JULY 1, 1914 



493 



that line! but i liiive ami still do oi)i)ose 

 certain methods of booming and often mis- 

 representing' the possibilities of the industry 

 as has been done in the past. This jiosition 

 is a lawful one for any person to take, and 

 he would indeed be a hypocrite, to say the 

 least, if he thought one way and expressed 

 himself publicly in another manner. 



Regarding the matter of overstocking, 

 the editor says, page 333, May 1, that he 

 hapiDens to know that the apicultural stu- 

 dent at college has it pounded into him that 

 it is foolish to locate his apiary near one 

 already established. This is no criticism of 

 the above statement, for I would expect 

 such teaching to be given. However, many 

 have no hesitation in doing this very thing, 

 no matter how much " pounding " has been 

 done to the contrary. But just here let me 

 whisper, that beginners are not always the 

 only transgressors in this respect, for I have 

 known old beekeepers to go and do this very 

 thing; and unless there is some great big 

 and worthy excuse for such a move, the 

 least that can be said in defense of the 

 practice is that "it is hardly commendable." 



DISTANT PASTURES ALWAYS LOOK GREEN. 



The above is an old and true saying. T 

 am reminded of this when I often see people 

 thinking that almost every location is better 

 than their own. In some seasons I have been 

 tempted to think that myself. Two years 

 ago 1 ran across what I thought was one of 

 tlie greatest clover locations in Ontario, 

 judging by the looks of the country at the 

 time, and by the past records as told to me 

 by jieople living there. As a result of these 

 impressions I established a large apiary in 

 lliat location, since for a few years previous 

 crops had been slim in our home location. 

 Well, as a sequel to this move I might say 

 that in this choice location for the two years 

 since we moved there, the greatest drouth in 

 the history of that section has practically 

 killed all the clover. Last year we had a 

 heavy crop in our old locations; and if all 

 the bees moved up north had been near 

 home, results in dollars would have run up 

 to quite a tidy sum over and above the 

 receipts of the apiary where it is now sit- 

 uated. Now, I believe the good seasons will 

 again return to that section, and we intend 

 to stay there with the bees, and wait for a 

 while at least. None of the bees were taken 

 from the home locations in starting this out- 

 apiary, and tlie moral I have in view in 

 giving this little experience is to warn the 

 man with but a single apiary not to be in a 

 Inirry in rushing into a another location 

 simply because for one year said location 



does better than where he is situated. Mov- 

 ing bees and starting outyards at a distance 

 costs money and a lot of work; and after 

 one has gone to all this sacrifice, and then 

 in the end learns that lie has left a better 

 location than the one into which he has 

 moved, he is apt to think that experience, 

 even if a good teacher, is sometimes a mighty 

 expensive one as well. 



SEASON PROSPECTS TO DATE. 



Weather conditions since my last writing 

 have changed but little, and to-day, June 

 11, our section of the country is very dry, 

 and the little clover we have is short and 

 stunted, just coming into bloom nicely. Un- 

 less something out of the ordinary should 

 occur, we certainly cannot look for mucli 

 clover in our locality this year. I have just 

 returned from the apiary 100 miles north of 

 my home, and there the conditions are still 

 worse, scarcely any rain having fallen this 

 spring. I understand that conditions are 

 better in western Ontario, as the drouth was 

 not so severe there last season as Avith us, 

 and this spring they have had numerous 

 showers. Taking conditions in general for 

 the Province, I predict a light yield of clover 

 honey; but then, one never knows for sure, 

 as occasionally something we do not look 

 for occurs in beekeeping, even in so far as 

 our expectations are concerned, as has been 

 proven over and over to all who have been 

 in the game for any length of time. 



Very little honey was gathered from the 

 early willows this year, as the season was 

 generally cool. But when the large yellow 

 willows and the sugar maple came into 

 bloom we had five very warm moist days, 

 and how the nectar did come in ! The maples 

 broke all previous records in our locality, 

 and brood-nests were jammed with honey 

 and pollen. Fruit-bloom lasted but a few 

 days, and yielded little, so the rush referred 

 to was a splendid thing for the bees. 



Never before have I had so much honey 

 in the brood-nests at this time of the year; 

 and as it is impossible to get it all into 

 brood before clover comes on, T should not 

 be surprised if more or less of this honey 

 got hoisted above into supers if we happen 

 to get a flow from clover. Although we have 

 had a drouth of nectar for ten days since 

 fruit-bloom, yet all colonies are heavy with 

 new and old honey, many of them having 

 considerable in the supers. Of course, this 

 means that the bees are ready for any thing 

 that comes along in the shape of a honey- 

 flow, and this is the one bright spot in pres- 

 ent prospects. 



