AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 667 



plained the whole thing to Mr. Dryden, 

 he took hold at once, and he deserves 

 much credit for the way he managed the 

 whole business, and passed the first Act 

 of its kind in the world, which will be a 

 benefit to both bee-keepers and fruit- 

 growers. 



Mr. Allen Pringle is going to Chicago 

 to take charge of the Canadian honey 

 exhibit, and I believe that every bee- 

 keeper will be pleased to see him there, 

 as he is a man that is much respected by 

 all who know him. 



Mr. McKnight, who is both a practical 

 bee-keeper and fruit-grower, is now edi- 

 tor of the bee-department in the Cana- 

 dian Horticulturist — a journal that every 

 fruit-grower should take ; it is a credit 

 to our country. 



Mr. Gemmill, the President of the 

 Ontario Bee-Keepers' Association, who 

 has done as much for his country as any 

 man in it, is looking well after the in- 

 terests of all that write to him to have 

 the foul brood apiaries attended to. 



Mr. W. F. Clarke has a Bee-Keepers' 

 College near the Ontario Agricultural 

 College. He has everything in his grand 

 little apiary that is needed, and I am 

 pleased to see how the old gentleman 

 " catches on " to every new and useful 

 thing. 



The Canadian Bee Journal is very 

 much improved of late, and its editors 

 are doing their level best, and making 

 it of great value to the bee-keepers of 

 Ontario. Mr. Corneil and Mr. Holter- 

 mann have written good articles on 

 the qualities of extracted honey, and 

 I hope they will write more on the same 

 thing, and stir up every bee-keeper so as 

 to stop that bad practice too many have 

 of extracting thin, raw, unripened 

 honey, which will ruin any honey mar- 

 ket, and thus in the end kill all sales for 

 the man that extracts unripe honey. 



Woodburn, Ont., Canada. 



Prevention of Robbing Among 

 Bees — The Past Season. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY IRVIN GROVER. 



In this, as in all other evils, an ounce 

 of prevention is worth more than a 

 pound of cure. During my five years' 

 experience in keeping bees in frame 

 hives, I have never had a single hive 

 robbed, and I have had as many as 70 

 colonies in my care one season. My rule 

 is to keep all colonies strong, and a lay- 

 ing queen in each hive, as taught in 



"Quinby's New Bee-Keeping" — a val- 

 uable work for beginners. 



The nearest I ever came to having a 

 case of robbing, was just at the close of 

 the basswood season. I was extracting, 

 and the air was filled with bees, "nos- 

 ing" around, trying to see what they 

 could get. When I returned the combs 

 to the hive, the bees swarmed around in 

 great numbers, and nearly covered the 

 hive. I had a smoker well lighted (and 

 it is a good one, a 3% inch Quinby), 

 but I could not drive them away. I 

 went into the honey-house, and put a 

 tablespoonf ul of sulphur on the fire, and 

 returned, and began giving it to them, 

 right and left, which speedily brought 

 them to their senses. When a puff 

 would strike them, they would double 

 up like a jack-knife, and drop to the 

 ground, but would soon get up and go 

 about their business, and soon all signs 

 of robbing were stopped. 



I now do not disturb my bees in the 

 middle of the day, when there is nothing 

 for them to do in the fields, but I do 

 whatever is necessary early in the morn- 

 ing or near sundown. 



REPORT FOR THE SEASON. 



This has been a very poor season, yet 

 I have secured 35 pounds per colony, 

 spring count ; but some bee-keepers, 

 only a mile away, have not taken 10 

 pounds per colony, and complain of lots 

 of robbing. One lost two out of three 

 queens by robbing, that he had sent off 

 for. He tries to increase too fast by 

 dividing the colonies, which makes them 

 weak, and in poor condition to defend 

 themselves. 



I think the blacks are the worst for 

 robbing, although dark hybrids are 

 nearly as bad, but the hybrids are better 

 for storing honey in the sections than 

 the blacks. But for this locality I pre- 

 fer the Italians. They may not store 

 any more honey in sections, but when I 

 come to weigh them for winter, they are 

 always the heaviest, and not much in- 

 clined to rob. 



I am often obliged to leave my bees 

 for a week at a time. My wife attends 

 to them when necessary during the 

 swarming season, and she says some- 

 times she enjoys it, and sometimes she 

 doesn't. 



Cooperstown, N. Y., Oct. 18, 1892. 



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