JANUARY 1, 1916 



NOTES FROM CANADA 



J. L. Byer, Markham, Ont. 



Generally speaking, we had a 

 nice open fall, but with few days 

 when bees could fly. About Nov. 

 15 we had a day or two when bees 

 could have had a flight if they 

 wished, but very few were in the 

 air. While it always gives us a 

 feeling of satisfaction to see the bees have a 

 thoro flight late in November or early in 

 December, yet actual wintering results seem 

 to be but little different whether they have 

 this choice or not, pro\ided the stores are 

 of good quality and the hives are heavy. 



This reminds me of seeing in the Dec. 1st 

 issue of Gleanings, page 969, the state- 

 ment that in Ohio the editor considers 20 

 pounds of sealed stores, including combs, as 

 sufficient for wintering in the North, while 

 25 or 30 pounds would be necessary for the 

 South. As we are further north than Ohio, 

 on the same basis of reckoning we should 

 require even less honey than they do in 

 Ohio. But I wonder where the producer 

 here in Ontario lives who would trust his 

 colonies outdoors to go into winter quarters 

 with stores aggi'egating but 20 pounds, 

 combs included. The most of us will double 

 that allowance, and then have nothing left 

 over by the time the flow starts the follow- 

 ing June. Mr. Sibbald makes his ten-frame 

 Langstroth hives to weigh 70 pounds with- 

 out the cover, and many others insist on 

 nearly as much. 



I am convinced that, for our climate, an 

 allowance of but 20 pounds, combs and all, 

 would often result in starved colonies early 

 in spring; and in almost every case, even if 

 bees managed to pull through till early 

 spring on these limited stores, their death 

 would not be delayed much later. If bees 

 can be trusted to come out all right in Ohio 

 on the amount stated, then that state cer- 

 tainly has us beaten a long way on the 

 question of stores necessary to carry colo- 

 nies successfully thru the winter. 

 • « • 



"When hives are completely covered with 

 snow for several months it is enough to kill 

 any bees," page 964, Dee. 1. I used to 

 think so; but in the light of experience for 

 the past few years I am forced to change 

 my mind on this question. At our north 

 yard, often referred to, we have a heavy 

 snowfall as a rule ; and the more snow there 

 is over the hives the better we are satisfied, 

 and this yard is never visited by us from 

 late fall till early spring. 



The cases containing the bees drift right 



over at times and remain covered some sea- 

 sons for three months or more, and yet we 

 have so far had perfect wintering. Once I 

 was at this yard when all cases were out of 

 sight, and I got a shovel and dug down to 

 the entrances of a few of the cases, and T 

 would find a large air-space around the 

 entrances where the snow had been melted 

 by the heat of the bees. Of course we use 

 a quilt over the frames — wouldn't think of 

 having a board under such conditions. 

 About ten or twelve inches of packing over 

 this quilt, and then between, the top of 

 packing we want a few inches of space for 

 air to circulate between the packing and 

 the cover of the case. 



With a board over frames allowing little 

 or no upward ventilation — a small entrance 

 and then all hives covered over with snow 

 for a long while — that's an entirely differ- 

 ent proposition. We cannot visit this out- 

 yard during the winter, so we have adopted 

 the former plan; and as the storms blow 

 here in York County it is with considerable 

 satisfaction that we anticipate even worse 

 blizzards up north and have no fears of the 

 bees suffering. If in a locality where snow 

 is abundant, try this plan and cease worry- 

 ing, and at the same time save yourself a 

 lot of work in shoveling snow away from 

 entrances all winter. [See editorial.] 

 « « » 



The writer has just returned from spend- 

 ing a week in New York, after being at 

 Syracuse with the New York State Asso- 

 ciation convention. While I gleaned much 

 that I hope will be of interest for the fu- 

 ture, time forbids making more than a mere 

 mention of my visit just at present. As- 

 suredly the New York state fellows — at 

 least those around Syracuse — " get there " 

 in more than one way. From what I could 

 learn, I doubt if there is any other section 

 in the United States or Canada that is as 

 heavily stocked with big beekeepers and 

 bees as Onondaga Co. 



I had the privilege and pleasure of en- 

 joying the hospitality of Mr. House. Mr. 

 Kinyon and myself were unable to leave 

 friend House's on account of a regular bliz- 

 zard all day in which about a foot of snow 

 fell. While Mr. House had intended to 

 take us on an auto trip to visit various 

 beekeepers — Mr. Doolittle among the num- 

 ber — this pleasure had to be given up; but. 

 after all, what a " talk fest " we had all 

 that day long — Mr. House, Irving Kinyon, 

 and yours truly ! 



