Ai-Gl'ST. 1920 G L K A N I N G S T N B K E C l' L T U R E 477 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



it will |i;iy any biH'kecpor to plant, siiue to 

 its valuo as a soil builder and a forage crop 

 must bo added its proportion of the honey 

 crop. Many farmers have not raised this 

 iTop extensively because of the ravages of 

 the eowpea weevil. The Texas Agrieviltural 

 Experiment Station, College Station, Texas, 

 has iust issued a bulletin on this insect and 

 its control. It is by F. B. Paddock and H. 

 J. Kcinhard. The junior author has made a 

 three-year study of this weevil. A copy of 

 this bulletin. No. 256, can be obtained by 

 writing to the director of the above station. 

 College Station, Tex. H. B. Parks. 



In Ontario L^ist month I stated. that 



we were having unusual- 

 ly dry weather here in Ontario. It is said 

 that one extreme follows another, and this 

 certainly seems to be the case so far as 

 weather is concerned, for two weeks ago 

 from this date (July 9) rain came and it 

 has rained nearly every day since. 



Alsike clover, altho in abundance around 

 us, yielded very little, and reports from over 

 the Province indicate that this condition is 

 quite general. Up in Simcoe County, where 

 we have two yards, alsike has yielded heav- 

 ily, and just why the difference between 

 there and here is hard to understand, as 

 conditions seem quite similar as to moisture, 

 quantity of clover available, etc. In the 

 home district the yield from alsike was prac- 

 tically nothing; but at present we are hav- 

 nig a very heavy flow, so heavy that in the 

 last six days the bees could work six hours a 

 day. This flow is from sweet clover, which 

 is found in large fields around us for the 

 first time in our experience. Talk of sweet 

 clover being a slow yielder of nectar! Just 

 at present it reminds one of basswood at its 

 best; but, as stated, we have had little fair 

 weather since it came into bloom. However, 

 it will bloom into August; so we should have 

 some surplus yet, if the clover keeps in the 

 same humor that it is in now. Basswood, 

 wherever it is in quantities to aniount to 

 anything, is looking the best for years, and 

 reports from all corresj)ondents say that 

 prospects are good for this very uncertain 

 \ielder. If sweet clover continues to be 

 grown for seed purposes here in Ontario, it 

 will mean a big change for many beekeepers. 

 It follows after alsike is past its best and 

 means a continued flow right into August. 

 For the first time since buckwheat has been 

 grown here in our section, the large fields, 

 coming on fast, are not viewed with any too 

 much satisfaction. Undoubtedly the buck- 

 wheat will come into bloom while sweet 

 clover is at its best, and so tlie hone^' ma\ 

 be discolored. However, beekeepers will 

 be thankful for what thev get, even if some 



of tlic honey gets llavore<l with buckwheat 

 and has to go for less than the white honey 

 would bring. 



This year at three widely separated yards 

 we have three cases of paralysis, Isle of 

 Wight Disease, or other ailment correspond 

 ing to the usual diagnosis of the foregoing 

 maladies. The best colony at the home yard, 

 headed by a fine Italian queen, was first 

 noticed about four weeks ago as having 

 something wrong with it. Large numbers of 

 bees would be seen around the entrance with 

 wings all a-quiver and soon falling in front 

 of the hive to die. Contrary to the way the 

 bees act in the so-called disappearing dis- 

 ease, when the bees rush thru the grass for 

 some distance from the hives, ultimately dy- 

 ing in piles in depressions in the ground, 

 the bees in this case rarely get over a foot 

 from the hive entrance, and the dead soon 

 pile up so that the stench is very disagree- 

 able. On opening the hive, hundreds of 

 bees are noted with quivering wings, and 

 many have bodies distended. If opened, a 

 pale yellow fluid is in evidence, and it is in 

 large quantities considering the size of the 

 bees. The brood was always normal till the 

 old bees got too few to attend to it, and 

 the queen was an extra-good one, keeping 

 the frames solid with brood. This colony 

 is just about at its last, and I notice a few 

 bees in the next colony to the sick one, show- 

 ing some ailing signs now. Another case is 

 at a yard four miles away, and the third at 

 Binbrook apiary, 80 miles from here. All 

 are identical as to symptoms. Is anything 

 known to the fraternity to counteract or 

 cure such a malady? and, again, is tliis the 

 genuine Isle of Wight disease? 



As already intimated, it looks like a light 

 crop of clover honey in Ontario, except where 

 sweet clover is grown; but, of course, such 

 localities are the exception rather than the 

 rule, altho if the price of seed keeps up, we 

 may have to reverse that ruling in the near 

 future. Basswood may help out, but it is 

 a fickle yielder here in Ontario. All this 

 bears directly on the matter of prices for 

 honey, and so far as I can learn there is 

 nobody who seems to have a definite idea as 

 to what honey will sell at. Sugar has again 

 advanced and is selling in a wholesale way 

 at .'t!21.21 in Toronto at present, and is, I 

 believe, hard to get in quantity lots. Cer- 

 tainly it does not look as if honey will be 

 cheaper than last year, and, if the crop is 

 light, it may go a good deal higher. Local 

 demand is already fair; but we have not 

 extracted any, as the weather has been wet 

 (ontinuously for about two weeks, and 

 honey is not quite in shape. 



Markham. Ont. J. L. Bvcr. 



