March, 1917 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



191 



c 



JANUARY, 

 1916, is re- 

 membered by 

 many beekeepers 

 in Ontario a s 

 being unusually 

 mild all thru — 

 so mii'ld indeed 

 that bees in 



many cases started brood-rearing heavily 

 and used up a great amount of stores. 

 January, 1917, to date is altogether differ- 

 ent, as it has been quite cold nearly all the 

 time, with a number of days below zero' — 

 twice it has been 20 below in our vicinity. 

 All things considered, a steady, moderately 

 cold winter is better for the bees than 

 one with many sudden changes — at least 

 that is my opinion and exiierience.* 



• * « 



The snowfall, while not heavy so far, 

 has been at all times, since cold weather 

 set in, suflficient to give a nice covering to 

 the clover. While the snow is in some 

 respects not altogether a thing of pleasure, 

 even if it is a thing of beauty, yet a winter 

 with little or no snow here in Ontario is 

 abnormal, and I think we are all agreed 

 that heavy snows are a benefit rather than 

 otherwise. With no snow on the ground 

 the frost goes deep, and then in the spring 

 the danger of " heaving," as applied to 

 clover, is much greater than it would be 

 Avith little frost in the ground. In short, 

 snow is a protector; and among other 

 good things it is a wonderful help to bees 

 wintering outdoors to have a good thick 

 blanket of "the beautiful" over the hive 

 when the thermometer gets to zero or 

 loAver, and the winds are liowling. 



* » * 



This year (here has been a tendency on 

 the part of some beekeepers as well as 

 some educators of beekeeper^: to encourage 

 the use of 60 - pound tins as a package 

 for supplying customers who are learning 

 to use a lot of honey. J-'ersonally I think 

 this is a great mistake; and while I formerly 

 sold more or less to retail customers in 

 that style of package, I now would not 

 sell it to them in a 60-pound tin unless 

 they really asked me to do so. Five or 

 six j^ears ago we did quite a heavy western 

 trade in 60-pound tins, but now we have 

 cut it out altogether. Why? Simply be- 

 cause the great m.ajority of people having 

 granulated honey in as large a package as 

 Ihe 60-pound can will spoil the honey 

 more or less when they liquefy it. Then, 



* Most of the items on this page were prepared 

 for the February number, but reached us too late 

 for insertion in the last issue. — Eu. 



NOTES FROM CANADA 



J. L. Byer 



1 



W^^^^^^^^ 



again, a smaljer 

 package is easier 

 to handle in 

 every way, and 

 the bulk of the 

 honey may be 

 kept safely seal- 

 ed away from 

 dust, moisture, 

 etc., which is not so easy with one large tin. 

 Instead of a 60-pound tin, we now sell to 

 scores of families each year 60 pounds or 

 multiples of 60, supplying it instead in 10- 

 pound pails, six pails in a crate. For the 

 local trade the crates are always returned 

 gladly; and in shipping west, there is little 

 difference between cost of the crated 60 or 

 the 6 pails in a crate, as in the latter case 

 all pails are sold gross weight, the customer 

 knowing fully what he is getting. The 

 pails are lithographed, and have directions 

 for liquefying, where to keep the honey, 

 etc., plainly printed on them. They serve 

 as educators in more than one way. I 

 certainly consider the 60-pound tin a back 

 number as a retail package, even if families 

 are being supplied that use large quantities. 



s.- * « 



Talk about " old-fashioned winters " — 

 if the present one does not come under 

 that heading, then we never expect to 

 see one. Very steady cold almost every day 

 since early in December, and bees have 

 not had a chance to shift in the hives, let 

 alone have a flight. How are they win- 

 tering to date, Feb. 7? I have hardly 

 looked into a colony since weather turned 

 cold, so I can not even make a guess. 

 With smaller clusters than usual, and 

 such a cold steady winter one might im- 

 agine the very worst. In the fall it always 

 gives us a pleasant feeling to find brood- 

 nests heavy with honey; but about Feb. 

 1, with a winter like this one, we begin 

 to wish there were more sugar syrup in 

 the hives, for there is no question that the 

 syrup gives best results when bees are 

 put to real severe tests. If natural stores 

 are perfect, then nothing can excel such 

 for wintering; but, unfortunately, this is 

 not always the case; and during excep- 

 tionally long terms of confinement with 

 steady severe weather, dysentery is sure 

 to show up in the apiaries more or less. 

 * # « 



On page 1064, Nov. 15, Mr. Chadwick 

 takes an entirely erroneous view as to 

 wliat I had in mind when recently speaking 

 of diagnosing conditions of a hive by ex- 

 ternal examination. He says, " Where 

 there is a reason to expect disease, careful 

 inspection is necessai-y and should be en- 



