AUGUST 1, 1916 



651 



NOTES FROM CANADA 



J. L. Byer, Markham, Onl. 



Mention was made in my last 

 balch nf notes of the fact that the 

 acreag'e of hufkwheat was likely to 

 be high. With the sudden change 

 from very wet to very dry weather, 

 the land lying idle has baked so 

 hard that comparatively little has 

 been worked hard ; and, as a result, the 

 acreage of buckwheat, instead of being 

 heavy in our locality, will actually be small- 

 er than usual. But with the present pro- 

 gram of 10 hours or more a day looking 

 after the bees during clover flow, we are 

 not doing much thinking of a possible dark- 

 honey flow later on. 



« « « 



The Weather Bureau at Toronto officially 

 reports that we had 24 days in June in 

 which rain fell at that station. As we are 

 but 25 miles from that city, it is needless 

 to say we have had all the precipitation that 

 was needed. But we have had a change just 

 as decided, as the most anxious dry-weather 

 wisher could have hoped for; and at this 

 date, July 12, many are thinking that a 

 nice shower would be acceptable again. 

 What changeable mortals we are ! and how 

 hard to satisfy ! 



xifter all the heavy downpours of June, 

 on June 26 here in York Co. old Sol decid- 

 ed to show his face, and we have now had 

 18 days of warm bright weallier. Clover 

 started to yield the day the weather cleared, 

 and we have had a steady flow ever since, 

 and a fair crop seems to be assured. No 

 honey has come in during the forenoons, 

 and even in afternoons the flow has never 

 seemed to be heavy, as, for instance, in 

 1013. Yet the supers seem to fill up, and 

 that, after all, is the most imijortant test of 



a honey-flow. 



* » * 



WHAT WILL THE HARVEST BE? 



Before these notes appear in print, no 

 doubt the Honey-crop Committee will have 

 met and considered the question of prices 

 for the current year, and will have advisad 

 beekeepers as to their opinion in the mat- 

 ter. In the meantime the question of prices 

 to ask seems to be a rather hazy proposition 

 in the minds of many. Nearly if not all 

 food iiroducts have gone up in price. In 

 some cases — sugar and meats for instance 

 — the ri.se is about 100 per cent over two 

 years ago. Will honey sell at a much high- 

 er figiire than it did last year — that is the 

 Question many are debating. 



Present indications are that the crop will 



be fair over Ontario, as the abundant rains 

 of May and June were general, and present 

 fine weather is also general. If people 

 believe or can be taught that honey is a 

 food as cheap as or cheaper than many oth- 

 er articles of diet, then honey should sell 

 at quite an advanced figure over last year. 

 If, on the other hand, the consumers decide 

 that honey is a luxury rather than a food 

 necessity, then higher prices would curtail 

 consumption. Much will depend ujjor) size 

 of crop, and also on the apple crop — the 

 latter at present looking none too good in 

 spite of rosy prosj^ects earlier in the .sea- 

 son. , , » 



ENCROACHMENT ON BEE TERRITORY. 



Page 386, May 15, Dr. Miller refers to the 

 matter of a law in force in Au.stralia that 

 defines the limit for a beekeeper to place an 

 apiary, and forbids others encroaching on 

 such premises. Some time ago Dr. M. and 

 yours truly had a rather verbose argument 

 on this same question, and I supposs both 

 chaps were of the same mind as bcfoi'c the 

 discussion started. I have no desire to de- 

 bate the question further at present, but 

 simply wish to remind the good doctor that 

 conditions are very different in Australia 

 from those in the more closely settled parts 

 of Canada and the United States, where so 

 many beekeepers reside. In Australia it is 

 a common thing in the sparsely settled dis- 

 tricts for neighbors to be miles apart, the 

 country being given over to ranching almost 

 exclusively. It is easy to see how such a 

 law as we have under discussion might be 

 workable under such conditions, ar.d just 

 the opposite in a thickly settled country. 



No, Dr. Miller, much as I might desire, 

 from a selfish viewpoint, to prohibit others 

 from keeping bees in my neighborhood, I 

 do not for a moment see how, for any reason 

 whatever, I could object to a man, owning 

 property near me, keeping bees. But there 

 are cases Avhere beekeepers (by this 1 mean 

 those who follow the businss as a specialty) 

 have actually started large apiaries within 

 two miles, or even closer to apiaries of long 

 standing. That is a different matter alto- 

 gether, and often, I am compelled to admit, 

 it would make almost any one engaged in 

 the business wish that such a law as that 

 mentioned might be incorporated in our 

 statutes. But I haven't the slightest hope 

 that such a law will ever be enacted, so I do 

 no woi lying about these things, for, after 

 all. the thinr; generally adjusts itself satis- 

 factorily in time. 



