56 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 15 



of apiaries cured of foul brood, and very 

 many of these are among- the best-paying- 

 ones now in Ontario. In all cases of dis- 

 putes between neighbors (and 1 had many 

 of these to deal with) I went back very soon 

 after, and in almost every case I succeeded 

 in g-etting- peace of the most lasting- kind 

 made. I often had all I could do to keep 

 some men from rushing- into the courts with 

 cases against parties from whom they 

 bought diseaserl colonies. In some cases 

 notes for over $200 had been given, and in 

 others the cash had been paid. I often 

 begged of these sorely troubled men not to 

 g-o to law, but to leave all to me to get jus- 

 tice done, and this they did do in every case, 

 and I got justice done, and kept every case 

 out of court. 



Where many colonies were sound, and 

 only a few diseased, and a note g-iven, I ar- 

 ranged for the diseased ones not to be paid 

 for, but every dollar to be paid up in full 

 on all that I found sound. The one man 

 got the diseased ones for the curing, and 

 the other his pay for the good ones. 



Some of the sales were so unjust that I 

 pressed for the mouej' to be given up at once, 

 and it Vv'as. My method of treatment never 

 fails to make a perfect cure of every diseas- 

 ed apiary when the owners do their work 

 right, and nearlj' everv bee-keeper does it; 

 but where thej' don't I have to see that they 

 do. 



The bee industry is booming in Ontario 

 now, and at our convention held lately in 

 Barrie a "Honey Exchange" was started, 

 and I believe it is going to prove to be the 

 best thing that has been brought forward 

 in many years. 



During the season of 1902 I visited bee- 

 yards in the counties of Huron, Middlesex, 

 Perth, Brant, Wentworth, Lincoln, Wel- 

 land, Halton, York. Cardwell, Gre}', and 

 Simcoe. I inspected 91 apiaries and found 

 foul brood in 30 of them, and dead brood 

 of other kinds in many others which had 

 been mistaken for foul brood. I also found 

 several fine apiaries completely cured of 

 foul brood that had been reported to be dis- 

 eased. 



The frequent showers that we had in the 

 early and middle part of the past honey 

 season kept the bees in their hives for hours 

 at a tiine; and this taking place when the 

 bees had a very large quantity rf lar\;e to 

 feed caused a rapid using-up of the stores; 

 and as fast as the cells were emptied the 

 queens laid in them, and soon after that all 

 brood-chambers became full (>f brood : and 

 as they were left in that condition with the 

 bees being driven in from time to time by 

 the rains which were followed by sudden 

 warm spells, it brought on the g-reatest 

 rage of swarming ever known in Ontario, 

 and created a great demand for comb foun- 

 dation; and some bee-keepers, not having 

 any on hand, and not expecting to get an3^ 

 very soon, used some old combs (that were 

 saved from colonies that had died from dis- 

 ease), and spread the genuine article — a 

 thing the same parties will never do again. 



All old diseased combs should be melted 

 and put through a wax-press, as that is 

 the only kind of extractor that will take all 

 the wax out of old combs. 



It would greatly improve the apiaries in 

 many localities if their owners would use 

 more foundation and melt a part of their 

 old combs each year until they were all re- 

 newed. 



While on my rounds through the province 

 I was much pleased with the very generous 

 treatment that I received from every bee- 

 keeper. 



Woodburn, Ont. 



[ It was Mr. J. B. Hall, atone of the con- 

 ventions I had the pleasure of attending, 

 who facetiously remarked that "McEvoy's 

 Irish blarney" would carry him through 

 everywhere; that opposition and fighting 

 would vanish immediately, and I should 

 judgre it had. Ontario is to be congratulat- 

 ed on having so able and tactful a man for 

 inspector. — Eu. ] 



CATCHING BEES TO START CELLS. 



How Swarthmore Catches up Young Bees, While 



They are Out for Play, to Give bis Cells a 



Good Start; Opening Hives Unnecessary; 



Robbing Entirely Prevented. 



BY SWARTHMORE. 



I have often noticed, in starting queen- 

 cells, that the bees which dp the feeding 

 and the ones that are the first affected by 

 the loss of their queen, are those just at the 

 age of flight. The older ones, just going 

 to field, feed larva; if forced to it and the 

 very young bees do some nursing, if need 

 be; but the bulk of the feeding, under nor- 

 mal conditions, is done by the bees one sees 

 on playspells at certain times of the day. 



A pint of bees of the correct age will start 

 more cells, and feed the queen larva; more 

 liberall}', than a quarter-peck of old, young, 

 and quite 30ung bees mixed. It's the older 

 bees that create disorder in their efforts to 

 escape from the cell-starting box. They 

 smell the new honey and pollen, and are 

 wild to bring it to the hive. And so with 

 the nurses. They thrash and mourn at the 

 loss of their queen and brood; they have no 

 desire other than for a queen; and when 

 furnished with the larva; their wants are 

 entirely supplied. Then thej' will turn to 

 cell-building with a will, and remain as 

 quiet as bees can under confinement. 



It is impossible to shake from brood- 

 combs, in the ordinary way, only bees of 

 the correct age for queen-cell starting. 

 Even if done at noon, more or less field 

 bees and plent\' of quite j'oung ones are 

 shaken into the ventilated box. It can not 

 be helped unless one catches up a cell-start- 

 ing force while the little dears are at plaj'. 



I have used with success a trap-box inade 

 from an empty super for holding 4 '4 sec- 

 tions, which I place at the front of a full 

 hive, end up, for a few minutes, as the 



