1882 



GLEA^IKGS IN BEE CULTUliE. 



547 



At 9 o'clock we were assembled in a beau- 

 tiful hall for our convention ; and as the 

 Secretary and Treasurer were both absent, I 

 was asked to report, whicii I have done 

 brierty as follows : — 



KEPOIITS OY yiCE-PKESIDENTS KErUESENT- 



ING DIFFEllENT STATES. 



CANALiA. 



D. A. Jones reports the honey crop of 

 Canada as not over 50 per cent. The honey 

 is dark, and not up to the usual standard. 

 The increase is about a third of the usual 

 amount — not more. ]Many bees, especially 

 the blacks, have to be fed. Only in favora- 

 ble localities have any yields been reported. 

 Mr. Jones has purchased TjO bbls. of granu- 

 lated sugar for feeding this fall. 



TEXAS. 



Judge Andrews, of Texas, reports an ex- 

 cellent crop from the Lone-Star State, with 

 an average yield of 44 lbs. of comb honey per 

 stock, and 50 of extracted. Judge A. and 

 his neighbors have made an average of 100 

 lbs. per hive, and have also increased 125 per 

 cent. \V' intering has ceased to be a problem 

 iji Texas. 



Ilorsemint is the great crop, but the flavor 

 is at present objectionable. One may, how- 

 ever, learn to like it. The appearance and 

 body of the honey' is second to none. Mr. 

 Muth has some very tine samples, but says 

 that at present his customers don't like to 

 take hold of it. 



Dr. J. E. Lay is a live and wide-awake 

 bee-man. His bees swarm the last of March. 

 He has had, on an average, from 50 colonies, 

 140 lbs. of horsemint honey. It is an annual 

 plant, and honey from it will weigh 12 lbs. 

 to the gallon. Sold at 10? cts. for the whole 

 crop at home. The flavor is peculiar, but 

 liked by some. 



ILLINOIS. 



Dr. C. C Miller, of Marengo, reports that 

 he started with 174 colonies and increased to 

 202, and got 15,000 lbs. of comb honey. lie 

 also reports cucmnber honey in sections. 

 This honey does not candy quickly, and is 

 equal to clover. A pickle-factory furnished 

 the vines that gave this yield. This is an 

 important item for those living near such 

 factories. (J)n the other hand, ten acres of 

 buckwheat yielded no honey. 



GEORGIA. 



Dr. J. P. II. Brown reports that he is not 

 aware of any bee disease in Georgia at pres- 

 ent. He also presented the following paper: 



From an extensive correspondence with all parts 

 of the State, I place the honey crop, the present 

 season, at an average of about 26 lbs. to the colony. 

 In some sections it has been unusually fine, while 

 in others no surplus has been taken. The greatest 

 yield reported from a single colony w?.8 350 lbs. ex- 

 tracted honey. 



The most of my correspondents reported the great- 

 est yield when the atmosphere was moderately dry, 

 while a few reported the largest flow when the at- 

 mosphere was "decidedly humid." Summing- up 

 these reports, we find that an atmosphere neither 

 dry nor wet, but moderately cool and moist, is the 

 most favorable for a How of honey. 



Our honey is mostly of a dark amber color, though 



the flavor is good. This year the quality was above 

 an average. 



Geographically considered, Georgia possesses a 

 greater variety of climate and soil than any other 

 State in the Union, and consequently a greater va- 

 riety of forage. Cultivated forage plants, including 

 clover and buckwheat, grow well in the northern 

 parts of the Slate; while in most of the middle 

 region and southern part, the honey sources are con- 

 fined to the naji\c flora of the forests and fields. 



The majority of bees are kept in the old box hive, 

 or gum; but movable-frame hives are being rapidly 

 introduced, as well as the improved races of bees. 



IOWA — (). O. POPPLETON. 



About a month ago J issued a call through some of 

 the bee papers, asking individual bee-keepers in the 

 State to send me reports as to the status of our in- 

 dustry in their several sections. In response, I 

 have received twenty reports from seventeen differ- 

 ent counties— about one-sixth of the whole number 

 of counties in the State. Of course, I can not make 

 an accurate report from such meager materials. 



In my own section of the State, the northeastern, 

 bees went into winter quarters last fall in excellent 

 condition. The winter was short, open, and mild, 

 and, as a general thing, the 1st of April found bees 

 nearly all alive and in excellent condition, no mat- 

 ter by what mode wintered. From that time until 

 the middle of summer, we had the worst kind of 

 weather for bees, it being cold, windy, and cloudy 

 nearly all the time, preventing bees from gathering 

 much pollen or honey, or rearing much brood. As 

 a consequence they were in poorer condition on the 

 1st of June than on the 1st of April, with quite a 

 large number of colonies entirely dead, some re- 

 ports estimating the loss during those two months 

 at 25 per cent. I do not think, however, that the loss 

 over the entire State will average so large as that, 

 although it was very serious. It would have been 

 much larger but for feeding having been very gen- 

 ei-ally resorted to. 



White clover was nearly two weeks later in com- 

 mencing to bloom than ordinary, but yielded honey 

 from the first; that is, whenever the weather al- 

 lowed bees to gather it, which was but little more 

 than one day in four, until the middle of July, when 

 we had about twelve days of good weather, and as 

 heavy a flow of honey from both white clover and 

 basswood as I ever saw. Bad weather caused anoth- 

 er interval of several days, followed by a heavy run 

 for two weeks from buckwheat, and a light run the 

 rest of the season. 



I judge that the season over the State at large has 

 been very similar to what we have had in our sec- 

 tion, except that the central and southern parts of 

 the State had less bad weather to contend with, and 

 consequently a steadier flow and much larger crop 

 of honey; in fact, the largest crop gathered for 

 years. Of course, it is impossible to estimate the 

 average yield per colony over the State, but I am 

 satisfied that those who practice improved bee cul- 

 ture have obtained not less than 75 lbs. per colony. 

 The slow but steady yield of honey during the earli- 

 er part of the season caused a larger amount of 

 brood-rearing than common, which resulted in ex- 

 cessive swarming. Nearly all the reports speak of 

 this fact. 



The reports quite generally indicate an increasing 

 interest in our modern methods of bee-keeping, also 

 that bees are in excellent condition for winter. 



All things considered, the season of 1883 has been 



