Ontario reports are mostly good. 



Many reports from the east of Ontario 

 and some parts of the north as Avell — our 

 own Lovering yard unfortunately being 

 among the number — state that the cater- 

 pillars have stripped all the foliage from 

 the basswoods so that there will be no hon- 

 ey from that source in those sections. This 

 pest seems to come periodically, and it is to 

 be hoped that next season will not see a 

 repetition of the plague or there will be 

 danger of the trees being killed outright. 



In this locality' buckwheat promises well, 

 and recent showers are bringing it along 

 nicely. * * * 



RECORD-KEEPING TAKES TOO MUCH TIME. 



Right you are, friend Foster, in what 

 you say regarding book-record systems for 

 the beekeeper who runs hundreds of colo- 

 nies. From personal observation I am led 

 to believe that not one out of ten who have 

 200 or more colonies continue very long to 

 use any style of record-keeping that is at all 

 complicated. Yet for all that it is surpris- 

 ing how an extensive beekeeper may "know" 

 so many of his colonies in so far as their 

 record goes from year to year, even when 

 nothing but a hive number or some other 

 marking is the guide to remember them by. 

 Especially is this true where outdoor win- 

 tering is practiced and the hives are not 

 changed around very much. 



A short time ago, while at one of my 

 outyards I was thinking over this matter, 

 and, by way of test, I made a critical sur- 

 vey of the apiary of about 100 colonies, 

 and in nearly every case I could mentally 

 tell myself just about how every colony had 

 done for the past three years, even when 

 the hives looked nearly all alike. In the ma- 

 jority of cases I am afraid other fellows do 

 much the same, and, all things considered, I 

 do not think it would pay me to try to keep 

 any sj^stematic record; indeed, it would be 

 only a " try " for a short time any way, to 

 be discontinued some time when exception- 

 ally busy. 



