THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



745 



"Spring management and apiarian 

 supplies." For essays, M. A. Jack- 

 son, subject, •' Over Production," and 

 r. H. Hunt, " Queen-rearing, and 

 how to Italianize an apiary." 



J. W. Sanders, Sec. 

 J. Swift, Pres. 



Canadian Farmer. 



Canadian Honey Crop for 1884. 



K. F. IIOLTKUMANN. 



The honey season for 1SS4 liaviug 

 closed, it is to be regretted that more 

 accurate statistics cannot easily be 

 obtained. However, all bee-keepers 

 are aware that where in Canada one 

 colony was kept in 1880, there are ten 

 kept at the present day ; and this can 

 be accounted for only as follows : 



There was comparatively little 

 known about bees, and the risk was 

 too great ; but to-day with the knowl- 

 edge gained being utilized, the loss in 

 wintering, etc., is decreasing, and the 

 superior management has increased 

 the profit, which, when combined 

 with the fact that it w-ants but a 

 small capital to purchase stock 

 enough to yield a handsome profit, 

 apiculture is becoming a favorite pur- 

 suit. 



The spreading of this pursuit, to- 

 gether with the bright prospect when 

 the season opened, caused many bee- 

 keepers to become alarmed, they 

 rushed to market with tlieir honey, 

 and again and again do we find that 

 they have sold beautiful extracted 

 clover honey at 8 cents per pound, and 

 honey in one-pound sections was re- 

 tailed at 1-5 cents throughout Haldi- 

 mand and Xorfolk. These men for- 

 got that where 5 years ago one pound 

 of extracted honey was used, ten or 

 more are used to-day, with plenty of 

 room to further develop, especially 

 when honey sells at the moderate 

 price of from 12}^ to 1.5 cents per 

 pound ; and one may safely add that 

 there is less honey on the producers' 

 hands in Canada to-day than there 

 was at this time one year ago. 



From careful inquiries, it appears 

 that the eastern part of Canada has 

 not done as well as the western, and 

 and in any case only those bees in 

 lirst-class condition, early in the sea- 

 son, were able to gather a surplus ; 

 and that for the following reasons : 

 The honey-flow lasted only for a short 

 time in the forepart of the season ; 

 if a colony had to build up on this, 

 by the time they were strong enough 

 to gather a surplus, the honey-flow 

 had stopped. 



Through western parts of Canada 

 the season was earlier, thus giving 

 the bees more time to work before 

 the unfavorable season set in. Ovring 

 to the unfavorable weather, basswood 

 yielded but little; in some places 

 nothing at all, few places being 

 favored with more than two days. 

 The best season for thistle is hot, 

 damp weather, so it yielded but little, 

 leaving the entire surplus to be de- 

 rived from clover and buckwheat. 

 Where Alsike clover and white clover 

 grew side by side, the bees always 

 preferred Alsike, which, for the last 



four years, has proven to be the surest 

 honey-producer. Fall flowers did not 

 yield abundantly ; they seldom do. 

 i5uckwheat has jiVoven itself valuable 

 both for winter stores and prolonging 

 brood-rearing ; but little can be ob- 

 tained for it when sold for consump- 

 tion. 



The following are some statistics 

 obtained : In sending in reports 

 many neglected to mention if bees 

 have to be fed for the winter. This 

 should always be done, stating how 

 much, as it may make a difference of 

 30 pounds per colony. If the Govern- 

 ment were to ask, " IIow many colo- 

 nies of bees in the spring — what in- 

 crease — how many pounds of honey, 

 comb and extracted did you obtain V" 

 when submitting other questions to 

 the farmers, it would be a step in the 

 ri^t direction. 



Thirty-one bee-keepers, having 1,484 

 colonies in the spring, 2,.569 colonies 

 in the fall, had 37,250 pounds of comb 

 honey and o9.84.5 pounds of extracted 

 honey. 



It will be seen that by the above 

 valuation of 1 pound of comb as 1^ 

 of extracted, the yield has been about 

 80 pounds of extracted honey per col- 

 ony ; that the increase has been about 

 90 per cent.; and that several reported 

 that they had exerted themselves to 

 prevent increase. 



