AUGl'ST, I'J'J'J 



(1 J. K A N I N G S IN B K E CULT U H E 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



In Ontario Outario lias a great pro- 

 fusion of clover bloom this 

 year — at least this is tiie case in all tive 

 counties where we have bees, and from Avhat 

 I can learn, 1 believe the conditions are 

 much the same in that respect over much of 

 the province. Heavy rains have thorough- 

 ly soaked tiie ground, and clover is lasting 

 a longer period than usual. In our section, 

 we have had only about one day out of three 

 that bees could work owing to wet cool 

 weather, but when the days are fine nectar 

 comes in nicely. While I have had few re- 

 ports from other places, a fair crop of hon- 

 e}' is now assured at our three apiary cen- 

 ters, and the quality appears to be very 

 fine. There is no buckwlieat grown in Went- 

 worth and Haldiniaud counties, and very 

 little in north Sinicoe where our bees are 

 located, but here in the home section we 

 have a \ery large acreage this year. In 

 years past when clover failed, fields of buck- 

 wlieat coming on looked fine to our eyes, 

 but this season, with wet weather holding 

 the clover season back and at the same 

 time hustling the buckwheat on, things are 

 different. It looks as though it will be al- 

 most impossible to get all of the clover 

 hone}^ oif the hives before buckwheat comes 

 on, as the two honey flows will overlap. How- 

 ever it is better, I suppose, to have some 

 mixed buckwheat and clover honey than to 

 have none of any kind, so we will not wor- 

 ry, but do the best we can and let some of 

 the clover go as buckwheat. 



Old honey seems to be all cleaned up, and, 

 although Ave have made a few sales, the 

 honej- is about all on hives yet at this date 

 (July 8). We have had quite a few in- 

 quiries in a wholesale way. Sugar is firm- 

 ing all the time, and is hard to get in quan- 

 tities here at present, grocers tell me. That 

 at least should help the honey market a lit- 

 tle. Agricultural prospects arc good all over 

 the Dominion, and that, more than anything 

 else, is a favorable factor in the matter of 

 helping sales of honey, particularly so in 

 the case of the western provinces wliere 

 crop failures have been unpleasantly fre- 

 quent during the past few years. 



It is pleasing to all beekeepers, I believe, 

 that steps have been taken by both the 

 U. S. and Canadian authorities to jirevent 

 imi^ortations of live bees from Europe, ow- 

 ing to the danger of bringing over the Isle 

 of Wight disease. Only a short time ago I 

 had a letter from a beekeeper in England, 

 who claimed that what we called paralysis 

 here was nothing but Isle of Wight disease. 



If that is the case (I do not think it is), 

 we might feel safe in the thought that this 

 disease, dreaded as it is in England, would 

 never be a serious menace here, since the 

 few isolated cases of paralysis (so-called) 

 never have, so far, proven infectious nor 

 contagious as far as I could see. Last year 

 we had three distinct T-ascs, and tlicy were 



all over 80 miles from each other, ('(donies 

 actually died riglit out in two cases, and vet 

 other colonies alongside were not affecteil. 

 One colony in the home section got sick in 

 buckwlieat bloom and the bees were piled 

 up in front of hive by thousands, very feAV 

 getting over two feet from the hive en- 

 trance before dying. They exliibited the 

 usual symptoms, shiny in appearance and 

 bloated, their bodies being filled with a 

 light-colored fluid. 



Although these colonies were much deci- 

 mated in numbers, they wintered well and 

 early in spring appeared all riglit. A fine 

 Italian queen headed the colony, and I was 

 surprised to find the same old clipped queen 

 present this spring. I thought they might 

 have superseded her last fall. About May 1 

 they again got sick and, although I have re- 

 queened the colony, the adult bees are still 

 dying in such numbers that the stench from 

 their dead bodies is noticeable as one goes 

 past the hive. I would give quite a little to 

 know just what causes this maladv. 



Markham, Out. J. L. Byer. 



In Michigan. 



August could well be the 

 busiest month of tlie 

 year. The Avliite lioney flow ceases in late 

 July or early August and,- as the dark lioncy 

 flow follows very closely, the entire wliite 

 crop must be immediately removed from the 

 hives or its value will be reduced by dark 

 honey being mixed with it 



T have noticed when supers were piled 

 high at this season, with cool damp nights, 

 that fermentation starts in many supers, if 

 not removed to the honey-house; and even 

 there, they must not remain long, but should 

 be extracted and sealed in tin cans or other 

 tight containers within a short time. 



The honey-selling season starts at this 

 time. This is especially true of the comb 

 honey, whicli must be cleaned, graded and 

 cased and a part placed on the market. 



The colonies are very strong now and 

 must be given room, or a large proportion 

 Avould swarm out. 



This is an ideal time to make one's in- 

 crease artificially, and every strong colony 

 should make one. Here is the plan that I 

 have used successfully for several seasons: 

 Immediately after the white honey is taken 

 off, a hive-body with ten combs is placed 

 on each hive, and, just as the dark honey 

 flow starts, the increase is made by setting 

 ofi' the super of combs on a bottom-board 

 and closing the entrance to about three 

 inches. Then after removing the old colony 

 to a new location, place this newly made 

 colony on the old stand and introduce a 

 young laying queen at once. 



The dividing of the colony and the intro- 

 duction of the queen are best done just be- 

 fore dark; for, if the division is done early 

 in the day or even in early afternoon, bv 



