August, 1918 



G L K A N 1 N G S IN J4 K E C U L T V K K 



489 



Til i: firs t 

 price I'ocom- 

 111 en (latjions 

 for 191S of the 

 Ohieajjo - North - 

 Av e s t e r ii Bee- 

 keepers ' A s s o - 

 eiatioii are im- 

 portant, as af- 

 fecting the mar- 

 ket ])rice as well as establishing uniformity 

 in price. These honey-price recommenda- 

 tions (date of July 20) are as follows: 

 Extracted, wholesale, 28 to 25 cents; retail, 

 5 to 10 cents per ])ound higher according to 

 size of {)ackage and method of selling. Comb 

 honey, wholesale, 30 cents per pound; retail, 

 5 to 10 cents higher. These recommenda- 

 tions are accompanied by the statement that 

 the honey crop generally is shorter than 

 that of last year. 



* * * 



A field meeting of the New Jersey Bee- 

 keepers ' Association will be held at O. N. 

 Whitaker 's apiary, at Branchville, Suf- 

 folk County, on Aug. 9, beginning at 10 

 a. m. 



* s * 



The Eastern Massachusetts Society, in 

 conjunction with the Massachusetts State 

 Association, will hold a field day on Satur- 

 day, Aug. 17, at the Norfolk County Agri- 

 cultural School (T'lymptonville R. E. station.) 

 ■>f * * 



There will be a beekeepers' ])icnic and 

 meeting of the New York State Association 

 of Beekeej)ers ' Societies on Aug. 2, at Hayts 

 Corners, the summer home and apiary of G. 

 B. Howard, president of the Societies. An 

 exceptionally good program has been pre- 

 pared for this exent. 



* * * 



A field meeting of the Ohio Beekeepers ' 

 Association will be held with the A. I. Root 

 Company at Medina on Thursday, Aug. 15. 

 Every beekeejier who can possibly reach 

 Medina on the day of this field meet is cor- 

 dially invited, and an effort will be made to 

 entertain them royally. 

 ^ * * 



Prof. Geo. A. (Joleman, Ajiiculturist, De- 

 partment of Entomology, University of 

 California, sends notice of the organization 

 of the ''Western Bee Farms Coi']ioration ' ' 

 with a capital stock of $100,000, a large 

 part of which is already paid up. The Bee 

 Farms will be chiefly located in Santa Cruz 

 and Monterey Counties. The apicultural di- 

 rector will have charge of the selection of 

 sites and general scientific management. 

 One or more queen-breeding yards will l)e 

 established and carefiil records kejjf of tlie 

 perforuiance of each cpieen and her ])i'ogeny. 

 A weather station is to be established at 

 each bee-yard and a cential station at tlie 

 queen-rearing yai'd fully e(|uipped with au- 

 tomatic instruments for the recording and 

 study of weather conditions as affecting 

 queen-rearing and the woik of eacli apiary 



('\('iy day in the 

 year. A central 

 extracting j)lant 

 is to lie estab- 

 lished for about 

 eveiy 5,000 colo- 

 nies, and Ford 

 tru<-ks will be 

 used for trans- 

 portation. 

 Honey-Crop Prospects. 

 Reviewing the honey-crop situation thru- 

 out the whole country, an aj)proximately 

 correct summarization of conditions would 

 be as follows: California, when the croj) 

 has been fully harvested, will be at least 

 fair; crop of the Rocky Mountain States 

 very good; Texas crop considerably better 

 than last year; Florida crop one of "the best 

 in years; crop of the Mississippi Valley and 

 Eastern States generally mucdi belovv the 

 average. 



Inquiries sent out to prominent beekeep- 

 ers in various parts of the country have 

 brought us the following condensed an- 

 swers: Colorado, possibly a little above the 

 average crop; Idaho, ))rospects good for aver- 

 age crop or better, with quality all water-white 

 with excellent flavor; Oregon, fair average 

 yield, mountain districts good yield; Utah 

 a full honey crop in prospect; Iowa, amount 

 of crop doubtful; Illinois, white-clover hon- 

 ey flow fairly good with prospects for a 

 fall flow as good as last year; Wisconsin, 

 weather conditions for honey gathering ex- 

 ceedingly bad during almost all of clover 

 bloom and basswood, crop generally reported 

 very small; Minnesota, weather conditions 

 generally bad during honey-flow period, 

 combined with heavy losses of bees, have 

 resulted in small crop; Ke)itucky, crop about 

 50 ])er cent of last year; Michigan, northern 

 part of the State generally will have a poor 

 crop altho there are local exceptions, a 

 good crop in the central part of the State, 

 average per colony in the southern part of 

 the State 40 pounds; New York State, wea- 

 ther generally unfavorable during honey 

 flow, which, with only about one-half of a 

 normal yield of honey combined with a win- 

 ter loss of about 50 per cent of the bees, 

 makes the crop for the State about 25 per 

 cent normal, but the buckwheat acreage 

 is large and a considerable croj) may be ex- 

 pected from it (basswood making a good 

 yield the middle of July and so increasing 

 the crop materially in places) ; Pennsyl- 

 vania, number of colonies abnormally low 

 because of winterkilling, but hoiiev flow ex- 

 cellent and prospect for buckwheat crop 

 nuu'h better than usual; New Jersey, cron very 

 small on account of small spring colonies 

 and \('iy unfa\orable gathei-ing weather; 

 New England, clo\'er conditions excellent 

 but weather conditions very pooi', with pros- 

 ])ects of a comparati\'ely small crop in most 

 j)laces; Ontario, cio)) will be light as a 

 whole, altho very excellent crops are re- 

 jpoited fiom scattered places. 



