OCTOBER 1, 1912 



ei8 



>Jotes from Canada 



J. L. Byee, Mt. Joy, Ont. 



The Ontario Beekeepers' Association will 

 hold its annual convention in Toronto dur- 

 ing the week of Xov. 12. The program is 

 not yet prepared, but due notice will be 

 given later as to place of meeting, hotel 

 and railway arrangements, etc. 



Owing to a misunderstanding on the part 

 of the directors of the national exhibition 

 held in Toronto this year the exhibit of 

 honey is very limited, only one of the usual 

 displaj-s being in evidence. The other ex- 

 liibitors this year had fine crops, and ar- 

 rangements had been made for a record ex- 

 hibit, when the unfortunate matter alluded 

 to knocked out all their plans. Xot being 

 in full possession of the facts in the case, 

 I will wait till next issue before referring 

 to the matter more fullv. 



A WARXIXG. 



Reference has been made to the unusual 

 amount of brood in the hives at this date, 

 Sept. 7. That means either stan'ation this 

 winter or a heavy feeding bill for sugar. 

 Wliile the specialist beekeeper is not apt 

 to be caught napping, this reminder is 

 given for the benefit of those who have a 

 few bees, and always depend upon enough 

 being in the brood-nests for winter. Colo- 

 nies run for comb honey may be all right; 

 but if run for extracted honey they certain- 

 ly will need feeding in all sections where 

 conditions are like those here in York Co., 

 Ontario, this season. 



CLOVER PROSPECT GOOD FOR XEXT YEAR. 



In glancing over my department for 

 Sept. 1 the reader will no doubt wonder at 

 the conti'adictory items regarding the 

 weather conditions here in Ontario during 

 past summer, as in one place reference is 

 made to the extreme heat and then again 

 I speak of the very cool weather during 

 basswood bloom. This is explained by 

 the fact that the two items referred to 

 were sent in at different times. As a mat- 

 ter of fact, the onh' really hot weather we 

 had this season was during the first two 

 weeks of Juh-; and since then we have had 

 a long spell of unseasonable, cool wet 

 weather that has knocked out all our ex- 

 pectations of getting a bumper crop of 

 buckwheat honey from our yards this year. 

 While some surplus has been stored from 



the buckwheat, yet there is not a quarter 

 of what we would have had with season- 

 able weatlier. For some reason the brood- 

 nests are more crowded with brood at this 

 date (Sept. 3) than I ever knew before, 

 and of course that will mean lots of young 

 bees for winter; but it will also mean a 

 heavy feeding bill to get them in shape for 

 good wintering. But all the rain we have 

 had has not been an unmixed ev'il, as never 

 before have I seen such prospects for al- 

 sike clover. There are hundreds and hun- 

 dreds of acres of it; and it is so thick and 

 rank on the ground that much of it is blos- 

 soming and growing right up among the 

 shocks of grain, which in many places are 

 still in the fields, owing to the unprecedent- 

 edly long spell of wet weather. 

 * « • 



COLOXIES IX POOR COXDITIOX WIXTER BEST 

 IX A CELLAR. 



That symposium on wintering, Sept. 1, 

 is interesting; and on looking over the vari- 

 ous articles on the subject I am reminded 

 that a promise was made last spring to 

 furnish an article with illustrations show- 

 ing the successful caves used for wintering 

 my large apiary in the county of Leeds. 

 While I entirely forgot the promise, owing 

 to being very busy during the past few 

 months, at some future time I hope to de- 

 scribe this simple building that winters 

 so successfully. After all is said and done 

 on the matter of wintering, there will still 

 be advocates of both indoor and outside 

 methods, right in the same locality, all 

 owing to the different conditions found in 

 cellars and other repositories, as well as 

 the different methods taken of wintering 

 outdoors. One thing is certain, and I have 

 learned this by experience with the caves 

 referred to — in a perfect wintering reposi- 

 tory bees will winter with little preparation 

 and a small amount of stores when they 

 would die outright if packed in the most 

 approved methods outdoors. On the other 

 hand, if strong colonies are given abun- 

 dance of good stores, and protected in any 

 of the approved ways, they will winter 

 far better than if just as well provided 

 with stores, and wintered in a poor reposi- 

 torj\ From the fact that perfect wintering 

 repositories are the exception rather than 

 the rule, and that good outdoor wintering 

 can be secured by all, pro^^ding proper 

 care is taken, the latter method is and will 

 continue to grow in favor among men who 

 are in the business extensively, and have 

 to keep their bees in different localities. 



