100 WESTERN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



MR. BURMAN. I would like to ask another question. We have 

 some poisonous flowers here. Would Mr. Bedford or another who 

 understands this think this would be likely to affect the honey. I 

 would think that the flowers of such plants as the poison ivy would be 

 likely to do this. 



MR. BEDFORD. I think not. Of course there are a great many 

 plants that bees will not feed on and we can leave it to their instincts 

 to choose their food. 



Question. How many pounds do you get from your bees ? 



MR. DUNCAN. About 30 pounds this year but I have got as much 

 as 100 Ibs. from a colony. 



MR. BEDFORD. How far is your place from here ? 

 MR. DUNCAN. About fifty miles South. 



Question. Where do you winter them ? In the cellar ? Have you 

 tried them outside and if so how does it work ? 



MR. DUNCAN. In coming here I did not intend to have anything to 

 say from the fact that I do not speak in public. I have had bees for 

 about fourteen years. The first time I got bees it was simply to try if 

 they would live in this country, as I had heard from authorities that 

 they would not live in Manitoba. I came across some parts where 

 there were vast quantities of flowers and that made me certain that 

 bees would do well here. I found out those who had bees in the Prov- 

 ince and purchased a colony. The first year I had them I was not 

 home to attend to them. In the fall as an experiment I put them in the 

 scrub and covered them with dry leaves, then put boards around them 

 and piled in between the boards and the hives with straw. Six years 

 ago I purchased another hive with the intention of keeping bees and 

 during all the time I have kept bees I have not lost more than seven 

 hives. I have had them in the cellar and in the house and they do well 

 either place providing there is proper ventilation, especially if there is 

 moisture. I kept them in the cellar until they became too numerous, 

 and then I built a little house on purpose. I find this year that they 

 are in good condition. 



Question. How did you build your house ? 



MR. DUNCAN. Well, about four feet in a bank. I put stone around 

 the bottom and had it about seven feet high. I think bees can be kept 

 profitably provided those keeping them know anything about them. 

 As your bees increase your knowledge of them will also increase. 



MR. E}. F. STEPHENSON. I may say for the information of any here 

 who may have thought of trying bees, that I got a colony two years 

 ago and the first year I took out 28 pounds of honey and I think there 

 must have been, by the weight of the hive, 40 or 50 pounds left. I put 



