Dec. 1, 1911 



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^^®M (B^raMlM 



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



DRY SAWDUST FOR WINTER PACKING. 



After starting with sawdust as packing 

 for hives for winter, and trying leaves and 

 almost ever thing else recoinmeiided for the 

 purpose, I now prefer dry sawdust to any 

 thing else. About four inches of the ma- 

 terial in a sack, over an open quilt on top of 

 the frames, is pretty nearly an ideal top pro- 

 tection for bees in our climate. 



ALSIKE NOT A DROUTH-RESISTER. 



Usually alsike clover is given the palm 

 for being the hardiest of the clovers. While 

 this may be true for wintering, the past sea- 

 son clearly demonstrated that it will not 

 compare with the other clovers as a drouth- 

 resister. Alfalfa clearly heads the list in 

 this respect, as many fields seeded this 

 spring are looking fine at present. Red clo- 

 ver comes next; and since the rains a num- 

 ber of fields have improved greatly, and 

 have a nice stand of healthy plants. On 

 the other hand, out of hundreds of acres of 

 alsike seeded I do not know of over half a 

 dozen fields left within five miles of us. 



PROSPECT OF CLOVER FOR 1912 AS A RESULT 

 OF MUCH RAIN. 



Here in Ontario we have had an abun- 

 dance of rain this fall too. However, we 

 shall have no such benefits therefrom as the 

 editorial in Nov. 1st issue, p. 643, forecasts 

 so hopefully. What is said, no doubt ap- 

 plies to the white-clover sections; but so far 

 as alsike is concerned, when it is dead that 

 ends the question for the present season. 

 The great drouth killed the plants, and no 

 amount of rain can resurrect them again. 

 While many sections in Ontario have white 

 clover in alDundance, just through here we 

 have little, and the outlook is decidedly 

 poor for a honey crop for us next year. 



THE ONTARIO CONVENTION. 



At this date, Nov. 10, many of us are look- 

 ing forward with pleasure to attending the 

 Ontario convention, next week. Before this 

 is in print the convention will be over, and 

 at present it looks as though we would have 

 a record attendance and a very profitable 

 meeting. While the season has not been 

 good, and prospects are none too rosy for 

 next J ear, in many localities, yet bee-keep- 

 ers are a hopeful bunch, and all seem to be 

 as enthusiastic as ever. It takes a lot of 

 real downright trouble to give a true bee- 

 keeper the blues — in fact, the calling is of 

 such a nature that pessimists soon get 

 knocked out early in the game. 

 ■^ 



ALFALFA IN UNIRRIGATED REGIONS. 



Alfalfa at S. D. House's in New York State 

 (page 543, Sept. 1), and yielding heavily in 

 a region not irrigated — what is the explana- 

 tion of this unorthodox procedure on the 



part of this well-known plant? Even in its 

 favored localities it is classed as a rather 

 slow yielder if I remember correctly. Here 

 in Ontario it yields a little honey sometimes, 

 oftener none at all. Then, again, the farm- 

 ers cut it too soon to allow the bees to get 

 much from the blossoms, even if it was in a 

 nectar-yielding humor. Is the crop left for 

 seed around Syracuse? If so, and the i^lant 

 yields as described, surely friend House and 

 the other bee-men in that place have fallen 

 in "pleasant places." What about the 

 buckwheat that will be in bloom then? Do 

 not the bees mix the honey from different 

 sources? If I remember correctly, friend 

 House has told me that he usually gets a 

 buckwheat surplus. 



W^HY BUCKWHEAT YIELDS ONLY IN THE 

 MORNING. 



In a recent issue of Gleanings an answer 

 is given to a correspondent relative to buck- 

 wheat yielding nectar. It is said that buck- 

 wheat secretes in the afternoon as well as in 

 the morning, but the bees haveall the nectar 

 cleaned up before night, and for that reason 

 cease working on the blossoms. It is not so 

 here in Ontario; for whether there be one 

 dozen colonies or 200 colonies on a range, it 

 makes no difference in the matter, as about 

 noon the bees stop working on buckwheat, 

 showing clearly 1 hat nectar secretion stops 

 during the heat of the day. On the other 

 hand, when we occasionally have a day that 

 is warm and damp — muggy weather, as we 

 call it — then the bees will gather buckwheat 

 honey all day. [At the Alexander yard, 

 where there is such a large acreage of buck- 

 wheat, the bees worked all day when we 

 were there, if we remember correctly, and 

 the day was not warm and damp either. 

 Possibly this is a matter of locality. — Ed.] 

 -^ 

 OUR benevolences. 



I am surprised that the author of the 

 Home papers allowed that model (?) budget 

 to be printed, page 23, Nov. 1, without com- 

 menting thereon. I note that to the church 

 was contributed the magniflceyit sum of 

 $10.80 during the year, while under the 

 heading of "amusements" credit is given 

 for $-50.40. Possibly the sum given repre- 

 sents too nearly what the most of us give 

 toward church work, and then we wonder 

 why the cause of missions, etc., goes forward 

 so slowly. The Jews gave a straight tenth, 

 besides many freewill ofTerings. Surely we 

 have much to learn from the Jews, even 

 though they are despised by many. This 

 is hardly in line with bee-keeping, but 

 Gleanings is not strictly a bee journal, so 

 I hope to be pardoned for turning aside from 

 business for once. A contribution of $10.80 

 to the church, out of an income of $1800, 

 struck me as being incongruous, and I won- 

 dered that the item was given at all. 



