1911 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



197 



Notes from Canada 



By J. L. Byer, Mt. Joy, Ont. 



Acco-ding to Wesley Foster, four pounds 

 of comb honey are used to one of extracted 

 in Colorado. Here in Ontario I would put 

 the proportion at about ten of extracted to 

 one of comb, and we produce some good 

 comb honey too. 



That comb illustrated on p. 19, Jan. 1, is 

 hardly a normal one. In other words, it is 

 rare to find a comb with so little honey in 

 the center under the top-bar that has so 

 much honey along the end-bars. Even with 

 feeding I rarely find a colony that would so 

 arrange the stores, as they always store a 

 greater amount under the top-bars. 



During the past season the demand has 

 been extra gond for honey here in Ontario, 

 at good prices; and while some writers over 

 the line have been writing that honey at 

 better prices would retail slowly, we have 

 been realizing here right along that there is 

 nothing in the Ci ntention when the honey 

 is of good quality, and the public have got- 

 ten over all suspicions of adulteration. 



Last summer a firm in Austria sent me 

 two Carniolan queens. On their arrival the 

 queens and all the bees were dead — in fact, 

 were all dried up, showing that they had 

 been starved for some time, all the candy 

 being consumed. By the invoice which 

 came by the same mail I found that they 

 had been on the road for 19 days. The firm 

 was notified, and they sent me one more 

 more queen. When the cage arrived, all 

 the bees but one were dead, and the queen 

 was in the last stages of starvation. I tried 

 hard to save the queen, but she died the 

 next day. Is this a common experience? 

 Was not 19 days an unusually long time for 

 the bees to be in transit? 

 4?- 



Bees wintering on the summer stands 

 here in Ontario this season are being put to 

 a severe test. They had no flight after the 

 last week in October, and are not likely to 

 get one before the middle or latter part of 

 March. December was cold; but since then 

 the weather has not been out of the ordina- 

 ry up to date, Feb. 11. With us the clover 

 has been covered with snow ever since last 

 of November; but at no time have we had 

 more than bix inches on the level. This 

 has been against the bees, as the hives have 

 been exposed all winter instead of being 

 covered with snow, as is generally the case. 

 I understand that, in other parts of the 

 Province, the fall of snow has been heavy. 

 As a rule we have less snow in our locality 

 than in most of the sections around us. 



F. L. Pollock, who writes delightful stories 

 for the Youth's Companion and other mag- 



azines, lives near my home in the summer 

 time, and has a nice little apiary where he 

 spends many happy hours. With his wife 

 he is spending the winter in Tennessee; 

 and under date of Feb. 9 he writes me, 

 asking how the bees are wintering up 

 here. Among other things he says that in 

 Tennessee the thermometer dropped to zero 

 in December, and that at date of writing 

 the bees were working on the soft maples. 

 It was news to me to learn that it gets so 

 cold down there, and also to know that the 

 maples bloom so early. I wonder if they 

 are apt to get a hard "freeze " before settled 

 warm weather comes around again. It 

 looks as though they have as sudden 

 changes in the South as we do here in the 

 North, to read of zero weather in December 

 and bees gathering honey early in Feb- 

 ruary. 



•^ 



Last fall T called on a wholesale dealer in 

 honey and other farm produce, in Toronto; 

 and while in conversation with him he 

 pointed to a large pile of corrugated-paper 

 shipping-cases, and said, most emphatical- 

 ly, "That is ttie way to ship comb honey." 

 On examination 1 found that they were 

 the same as those used by Mr. Crane. I 

 must say that I was surprised, as I did not 

 know they had been introduced into Cana- 

 da. This dealer said he had tested them 

 thoroughly, and that at different times he 

 had sent a few cases to the western Prov/inces 

 of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta, 

 and had yet to year the first complaint of 

 breakage. While I have had little experi- 

 ence in shipping comb h'^ney, I have con- 

 cluded that this dealer had reason to say 

 that they are the shipping-case par excel- 

 lence, so far as the transportation of comb 

 honey is concerned. 



Regarding that note of mine on the tariff 

 changes on honey, page 125, March 15, I 

 might say that I have given a wrong im- 

 pression altogether in that sentence begin- 

 ning with " Many Ontario producers feel 

 that the markets they have been building 

 up for years will now by reason of geographi- 

 cal conditions be s na tched away from them. " 

 The inference is that I have reference to the 

 West India honey, whereas I had the west- 

 tern market in view. I might say that the 

 note in question was written at a time when 

 I was, by the doctor's order, forbidden to do 

 any writing, nor even to dictate any thing. 

 That will explain the mix-up. Yes, Dr. 

 Miller, it is all right to be neighborly (page 

 124) ; but with honey selling in a wholesale 

 way at about two cents a pound less on the 

 United States side than in Ontario, it is not 

 to be wondered at that many beekeepers 

 here are objecting to the proposed changes. 

 With honey selling at the same price in 

 both countries, free trade in the article 

 would be a blessing; but with the difference 

 that I have pointed out, it certainly does 

 not appeal to the Canadian producer as an 

 attractive arrangement. 



