Al'RIl., 1918 



GLEANINGS I N 



!■: I', culture; 



233 



THE annual 

 mectfing of 

 the National 

 Beekeepers' As- 

 sociation held at 

 Burlington, la., 

 Feb- 19-21, was 

 poorly attended, 

 altho the pro- 

 gram was excel- 

 lent. The first session opened with only about 

 120 beekeepers present, and the largest number 

 I>resent at any session was 40. Prof. Francis 

 Jager, president, opened the convention Tues- 

 day evening, with an interesting address on 

 the uses and functions of the national asso- 

 ciation. He had to leave the same evening to 

 meet another appointment, and the conven- 

 tion was thereupon turned over to the skill- 

 ful handling of C. P. Dadant, as temporary 

 president. John C. Bull, secretary, was not 

 present, so Hamlin B. Miller of Iowa was 

 chosen temporary secretary. The regular 

 program was taken up Wednesday morning, 

 wlien J. A. Warren of The A. I. Eoot Co., 

 representing E. E. Root, spoke on "Present 

 and Future Beekeeping." Prof. F. Eric 

 Miller of Ames, la., gave an excellent talk 

 on "The State Agricultural College and Bee- 

 keeping in 1918." Dr. E. F. Phillips of 

 Washington, D. C, spoke on extension work. 

 His address and explanation of the Govern- 

 ment 's work in behalf of beekeeping elicited 

 the keenest interest. E. D. Townsend of 

 North Star, Mich., was not present, but sent 

 a paper on ' ' Some Proposed National Work 

 for 1918." C. P. Dadant gave a very instruc- 

 tive address on ' ' Making Honey a Staple. ' ' 

 J. W. Stine of Burlington, la., pointed out 

 in his address how the Government can help 

 the beekeeping industry, and Geo. W. Wil- 

 liams of Red Key, Ind., sent a paper on 

 "A Merger of All Beekeeper Societies." 

 Harry Lathrop of Bridgeport, Wis., read a 

 paper on "The Builders" and warbled a 

 solo at the Wednesday evening session. At 

 this evening session officers for 1918 were 

 elected as follows: David Running of Fil- 

 ion, Mich., president; Hamlin B. Miller of 

 Marshalltown, la., vice president; Floyd 

 Markham of Ypsilanti, Mich., secretary; 

 David Running of Filion, Mich., and Floyd 

 Markham of Ypsilanti, Mich., directors. 

 Thursday forenoon was taken up with the 

 reading and discussion of a paper sent by 

 Ira D. Bartlett of Michigan on ' ' Standardi- 

 zation of Bee Supplies and Appliances. ' ' 

 The subject brought out more lively discus- 

 sion than any other considered by the con- 

 vention. E. S. Miller of Valparaiso, Ind., 

 sent a paper on ' ' The Future of the Na- 

 tional," as did J. H. Stoneman of Blaekfoot, 

 Ida., on ' ' Making a Start with Bees in 

 Idaho." Dr. E. F. Phillips, in the absence 

 of Dr. S. A. Jones, chief of the Bureau of 

 Crop Reports, discussed the work of this 

 bureau as it affects the honey interests. The 

 association passed resolutions to the follow- 

 ing effect: appointing Dr. E. F. Phillips a 

 committee of one to secure an investigation 



of the vitamines 

 contained in 

 honey; endors- 

 ing the teaching 

 of the uses for 

 honey by high 

 schools and state 

 colleges; asking 

 parcels post 

 pri\'ileges for 

 coiiibless packages and commending the 

 work of the apicultural department of the 

 Bureau of Entomology 

 * * * 



It is a little early to tell how bees have 

 wintered thruout the whole country, but 

 from a large number of reports received by 

 Gleanings, all the way from Maine to Cali- 

 fornia and Texas, we can say that they have 

 generally come thru the winter in better con- 

 dition than was expected two months ago. 



Beginning in the East, New England gen- 

 erally reports heavy losses — 50 per cent to 

 75 per cent of bees, and surviving colonies 

 generally weak and short of stores. 



Ontario reports heavy local losses, but the 

 losses of bees well cared for not nearly so 

 large as feared a few weeks ago. New York 

 State reports bees in cellar having wintered 

 very well, but from 30 per cent to 80 per 

 cent loss of those wintered outdoors, loss 

 being -due largely to light stores or inability 

 to reach stores. New Jersey reports 40 per 

 cent colony loss. The southern and western 

 counties of Pennsylvania have from 50 per 

 cent to 75 per cent of bees dead; northern 

 counties not quite so bad, having better win- 

 ter stores. Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, 

 and Florida, w^hile returning varied reports, 

 seem on the whole not to have had unusual 

 losses, while some sections report unusually 

 good wintering. Southern Virginia, Ken- 

 tucky, and Tennessee appear to have suffer- 

 ed severely (50 per cent to 75 per cent dead). 



In the central North, the condition of bees 

 seems to be unexpectedly good. Michigan 

 reports conditions much better than expect- 

 ed, altho considerable feeding is necessary. 

 Ohio 's bees have come thru in very fair con- 

 dition. Illinois and Indiana report bees hav- 

 ing come thru fairly well — or better. Vary- 

 ing reports come from Iowa, Missouri, and 

 Oklahoma — good and bad. 



AVhen it comes to the Rocky Mountain and 

 Pacific Coast regions, the reports are almost 

 all very favorable. Idaho and Colorado send 

 word of excellent wintering with prospects 

 for a bumper honey crop. Montana is tak- 

 ing interest and sends a good report, as do 

 Utah and Nevada. With copious rains dur- 

 ing late February and March, California 

 sends word of excellent condition of bees 

 and the prospect of a fine honey crop thru- 

 out the whole of the big State. Bees were 

 storing honey in some California apiaries 

 as early as March 1 — and before. 



Texas, too, sends word of the big drouth 

 there liaving been broken by a substantial 

 lainfall during the first four days of March, 

 and bee prospects accordingly brightened. 



