232 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



than doubled and procured over loo 

 lbs. per colony. Another, having two 

 hundred colonies, reports season not 

 up to the average. In fact bees were 

 weak in the spring and unless they 

 received special attention, colonies 

 were not in good condition to take 

 advantage of clover ; basswood, al- 

 though it promised well, was rich in 

 bloom, appeared to die off and in 

 most localities bees only worked one 

 or two days upon it ; thistle only 

 yielded fairly. Regarding fall flowers 

 so far our own experience is brighter 

 than it has been for the last four years. 

 It has been impossible to remove top 

 stories except one or two ; some 

 have half stories others whole upper 

 stories, all extracted immediately be- 

 fore fall flowers came in and now full 

 of honey, brood and bees. There is 

 litde present demand for wax, nice 

 white, A I extracted honey sold for 

 a short time in localities for nine 

 cents per pound. It is safe to say 

 the supply of honey is not greater 

 than the previous year, whilst the de- 

 mand steadily increases. 



Our leading fairs and exhibitions 

 have closed and we have had the 

 pleasure of interviewing many of our 

 most prominent beekeepers. The 

 reports for the season are conflicting 

 and run from 250 lbs. per colony 

 down to 50 lbs. The locality may 

 have something to do with this, but 

 much depends upon the condition 

 bees were in when the honey season 

 commenced. Year by year it be- 

 comes more evident that much of the 

 diflerence in reports of yields are due 

 to the vast difference there is in the 

 strength of our colonies, especially 

 such a season as the past. 



The average yield, among men 

 with a full comprehension of their 

 business, was between eighty and 

 ninety pounds of extracted honey 

 and seventy-five per cent increase 

 per colony. Extracted honey may 

 be bought from men anxious to sell, 

 at eight to ten cents, and little doubt 

 that by Christmas it will be up to 



eleven and twelve and one-half cents. 



The honey crop this year is little, 

 if any, larger than the season of 1884 

 and the demand greater. Supply 

 dealers have done a poor business 

 generally ; the mortality being so great 

 that very little has been sold in such 

 lines as hives, honey extractors, honey 

 knives and brood foundation ; the 

 demand was fair for sections, section 

 foundation, honey cans and labels. 



With bees there has been a great 

 tendency to increase and should the 

 winter prove favorable and an ordi- 

 nary amount of care be exercised in 

 preparing, packing and storing away 

 for winter, the lobS of the previous 

 winter should be fully made up. 



The bees have done well on fall 

 flowers and have not yet finished in 

 some localities. Yesterday (Septem- 

 ber 28), I left a friend's apiary while 

 his bees were gathering actively on 

 golden rod and aster. They had 

 gained several pounds per colony 

 since the i8th inst. ; and upon enter- 

 ing the yard the night before, we 

 could hear that contented hum which 

 spoke well of their success during the 

 day. 



The London Fair had a fine dis- 

 play of honey as to quantity (little 

 behind Toronto), but the quality was 

 generally inferior. Toronto was fair 

 as to both and took the lead as to 

 quantity. Hamilton, however, had 

 the finest display as to quality that it 

 has ever been our fortune to set eyes 

 upon ; for texture it could not be ex- 

 celled, color was very fine, flavor 

 hardly up to the two other properties 

 but very good. 



The Ontario Beekeepers' Conven- 

 tion could hardly be regarded as a 

 success this year. The meetings were 

 announced far too late for the first 

 week of the Toronto Industrial Ex- 

 hibition ; it had always been the sec- 

 ond and many would not come in 

 until then ; meetings were finally 

 called the second week also, and thus, 

 in a measure, all were a failure. 



Brantford, Out. 



