Apr. 1, 1912 



19T 



racDT 



J. Lh Byer, Mt. Joy, Ont. 



I am glad to note, Mr. Editor, that you 

 have reached the point where you do not 

 say that a sealed cover is abs^olnUljj the best 

 thing for our colder climate, and 1 confi- 

 dently exi)ect to see in the near future that 

 you will be (|uite sure they are not at all de- 

 sirable, and that a dry ^jo/"o».s' material next 

 to the bees is altogether to be preferred for 

 outdoor wintering. 



These notes are written March 11, and 

 this month so far seems likely to keep up 

 the record for cold weather that has been 

 established by the two months preceding. 

 While every day in March has been fine 

 and clear — bright sunshine prevailing about 

 all the time, with no storms whatever — yet 

 for all that, on eight mornings out of the 

 eleven the thermometer has registered from 

 zero to five below. 



P. C. Chadwick says, page 101, Feb. 15, 

 that the average mortality of bees in Cali- 

 fornia is ten per cent per annum. If that 

 is correct, a lot of the talk about the winter- 

 ing problem in the North is exaggerated, 

 comparatively speaking, for many beekeep- 

 ers in the colder climates do not lose more 

 than that annually. In fact, I have good 

 reason to believe that some of those who 

 pay close attention to requeening, etc., do 

 not have as high a rate of mortality as that. 



4?- 

 By the way, the Feb. 15th issue is quite a 

 "chicken special," and, judging from the 

 dilTerent articles given, many beekeepers 

 are " chickenkeepers " as well. One of our 

 most successful men in Ontario combines 

 chickens, bees, and fruit, and he certainly 

 makes good in all three branches. Just a 

 question whether a combination like that is 

 not better for many than " keeping more 

 bees." No doubt all will depend on the 

 makeup of the man who is most concerned 

 in the matter. 



In reference to G. H. Bedford's plan of 

 finding queens, p. 720, Dec. 1, the plan cer- 

 tainly looks easy. However, if they drive 

 up as easily as he intimates, I would prefer 

 to allow bees, queens, and all to go right up, 

 with no excluder to hinder their progress. 

 Then I would invert the prepared crate with 

 the wire-cloth sides, and drive the bees down 

 through an excluder into the hives again. 

 In that way it seems to me that the queen 

 would be sure to be found. If I relied on 

 finding her trying to get up through the zinc 

 I am afraid she would be overlooked too 

 often. 



4>- 



Every year about this time, or earlier, re- 

 ports appear from different sections further 

 south, to the effect that the bees have been 

 shut in five or six weeks without having a 

 flight, and the fear is expressed that loss 



will result from this cause. What has al- 

 ways puzzled me is, why a few weeks 

 should work disaster, when we in the North 

 often go from four to five months without 

 having a day that the bees can take a cleans- 

 ing flight. This present season our bees 

 have not had a flight for three months, and 

 during all that time we have had more zero 

 weather than many of us have ever experi- 

 enced before. Yet for all that, the bees ap- 

 pear to be wintering all right outdoors; and 

 if we should have a good day in the near 

 future, I do not look for very heavy losses. 

 The exception in my own apiaries will be 

 almost altogether confined to the 20 hives I 

 mentioned in the February 1st issue as be- 

 ing wintered with no packing, the hives be- 

 ing constructed with double boarding with 

 heavy paper between the two. 



Regarding protection of apiaries in the 

 matter of windbreaks, I must disagree most 

 emphatically with friend Holtermann when 

 he sanctions high board fences for that pur- 

 pose. W^hile I would sooner have a high 

 board fence than nothing, still it would be 

 my last resort. My favorite location, wh^n 

 it can be secured, is a site some distance 

 south of a row of evergreens, with the bees 

 in an orchard if possible. One of my apia- 

 ries has evergreens on the north, east, and 

 west sides, and is right in an apple orchard. 

 The protection is about as near ideal as pos- 

 sible. Another yard is also in an orchard, 

 and has a row of evergreens on the north 

 side. Still another yard is in an orchard; 

 but instead of evergreens the farm buildings 

 are on the north side about ten rods away, 

 and this breaks the north winds. In all 

 three yards the bees winter well as a rule. 

 At the home yard there is a high board 

 fence, and I certainly do not compare it 

 with the evergreens so far as giving shelter 

 to the apiary. 



About the middle of February we had a 

 day that was almost warm enough for the 

 bees to take a flight; but the wind was 

 blowing cold from the north, although the 

 sun was shining brightly. In spite of any 

 thing we could do to prevent it, a number 

 of colonies got stirred up, and a few bees 

 came out of the hives. Wherever the bees 

 fell on the snow where the sun would strike 

 them, they got up and flew again; but if 

 they fell in the shade th( y were done for. 

 Toward evening I happened to take a look 

 on the north side of the board fence, and 

 there was a distinct line made by the dead 

 bees that fell within the space nearest the 

 fence that the sun did not strike. Scarcely 

 a bee was on the snow beyond that line, but 

 for eight or ten feet all along the fence there 

 were hundreds of bees. With a protection 

 higher than the fence, and further away 

 from the yard, the conditions that caused 

 the loss of so many bees are done away 

 with. 



