644 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



Oct. 10, 1901. 



tlay io deliver more than 25 cars, and as 

 uearly as we can estimate tliey are holding back 

 till these exaggerated reports have run their 

 course, and the market seeks its natural 

 level. It is most unfortunate that these 

 canards should have been started at this time ; 

 (or this is usually the ftry season for dispos- 

 ing of honey, and it may take months to cor- 

 rect the false impression. 



The situation in the East, briefly told, is 

 this: There is actually less comb honey pro- 

 duced this year than last; and what there is, 

 seems to be of an inferior grade. We have 

 advocated in these columns repeatedly that 

 bee-keepers are running too much for ex- 

 tracted honey in the East; at least, good 

 comb honey sells all the way from 2',; to H 

 times as much as extracted for a like quality. 

 The market on extracted has become a little 

 unsettled, owing to aforesaid " bears " who 

 not only love honey, but are contriving to get 

 it for nothing. Yes, we are even told that 

 the markets of the East were being glutted: 

 but some of our friends went into some of 

 those markets to buy honey in car lots. Do 

 you believe they could get any ; There was 

 not any in sight. To state the matter fairly, 

 there is iirobably a fair crop of extracted 

 honey of Eastern production ; and the prices 

 on extracted will, therefore, rule about the 

 same as last year, for tlie same season of the 

 year. Colorado honey is evidently being 

 held until the market recovers itself from 

 these conflicting statements. The crop has 

 been lighter, and so far offerings that have 

 been very meager are as high or liigher than 

 a year ago. There is only a moderate crop in 

 Arizona — about 2.5 cars all told ; and this is 

 likewise being held for the same reason. 

 Texas, one of the big honey States, will show 

 up well; but much of its product will be 

 marketed at home, while Arizona honey, a 

 large portion of it, will have to lie sold in the 

 East. 



Returning to California, latest advices show 

 that the season has been a flat failure in the 

 central portions of the State. Our men can 

 not hud more than three car-loads all told. In 

 Southern California it would be a large esti- 

 mate to allow for 75 cars, if the general re- 

 ports we get are true, and they come from 

 men who are not inclined to " bull " the mar- 

 ket. I know they are very close to the truth, 

 because I was tlu-ough much of that territory 

 myself, and perhaps two-thirds of the crop 

 had been harvested. 



I shall send copies of this statement, pre- 

 pared this day, to all the large buyers whom 

 I believe to be reliable and honest, and will 

 seek their advice and help. 



Later. — Since the above was written one 

 of the best bee-keepers in California, who was 

 sent by a San Francisco firm through the best 

 honey country around Los Angeles, to get 

 samples and Cjuantities of honey, writes, after 

 a careful canvass, that he could scarcely find, 

 all told, 2.50 tons (20 cars), and that he is in- 

 formed by reliable parties, that the cro)) 

 further south and east is very light. More- 

 over, he finds that some of the buyers, in the 

 papers at Los Angeles, credit to a bee-keeper 

 as many cars of honey as he has in tons. As 

 to prices, the honey is being held firm at 5 

 cents or more. E. R. Root. 



Like Messrs. Burnett & Co., we hesitate to 

 advise those of our readers that have honey 

 to sell, what to do about marketing it. And 

 yet we think we are safe in saying that when- 

 ever you can get as good prices as those of 

 last year, it would be well to accept them very 

 promptly. 



Having said that, we may also venture the 

 opinion that before honey is higher in price 

 again, it will likely go lower than the prices 

 ([uoted now. This we believe because of the 

 feeling that more honey is being held back by 

 bee-keepers this season than in many a year 

 Ijefore. 



It is exceedingly unfortunate that there 

 seems to be no reliable way in which to get at 

 the exact amount of honey produced. Were 

 that a possibility, the matter of prices could 

 the more easily he controlled. 



A Phase of In-breeding Among Bees 



— in which there is a difference as compared 

 with other stock — deserves consideration. 

 Where breeders of cattle practice in-breeding 

 for the sake of fixing certain characteristics, 

 they seem to prefer mating a heifer to her 

 father rather than to her brother. There is a 

 good reason for this. The father and mother 

 of the heifer being of unrelated stock, the 

 heifer is not of the same blood as either, but 

 may be said to have half the blood of each ; 

 so when the heifer is bred to her father there 

 is not as close iu-breeding as when bred to her 

 brother, which is of the same blood as herself. 

 Now it we have a certain queen of superior 

 blood from which we rear young queens, and 

 then allow these young queens to mate with 

 drones from the same mother, it might look, 

 to a careless observer, the same as breeding 

 the heifer to her brother. But parthenogene- 

 sis must be taken into con.sideration, and in 

 reality it is the same as breeding the heifer 

 to her father. For the drone is not of the 

 mingled blood of his mother and the drone 

 with which she mated, but he is of the same 

 blood as his mother. If this year we stock 

 our apiary with young queens from a certain 

 queen, and the next year rear young <iueens 

 again from that same mother, allowing them 

 to meet drones of the queens reared this year, 

 we will have practically the close in-breeding 

 of brother and sister that would obtain in 

 cattle-rearing, but the mating of a queen and 

 drone from the same mother will not be so 

 close breeding. 



