502 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



August, 1921 



@> FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



In Ontario. 



For the last 10 days On- 

 tario has been sweltering 

 under a hot sun, temperatures running from 

 90° to above 100° in the shade each day. 

 Today (July 8) the heat wave is broken, 

 temporarily at least, by terrific downpours 

 of rain, some three inches falling at our 

 place, and grain in the fields is all as flat 

 as tho a roller had been run over it. 

 Farmers as well as beekeepers have their 

 misfortunes to contend with, and it is hard 

 lines for the farmer to see so much damage 

 done when a few hours before the prospects 

 looked very bright. Some of the grain may 

 rise again, but the heavier fields are tangled 

 so badly that much of the grain will stay 

 where it is till cut. So far as the beekeeper 

 is concerned, probably the heavy rainfall 

 may be a benefit; but that is yet to be 

 proved, as we have had a heavy honey flow 

 ever since the heat wave struck us. 



In my last batch of notes attention wns 

 drawn to the rather gloomy outlook at the 

 time of writing, but the unexpected has hap- 

 pened again and it looks like a fair crop of 

 honey for Ontario this year. True, some lo- 

 calities report failure; but, on the other 

 hand, other localities have had very heavy 

 yields. 



A few davs ago I took a hurried auto trip 

 to our apiaries in Wentworth County, and 

 while there I was again forcibly reminded of 

 the uncertainty of beekeeping, and how 

 great are the differences of results in dif- 

 ferent localities one year with another. 

 Quite a lot of writing has been done rela- 

 tive to the pound-package business, and be- 

 ginners at least are apt to be misled by con- 

 flicting reports. The report I am about to 

 make will merely emphasize the matter of 

 locality and seasons — more particularly the 

 latter — as to how beekeeping is affected by 

 these two factors. 



Early in May of this year some two-pound 

 packages were shipped to our Wentworth 

 County apiaries for the purpose of making 

 up a loss of a year ago at one yard at that 

 center. The weather was bad when my son 

 went over to put the bees into the hives at 

 that place, and he brought home a few 

 which were put in the home yard. All came 

 by the same post and from the same shipper 

 and all were alike as to condition. "When 

 at the Wentworth County yards a few days 

 ago I noticed that all the package bees 

 placed there had an average per colony of 

 at least 100 pounds of clover honey piled on 

 them. The package bees here at the home 

 yard are not more than ready for the supers 

 yet. Last year these two localities were in 

 just the opposite condition, being very back- 

 ward at the Wentworth County yards and 

 abnormally developed early in the season 

 here at home. It is only 65 miles in a direct 

 line between the two localities, but what a 

 difference! 



Friend Pottit in the last issue of Glean- 

 ings gives splendid advice to the producer 

 of extracted honey in more than one way, 

 and one almost envies him the splendid 

 equipment which he has to work with. In 

 the number of supers of drawn combs neces- 

 sary to take care of the crop in a good year, 

 particularly where a number of apiaries are 

 being operated, he does not at all exagger- 

 ate the importance of having a large num- 

 ber of drawn combs or foundation in 

 frames, ready for an emergency. This year 

 we have been taught a very expensive les- 

 son along that line, so I can speak from ex- 

 perience. At one set of apiaries where 

 there are some 400 colonies in five yards, 

 we had a little less than an average of 

 three supers of drawn combs per colony. 

 Last year with a light crop at that place, 

 not nearly all these combs were used, and it 

 was a problem to keep them clear from 

 moths. But this year, following a very 

 light flow early in clover bloom, all at once 

 a veritable flood of nectar was coming in at 

 that place, and in 10 days all supers were on 

 the hives and soon all were plugged. It 

 was impossible to get out supplies on short 

 notice, and with all colonies to be examined 

 to head off swarming, one can imagine just 

 what happened. Extracting was started at 

 once from the top stories; but, for every 

 pound taken off, the bees would have stored 

 at least two pounds if they had had room, 

 since they were very strong and the flow still 

 kept on. I will not soon forget my impres- 

 sions as I visited all five yards and saw lit- 

 erally bushels of bees covering the high 

 stacks of supers from the top to the very 

 bottom, of the hives. Most of them were 

 loafing, as they had no place in which to 

 store any more honey. 



This lot of bees are run on the eentral- 

 extracting-plant idea, and while it has many 

 advantages, I still think that, if we had an 

 extracting outfit with buildings at each 

 place, faster time could be made in extract- 

 ing in an emergency like this. I think it is 

 no exaggeration to say that, if we could 

 have had five supers to each colony instead 

 of three, at least 15,000 pounds more honey 

 would be to the credit of those bees. That 

 amount of honey even at a low price would 

 buy a lot of supers and foundation even at 

 the high jjrice they are selling. This is not 

 apt to happen again for some time — I mean 

 the flow of honey may not be so free for 

 years to come, yet for this year the extra 

 supers would have paid handsomely, and one 

 would not be feeling that because of being 

 unprepared a fair crop was lost. 



While the flow was good at that place, 

 here at the home district where we have 

 eight apiaries, almost no honey came in dur- 

 ing most of the alsike bloom. The bees did 

 not build up to normal strength as compared 

 with other j^ears, and they were not ready 



