1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



393 



but then, you know, it would never do to allow a plain Bill to 

 go through the Legislative Mill without the usual dressing of 

 legal verbiage, and ambiguous parliamentary terminology ! 

 The meaning originally intended to be conveyed by Section 3 

 was undoubtedly that which the Agricultural Department at 

 Toronto has put upon it as set forth by the Deputy Minister 

 of Agriculture, in the correspondence which appears on page 

 269. It was not intended that the inspector should be pro- 

 hibited from destroying the diseased colonies in the absence 

 of the owners or possessors. 



As to the dispute between Messrs. Clarke and McEvoy, I 

 can give no opinion further than to say this : That when 

 charges of so serious a nature are made by either side, at the 

 outset of the discussion and before there has been even a full 

 presentation of the case, the editor who abruptly and per- 

 emptorily shuts down on his correspondents, takes upon him- 

 self a grave responsibility. In such a case it would appear to 

 me that the editor, having already published the charges on 

 both sides, which he need not have done, really owes the dis- 

 putants themselves and the public generally a higher and 

 graver duty than he owes the few readers of his journal who 

 might object to hearing anything more on the subject from 

 either party.* 



THE WEATHER AND THE PROSPECTS. 



It is now the first of June, and it has been very seldom we 

 have experienced a spring so exceptional in character in On- 

 tario. The rainfall since the disappearance of the snow has 

 been very slight, and the alternating high and low tempera- 

 tures have been as unusual as they have been unfavorable in 

 their effects. There was no weather in this district of Ontario 

 (and it was worse in some other parts) fit to remove bees from 

 their winter quarters before about April 20 ; nor did those 

 wintered outside fly to any extent before that time. A few 

 warm, fine days, however, about that time gave them all the 

 necessary cleansing flights, and put them in fairly good con- 

 dition. Then followed cool weather up to May 4, when the 

 temperature suddenly went up to the 90's and remained there 

 for a week, giving the bees as well as all vegetation a tremen- 

 dous impetus. Fruit-trees came from the starting bud to the 

 full bloom in one week — a thing which may have happened 

 here before but I never saw it. The temperature then went 

 down again to near the freezing point through the day and 

 below it at night, forming ice. And this lasted with but little 

 variation till a few days ago, when the heat came down again 

 in earnest. 



The results of all this have not been very favorable either 

 to the bees or the general face of Nature. Of course the bees 

 not put in comfortable condition during the cold weather suc- 

 ceeding the hot, suffered severely in the chilling of brood, etc. 

 As to vegetation, much damage was done. Fruit was much 

 injured — especially grapes, peaches and strawberries. Mead- 

 ows and trees are much damaged, and a young basswood 

 orchard I have came in for a pretty bad scorching. The foli- 

 age of two splendid butternut trees I have, which were in 

 bloom when the cold wave came, was quite destroyed, and 

 they now look barren enough. I had raised them " from the 

 seed," having planted the butternuts 30 years ago. It took 

 them three years to sprout and they are rather slow growers. 

 The basswood did not suffer so badly — some 75 per cent, of 

 them escaping with but little injury. 



Considering the ups and downs of the weather, the bees 

 at this date (June 2) are in good condition — my own are, at 

 any rate, though I am hearing of serious losses among the in- 

 experienced. The clover promises very well, though all vege- 

 tation needs rain badly. 



THE PRACTICAL BEE-KEEPER. 



This young bee-paper, which maintained a creditable 

 existence over here for a time, has, it is to be regretted, been 

 absorbed by the older one. It was hoped that the "Practical " 

 would in time develop into filling the bill of what an apicul- 

 tural journal ought to be. 



The editor of the surviving journal says, X notice, that .one 

 bee-journal is enough for Canada. He did not think so when, 

 a few years ago, he started the Canadian Honey-Producer in 

 opposition to the old Canadian Bee Journal. It soon died, 

 however. 



THE NORTH AMERICAN CONVENTION. 



In the rapid flight of time with busy people (and we know 

 bee-men are very busy people) September will soon be here, 

 and we hope to meet as many of our cousins from across the 

 line in Toronto as can possibly get there. They can see the 

 great Industrial Fair as well as attend the joint bee-conven- 

 tion. Allen Pringle, 



Selby, Ontario. 



[*With due deference to Mr. Pringle's opinion, I am quite 

 sure that it is always best to "shut down" on any and every 

 discussion when it clearly appears that there is to follow more 

 disrespectful personal characterizations than legitimate argu- 

 ment. Had I known both sides of the case before publishing 

 the first side, of course none of the personal controversy in 

 question would have been permitted to appear in the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal. As Mr. Clarke was not at all named in Mr. 

 McEvoy's official report, he has only himself to blame for call- 

 ing out the denunciations contained in a later article by Mr. 

 McEvoy. As the Clarke-McEvoy personal troubles are of not 

 the slightest interest to the public, and as they both had had 

 their "say" in the matter under consideration, I felt justified 

 in saying there would be no more of it in these columns. — Ed.] 



CONDnCTED BY 



JOK. C C. MILLBR, AIAJiENGO. ILL, 



[Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal, or to Dr. Miller direct.] 



Two Laying Queens in One Hive. 



Were bees ever known to keep more than one fertile 

 queen at one time in the same brood-chamber ? 



Long, W. Va. I. S. 



Answer. — Oh, yes, often. A mother and daughter are 

 sometimes found laying in the same hive, but generally not 

 for a very long time, the mother being nearly played out. By 

 saying " often " I don't mean you'll find them in every hive, 

 nor in every year — perhaps one hive in 500 — which isn't so 

 very "often," is it ? 



Wliy Does Clover Bloom Yield Nothing ? 



How long does white clover have to be in blossom before 

 it yields honey ? I don't remember ever seeing white clover 

 look as tine and plentiful as it does here at this date, yet my 

 bees are not working on it, or on anything else to speak of, 

 and all are in the best of condition. Is it not rather early for 

 white clover, or is it on account of the warm weather we had 

 in April ? L- S. 



Aurora, 111., June 1. 



Answer. — Exactly the same condition prevails here at 

 Marengo now (June 3). Clover is out in full bloom, but the 

 bees are doing nothing. True, there is great need of rain, but 

 I don't believe the trouble is from lack of rain. I'm very 

 anxious to be mistaken, however, for I'd a good deal rather 

 say I was wrong in my opinion than go through another year 

 of dead failure. 



Clover is earlier than usual, but not very much. The 

 very first bloom was very much earlier than I ever knew it, 

 but then came about two weeks of cool weather, when it stood 

 still. Why it is that clover yields nothing is entirely beyond 

 my knowledge. 



Hives Where Bees Died — Hive for Wintering. 



1. I have quite a number of fine combs out of hives that 

 the bees died in during the past winter and spring, but I find 

 there are considerable dead bees and pollen in the cells. Do 

 you advise removing it before putting the new swarms on 

 them, or would you let the bees do it themselves ? 



2. I find in nearly every hive, both those that bees have 

 died in and in those whose colonies are strong and in good 

 condition, more or less granulated honey. I never fed any- 

 thing, and the temperature never went below 38^ in the cel- 

 lar, and that for a very short time. What is the cause ? 



3. I find that nearly every colony I lost starved and died 

 in clusters between the empty combs, whilst there was plenty 

 of honey in the outside combs, but they would not move out to 

 get it. My hives are the 8-frame Langstroth ; they appear to 

 be too shallow for our long, cold winters. What would you 

 think of a hive say 22 inches long, 12 deep, and 9 wide, to 

 contain 6 frames, so that the colony would occupy all the 

 combs, and could work lengthwise and upwards, and not have 



