11 



By P. Dumlas Todd, Foul Brood inspector. 



Acting under the instructions of Mr. W. E. Scott, Deputy Minister of 

 Agriculture, I started from Victoria on the last day of April for Hatzic 

 where I had arranged to meet with Mr. L. Harris of Vernon, Foul Brood 

 Inspector for the district east and south of Lytton. As there was very 

 little definite information in existence as to the number of bee-keepers in 

 British Columbia or where they were located, Mr. Harris and I agreed ta 

 make a rough division of the Province into the dry and wet belt districts, 

 Lytton being considered the point of separation, with the understanding, 

 however, that if either one found conditions calling for energetic measures 

 he would at once call upon his colleague. 



Hatzic was chosen as the meeting point for Mr. Harris and myself be- 

 cause some months before an apiary of about 50 colonies had been brought 

 in there from one of the eastern provinces. Since the only known case of 

 foul brood in British Columbia up to that date had been imported by a 

 settler from the East it was felt advisable to inspect this apiary at the 

 earliest opportunity. 



April had been a month of delightful weather, but unfortunately for us 

 and our work, conditions changed and our arrival at Hatzic was marked by 

 the advent of cold temperature and rain. After waiting rather impatiently 

 for a week hoping that we might be favored with better weather conditions- 

 we decided to move on to Lytton where we felt there might be a chance of 

 brighter skies. 



It may be worth while to remark here that the rainy weather during 

 the first week in May at Hatzic gave one an opportunity to observe the close- 

 relationship existing between bees and fruit trees. During our stay many 

 of the trees were in blossom, but all the time not a single bee was on the 

 wing as far as we could see. Later in the year the orchardists found that 

 the trees which bloomed during that spell were practically devoid of fruit. 

 At Chilliwack one bee-keeper pointed out to me that a very heavy crop of 

 apples was borne by the trees that bloomed in the latter part of April, but. 

 only a few on the trees that blossomed during the wet weather in the first 

 half of May. 



The weather conditions all summer were very exceptional, in fact one* 

 of the oldest ranchers in the Hatzic district tersely described it as a "freak 

 year," the like of which he had never seen in British Columbia. While the 

 middle and eastern parts of this continent were sweltering under unbear- 

 able heat, nature balanced the account by giving abnormal cool and rainr 

 spells in British Columbia. As it was impossible to do inspection work 

 with such conditions a great deal of valuable time was lost, in fact on 43 

 days the atmospheric conditions prohibited the opening of hives. 



We arrived at Lytton on May 8, in rain. Next morning we proceeded by- 

 stage to the ranch of Mr. Alexander Lochore which is located about 28" 

 miles above Lytton. Rain accompanied us all the way, but on our arrival 

 the sun broke out and we got to work on what proved to be a well managed 

 and very successful apiary. Personally I felt cheered with so hopeful a 

 start, but little realised that almost two weeks were to elapse before I 

 would again see as well kept hives. 



On our way back to Lytton we spent a few hours at a ranch where a 

 young woman with no one to guide her was endeavoring to manage over a 

 dozen strong colonies in a good region but without success. As we felt that 



