DECEMBER 15, 1916 



1177 



" estimated," I have an idea that the aver- 

 age would be away below the 89.6 pounds 

 mentioned. I base these opinions from 

 conditions locally; for while the crop was 

 extra good here this year in our county, 

 yet I know of many neglected lots of bees 

 that produced practically nothing in the 

 way of surplus. But making allowance for 

 a gTeat falling-oft' in the estimate, the fact 

 is apparent that there was " some honey " 

 produced in Ontario this year — no mistake 

 about that. Bear in mind that the figures 

 are for Ontario alone. The maritime prov- 

 inces produce quite a lot of honey, and 

 Quebec still more if I am correct. The 

 western provinces also produce quite a 

 quantity — this year the crop was good in 

 parts of British Columbia and other west- 

 ern provinces as well. A lot of honey is 

 imported from the British West Indies 

 each year — largely by the baking establish- 



ments. Summing all together, an enormous 

 amount of honey will be used in Canada 

 this year, as practically none is exported. 

 Considering the population of Canada, I 

 wonder if we are not entitled to be classed 

 as being among the greatest honey-eating 

 nations of the earth. Many beekeepers, 

 and the writer is among them, feel that but 

 for abnormal conditions this year caused 

 by the war, poor fruit crops, etc., the mar- 

 ket would have tumbled — in other words, 

 the supi3ly would have more than equaled 

 the demand. As it is, honey is practically 

 (he same price as before the war, while 

 many — in fact most — other foodstuffs have 

 advanced from 20 to 100 per cent or more. 

 Under present conditions this year, honey 

 is being used extensively in hundreds of 

 homes that previously hardly knew the 

 taste of it, so the advertising we are ob- 

 taining should be worth something. 



WHEN JOHNNIE COMES CALLING 



BY FLORENCE B. RICHARDSON 



"Johnnie" is an ex-circus clown who came 

 to this " neck of the woods " a few years 

 ago with the avowed intention of " showin' 

 these fellers how to keep bees!" He came 

 well prepared with his beautifully made and 

 ornamented box hives, i^ainted a lovely 

 shade of some bright color. Green is his 

 favorite at present — a real green, too. 



The first real shock to his enterprise came 

 when the county bee inspector Avarned him 

 to put his little pets into movable-frame 

 hives and gave him ten days in which to do 

 so. Mad? Why, he is said to have buzzed 

 about like a hornet whose nest has been 

 destroyed ; but he obeyed orders, much to 

 his chagrin, altho he had to hire the inspec- 

 tor to do the transferring for him, as he had 

 no idea of the method of procedure. 



Johnnie came to call on me, not knowing 

 that I knew anything about bees, and in 

 his inimitable way proceeded to introduce 

 me to the first principles of beekeeping, 

 when he caught sight in the back yard of 

 a box hive I had just bought and hadn't 

 had time to transfer. 



He began by saying, " Great country fer 

 bees;" and when I agi'eed with him he con- 

 tinued, " Know much about 'em?" 



I admitted not knowing it all, and then 

 Johnnie launched out on his hobby. He 

 looks funny while talking earnestly, and any 

 one would know by just a glance at his 

 queer little face that his idea is to help and 

 not alone to appease his vanity. 



"Tell ye one thing;" and the stubby first 

 finger of his right hand beat time to each 

 word in (he palm of his left; " ye'll haf to 

 move them bees outer them boxes, and do it 

 pronto or thet bee feller will make ye do 

 it!" 



With this information he looked up at 

 me very knowingly, and slowly winked one 

 eye. 



" Yes, Johnnie," I told him, " I'm going 

 to do that very thing just as soon as I can 

 get over to town to get a smoker." 



" No need to go to town a-tall," he ans- 

 wered ; " got a puffektly good smoker down 

 to my place, and yer jest as welcome as ye 

 can be." 



"Well," I said, "I've also got to get 

 some frames wired," and — I got no further, 

 for Johnnie broke in with a snort : 



" Now, ma'am, don't ye go gittin' foolish 

 like thet ! Why, them wires is the worst 

 things ye can ])ut inter hive. They jest 

 plays all kinds of tricks, and thej^'ll make ye 

 all kinds of trouble." 



"But why?" I asked. " E\evy one who 

 keeps lots of bees in the East wires the 

 frames and there is no trouble." 



" Well, now ye've hit it. East is East, 

 and California is California. Now," with a 

 knowing twinkle, "I tried thet wirin' busi- 

 ness once, and I know what I'm a-sayin'. 

 Why, I had the combs melt right down jest 

 'cause them tormented wires got so hot!" 



"But, Johnnie," I protested, "how do 



