(JLEANIKGS IN BEE CULTURE 



NOTES FROM CANADA 



OX'I'AI.IO 



HAS A 



TIONEY. 



J should not be sui'iDrised if the 

 C'l'op of clover honey would turn 

 out to be one of the largest ever 

 produced in the Province. As to 

 the quality, a better honej' has 

 never l)een produced — color, body, and fla- 

 vor being considered, and that is claiming 

 quite a lot, as this province has produced 

 some good honey in i>ast years. Never has 

 there been a better opportunity to popular- 

 ize further the use of good extracted honey 

 than the present time, for along with the 

 keenest demand ever known for our prod- 

 uct Ave have the finest of honey to supply 

 the consumers. Why such a demand? Sim- 

 ply because of the high price of sugar and 

 the greatest shortage in the fruit crop of 

 all kinds, nearly, that we have had for 

 many years. In my Notes for Aug. 1 I 

 stated that much depended on whetliei' the 

 puldic looked ujion honey as merely a 

 luxury or as a food in determining the 

 matter of prices; and judging by the way 

 our tele])hone rings so frequently, callers 

 asking to be supplied with from 60 to 200 

 pounds each, the fact seems evident that 

 they consider honey a real necessity, and 

 there need be no woi'ry about the present 

 good crop not being disposed of at fair 

 prices. Tn our own case, at least, we are 

 already to the point when we are consider- 

 ing refusing local orders in order to su))ply 

 a numlier of customei's in the West who 

 annually expect to be supplied. " It is an 

 ill wind that blows nobody good;" and 

 while Ave are sorry the fiuit-groAvers have 

 such a poor ci-oj), still we sliould rejoice 

 that Ave happen to lia\e a good cioi^ t)f 

 honey to help take (he jdaie ot their jirod- 

 uct for this year. 



While the crop has been good ind"e<l, 

 ))respnt indications for oui' own locality, at 

 least, Avould make it appear that quite 

 likely next year's crop is included in the 

 present one, as the prolonged drouth is 

 ])laying havoc Aviththe clover. Buckwheat 

 will 1)0 almost if not c|uite a total failure 

 fi'om the same cause, so considerable feed- 

 ing Avill be in order later on. HoAvever. the 

 brood-nests are the heaviest I have evei- 

 known at the close of a good flow; so, after 

 all. I he sugar-bill may not be excessive. 



AVIIAT SHAM, 'I'lIK I'IMCK l!E? 



August 14, aiul as yd no report has come 



boekee])(is as jo jiriccs reconiniended 



r I he season. This is iio criticism of the 



J. L. Byer, Markham, Ont. 



FiXK ( ROF OF conmiiltee Avho have this Avork in charge, as 

 the season Avas late, and doubtless it has 

 been impossible to get the statistics neces- 

 sary to form a reliable estimate of the crop 

 at an earlier date. At the same time, a 

 delayed reiiort has its disadvantages in 

 some Avays, as many have chances to sell 

 early in the season and have to use their 

 OAvn judgment as to what price to ask. In 

 our own case, three-quarters of the cro]> 

 was sold Avhile still on the hives. What 

 should Ave do in a case of this kind — Avait 

 for the report, or sell Avhen the buyer was 

 asking for the crop? Quite a problem to 

 decide, surely; and Avhen one has the chance 

 of a good sale, taking tons at once, the 

 temptation is strong to make a deal. How- 

 CA'er. the report coming later, hel]is to 

 steady the market, and assists those Avho 

 have not already sold their crop, this class 

 no doubt being in the majority among the 

 beekeepers. 



STAA' BY THE JOB. 



If tliero is anything to be made in any 

 business, the man who stays Avith the job 

 is the one wlio Avill Avin out in the end. The 

 truth of the foregoing Avas forcibly brought 

 to my mind a feAV days ago Avhen motoring 

 liome from the north yard, 00 miles away. 

 Stopping for a few minutes to call on a 

 friend I asked him Avhat kind of crop a 

 beekeeper had Avho lived just a short dis- 

 tance aAvay. Imagine my .surprise to learn 

 that the beekeeper sold out all h's bees last 

 spring. Asking the reason Avhy, I Avas told 

 that, following the big crop of lf)13. the 

 two poor A'ears of 1!)14 and '15 had discoui - 

 aged him, and he had decided to sell. If 

 he !iad held on to the bees this year in that 

 same locality, he could have successfully 

 weathered two more years of failure — a 

 thing thai is not likely to occur, for that 

 mai ter. 



Fi-e()uently I have remarked that if (lie 

 virtue of pati'^nice is more necessary to any 

 one class of people than to others, beekeep- 

 ers are the needy ones, and the illustraHon 

 just given once more proA'es this to be cor- 

 rect. Beckeej^ing is not a " get-rich qui''k " 

 game, and the men Avho take up the calling 

 expecting anything like that Avill surely be 

 disappointed and disgusted in the end, 

 Avhile on (he other Ijand the one wlio is 

 adapted (o the business, hi\s lots of patience 

 and " sticktoitiveness " to help tide ovei' the 

 jtoor seasons that are sure to come, stands 

 at least as mucli chaiic ■ at making a com- 

 forlnble living-, and |)(Ml:aps a bil more, as 

 (hose (Mi^ayed in anv olhor rural nnrsuil. 



J 



