THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



633 



the many visitors with a very tasty 

 show, and his goods were in splendid 

 condition for shipping. He showed 

 both coiiili and extracted honey. Mr. 

 Jos. Aches, of Amiens, had, as usual, 

 a grand display of both comb and ex- 

 tracted honey, and also queens, al- 

 though the weather was so cold tliat 

 it was not advisable to bring a large 

 collection. 



There was also some very fine ex- 

 tracted honey exhibited by Mrs. F. 

 Lingard, of Mitchell. A number of 

 other exhibitors showed honey, but 

 not in good shape, and the honey was 

 not placed with the rest of the ex- 

 hibits. 



London, Ont. 



Indiana Fanner. 



Preparing Bees for Winter. 



F. L. DOUGHEKTY. 



The question of safe wintering of 

 bees IS probably the most important 

 subject among bee-keepers, and is 

 less understood than any other part 

 of the business. There are many who 

 winter tlieir bees very successfully, 

 but their plan in other hands or in 

 different localities makes ntter fail- 

 ures. Again the same plan may be 

 followed year after year with perfect 

 success, when from some unknown 

 difference it proves valueless. There 

 are, however, some general features 

 in connection with safety on which 

 most all agree. 



The amount of stores necessary for 

 the safe wintering of an ordinary 

 colony of bees should not be less than 

 2.5 pounds. Some will consume less 

 than others ; all vi'ill consume less, or 

 more, according to the condition of 

 the winter weather and its duration. 

 The quality of the stores on which 

 they are to subsist has much to do 

 ■with the probable outcome in the 

 spring. 



Another feature, and one which I 

 consider of the greatest importance, 

 is the age of the bees which are to 

 form the winter cluster. I think 

 there can be no mistake but that the 

 life of the bee is governed entirely by 

 the amount of work done, and not by 

 the time consumed in doing it. In 

 localities where no fall honey is pro- 

 duced, bees that hatched during the 

 latter part of June and through July, 

 have but little work to perform, and 

 will last until the latter part of De- 

 cember. No fall lioney coming in, 

 but few young bees are reared, which 

 at the death of the older ones, leaves 

 the cluster too weak to withstand the 

 winter. On the other hand, gather- 

 ing a good crop of fall honey soon 

 exhausts tlie old bees, but the flow of 

 honey induces brood-rearing, which 

 will leave the winter cluster composed 

 almost entirely of young bees, which, 

 with other favorable conditions, al- 

 most insures safe wintering. 



I consider protection from damp- 

 ness more necessary than from the 

 severe cold, as the first condition en- 

 ables them to resist the latter. There 

 is a moist vapor constantly arising 

 from the cluster. I have seen this 

 carried to such an extent as to com- 



pletely enclose the cluster in a crust 

 of ice. My experience leads me to 

 believe that the escape or absorption 

 of this moisture is an important 

 necessity, and for this purpose 1 find 

 nothing belter than forest leaves, 

 with wliicli to pack the second stories 

 of hives. Cloths that have been in 

 use on the hives for any length of 

 time become so propolized as to be 

 impervious to water, and consequently 

 I provide an opening to the leaves by 

 turning back one corner of the cloth, 

 but stop any direct upward ventila- 

 tion by packing the leaves over the 

 opening. In former years, much 

 more so than now, it was my practice 

 to reduce the size of the brood-cham- 

 ber by the use of division-boards, but 

 1 do not consider this of any great 

 importunce except in the case of very 

 small clusters. By a consumption of 

 the stores on which the bees are 

 clustered, it becomes necessary for 

 the cluster to change position on the 

 combs, and provision for this change 

 must be made by allowing space for 

 the bees to pass from one frame to 

 another. The best point for this is 

 directly over the cluster, and I provide 

 this there by laying short sticks 

 across the frames in such a manner 

 as to keep the cloth from settling 

 down on the top-bars of the frames. 



Unhealthy stores are gathered at 

 times by the bees in the vicinity of 

 cider-mills and like places. I see the 

 recommendation frequently given to 

 throw this out of the combs with the 

 extractor ; but I much prefer feeding 

 additional stores of syrup made from 

 good sugar ; this will neutralize the 

 poisonous effect of the juices gath- 

 ered from frosted plants or decayed 

 fruit. 



