DECEMBER 15, 1916 



GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE 



ONE OF THE SKILLED CANADIAN BEEKEEPERS. 



LAMBETH, ONTARIO 



E. T. BAINARD, OF 



BY R. F. HOLTERMANN 



Traveling thru the county of Middlesex, 

 one of the best agricultural counties in 

 Ontario, I reached the city of London. 

 From there, going by the electric line, I 

 reached the home of Mr. and Mrs. E. T. 

 Bainard. This was not my first trip to the 

 Bainards; but since my last visit quite a 

 number of changes have taken place. 



Mr. Bainard has been keeping bees for 

 twenty-five years. When a boy on the farm 

 he became interested in bees thru reading 

 articles in the Farmers' Advocate. That 

 he had a natural inclination in that direction 

 was pretty well shown in the way in which 

 he studied the bumblebee in its habits, keep- 

 ing their nests under his observation. At 

 first, beekeeping was combined with farm- 

 ing; but as success warranted, and circum- 

 stances permitted, the 

 farming part was laid 

 aside, and for the last 

 seven or eight years 

 beekeeping has been 

 liis sole occupation. 

 He is now running 

 three apiaries, eacli 

 containing in the 



one 



He 



ex- 

 Hed- 



which swings on a screw the entrance can 

 be enlarged to 2 x 10 inches. The hive 

 entrance is % i"- deep by the width of the 

 hive. 



That Mr. Bainard has learned the value 

 of a sheltered place I can best explain by 

 quoting him. He said, " At one time I tried 

 to get a cover to a hive that would not blow 

 off; but now I seek to have the apiary where 

 the wind will not blow the covers off tlie 

 hives." He aims to have the outer cases 8 

 or 10 in. from the ground, considering that 

 they are dryer in the spring of the year, and 

 there is less danger from the ice on the 

 ground chilling the flying bees. 



The first visit to the bees — to satisfy curi- 

 osity — takes place in early March; but on 

 tliis trip, if any attention is needed it is 



neighborhood of 

 hundred colonias. 

 confines himself 

 clusively to the 



don hive. Two api- 

 aries contain eight- 

 frame hives, and the 

 last ten frames, which 

 is equal to a 13-frame 

 Langstroth hive. Mr. Bainard produces ex- 

 tracted honey only. From a few words 

 dropped, I believe that there is a little con- 

 troversy on this question between Mr. and 

 Mrs. Bainard, the latter wanting to tlevote 

 one colony to the production of comb honey 

 for occasional family use, and, as I put it, to 

 amaze her friends with the beautiful comb 

 honey her husband can })roduce. 



Tlie source of honey is almost exclusively 

 clover; but under favorable ^'onditions a 

 little basswood is obtained. This shows 

 that the honey-flow is not prolonged. 



Four colonies in a case is the method of 

 wintering. The outside entrance thru the 

 case to the hive is about 2 inches high by 

 % wide; and by means of a movable piece 



Bainard's winter ease with the upper pieces partly removed, 

 are separate from the lower main part. 



These 



given. Rarely an outer case may need to 

 have the snow removed. If there are dead 

 colonies tlie entrances to such hives are clos- 

 ed. Whenever weak colonies are found the 

 entrance is contracted with paper. This the 

 bees can remove as fast as they require 

 the entrance room. 



The next visit is made in fruit-bloom 

 when more room is given by adding another 

 section of the Heddon hive to the two sec- 

 tions upon which the bees are almost invari- 

 ably wintered. The need of the bees is 

 judged from outside conditions. In 1913 

 one colony had a super on before fruit- 

 bloom; but tliis is rarely the case. The bees 

 are unpacked some time during fruit-bloom; 

 but if the bees do not do much during that 