Xow this year is considered scarcely 

 up to the average, but the result has, 

 on the whole, been very satisfactory ; 

 and if the grand total of honey gath- 

 ered, and increase of bees obtained 

 in Canada, were reported, it would 

 show what a quantity of secretions 

 from various flowers has been utilized, 

 heretofore almost entirely wasted ; 

 and not only has the nectar been 

 utilized, but it has served more fully 

 the purpose for which it was distilled, 

 viz : to attract insects — the bees— to 

 fertilize the flowers and thus give a 

 more abundant harvest wherever bees 

 are kept. ^lany complained that they 

 were unable to get comb foundation 

 in time, and their yield was smaller 

 because they were unable to get it 

 when required. 



Ontario, Can. 



ifnr the American Bee JonrnaL 



Comb Foundation in the Brood-Nest. 



W. Z. HUTCHINSON. 068— 108. 



When producing extracted honey, 

 I consider the use of comb founda- 

 tion in the brood-nest as profitable, 

 and I see no reason to change my 

 views ; although I must admit that I 

 have made no decisive experiments 

 to determine whether its use is profit- 

 able when producing extracted Ixmey. 

 Three years ago I thought it strange 

 that Mr. Dooiittle should hold such 

 views as he does upon this subject, 

 and I have heard bee-keepers remark 

 that they looked upon Mr. Dooiittle 

 as having the most level head of any 

 apicultural writer ; and it was a great 

 wonder to tliem how he could be so 

 " off '' on tills foundation question. 

 When asked for reasons, they could 

 give plenty of them ; but when asked 

 for experiments, none were given. 



After producing comb lioney for 

 one year, I thouglit I could see 

 reasons why Mr. Dooiittle might be 

 right ; and in order to know, from my 

 own individual experience, whether it 

 was profitable for me to use comb 

 foundation in the brood-nest when 

 producing comb honey, I began ex- 

 perimenting last spring. The first 

 swarm was hived on empty combs, 

 the second on foundation, and the 

 third on empty frames; that is, they 

 were empty except that a "starter'' 

 of foundation }4 "f an inch wide was- 

 in each frame. This order of pro- 

 cedure was continued until 15 swarms 

 were hived, when no more were hived 

 on empty combs, as it was very evi- 

 dent that such a course could be con- 

 tinued only at a loss. 



The first thing that the bees did, 

 was to fill the brood-combs with 

 honey ; not a drop of honey would 

 they store in the sections until the 

 brood-combs were filled so full that 

 the queen had no room in which to 

 lay ; and, even then, when invited to 

 commence work in the sections, they 

 seemed to "roll up their eyes" in a 

 knowing sort of way, as much as to 

 say: "Oh, w-e are pretty well fixed 

 down here ;" and when they did finally 

 commence storing honey in the sec- 

 tions, it was in such a slow, easy, 

 "loafing" sort of manner that these 

 5 colonies fell far behind (about 40 per 

 cent.) those hived upon foundation or 

 empty frames ; and as the queens 

 were cramped for room to lay in, they 

 were not so strong in numbers when 

 fall came, which, had there been the 

 usual fall honey harvest, would have 

 been quite an important factor. I 

 presume that many will say that they 

 should think that the bees would 

 carry up the honey stored in the 

 brood-combs, and thus give the 

 queens room in which to lay ; I can- 

 not help what they think, but I know 

 that they did not to a very great 

 extent. 



When the use of empty combs was 

 discontinued, there was no appreciable 

 advantage in the use of foundation in 

 the brood-nest, as compared with 

 empty frames ; and each alternate 

 swarm was afterwards hived upon 

 foundation, and the other swarms 

 hived upon empty frames. It was the 

 intention to continue this course 

 throughout the rest of the season, 

 but an accident and sickness put 

 things in bad shape, and, although an 

 equal number of swarms were hived 

 upon foundation and upon empty 

 frames, yet they were not hived alter- 

 nately, the majority of those hived 

 mion foundation being earlier swarms 

 than those hived upon empty frames. 

 Twenty swarms were hived upon 

 foundation, and an equal number 

 upon empty frames, the honey from 

 each colony being weighed ; and those 

 hived upon foundation had stored 

 only 2 pounds more per colony than 

 those hived upon empty frames, and 

 this could be more than accounted 

 for by those which had foundation 

 having been, by a small majority, 

 earlier swarms. The empty frames 

 were filled with straight combs with- 

 out any " looking after," and but very 

 little drone-comb was built. 



