The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-09-11
BEE CULTURE IN CANADA
From the Christian Science Monitor.

From the Christian Science Monitor. NLOSELY allied in Canada with the \ } culture of flowers and fruits and
 of alfalfa, too, with its clover-like blossoms, Is bee culture; 50 what wSeh Its cattle and dairies Canada becomes lit orally a land flowing with milk and honey.
 Canada is famous for its profusion Of wild bloom, and whatever blossoms un- der cultivation blooms profusely, too, dur ing the comparatively short summer pe- riod. Where flowers are there the bees congregate The department of agricul- ture in B. .tish Columbia has lately is- sued bulletin on the subject of what has, unfortunately, to be called apicui- ture, when bee culture Is so much pleas anter and understanding term. This is a sober treatise on the production of honey for commercial purposes; and yet 1t abounds not only in the "murmur Of annumerable bees,' but in poetic al- lusions to fields of alfalfa full of sum- mer fragrance and two waysde flowers The report covers only British Colum- bia, but its instructions apply to any re- zion where 1t is desired to produce honey. Hatzlc. fer example, we find is good district for. honey, because rhubarb, strawberries. small fruits. apples and pears are all grown there. These give the nectar-bearing flowers. wherein the bees may delve and mine for their treas ure These blossoms are called ''sources of spring nectar" and then ''in the honey flow season snowberry are in abundance" On the islands in the Gulf of Georgia, however, there is little hope of successful bee culture for years, since 'so little im- pression has been made upon the virgin forest" and little acreage is given to nec- tar-bearing plants. But one ranch on Fender Island "got a crop of line honey | from an acre of alfalfa growing on ground sloping toward the seashore.' In the Cimox district an apiary on the edge of the valley at Sandwdck produced HOO pounds of fine honey from seven colonies of bees. But in the same dis trict 7s other colonies produced in all only 9S pounds; which proves that the large yield was sign of ''apiarian knowledge and skill"
 | The crying need of the ranchers was, everywhere, education in the elementary rules of bookkeeping" These rules are published in bulletins No. 90 and No. 42. and careful reading of these with as careful obedience to them would make all the difference" in the bee-keepers' success. The chief question asked the in spector by the beekeepers was how to pre- vent swarming. The best answer to this appears to be to keep the hives clean and we'll ventilated. The hives are often put | together 50 carelessly by the beelSeep,
 that the mechanical contrivances for plenty of air and for the free circula- ton of the bees within the hive are dis- regarded. When the hives become too crowded or are without ventilation, then the bees swarm. Choosing new queen, they depart in large numbers. Then the honey that might be gathered by the beekeeper from the bees surplus is need ed for the young bees of the new hive. i With careful attention to this question of how the bees are hived. and the me-
 chanical arrangements for impelling the bees to make the cones of regular and uni- form size. 100 pounds of honey can be got per hive in a wel-howered district
 The Langstroth dimensions'' for the hive are those followed by the most success full beekeepers. Ordinary packing boxes
 are often used. but the money spent In