February, 1918 



CLEANINGS IN B K E CULTURE 



but clieerful. Fall rains are necessary to 

 the fall germination of the horseniint, tlie 

 chief source of surplus honey. No horse- 

 mint seed was produced in. this section last 

 year. With good spring rains mescjuite 

 will yield well. Thruout the southern sec- 

 tion conditions and prospects for honity 

 jilants are equally as bad. If good rains 

 should occur soon the shrubs would yield 

 well. A continued drouth over this area 

 would almost mean disaster. In cent'al 

 Texas apparently all of the native honey 

 plants are dead, as no seed was produced 

 this season. Much rain will be needed in 

 this section. In East Texas conditions are 

 about 75 per cent normal. This section has 

 liad a few rains and much of the honey is 

 produced in lowlands which have not suf- 

 fered from drouth. In North Texas the con- 

 ditions of the honey plants is about normal 

 but rain is needed during the spring to in- 

 sure a surplus of honey. In the extreme 

 southern section the bees now arc in good 

 condition. No feeding has been necessary 

 ror is any contemplated. In Pecember pol- 

 len was gathered from peach and orange. 

 In the Gulf Coast section feeding is being 

 done extensively in one locality; as high as 

 25 pounds of sugar has been fed to a colony. 

 In the other localities feeding is not being 

 done. In the southwest section feeding is be- 

 ing carried on extensively in one locality, but 

 in another locality the bees are allowed to 

 die. In another locality feeding is contem- 

 plated with those colonies that survive the 

 winter. In central Texas, no feeding has 



been done and none is contemplated. There 

 will be very little if any loss of bees in the 

 extreme southern section. More stores than 

 usual were left with the bees last fall to 

 insure against winter loss. In the Gulf Coast 

 section where feeding has been done, the los:-! 

 will be little but in other localities it will be 

 great. However, over much of this section 

 feeding has not been practiced and the loss 

 will be heavy. With the unfavorable fall con- 

 ditions, most of the colonies went into the 

 winter with entirely old bees. In east and 

 north Texas there will be very little, if any, 

 loss. In the extreme southern section but 

 few bees are being offered for sale and none; 

 have been sold. In the Gulf Coast section 

 many colonies are being offered for sale but 

 they are weak in stores and are not finding 

 many purchasers. In a few cases bees 

 are being given away, to those who will 

 feed. Some are holding to a better price, 

 but are due to be disappointed, for, if they 

 do not feed, the bees will die before they are 

 sold. Thruout tlie southwest section many 

 bees are being offered for sale, but few ace 

 being purchased. In the central section 

 many bees have been offered for sale, but 

 few have been fold. No bees have been 

 offerd for sale in east and north Texas. 



The Bell County Beekeepers' Association 

 has recently elected a new officer, a publici- 

 ty agent. Today, in these stirring times of 

 progress, a publicity agent is an essential 

 part of any organization. 



NOTES FROM CANADA 



T. 



THE mo n t h 

 of December 

 just passed 

 has been bitterly 



cold here in Ontario — the weather man says 

 it was the coldest December since 1871, and 

 he ought to know. At any rate, the Decem- 

 ber just experienced was cold enough even 

 for us fellows who are always used to a 

 rigorous climate. How will it affect the 

 l)ees'? Eeally the question is hard to answer 

 and we will postpone the matter till next 

 April. 



We have just tumbled onto a nice easy 

 way to liquify cans of honey, provided you 

 have a furnace in the house. Our furnace, 

 like many others, I presume, has a pit on 

 top with about ten inches of sand to prevent 

 the radiation of the heat into the furnace- 

 room. That sand is always comfortably 

 warm to the touch, but one would not think 

 it would melt a 60-pound can of honey. How- 

 ever, a few weeks ago a 30-pound can was 

 placed on top of this sand and we were 

 agreeably surprised to find the honey per- 

 fectly liquefied in three days. Since then a 

 60-pound can was placed in the same place, 

 find inside of five days the honey was clear. 

 The beauty about the plan is that it is ab- 



L. Byer, Markham, Ont. 



it never gets 



solutely s a, f e 

 th^re, no matter 

 liow long the 

 honey is left, as 

 never gets more than luke^varra. The 

 continuous heat, tho, doe^ the trick, and 

 I have an idea that honey would be 

 improved by leaving it there, especially 

 if none too ripe when it was extracted. At 

 any rate, it looks as tho we should never go 

 back to the hot-water plan so far as liquefy- 

 ing honey for our own use is concerned. 



* * * 



. In the December Gleanings we stated that 

 buckwheat honey was then worth two cts. 

 a pound more than when we sold earlier at 

 13 and 13^^ cts. The same firm we sold to, 

 now quotes buckwheat honey at 17 cts. 

 Watch the prices grow. 



* * * 



On page 18, January issue, I am made to 

 say, " Miller feeders with square boxes," 

 and it should read ' ' and square boxes, ' ' as 

 both types of feeders are used. The square 

 boxes are still used at one yard, as we have 

 them yet in good order. For feeding while 

 the weather is warm they are all right — 

 simply place the box on top of the frames 

 in a super. Fill with syru]> and throw a 



