GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



the country well stocked with bees and bee- 

 keepers. 



But why so large an attendance? In the 

 first place, the area of good bee country is 

 veiy compact. The beekeepers would not 

 have to go so far as they do in this country. 

 But this alone would not explain so large a 

 number of persons present. The secret 

 really lay in the active work done by the 

 secretary, Prof. Morley Pettit, Provincial 

 Ai^iarist, located at the Agricultural Col- 

 lege, Guclph, Ontario. For over a year back, 

 he has been working to secure membership 

 for the Association, with the result that he 

 has doubled and trebled it ; and now Ontario 

 has something like 1400 members on its 

 roll. We asked him how he secured so large 

 a number. He replied, " By advertising." 

 He kept at work at the local associations to 

 get the members to affiliate with the Pro- 

 vincial organization, and to a large extent 

 they have done this. It was not so surpris- 

 ing, therefore, that delegates from all over 

 the Province were present, making some- 

 thing like 350 on Nov. 20, forenoon and 

 after noon. A 



We have always entertained the belief 

 that the clover honey of Ontario was of a 

 very superior quality. The extracted, this 

 year at least, is several shades lighter than 

 the same honey south of the lakes. One 

 reason of this is that the Canada thistle, 

 which is usually present in clover, furnishes 

 a very superior honey. It is very light in 

 color, and when blended with clover makes 

 an article that is to all intents and pur- 

 poses a water-white, or as near as any honey 

 ever gets. 



SNOW AN EXCELLENT PROTECTION FOR OUT- 

 DOOR- VPINTERED colonies; is there 

 DANGER OF ITS BEING TOO MUCH OF 

 A GOOD THING SOMETIMES? 



Medina was in the snow-blizzard area of 

 the Northern States that swept the central 

 section of the country on the 9th and 10th 

 of November. Such a blizzard, in this lo- 

 cality at least, was fully two months ahead 

 of time. We were enveloped in snow to an 

 average depth of two feet on the level to 

 eight and twelve in drifts. The result was 

 that our outdoor colonies, which we were 

 expecting on the 10th to load into a car for 

 Florida, were buried in many eases out of 

 sight. It was not particularly cold — about 

 32 degrees all the time — and the snow was 

 a splendid protection ; but it was a little 

 damp when it fell; and when the weather 

 turned a little colder on the 11th the snow 

 began to cake, and then we began to fear 

 trouble. By digging down to some of the 

 colonies we found that some of them were 



suffering from want of air, and doubtless 

 many would have died if we had not provid- 

 ed ventilation. Examination showed that 

 the hot breath of the bees had melted the 

 snow for quite a space around the entrance. 

 In some cases the water from the snow 

 froze, filling the entrance up completely, 

 and, of course, the bees became uneasy. 

 But, fortunately, we caught them in time. 



Fuller particulars will be given, with a 

 series of photos showing the result of the 

 snow blizzard at Medina; but for the pres- 

 ent, at least, it is proper to anticipate a 

 question that may arise in the minds of a 

 good many of our readers, as to whether 

 there is much danger of bees suffocating 

 under the snow. This question we have al- 

 ready answered in part, and it only remains 

 for us to say that a light snow drifted 

 around the hives, so far from being harm- 

 ful, is beneficial ; but when it drifts over the 

 tops of the hives, thaws a little and freezes, 

 there is danger of suffocation. An ordinary 

 light snow, even when drifted over the 

 hives, will do no harm for a few days; but 

 such hives should not be left too long. 



It will not be sufficient to imn a board or 

 a stick down to the entrance in case the 

 hives are deeply buried, for the simple rea- 

 son that such a procedure will not disclose 

 the fact that the entrance may be closed 

 with ice. For example, we ran a stick down 

 and made a wide opening at the entrances 

 of several hives, on the 10th. After thi? 

 was done, Mr. Marchant thought he would 

 investigate. He did so, and found that some 

 of the entrances were clogged with ice. The 

 only thing he could do was to use a shovel, 

 and run his hand down and feel with his 

 fingers in order to ascertain if the entrances 

 were open — a procedure, by the way, not 

 particularly comfortable. 



In 1881, at the close of March and open- 

 ing of April, we had a three-days' blizzard 

 of snow. At that time the liives were buried 

 clear out of sight. Naturally enough we 

 supposed that this snow would be a good 

 tiling; but that spring recorded the most 

 fearful mortality among outdoor-wintered 

 bees that was ever known in all modern 

 beekeeping. At all events, our own loss was 

 the greatest we have ever had, and the com- 

 plaints from all parts of the North showed 

 the same heavy losses. Prior to that time, 

 and even after it, our own winter losses had 

 not exceeded five per cent, and usually did 

 not go above two per cent. We are coming 

 to believe more and more that the bees that 

 year suffered more for want of ventilation 

 on account of the entrances being closed 

 with ice than because of the extreme cold 

 that then prevailed. 



