GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



ArEiL, 1921 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



an item for a small business, to say nothing 

 of the labor required to take care of a lot 

 of correspondence; and, unless conditions 

 change, we do not expect to try to increase 

 this trade. 



The co-operative marketing would in 

 jnany instances give the beekeeper a chance 

 to have his cans and cases returned, which 

 would be no small saving in handling a 

 large crop. Carlot shipments would not be 

 uncommon, and a big saving in freight would 

 be the result. In many instances better dis- 

 tribution would result, which in itself would 

 help wonderfully. In the meantime sell all 

 you can locally. W. S. Pangburn. 



Center Junction, la. 



« « * 



In Ontario.— ?;i^^'-^ '^f^ ^«* ^^,f/ ^^^ 



this past winter that autos 

 have not passed our doors. That, in a nut- 

 shell, gives an idea as to our snowfall for the 

 season. And we have had very little rain, 

 too; so precipitation has been away below 

 normal for this part of the globe. Continued 

 freezing by night and thawing by day are 

 doing a great injury to clover, on some soils 

 at least; and, needless to say, this does not 

 improve prospects for the beekeeper. Some 

 correspondents have reported heavy con- 

 sumption of stores; one beekeeper today 

 wrote me that bees in his locality were al- 

 most out of food already. I have hardly 

 looked at a colony since last fall, as the older 

 I get the more careless I become about win- 

 ter "tinkering." If they are not all right 

 in the winter, tlie mischief is already done; 

 so what is the use of knowing about the loss 

 too soon and worrying about it? Do your 

 l)est in the fall and then cease worrying, no 

 matter what happens in the winter, appears 

 to be a good motto for a beekeeper. Need- 

 less to say, if disaster happens and the cause 

 is apparent, then do your best to overcome 

 tli;it another fall; for little can be done in 

 the winter, so far as bees are concerned. 



In the last paragraph of my correspondence 

 for March Gleanings an obvious error oc- 

 curs. Speaking of the difficulties in sending 

 l)ees by express, it should say that many 

 have ceased sending by that method — ^in 

 fact, some absolutely refuse to send package 

 bees into Canada by express under any con- 

 sideration. 



Honey markets are still dull, and ])rices 

 are at least as weak as they were a month 

 ago. But the demand for bees is very brisk, 

 as nearly every mail for the past week has 

 had inquiry for colonies of bees — most of 

 these inquiries being from beginners. 



Bees thruout southern and central Ontario 

 have had a cleansing flight in most locali- 

 ties. All reports to date say that about all 

 colonies are alive. I ha\e been in but two 

 of our yards for weeks, and so far have not 

 noticed any dead colonies. In fact, we have 

 had no severe winter weather for any length 



of time, and, if bees had stores and were 

 fairly well protected, I see no reason why 

 they should die a year like this. But spring 

 is young yet, and if stores have disappeared 

 as some state, there is lots of time for fa- 

 talities during the next six weeks. 



Experts say that the colder the weather 

 the more bee activity, and hence more stores 

 are used. Brood-rearing is also accelerated. 

 Experience here in the North says that mild 

 winters mean heavier consumption of stores 

 than cold winters, if colonies are properly 

 protected. Who is right? I venture to say 

 that both opinions are in a measure correct, 

 but the trouble is we are apt to get lop- 

 sided in our views and not consider ques- 

 tions like this from all angles. At any rate, 

 I would rather have a fairly cold, even win- 

 ter for successful wintering of bees than 

 any other kind of climate that we can have 

 served up to us here in Ontario. 



A carload of sweet-clover seed was loaded 

 at our station a few days ago, which was 

 bought for $3.50 per bushel, if I have the 

 matter right. No wonder that farmers with 

 a big acreage of this plant seeded for this 

 year, are debating as to what to do with it. 

 As to their decision, it is needless to say 

 that any hopes we have of another sweet- 

 clover honey crop are all dependent upon 

 what action they take in the next two 

 months. 



For the ])ast few days my son Edwin and 

 his "Dad" have been at the wax-rendering 

 game. Wliile the weather outside has not 

 been very cold, in the room in wliicJi we 

 liave been woi'king, tho we had no thermom- 

 eter to \'Ouch for it, we felt as though tlie 

 temperature was somewhere around 12,5 de- 

 grees F. Working over a steaming boiler 

 the humidity makes itself felt more than the 

 mere heat, and we certainly have had a 

 bleaching. We have fixed up o^er 1000 

 pounds of wax mostly from cappings, and 

 while it is hot work, yet there is something 

 about the job we do not dislike, provided it 

 does not last too long. 



For the cappings w(> liaxc tiied many 

 plans, but have settled down to tho single- 

 cheese unlieated press. For old combs, while 

 we at one time condemned the hot-water 

 ])ress — known here in Ontario as the Sib- 

 bald press — at the present we would not use 

 anything else for the job. At the first trial, 

 sonu^ years ago, we did not know how to 

 use it and made a mess of things; but, after 

 "learning how" we jironounce the liot- 

 water-surrounded i)ress as the only real 

 method for getting out nearly all the wax 

 from old combs. .Inst the otlier day I met a 

 friend who runs about 100 colonies who 

 stated tliat he had never used a pi'css of any 

 kind. If anyone knew just how much wax 

 was thrown away by some of the crude ren- 

 dering outfits still in use, many wax presses 

 would be bought at once. J. L. Byer. 



Markham, Ont. 



