been created and a greater number of countries 

 are asking for shipments which it is beyond 

 the supply of manufactured goods to furnish. 



On the American continent there is only a 

 relatively small section of Northern Pacific 

 lands in a position to supply the demands for 

 loganberries. The increasing demands for the 

 berry are so many urgings to growers to make 

 profitable in this manner some of British Colum- 

 bia's two million acres of land vacant but 

 suited to berry growing. Whilst on the other 

 side of the line, where conditions are not as 

 fine, large acreages are being devoted to logan- 

 berry production, British Columbia is neglecting 

 her opportunities in the same regard. 



No other business, it is claimed, pays such 

 large returns for so little labor besides building 

 up many tributary industries, and there exist 

 in the province countless opportunities for 

 present growers and new settlers. 



Honey Production in Western Canada 



A noticeable feature of Western Canadian agriculture 

 in recent years has been the progress recorded in the adop- 

 tion of beekeeping and the production of honey as a com- 

 mercial venture, a line of farming hitherto not commonly 

 associated with the Canadian West because not practiced 

 there to any extent. In the earlier days of Western Cana- 

 dian settlement, farming was largely conceived in terms of 

 extensive grain fields and giant herds of cattle, and the im- 

 pression was created, when farmers gave their almost 

 exclusive attention to these branches, that the land was un- 

 suited to other phases of farming which subsequent devel- 

 opments have disproved. As the farmers of the West have 

 become more settled, however, and discovered by experi- 

 ence and experimentation the actual virtues and proper- 

 ties of the soil and climate, the more general pursuit of di- 

 versified farming has become the rule. It has incidentally 

 been discovered that the Western provinces, particularly 

 their irrigated sections, are admirably adapted to the pro- 

 duction of alfalfa and other clovers, and this has adminis- 

 tered a pronounced stimulus to beekeeping which has made 

 remarkable progress, particularly in Manitoba and British 

 Columbia. 



Canadian honey is unsurpassed in quality, and owing 

 mainly to the warmer summer and abundance of nectar- 

 producing flowers until frost, the average yield per colony 

 is greater than, for instance, in the British Isles. Whilst 

 Eastern Canada has had a large annual honey production 

 for years, a general disbelief prevailed that honey could not 

 be produced successfully in British Columbia, and only com- 

 paratively recently has it been proven conclusively that 

 bees thrive as well and honey to as large extent and of the 

 same high quality can be raised in the West as in the East. 



The Irrigated Districts Great Producers 



The natural bloom of Alberta throughout the season 

 affords abundant food for bees, and the alfalfa fields of the 

 irrigated districts, fast arriving at the premier place in this 

 respect on the continent, and the clover beds of the northerly 

 and central districts, give adequate supplies of nectar and 

 pollen for countless hives. There is no question of the ex- 

 :ellency of conditions in British Columbia, particularly in 

 the renowned fruit districts. Manitoba's successes stand 

 as proof of adaptability, whilst the similarity of conditions 

 in Saskatchewan indicate all that might be done in the pro- 

 vince of beekeeping. 



British Columbia's honey crop in 1921 amounted to 

 >,074 pounds, according to the provincial apiarist, which 

 Id at an average price of 29 cents per pound realized a 

 revenue of $86,631. During the year the number,^ of api- 

 aries in the province increased from 1,896 to 2,072 and the 



number of hives from 9,539 to 10,329. The Okanagan Val- 

 ley, famous the world over for its fruit, has taken enthusias- 

 tically and seriously to apiculture, to which the valley with 

 its thousands of fruit trees is so admirably adapted. During 

 the year an important consignment of Dutch bees, cele- 

 brated for their honey-producing qualities, was introduced 

 to improve the strain of bees in the Kelowna (British 

 Columbia) district. 



In Manitoba, the first settled of the Prairie Provinces and 

 the West's most eminent wheat area, the progress made in 

 beekeeping has been little less than phenomenal, and it has 

 assumed a long lead over the other provinces of the West 

 in the matter of honey production. Its crop in 1921 amount- 

 ed to 903,000 pounds derived from 14,721 colonies of bees. 

 As far back as 1903, the Manitoba Beekeepers Association 

 was formed and it has now well over one thousand members. 

 In certain settlements, notably Beausejour, Ladywood, and 

 Brokenhead, beekeeping has become one of the leading in- 

 dustries. I nstances of success in this cult are reported from 

 the Swan River Valley in Northern Manitoba, where a 

 farmer secured a return of $1,500 in one season from thirty- 

 three hives, and at Dominion City where from, a stray 

 swarm settling on his farm six years ago, a farmer now has 

 seventy-six colonies and last year sold more than two tons 

 of honey at 35 cents per pound. 



1000 Ibs. from 13 Hives 



Production figures of the province of Saskatchewan are 

 not available; the output is substantially less than that of 

 the sister province, though it possesses the same opportu- 

 nities and similar advantages. The settling process to the 

 same extent among farmers, has not yet taken place nor the 

 lighter sides of farming been adopted to the same extent. 

 The possibilities of the province in apiculture are, however, 

 ably illustrated by the single experience of a farmer in the 

 Grenfell district who obtained one thousand pounds of first 

 class honey last year from thirteen two-frame hives, in addi- 

 tion to which his bees increased to seventeen colonies. He 

 only started beekeeping as an experiment and hobby in 191 7 

 but is now an enthusiastic advocate of its general adoption 

 in the province on a commercial scale. 



Alberta also lags behind as yet in the matter of bee- 

 keeping, though its advantages are yet greater than either 

 two of the other prairie provinces. The experience of an 

 Edmonton beekeeper illustrates what can be done in honey 

 production even away from the alfalfa districts. Starting 

 out with a foundation swarm of mixed bees he managed, 

 by importing high-bred queens, to so improve it that in a 

 few years he had a purebred strain of Italian bees. He 

 keeps from ten to fifteen hives and disposes of the increase 

 in the spring or fall. He has secured one hundred pounds 

 per hive, each of which returns him $40. 



Honey Imports Greatly Exceed Exports 



Experimentation in beekeeping in the Western Cana- 

 dian provinces has been extensively carried on by the gov- 

 ernment experimental farms with the result the following 

 figures were obtained as to the net value of production per 

 colony of bees in the different provinces: Brandon, Mani- 

 toba, $3.27; Indian Head,Saskatchewan,$l 1.83 ;Lethbridge, 

 Alberta, $16.49; Lacombe, Alberta, $12.79; Invermere, Bri- 

 tish Columbia, $13.26; Summerland, British Columbia, 

 $11.81. 



Though the production of honey in the Western Can- 

 adian provinces is not as yet very great, sufficient has been 

 effected to prove that this is not due to unsuitability of 

 location but to the fact that apiculture has never been ex- 

 tensively followed in these areas. Experts are satisfied that 

 the West can produce as good honey as the East, and the 

 prairies are coming in an ever increasing extent to be less 

 dependant on Ontario and the Eastern provinces as well as 

 the United States for their supplies of this succulent edible. 



There is ample room for a substantial development of 

 the industry in Western Canada, and those contemplating 

 the adoption of beekeeping need have no apprehen- 

 sion of difficulty in disposing of the output. Canadian 

 trade figures show that in the fiscal year 192 1, whilst Canada 

 exported to the United Kingdom, United States, France and 



45 



