372 



TH® m'm'mmiemm mmm j^wmmmi*. 



BUI^CIf OF WII.1> Fl-OWERS. 



BY NELLIE CHASE. 



In passing through a clover field, 

 1 cull a nosegay, wild and sweet, 

 Of flowers, wind-sown, at my feet- 

 Blooming among the meadow grass, 

 They nestle timid as I pass- 

 But gay as any lawn could yield. 



Feathery sprays of elder bloom, 

 And daisies bright as stars of gold. 

 With milkweed's pink and orange mold, 

 A head of rye, a head of wheat. 

 Some clover blossoms pink and sweet, 



I choose to deck my study room. 



Inpassing through this life of ours. 

 We find our dullest days alight 

 With blessings hidden half from sight. 

 Among the weeds ot toil and strife, 

 Are loving deeds that brighten life. 



Scattered along our path like flowers. 



—Selected. 



Bees and Honey in Canada.— 



The following is the report of the Ontario 

 Bureau of Industries issued by the Ontario 

 Department of Agriculture,dated at Toronto, 

 May 15, 1888. Its statistical information 

 will be read with interest : 



It was evident when the bees were placed 

 in winter quarters that the season would be 

 very trying to them. The flow of honey had 

 ceased unusually early in the summer, and 

 so had breediut;,and as a consequence stores 

 were light in the hives, and the occupants 

 were chiefly old bees, lacking the vitality to 

 stand a long period o( winter seclusion. 



Losses are reported as general, ranging 

 from 5 to 75 per cent., and it may be as- 

 sumed that about one fourth of the colonies 

 entering the winter died before the time 

 came for their spring flight. 



The counties of Huron, Bruce and Simcoe 

 seem to have suffered most heavily in the 

 matter of winter losses. In many instances 

 the bees died ot actual starvatiou, owing to 

 the scanty supply of summer honey ; and to 

 poorly ventilated cellars are also ascribed a 

 cause of loss, althounh several experienced 

 apiarists express themselves as puzzled to 

 account for the mortality in certain cases. 

 Many of the surviving colonies were weak 

 from long confinement in their winter re- 

 positories, and the cold and backward 

 spring thinned them out in several districts. 

 Complainls were also made of losses from 

 diarrhea and spring dwindling. 



Where specially well fed and cared for 

 during the winter, the honey-makers came 

 out as a rule very lively, and are now busily 

 engaged carrying early pollen. 



No mention is made of foul brood from 

 any quarter. 



An effort was made during the past win- 

 ter, at the suggestion of the Bee-Keepers' 

 Association, to procure statistics ot the in- 

 dustry, and 3,000 schedules were sent out to 

 apiarists in the province. Returns were re- 

 ceived from 651 persons, sufficiently com- 

 plete for tabulation, the aggregates ot which 

 showed that 19,015 hives were put into win- 

 ter quarters in 1886, and 3.3,828 in 1888. The 

 season of 1887 opened with 14,613, showing 

 a decrease of 4,403 during the winter ; but as 

 sales were not reported, it is not likely that 

 the whole decrease was dne to mortality. 

 The increase by colonies last year was 

 19,863, making iui" aggregate of 2.5,476 hives 

 for the season. 



These gave a product of 112,477 pounds of 

 comb houey, 499,0!)3 pounds of extracted 



honey, and 6,686 pounds of wax, valued at 

 S67,337, or an average of 8103.28 for each 

 proprietor. 



Full returns for the province would doubt- 

 less show that the Industry is one of very 

 considerable importance, but a practical 

 difficulty in the way of procuring statistics 

 is the lack of a complete list of apiarists. 



Seasonable Bints.— Mrs. L. Harri- 

 son, in last week's Prairie Farmer, gives 

 the following on the present outlook for a 

 honey crop, and management of weak 

 colonies : 



Though the outlook is at present unfavor- 

 able, all bee-keepers should keep their 

 dishes right side up to catch the shower if 

 it falls. I have seen the ground white with 

 bloom, and yet the bees took no notice of 

 the blossoms. If, however, the electrical 

 conditions should be just right, and nature's 

 labratory in aood running order, there may 

 yet be a fair harvest. In some favored 

 localities, basswood may yield a large sup- 

 ply of a fine quality of honey. 



I used to practice taking from strong colo- 

 nies to build up the weaker, but I believe it 

 is poor policy, for men or bees. Strong 

 colonies are the ones which pay the rent. 

 Some bee-keepers take brood from the 

 weaker to aid the stronger during an ap- 

 proaching flow of nectar. These small col- 

 onies reduced to a nucleus, can be built up 

 after the rush of business is over, and I 

 think much nior« honey will be secured in 

 this way than by talcing" from the stronger 

 to strengthen the weaker. There is no profit 

 in weak colonies, barely able to support 

 themselves— living merely from hand to 

 mouth. 