Indianapolis,© Ind. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Notes on the Ontario Convention. 



BY OUK OWN COKEESPONDENT. 



In point of attendance the recent 

 Ontario Bee-Keepers' Convention was 

 almost a failure. There was a quorum 

 present at every session, but many 

 were conspicuous by their absence. 

 This may easily be accounted for, 

 without suspecting any decline of in- 

 terest in apiculture. In the first place, 

 tvv'o great exhibitions were in progress 

 during the week in which the con- 

 vention was held— the Provincial, at 

 London, and the Industrial, at To- 

 ronto. The former lasted but a week, 

 the latter two weeks. Manifestly the 

 bee-keepers should have been called 

 together during the second week of 

 the Toronto Fair. " Somebody blun- 

 dered " in fixing on a time when the 

 interest and attendance could not fail 

 to be divided. Then, in the second 

 place, the notice given was insuffi- 

 cient. It was published only in the 

 Canadian bee-paper and in the Rural 

 Canadian. The officials will do well 

 to " make a note on't," and take care 

 that these mistakes are not repeated 

 another year. 



Whatever may have been the short- 

 comings of the convention, the exhibi- 



tion of honey and bee-keeping req- 

 uisites was a brilliant success. To 

 those who saw the show two years 

 ago, when the North American Bee- 

 Keepers' Society met in Toronto, it 

 will be enough to say that the recent 

 display was a far better one than that 

 then witnessed. For the information 

 of others, a few particulars may be 

 given as follows : 



The spacious honey-building was 

 entirely too small for the exhibits. 

 There were complaints that the space 

 at command was not evenly allotted. 

 Be this as it may, it was to be re- 

 gretted that some were crowded into 

 a corner, who had the wherewith to 

 have occupied large room to excellent 

 advantage. This was especially the 

 case with Mr. J. B. Hall, of Wood 

 stock, our chief producer of comb 

 honey, and, in all respects, a first- 

 class'apiarist. He was cooped up in 

 a narrow, inconvenient place, where 

 it was impossible for him to do him- 

 self justice. If this could not be 

 helv)ed, it was, to say the least, very 

 unfortunate. It is with some people 

 at exhibitions as it is aboard railroad 

 cars— they are not willing to divide 

 fairly with their neighbors. 



On entering the honey-building, 

 two gigantic pyramids met the view, 

 made up of different-sized vessels and 

 packages filled with the toothsome 

 delicacy. Along the walls were kegs, 

 large cans, and cases, topped ott with 

 the smaller and more fanciful parcels 

 down to little tins containing only a 

 couple of mouthfuls of honey. De- 

 pending from the ceiling were pictures 

 of the principal honey-producing 

 plants of this and other countries— to 

 the number of about 300. Of these 

 over 100 were entirely different varie- 

 ties. Several uni-comb glass cases 

 were placed liere and there to enable 

 visitors to see the bees and their 

 queens. There was a large array of 

 bee-keepers' requisites, including ex- 

 tractors, comb foundation, smokers, 

 perforated-zinc, wire gauze, drone- 

 traps, queen-cages, reversible frames, 

 feeders, veils, and, last but not least, 

 bee-books. Outside, there were hives, 

 bee-tents, winter bee-houses, and 

 various other " fixins." 



The prize-list was unusually large 

 and liberal, and the directors of the 

 Industrial Exhibition deserve much 

 praise for the encouragement given 

 to this important industry. Mr. D. 

 A. Jones gained some 20 prizes ; Mr. 

 J. B. Hall about half that number ; 

 E. L. Goold & Co. the same ; while 

 the names of D. Rainer, Will Ellis, 

 W. Goodyear, J. F. Ross, Granger & 

 Duke, Jacob Spence, and others, 

 figured honorably on the list. The 

 judges did their work patiently and 

 faithfully, but some of the prizes 

 should have been adjudged by the 

 test of best results. As examples, may 

 be mentioned : " Method of securing 

 the largest yield of surplus, comb 

 honey ;" " best system of manipulat- 

 ing sections ;" " method of wintering 

 bees outdoors in any kind of hive." 

 The bee-keepers' diary, cash account, 

 and annual stock-taking furnish the 

 proper data for these and similar 

 awards. 



