Tmm SMERicKM mmm jQXjRist2i;i<. 



391 



fc<fcA^A^lA^ 



CANADA. 



Annual meetingof No. ITIiddlcsex 

 Bee-Keepers' Association. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY K. F. HOLTEEMANN. 



The above meeting was held in the 

 Court House at Ailsa Craig, on May 

 24, and opened at '2 p.m. President 

 Franl^ Atkinson occupied the chair. 

 Tlie usual attendance has been from 

 60 to 80, and only Oxford countj- can 

 boast of meetings superior to that of 

 Middlesex. The 24th of May being 

 the Queen's birthday, many bee-keep- 

 ers were away on pleasure trips. 



The election of oflBcers resulted as 

 follows : The Presidentwas re-elected; 

 Vice-President, W. J. Wilson, Green- 

 way ; Secretary - Treasurer, A. W. 

 Humphreys, Park Hill ; Directors, Jas. 

 Mathews, D. Smith, J. B. Aikes, John 

 Anderson, A. W. Humphreys, and W. 

 J. Wilson were elected to represent 

 the association at the Western Fair. 



The question of affiliation with the 

 Ontario Bee-Keepers' Association was 

 then brought up, and after the benefits 

 of such a step were explained by R. F. 

 Holtermann, who was requested to do 

 so by the President, a resolution was 

 passed, instructing the Secretaiy to 

 apply for such affiliation. 



The benefits are for 1888 briefl}' as 

 follows : Five dollars must be paid bj- 

 tlie society affiliating, and it must 

 have live members paying their mem- 

 bership fe(^ of §1 to the Ontario asso- 

 ciation. In return, every member of 

 the Ontario gets one queen, purely 

 mated. The a.ssociation gets $35 for 

 the .advancement of bee-keeping, and 

 the members are allowed to chose two 

 representatives who are entitled to all 

 the privileges which membeis of the 

 Ontario are granted. 



Jas. Hnsljand and Dave Collins were 

 elected representatives for the year. 



The funds on hand showed a hand- 

 some balance of 10 cents. 



After .selecting Park Hill as the place 

 of the next meeting, upon reconsider- 

 ing the matter, Strathroy was selected, 

 with the time, February. 



It was resolved that henceforth the 

 association should be known as the 

 Middlesex Bee-Keepers' Association. 



Bee-questions were now brought up, 

 and just here is it not rather to be re- 

 gretted that these meetings should be 

 taken up with so much necessary busi- 

 ness. 



Question : — "Is there any difference 

 in the activity of colonies ?" The gen- 

 eral impression appeared to be that 



there was ; even when outward con- 

 ditions apjicared the same, a good 

 queen was necessary. But conditions 

 might appear similar, and yet not be. 

 If a colony appeared inactive, and its 

 neighbors working, it should be ex- 

 amined. It miglit be queenless ; the 

 brood-chamber might be clogged with 

 honey, or from other causes it might 

 have difficulties which might be 

 remedied. 



Question : — " How long will a drone 

 live ?" Several instances were related 

 where drones had lived through the 

 winter. D. Smith stated that he had 

 a colony which had a queen, and yet 

 permitted its drones to live through 

 the winter. 



Question: — "What is the best way 

 to control swarming ?" 



This brought on quite a discussion 

 as to the advisability of artificial 

 swarming. W. Aikes practiced artifi- 

 cial swarming by dividing. 



A bee-keeper from Brantford claimed 

 that at the present prices of bees in 

 the spring, the price only covered the 

 hive, combs and honey consumed, and 

 eveiy colony lost, meant a loss of win- 

 ter stores, therefore increase was not 

 desirable. He kept down increase by 

 giving shade, ventilation and room. 

 The aim being to pi-event the desire to 

 swarm. 'If this, however, was estab- 

 lished, he never broke down queen- 

 cells, but let them swarm, putting the 

 new swarm on the old stand with the 

 old super. Second swarms were re- 

 turned at the close of the second day, 

 when one queen would be killed. 



Aiming at breeding a strain of bees 

 which would not readily swarm was 

 advised. The advantages of Italian 

 and Holy Land bees were brought out. 



Some heavy losses from spring 

 dwindling were reported, owing to 

 an unfavorable spring. 



Brantford, Ont. 



HINTS FOR WORK. 



What to Do, and How to Do it 

 Judiciously. 



WrUten for the Western Plowman 



BY C. H. DIBBERN. 



The winter losses of bees have 

 proved much more serious than was ex- 

 pected a month ago. All over the 

 North, where the drouth was serious 

 last season, bees have died principally 

 from starvation. Some, however, have 

 died with plenty of honey in the hives, 

 and the cause is not so easily deter- 

 mined. It is probable, however, that 

 the honey was of a poor quality, and 

 long confinement in severe weather 

 wrought the mischief. Wherever the 

 honey croji was fair last week, they 



seem to have wintered much better, 

 and some are now reporting the bees 

 as " booming." M}' own experience 

 at the Rock River Apiarj- is not so en- 

 couraging. We have 1.30 good colo- 

 nies left out of 180. This is the great>- 

 est loss we have ever had, in my ex- 

 perience of over twenty years. Many 

 farmers ha^-e lost all thej' had, and I 

 think I am safe in estimating a loss in 

 the northwestern States of one-third. 

 Surely, this business is not all sunshine. 



Hon' to Iiook at It. 



It is poor policy, however, to look 

 on only the dark side. Let us figure 

 up and see what we have left. Hives 

 in which the bees died are all right. 

 Combs are all in good condition. Let 

 us take good care of them. The pros- 

 pect for a honey crop is good, and 

 with plenty of bees left to fill up the 

 hives again, with no foundation or 

 hives to bu}-, whj' bee-keepers are in 

 good condition. Then, too, prices of 

 honey have improved so much, and 

 with so many out of the race, there is 

 surelj" a better day dawning for those 

 who have the true grit, and are willing 

 to " fight it out on this line, if it takes 

 all summer." 



Spring Divlndllng. 



The past month has been pretty 

 hard on the bees. The weather has 

 been very unfavorable — cold, windy 

 weather and sudden storms. When 

 bees were gathering honey and pollen, 

 and becoming chilled or lost in the 

 river, it has kept the colonies pretty 

 weak. As we write (May) fruit trees 

 are in full bloom, but it is so cloudy 

 and cold that the bees can take but 

 little advantage of it. The dry time, 

 however, seems to be over, and the 

 splendid I'ains we have had, will bring 

 out a fair crop of white clover, so that 

 the prospects now seem to be all right. 



Get tbe Bees Ready for tlie Harvest. 



It will require good management 

 and careful attention to get the bees in 

 the best condition for the white clover 

 crop. Of course everything should be 

 done now that will help and save work 

 when the busy time comes. See that 

 all the material for sections, hives and 

 crates is on hand that is likely to be 

 needed. It is better to have a little 

 too much than not enough. Experi- 

 ence has taught us that it will not do 

 to depend on the supply dealers to 

 furnish these things on the spur of the 

 moment. 



Seasonable K'ork. 



Swarming will likely be upon us 

 towards the last of the month. See that 

 3'our have hives ready, and now is the 

 time to use up the comb from the 

 hives where Uu> bees died out during' 

 the winter. It will pay to sort these 