Last season the bees were all ready to 

 move ; queen-cells capped, and their haver- 

 sacks packed for the journev, when the 

 honey failed. Now bees are wiser than 

 some people who set up housekeeping with 

 no income. When there are no supplies 

 coming in, they stay where there is a well- 

 stored larder, and are content not to in- 

 crease their family very much, and when 

 worst comes to worst, drive out all non- 

 producers (those that they had so carefully 

 nursed only a short time before), even cast- 

 ing out undeveloped brood. When I saw 

 this state of affairs, I began to cast around 

 to see what to do with the combs not used. 

 1 was tired of fighting moths, so I concluded 

 that all the strong colonies could easily 

 spare two combs of honey, brood and bees, 

 and put two of these empty ones in their 

 place. I put these frames of brood and bees 

 into a hive until it was full, alternating 

 them ; they were so mixed they did not 

 fight. I had no extra queens, so 1 let them 

 rear their own. As the season turned out, 

 I should not have had any surplus, and the 

 strong colonies were not injured ; and the 

 combs were preserved. 



Planting- tor Honey. — Upon this 

 subject Mr. W. Z. Hutchinson writes an 

 article for the CownSrj/ GenfJemctn for last 

 week. He takes the ground that " to be of 

 any value there must be acres and acres of 

 bloom." Hence there should be acres and 

 acres planted, for we cannot expect honey 

 unless there are honey-producing blossoms 

 in profusion. He closes the article thus : 



It must not be forgotten that cultivated 

 plants on rich land often yield honey much 

 more abundantly than those growing wild, 

 or upon a poor soil. As not many could 

 afford to devote tillable land to the cultiva- 

 tion of a crop without reasonable expecta- 

 tions of securing at least .$15 per acre for the 

 use of the land, for latior and seed, it is 

 evident that planting for honey could not be 



indulged in unless 500 or 600 pounds of— not 

 simply honey, but of surplus honey, could 

 be secured, per acre. 



As this amount of honey is worth at least 

 $75, some may wonder why such a large 

 yield would be needed to make the planting 

 remunerative. The reason is this : Four- 

 fifths of the cost of houey is represented by 

 interest on bees and fixtures, rent on land, 

 and by labor, the latter item being much the 

 largest ; hence, if the surplus be increased 

 by planting, this increase is not clear profit 

 by any means. It is true that there are 

 farm crops, such as Alsike clover and buck- 

 wheat, that will produce honey, but it is 

 seldom that It would pay a farmer to make 

 very much change in his farming routine 

 simply that his bees might have access to a 

 few acres of Alsike or buckwheat. The 

 latter seldom yields honey in paying quan- 

 tities oftener than OHce in four or five years. 



All things considered, there is probably 

 no plant that can be raised in this latitude 

 with better prospects of receiving a crop of 

 honey as a free gift than Alsike clover. In 

 soils adapted to its growth, such as moist 

 land or gravelly loams, Alsike is a profitable 

 crop for farmers to grow. 1 have just re- 

 turned from a visit to Ionia county, Mich., 

 where I found that Alsike was grown to the 

 exclusion of red clover. The Alsike is not 

 " heaved " by the action of the frost in 

 spring, as is red clover : hence I found 

 many farmers using it for pasture. When 

 thus treated it becomes of great value to the 

 bee-keeper, as there is a profusion of blos- 

 soms throughout tlie whole season. In or- 

 dinary seasons Alsike furnishes no after- 

 math, as does red clover ; in wet seasons it 

 does. When cut for seed, if not allowed to 

 stand too long, the clover, after being 

 threshed, is equal to timothy for hay. For 

 sowing in waste places, there is probably 

 nothing better than sweet clover. It will 

 spread and take care of itself, and the honey 

 is of light color and good flavor. 



Let all remember, however, that small 

 " patches " of honey plants are of no ac- 

 count ; that a few often may even be a detri- 

 ment, as the honey furnished would be so 

 small in amount as only to invite to brood- 

 rearing, and no surplus would result. To be 

 of any value there must be acres and acres 

 of bloom. 



Albino Bees.— Mr. Thomas A. Ander- 

 son, of Big Springs, Mo., on May 29, 1888, 

 writes as follows : 



On page 3.59, third column of the Bee 

 JotTRNAL for April 18, 1888. in your answer 

 to Mr. Barker's question, you say ''Albino 

 bees have white bands instead of yellow." 

 Is this correct ? If so, we are sadly mis- 

 informed, land we have bees from Mary- 

 land's best breeders. 



Mr. Barber asked, " Are there any bees 

 that look like the Italians, but that are 

 white instead ot yellow ?" We briefly an- 

 swered, "Yes ; Albino bees have white 

 bands ' instead of yellow,' " quoting the 

 last three words of the question. 



Our intention was to simply inform Mr. 

 Barber that there were such bees as Albinos, 

 and not to critically describe them. Had 

 this been our aim, we should have said that 

 the white bands were addiiional to the 

 usual yellow ones— though in different 

 strains of these bees, the number ot yellow 

 bands vary, as do the shades of color in the 

 yellow ; some being rich orange, and others 

 pale yellow, almost white. Those bred in 

 our apiary here, some years ago, had three 

 yellow and two white bands all distinct and 

 plain to be seen. 



