192 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



March, 1917 



eoiu-aged to the greatest extent." We were 

 not speaking about disease, but about run- 

 ning a lot of apiaries with little help, 

 right in the rush of the honey season. 

 Here in Ontario, at least, we want all 

 inspection for disease done long before that 

 lime. While I am ready to admit that some 

 pretty rough work goes on in some of our 

 yards at times, yet we certainly want to ex- 

 amine each brood-nest thoroly twice each 

 year to be sure if foul brood is present. 

 The first and main examination is during 

 fruit-bloom, when the clipping is done ; and 

 then after main flow is over we try to ex- 

 amine each brood-nest again during buck- 

 wheat bloom, 



* * * 



LARGE SHIPMENTS OF BEES IN ONTARIO. 



Buying bees from the South in combless 

 packages bids fair to reach large pro- 

 portions in Ontario this year. Bees thus 

 bought in 1914 and 1915 were in many 

 cases very unsatisfactory, owing to poor 

 seasons, and also to the fact that many 

 packages arrived in poor condition. On 

 the contrary, bees bought in this way in 

 1916, wherever received in good condition 

 (and this was the rule rather than the 

 exception), gave universally good results — 

 hence the boom. While no one knows just 

 yet how the combless-package business will 

 turn out, one thing is certain — seasons like 

 our last one are pretty sure to be few 

 and far between. The clover flow came 

 very late and gave the bees a chance to 

 build up before the flow, and then, again, 

 the best part of the clover floAV was near 

 the end of the blooming period. I have 

 had seasons in the past when as much as 

 100 pounds per colony was harvested; and 

 I am sure the pound packages in said 

 years would not have stored a pound of 

 surplus, as flow was very early, and over 

 with by the time it only nicely started 

 tins past year. With the volume of busi- 

 ness that is sure to be done this year, no 

 matter how the venture turns out, the 

 editorial admonitions in the January issue 

 are timely and to the point, if much dis- 

 satisfaction and unpleasantness are to be 

 avoided. For one thing is sure — shipping 

 pound packages is something that all ad- 

 vertisers along that line have not yet 

 accomplished. 



LARGE vs. SMALL. 



A nice predicament I have got into surely 

 by making comparisons between that ex- 

 tremely small entrance mentioned on page 

 909, Oct. 1, and the extremely large en- 

 trances endorsed by some people, and class- 

 ing them both under the head of "ridicu- 



lous." Like a Scotchman under somewhat 

 like circumstances, " I will no apologeese, 

 but I will compromeese " by saying that 

 for the moment I forgot that Dr. Miller 

 used such a monster entrance as mentioned 

 on page 1013, Nov. 1 ; and if I had not been 

 so thoughtless I Avould not have made the 

 comparison. But if any other beekeeper 

 than the doctor advocated such a large en- 

 trance I would still be tempted to desig- 

 nate it as " ridiculous." 



But see here, doctor, I am not going to 

 humor you by saying which I should pre- 

 fer in the way of entrances if forced to 

 use either that very small one or the one 

 with the front of the hive removed, for, 

 " honest Injun," I tliink both of them ri- 

 dic— beg pardon, I meant to say, both of 

 them are extremes, and I would rather 

 take a course somewhere midway between 

 the two. Yes, I have my own ideas as to 

 why such large entrances are no help to a 

 colony, even if they are not harmful; but 

 in the face of the trimming I could look 

 for, if these claims were advocated, prob- 

 ably I had better keep quiet, for " he who 

 fights and runs away may live to fight an- 

 other day." 



* * « 



THE DOUBLE WINTER CASE. 



The editorial on page 1011, on wintering 

 in Canada, may be right in assuming that 

 quadruple cases are growing in favor among 

 the beekeepers for outdoor wintering. Pos- 

 sibly that is the case, for I personally know 

 that a number of good friends, among them 

 some of the best beekeepers here in Ontario, 

 use these cases and recommend them to 

 others. But there are others, and the writer 

 is among them, who much prefer the single 

 case or a ease large enough to take two 

 colonies. Personally I like hives facing 

 south. That is one reason for my prefer- 

 ence for the smaller cases. 



But the main reason for my objection to 

 the four-colony case is their bulkdness. 

 One man can hardly handle them alone 

 under any circumstances unless they are 

 made on the clamp principle, and then there 

 is always a mussy job gathering up the 

 packing. In our seven different apiaries 

 we have hundreds of one and two colony 

 cases, and but five quadruple cases in the 

 whole outfit, rive will be the maximum as 

 long as I have anything to do with the busi- 

 ness; but I am not sure whether that num- 

 ber will be the minimum. This is a free 

 country, and many men of many minds; 

 and far be it for me to try to persuade any 

 one on this question, as bees will winter 

 well in am/ of the cases provided the bees 

 are well prepared in other ways. 



