Village Squire, 1978-10, Page 14on its roots. To this point. however. Mrs. Fear says she hasn't
seen any great improvement in honey yields.
The climate for any given year can also effect the crop of honey
beekeepers can hope to harvest. There was sufficient rain in the
Wingham area, for instance. to provide good crops this year but
farther south rain was lacking. crops, suffered and so did honey
production. At a recent conference of beekeepers in Guelph.
Mrs. Fear said, she heard widely varying reports ,of honey yield
' this year. Eastern Ontario, which has suffered for two straight
years, appeared to be in good shape with good early moisture but
later it dried out badly and it means another below average year
for beekeepers in that part of the province.
Just like everything else, beekeeping has its inspectors. The
presence of American foulbrood disease is a killer for bees. It is
the only disease which effects bees. All bees have to be
inspected in the spring to make sure the hives are healthy. Hives
that are being sold, or those that have been seen to have been
infected by the disease in the spring inspection are then
reinspected in the fall.
Beekeeping takes on the aura of religion often with
beekeepers. Oldtimers in particular like to talk about the pastime
in almost mystical tones. Some people will say that the bees
know their master and are much calmer when he or she is around
than if a stranger enters the bee yard. All kinds of tales of this
nature are told by beekeepers in somewhat the same manner as
tales of miracle cures from drinking goat's milk.
Mrs. Fear says that personally, she tends to discount such
attachments of bees to their masters and mistresses. She's never
experienced it in all her years of working with bees. Some of this
belief may have been born in the old days when beekeepers had
fewer hives making more honey. If they visited the beeyard only
in good warm weather when the bees were busy going to and
from the hive on their rounds they would be more gentle than in
foul weather, she says.
Still, she gays, for whatever reason each beeyard definitely has
its own personality. Some produce better than others. some
refuse to take a queen and there are other variables. Beekeeping
is much more complicated than it seems. she says.
She feels the bees can't really get to know their piaster well
however because the lifespan of a bee is onlyaboutsix months.
Bees being born now will live in the hives over winter but once
spring arrives and the queen begins to produce new brood. the
old bees will die.
There are many problems beekeepers must face. One of them
in this area is not marauding bears but for beekeepers in the
north. it is a constant problem. Marauding vandals are more of a
problem here. Hunters frustrated after a day of not finding game
have been known to blast bee hives instead. killing .the
occupants. One beekeeper at the Guelph meeting told of a group
Of snowmubilers who destroyed a whole beeyard to use the wood
from the hives to start fires to keep them warm.
Such incidents can make for heavy losses for beekeepers.
Writing last year in Harrowsmith magazine Michael Shook saes
that setting up two hives can cost from under $200 to up to $300.
In addition one can't count on having any production from the
first year of a new hive so the year's production of honey could be
lost through vandalism.
Those getting into beekeeping can do so by buying bees from a
breeder and putting them in a hive. The bees come from -the U.S.
in two or three pound packages of bees containing about 10.000
workers with a queen. The other possibility is to buy hives from
established beekeepers. In a fully established bee colony there
can be from 80.000 to 100.000 workers and 200 to 300 drones and
one queen.
But if you've got ideas about keeping bees then get used to licit
being too impatient. One of the things working v:ith bees
teaches. Mrs. Fear says. is patience. lou can't move fast around
bees. But even if you have all the patience in the world. figure on
being stung. Beekeepers may have special gear to decrease the
number of bites but stings are still bound to happen. There's a
price to pay for all that sweet yellov. gold.
You are invited
to come to the factory
and see the quality
for yourself.
FACTORY OPEN FOR INSPECTION
WEEKDAYS 8:30-11:30 a.m., 1-3 p.m.
OR BY APPOINTMENT.
•
NORTHLANDER
/'1
/t)
A complete line of 12
and 14 wides now available.
Now also building
Commercial/Industrial Units.
An alternate form of
farm housing, custom
designed and built to
your requirements.
—(ad'q �ihPst—
Manufactured in Canada by
Custom Trailers Ltd.,
165 Thames Rd. E.
Exeter, Ontario [Box 190]
[5191235-1530 Telex 064-5815
PG.12. VILLAGE SQUIRE/OCTOBER 1978.