236 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



mittee : Mr. Dempsey of Trenton, Dr. 

 Ferfjuson of Clifton, Mr. Corneil of 

 Lindsay and Mr. Brown of Moleworth. 

 It was then resolved that the mem- 

 bers of local associations be required 

 to Interest themselves in the above 

 matter and bring before their members 

 the importance, to the beel^eeping in- 

 dustry, of getting tlie raw material 

 for comb foundation free of duty. 



QUESTIONS. 



Do bees gathering honey impoverish 

 the land? 



This question, no doubt asked to 

 'bring before the farmer more strongly 

 the fact that it is a benefit to have 

 bees in the vicinity, was answered 

 unanimously in the negative. Mr. 

 Jones then' stated that in India they 

 had been unable to raise clover seed 

 until they had imported large quanti- 

 ties of bumble bees for fertilizing the 

 flowers, and now a large industry had 

 sprung up in clover seed. 



Mr. Webster, a farmer, stated that in 

 King, north of Toronto, where he re- 

 sided two years ago, alsyke clover was 

 a failure there ; a neighbor toofe bees 

 to a field of alsyke clover and this 

 clover yielded a good crop of seed, 

 while not another ffeld was known to 

 do the same. 



The president then stated in his vi- 

 cinity that the farmers had become thor- 

 oughly alive to the important part bees 

 take in fertilizing flowers such as 

 clover, fruitbloom, etc. 



Mr. D. A. Jones stated that a man 

 had written to him asking him to bring 

 100 colonies of bees down and he 

 would give him a place to put them, 

 and if necessary board a man taking 

 charge of them free of expense. 



Shall we clip the queens' wings? 



Mr. Wells of Philipstown, an old and 

 experienced beekeeper and others, 

 spoke in favor, and after a brief dis- 

 cussion the majority of tiie members 

 appeared to be in favor of such clip- 

 ping. 



How shall we unite bees from a 

 distance? 



Mr Jones of Beetou, who has had a 

 very large experience in moving and 

 uniting colonies, stated he found it 

 sufficient to take the combs away from 

 bees in the evening and when morning 

 came pour syrup over them, giving 

 them a thoroughly good shaking in the 

 hive, and put them on their combs. 



Mr. Webster found he could not 

 move bees a short distance without 

 confining them for a week. Mr. Holt- 

 erman has united them according to 



Mr. Jones' method with perfect suc- 

 cess. 



How shall we take care of our bees 

 in spring? 



This subject was heartily discussed. 

 The universal opinion was to keep 

 bees warm and snug, chafi" pack if 

 possible, contract, and close entrances 

 cool nights and days. Some were in 

 favor of compelling bees to remain in 

 hives days when" there were cool, 

 ■gusty winds ; some advocated feeding 

 in the spring to stimulate brood-rear- 

 ing, others objected doing this unless 

 done very carefully, as it inclined bees 

 to rush out to the fields in search of 

 more at times when they would be 

 lost. Mr. Schultz of Meskoka advo- 

 cated a cake of maple sugar over the 

 combs ; this would be the best wav to 

 feed without unduly exciting the bees. 



Would chaff hives be the means of 

 keeping bees in their hives in the 

 spring? 



Yes; they keep much more quiet in 

 cool days. The sun beating upon it 

 increases the inside temperature 

 quickly, often causing the bees to fly, 

 never to j-eturn ; while, if packed in 

 chaff, the inside temperature would be- 

 come but little affected. 



Is comb affected by being produced 

 from different kinds of honey, such as 

 basswood, clover, buckwheat, etc.? 



Mr. Wells, who has had a large ex- 

 perience with the different grades of 

 honey as to color, stated he found no 

 difference in the comb produced from 

 the honey ; others sustained him. 



Does nature cause the survival of 

 the fittest in bees according to the Dar- 

 win theory? 



Many appeared unwilling to make 

 any statement for or against. Mr. 

 Jones stated he believed such might 

 be the case in certain places where 

 the bees found a difficulty in sustaining 

 themselves for many seasons, such as 

 in some of the eastern countries; he 

 believed in such eases only the best 

 survived. It might not be out of 

 place here to add that the survival of 

 the fittest might have something to do 

 with the victory in tlie royal battle 

 when many queen cells hatch in a 

 hive. 



Which is the best race of bees? 



Opinions were very much divided ; 

 some favored blacks but several prom- 

 inent members, among them Messrs. 

 Jones and Wells, stated there were 

 very few pure black or German bees 

 and they had Italian blood in them. 

 Mr. Jones spoke very highly of the 

 Carniolans. He found them gentle; 