\ Weekly Budget. I 



The Chicago Bee-Kebpers' Association 

 will hold its next semi-annual meeting on 

 Thursday, Dec. 5, instead of Thursday. Nov. ". 

 This is the result of a meeting of the execu- 

 tive committee on Oct. ;i. The date a month 

 later was decided upon because of the Live 

 Stock Exhibition to be held in Chicago Nov. 

 yO to Dec. 7. Low railroad rates will then pre- 

 vail, which should help greatly to swell the 

 attendance of bee-Keepers. 



Look out for a fuller notice by Secretary 

 Moore, next week. In the meantime, begin 

 to plan to be in t:hicago Dec. 5. No effort 

 will be spared to make it the largest and best 

 meeting of bee-keepers in IflOl — the recent 

 Buflfalo convention not excepted. 



Ai'iAKY OF Mr. C. G. Heai.y.— In writing 

 us about his bee-keeping, Mr. Healy had this 

 to say (see page IMS) ; 



On May 22, 1900, I moved three small api- 

 aries, one consisting of 52 colonies, another 

 of 41, and another of 15, from Walworth Co., 

 Wis., to Wood county, arriving at my desti- 

 nation ou May 24. 



Owing to poor seasons in Walworth 

 county, and the losses sustained in moving 

 the apiaries, they were in very poor condition 

 when I arrived here. But as the season was 

 very favorable the lOS colonies increased to 

 169. and I shipped two tons of comb honey. 



I put the bees in winter quarters. Nov. 25, 

 in an outside cellar. After regulating the 

 ventilation to what I supposed to be right, I 

 left them until spring, returning March 20. 

 when 1 found the temperature to be 71 degrees 

 in the cellar, and the loss at the outset 9 colo- 



nies. But because of the high temperature in 

 the cellar during the winter many of the bees 

 left their hives, clustered on the ceiling, and 

 of course were lost. As a result I lost 63 

 colonies from spring dwindling, a total loss 

 of 3 colonies more than the increase of last 

 year. Those that are left are doing well, and 

 at present there is a good outlook for a fair 

 crop. C. G. Healt. 



Wood Co., Wis., Julys. 



Messrs. Salter, Hyde and Scholl — the 

 officers of the Texas Bee-Keepers' Associa- 

 tion — were shown on page 609. Since then 

 we have received a few personal items con- 

 cerning each, which, unfortunately, were 

 delayed so they could not appear in the issue 

 with the pictures. 



All three of those in (luestion are yet young 

 men, Mr. Salyer being the only one married. 

 Messrs. Hyde and Scholl are just out of their 

 teens, and not yet of age; nevertheless all 

 three have done a great deal for Southern 

 bee-keepers, and perhaps there are not many 

 such "youngsters" that have gained so much 

 fame. 



Mr. Salyer was vice-president of the Central 

 Texas Bee-Keepers' Association the last tw» 

 years, until elected president of the new 

 State association at the last meeting. He has 

 been in the bee-business for many years, com- 

 bining it with farming and stock-raising, as 

 he has fine herds of cattle. 



Mr. H. H. Hyde has been in the bee-busi- 

 ness ever since nine years old, helping his 

 father during summer and attending school 

 during winter. As the junior member of O. 

 P. Hyde & Son, and at the head of the queen- 

 rearing department of that firm, besides being 

 an interesting and instructive correspondent 

 to the bee-papers, he is already well known 

 to the bee-keepers of our land. He is of a 

 temperate disposition, abhoring the use of all 

 intoxicants and tobacco. Mr. Hyde is a mem- 

 ber of the Baptist church. At home he has 

 held several minor offices of trust, and has 

 been assistant secretary of the Central Texas 

 Bee-Keepers' Association, at the last meeting 

 elected vice-president. 



Mr. Louis Scholl has been actively engaged 

 in apiarian association work for several years. 

 At the age of 17 he was chosen as the associa- 

 tion's secretary-treasurer, and to keep him as 

 such, certain clauses in the constitution of 

 the association, restricting an officer to only 

 one year's term, had to be ruled out. He has 

 held his office ever since that time. 



His bee-keeping career began while yet 

 (|uite young, and, on account of his studious 

 habits, he has mastered more about the 

 honey-bee than many another of his age; and 

 if he lives the bee-world may yet hear more 

 about him. He has already made great 

 strides towards enviable notoriety, especially 

 among the bee-keepers of the South. His 

 contributions to apicultural literature have 

 appeared from time to time. 



Mr. Scholl is a total abstainer, and an earnest 

 Christian. 



Under the able, conscientious management 

 of these three men, the Texas State Bee- 

 Keepers' Association should flourish " like 

 the green bay tree." 



Ai'iAHY OF Mit. C. L. King.-— The picture 

 shown on page r>41, was taken from the south- 

 cast end of Mr. King's bee-yard. He and his 

 little boy are standing near the center, his 

 father at the right, and his brother at the left. 

 Mr. King has on a bee-veil of his own make. 

 He never wore a veil until this season. Mr. 

 King has kept liecs since 1S93, and likes it 

 well. He has about 75 colonies, but the past 

 season has been the poorest for honey that he 

 has ever seen in Tennessee. 



