AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



687 





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OBSBRVAXIOXS AP^D EXPERIMENTS. 



Toronto Island— Queen-Rearing and Mating— Other Inter- 

 esting Apiarian Matters. 



BY JOHN M'ARTHUR. 



Before going into details on queen-rearing, permit me to give a description of 

 our lovely island. 



Toronto Island is a tract of land formed of sand washed up by the rivers — 

 Niagara, Don and Humbee — situated in Lake Ontario directly in front of the city of 

 Toronto, Ont., Canada, distant from main land two or more miles. It embraces 

 5,000 acres; width across 1% miles. Ten years ago it was a barren desert. Since 

 then Toronto has doubled its population, which is now 188,000. A demand was 

 made for more park accommodation, 300 acres being set apart for that purpose on 

 the Island. Thousands of nectar-producing trees have been planted, clover grows 

 luxuriantly, and yields nectar until the middle of September. The "desert "now 

 " blossoms as the rose." Thousands of citizens, and many United States people, 

 visit the park during the summer months. It is one of the city's attractions. A 

 great many summer residences occupy the south and west shores. The light-house, 

 hospital for sick children, and Hanlan's hotel on the west, and Wiman's baths on 

 the east, are points of attraction. No liquor is allowed to be sold. The city owns 

 the island, and you are not allowed to put anything on the island without a permit — 

 not even bees. Ferry boats run every half hour from Yonge, Brock and Church 

 streets wharfs. Postal collections and deliveries are made twice daily ; it also 

 has telephone connections. 



The attempt was made ten years ago to rear queens. Owing to its bareness it 

 had it be abandoned. Then my attention was turned to the necessity of seeding the 

 island, which has been going on ever since. During the last four years a small 

 apiary has been maintained, last summer numbering 45 colonies. The prospects 

 for 1894 were to make the apiary a little attractive. The islanders patronize me, 

 and buy considerable honey. It is a fine center for selling honey, as many as 7,000 

 people being found in the park during the warm days of summer. Some days a 

 rousing trade is done. 



The flora of the island is very limited, consisting of sweet clover and scarlet 

 lobelia — a very handsome flower, producing an excellent honey. Asters and golden- 

 rod are to be seen in little patches. With the amount of sweet clover sown last 

 season, there should be several hundred acres next season in blossom — enough to 

 support quite an apiary, and will then be one of the best, if not the very best, on 

 the continent for queen-rearing and experimental purposes. It is somewhat ex- 



