610 



GLEANINGS IN BKE CULTURE. 



Aug. 15. 



toms; viz., that it is not ropy, and that there is 

 no appreciable odor of any kind. In most cases 

 it seems to go off of itself; and very seldom does 

 it affect more than two or thn e colonies in an 

 apiary. I have one instance before me where 

 this dead brood is spreading over the whole 

 yard, and it may be necessary lo resort to hero- 

 ic measures before it can be held in subjection. 

 Samples of the brood have been sent me, and it 

 is neither ropy nor foul— that is, smelling like a 

 cabinet-maker's glue-pot. The sender of this 

 sample of brood tells me that his neighbor has 

 the same thing. 



Some speculation has been advanced, to the 

 effect that this dtad brood was owing to some 

 sort of poison ihe bees get. This may or may 

 not be true. I should be inclined to believe 

 that it is some form of disease, and that it is, to 

 a greater or less extent, contagious. 



I have seen samples of it in our own yard at 

 various times, but it has invariably gone off' of 

 itself, aad it rarely affects more than two or 

 three combs in the hive, and only a few scatter- 

 ing cells in each. It has never spread, and 

 comes and goes. 



In the case I have just referred to it has gone 

 through the whole apiary. It has weakened 

 the colonies, and the bees appear to be discour- 

 aged—so much so that they very soon fall vic- 

 tims to robbers. 



I hope some scientist will take hold of this, 

 find the microbe, and name it. In the mean 

 time I trust that our friend, whose name I for- 

 bear mentioning, will treat thpse cases just as 

 if ihey were cases of real foul brood, and report 

 the result. 1 hesitate to mention the names of 

 those who have diseases among their bees, with- 

 out their consent, especially where the disease 

 may be something that may easily be held un- 

 der control. For instance, when foul brood has 

 once been in an apiary, even though the last 

 vestiges of it have not appeared for years, the 

 mere fact that it has been in that yard seems to 

 place a ban upon it for all time in the eyes of 

 the general beekeeping public. 



thp: ho:sky ckop fok 1S9G; prices, etc.; hon- 

 ey STATISTICS CALLED FOR. 



So far as we can ascertain by correspond- 

 ence, the honey-flow in the Central and North- 

 ern States has been good— much better than 

 for several years back. In the East it is not as 

 good, and in some sections it has been almost a 

 failure. In California there has been little or 

 no honey except in the Sau Joaquin Valley, as 

 spoken of on page 563 of our previous issue. 

 In a letter, from B. F. Brooks, one of the lead- 

 ing commission men of that State, he says the 

 California crop of honey is almost a failure. 



Arkansas reports an entire failure of honey. 



The report above is as definite as we can 

 make out up lo date from a large number of 

 letters as they have come into our office. To 



get at it a little more exactly, I should be 

 obliged if our readers everywhere would send 

 in a postal card, in answer to the following 

 questions: 



1. What has been the honey crop in your lo- 

 cality ? (Answer by saying good, fair, indiffer- 

 ent, poor, as the case may be.) 



2. How do prices on best qualities of comb 

 and extracted rule in your locality in a whole- 

 sale way ? 



As it takes much time to sort over all these 

 cards, write no other information on them. 

 For example, one card may be filled out as fol- 

 lows: "1, good; 2, comb, 12(0)14; extracted, 6@ 

 7." Bear in mind that we want your report 

 on the best qualities, so far as prices are con- 

 cerned. It will be easy enough to estimate 

 second qualities if we know what the best are 

 bringing. I hope every one of our readers will 

 help us in getting together this information; 

 and to be of any use it is absolutely necessary 

 that you respond at once. If you put it off, you 

 will forget it. If you will take the pains to 

 answer for your own locality you may help in 

 deciding the very important question what the 

 price ought to be. These replies will be pub- 

 lished as soon as received. 



In addition to the replies from producers I 

 am calling upon the honey merchants or com- 

 mission men for their ideas of the season. I 

 have already sent out the following circular 

 letter. As soon as any considerable number of 

 the replies are received they will be set before 

 our readers. 



Dear Sir;— Kindly answer by number, as briefly 

 as possible, tJie loUowing set of questions: 



1. What style and size of shipping-ease is 1 est 

 suited for your market ? 



2. What style of package for extiacted honey in 

 bulk— that is, whether square cans or barieis and 

 kegs ? 



3. What weight of sections seems to sell best ? 



4. What time in the year do you secure the best 

 prices ? 



5. What effect will the absence of California hon- 

 ey have on the price of Eastern honey ? 



6. From your receipts so far of lioney, how does 

 this season compare with that of last year ? 



As about 20 other commissioa men will report on 

 the same set of questions, your reply will necessa- 

 rily have to be brief, the whole letter not to exceed 

 200 words. These letters are all to be published in 

 one or two issues of Gleanings. Kindly attend to 

 this, if possible, by return mail. Your co-operation 

 in this will bo appreciated by your brother com- 

 mission men as well as by the producers. We are 

 sure it will be to your interest as well as to that of 

 honey-producers in general. 



Very truly yours. 



The a. I. Root Co. 



Medina, O., Aug. 4, 1896. 



DEATH OF ALLEN PRINGLE. 



On the 22d of July, Mr. Allen Pringle, of 

 Selby, Ont., Canada, after suffering a short 

 illness, died. While not a prolific writer, yet 



