410 



is the result. The cause of this change is 

 not known. May not the conditions under 

 which granulation occurs he obtained by a 

 series of experiments, by keeping honey at 

 different temperatures, etc. ? Answers to 

 these questions may not advance the mar- 

 ket value of honey a particle, but we shall 

 enjoy the satisfaction of knowing the truth 

 of the whole matter. 



From the Toronto Globe. 



A Canadian Apiary. 



The flourishing village of Beeton (once 

 Tecumseh), which is situated in .South Sim- 

 coe, on the line of the Hamilton & N. W. 

 railroad, is not so named because it contains 

 within its limits the bee farm which will 

 probably yield the greatest amount of honey 

 secured this year by any one man in the 

 world. It might appropriately have been 

 called Beeton because it was the home of 

 — and in fact was created by— Mr. D. A. 

 Jones, who is one ot the most skillful and 

 successful apiarists alive ; but, as a matter 

 of fact, when postal exigencies compelled 

 the abandonment of the old name of Te- 

 cumseh, Beeton was named after Beeton 

 Castle in the Land o' Cakes. 



Mr. Jones has 4 bee-yards, situated as it 

 were at the east, west, north and south cor- 

 ners of a square or diamond, whose diameter 

 is between 4 and 5 miles. Most of the honey 

 is, no doubt collected within a short dis- 

 tance of each yard— probably withiu half a 

 mile. Under pressure of necessity, how- 

 ever, the bees will fly a long distance for 

 honey, 4 or 5 miles say. When flying so far 

 it is as much as they can do to support 

 themselves and store a surplus for winter ; 

 but as they do go these distances, it may be 

 inferred that Mr. Jones' bees lay under con- 

 tribution a territory 8 miles square, or per- 

 haps a whole township. No doubt they do 

 not gather all the honey nor a tenth part of 

 it in this area, but at some periods in some 

 years they will need to scour the whole of 

 their domain, and even then will fail to find 

 enough of food. The present year has been 

 at Beeton, up to the present time, one of the 

 best honey years in memory, and if the lo- 

 cality, which has been suffering a little from 

 drouth lately, should be blessed with timely 

 rains, the character of the year may be 

 preserved through the fall. Should that 

 happen Mr. Jones, who has already secured 

 more than 50,000 lbs. of honey, will get as 

 much as 70,000 lbs., that is, 35 tons of pure 

 honey, every pound of it worth 15c. at 

 wholesale. It is a striking commentary 

 upon the progress of bee-keeping, that 

 while 10 years ago honey brought 25 to 40c. 

 a pound and its production was looked upon 

 as a peddling, unremunerative kind of busi- 

 ness ; now, witli much more expensive ap- 

 pliances, it can be produced at a splendid 

 profit for 15c. or even less. 



A modern bee-yard consists of about an 

 acre of land, preferably sandy, and having 

 fruit trees on it, inclosed in a tight board 

 fence in order to keep out dogs and like in- 

 truders, who might get into trouble; a small 

 cottage for the proprietor or his assistant; a 

 house for wintering the bees, constructed on 

 the principle of an ice-house, only with 



better ventilatory appliances ; the same 

 house should be built so that it can be used 

 for a summer store-room and extracting- 

 room ; the bee-hives and the bees. The lat- 

 ter should be Italians, or for economy's sake 

 in starting, common black bees with an 

 Italian queen— the Italians being more in- 

 dustrious and prolific, and less apt to assert 

 the sharpness of their nether ends. The 

 hives used by Mr. Jones are a modification, 

 or rather enlargement, of the Langstroth 

 hive. The aim of modern bee-keeping is to 

 save the bees from unproductive labor, and 

 therefore combs are made for the i>< es. 



Mr. Jones' 4 bee-yards contain respect- 

 ively 250, 150. 150 and 70 of such hives, all 

 populated with busy colonies of workers. 

 The number of hives is subject to constant 

 diminution or increase, from the decay of 

 one colony necessitating its amalgamation 

 with another, or the increase of a colony 

 rendering its subdivision necessary. The 

 aim of every first-class apiarist is to have 

 very strong colonies. The more bees the 

 less honey is consumed in keeping up the 

 animal heat. 



The country around Beeton is peculiarly 

 calculated for bee-keeping. It has a very 

 rich soil, with some swamps just passing 

 into cultivation and rich in honey plants. 

 Basswood abounds in every piece of bush, 

 and white clover on every roadside. In this 

 neighborhood the first food the bees gather 

 is from the black alder, which yields a 

 plentiful supply of pollen and some honey 

 almost before the snow is gone. After that 

 the numerous species of willows yield an 

 abundance of honey. Then the maples 

 come in, and after them the whole tribe of 

 fruit trees, apples, plums, cherries, etc. 

 Before the supply is gone from this source 

 the thorns and that troublesome weed, the 

 sheep-burr, are yielding honey. Then comes 

 a lull of a week or 10 days, during which 

 the bees are sometimes hard up and have to 

 be fed. If they are neglected now they 

 will remain weak all the year. With the 

 advent of the white clover there comes a 

 rush of honey. White clover lasts 6 weeks. 

 Strawberries, raspberries, wild grapes, and 

 lots of things yielding honey follow. Bass- 

 wood yields immense quantities of honey 

 for 12 to 18 days, and most of the forest 

 trees give some honey at some period of the 

 year. After basswood that despised weed, 

 the Canada thistle, yields "lashins" of 

 honey; then catnip, willow-herb, golden-rod, 

 boneset, motherwort, and many fall flowers. 



Mr. Jones is now experimenting with 

 Bokhara clover, which seems to fill the bill 

 exactly. It is a tall-growing, leguminous 

 plant, 6 ft. or more high, having a general 

 resemblance to lucerne, except the blossom 

 is whiter. It has a most agreeable perfume 

 and blooms from July till frost comes. The 

 bees are swarming upon it the whole time. 

 Bokhara clover is a biennial, but as it seeds 

 itself is practically a perennial. As a for- 

 age crop for general farm purposes it might 

 possess many good qualities. If left to 

 flower it becomes too woody to be of much 

 good, but when young and tender it would 

 yield an enormous weight to the acre. A 

 botanist coming accidentally upon Beeton 

 would be puzzled to find this foreigner 

 growing here and there as a common weed 



