JUNE 1, 1912 



329 



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J. L. Byeb, Mt. Joy, Ont. 



I have just learned of the death of Mr. 

 Checkley, one of the inspectors of apiaries 

 in eastern Ontario. Only a few weeks ago 

 friend Chalmers, another inspector, also 

 passed away. Truly death is taking a heavy 

 toll among Ontario beekeepers the present 

 season, for in addition to these two named, 

 ]Mr. Pettit, father of our Provincial apiarist, 

 l)assed away in the early spring. 

 4?- 



An article on tobacco-raising in Glean- 

 ings! Whew! I happened to open March 

 15th issue, just at the page where the article 

 started. First the article was read, and then 

 I turned over to find the explanation, which 

 was sure to be there somewhere. Well, Mr. 

 Editor, the explanation is satisfactory, even 

 if our finer susceptibilities did receive a bit 

 of a shock at the unexpected; and now who 

 knows but that, in the near future, we may 

 see honey advertised as being slightly mixed 

 with tobacco? Let me say that such an ad- 

 vertisement will not entice this honey-eater, 

 as some of my friends have given it a bad 

 reputation, and I will not take any chances 

 in the matter. Last fall these friends refer- 

 red to attended a church conference down in 

 Pennsylvania; and while visiting at a home 

 there honey was served. On asking what 

 kind it was, they were informed that it was 

 "tobacco" honey. With considerable mis- 

 givings they started to eat the honey, but 

 soon found that it wouldn't go, as they tell 

 me it had the genuine tobacco taste. Of 

 course it may be a matter of getting used to 

 it, as these same friends of mine told me 

 that they could not stay in the tobacco 

 barns on account of the burning that would 

 affect their eyes and nostrils, while to the 

 "natives" no harm resulted. 

 ■*- 



"Things do move" in the work of bee- 

 journal men, the same as in other occupa- 

 tions. While I had been given a hint rel- 

 ative to the fact that the American Bee 

 Journal was changing hands, the May 

 numljer of the Review gave me a genuine 

 surprise when I learned that the latter was 

 being taken over by the National Asso- 

 ciation. While I regret very much to see 

 friend York retiring from the Journal, yet 

 I feel that it could not very well have fall- 

 en into better hands; and with a host of 

 others, I wish Mr. Dadant abundant suc- 

 cess in his new sphere of labor. I say 

 "new," but after all that is hardly the 

 word to use, as Mr. Dadant has lieen a well- 

 known writer for apicultural journals, both 

 home and foreign, for a long lime — in fact, 

 for so long a time that some of us younger 

 fellows can not remember seeing bee jour- 

 nals without some reference to him. 



The change in the Review's manage- 

 ment is indeed an experiment for this side 

 of the world. As to my private opinion in 

 the matter, so far as the National is con- 

 cerned, perhaps it would be best to reserve 



judgment for the time being; at any rate, 

 being a Canuck I am somewhat of an out- 

 sider, and might be accused of patterning 

 after "Butinsky" if I otTered any com- 

 ments. I believe the general impression is 

 that friend Tyrrell is "making good." 



No doubt many have heard of the story 

 of the chronic grumbler who lived on a cer- 

 tain farm. On being congratulated because 

 of the very heavy crop in his field he re- 

 plied, "Yes, it is a good crop all right; but 

 such heavy yields are awfully hard on the 

 land." I was reminded of the story to-day 

 as I was driving home from one of the out- 

 yards, when I recalled that it was with min- 

 gled feelings that I found many of the colo- 

 nies in the apiary so full of bees and brood 

 that something will have to be done before 

 fruit bloom to keep them from swarming, 

 if weather conditions should be favorable 

 for the next two weeks. This is a late 

 spring, and to-day (May 10) the pussy wil- 

 lows are still in bloom in some places in the 

 shade. As I drove to the yard, the first 

 time for weeks, I was hoping that the bees 

 would not be iveak, hni just strong enough 

 so that they would not have to be supered 

 for fruit bloom. The reason is that I am 

 shipping a load of bees, and am so rushed 

 with work that I do not know how soon I 

 can go to this yard again. Instead of the 

 "just right " condition I had been hoping 

 for, as already stated, some of the colonies 

 were clustered out at the entrance, although 

 the brood-nests were equal to 12 Langstroth 

 frames, and we have had only a few warm 

 days so far this season. It is needless to 

 say the culprits were not Italians, as the lat- 

 ter were not so precocious, and will not suf- 

 fer for a week or two, although most of them 

 are in fair condition. 



Some have reported a heavy consumption 

 of stores the past winter; but such has not 

 been the case with our bees unless they were 

 stronger than usual last fall. For some rea- 

 son, although we have had an abnormally 

 cold winter and a very late cold spring, the 

 bees that came through the winter well are 

 very strong for the time of year. I am sor- 

 ry to say, however, that in our section a 

 good deal of the little clover we had left last 

 fall is killed by the late spring frosts. By 

 the way, just a few days ago one of my 

 friends chided me for giving such pessimist- 

 ic views of the prospects in our section, and 

 remarked, "Why, the most of the fellows 

 over the line think that Canada is about as 

 big as a postage stamp; and when they read 

 your noteg in Gleanings they will come to 

 the conclusion that there will be no honey 

 in Canada in 1912." For fear this might 

 be true, let me say that, in many parts of 

 our country, the prospects are good; yet, on 

 the other hand, many localities have but 

 very little clover, owing to the terrible 

 drouth of last summer. 



