November, 1918 



GI. KANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



67 T 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



farmer near us received the record price of 

 $17.00 a bushel a, few days ago. Naturally 

 this means that wherever a field of alsike 

 has been sown, it will be left for seed if the 

 stand is at all good. 



Some two months or more ago, I an- 

 nounced in this Department that a successor 

 to Mr. Pettit as Provisional Apiarist had 

 about been chosen. Prof. Gates of Amherst, 

 Mass., was the man I had in mind, but my 

 informant had asked me not to mention the 

 matter as things had not been definitely ar- 

 ranged. As already announced, Prof. Gates 

 has taken uj? the reins of office at Guelph, 

 and personally I wish to take this oppor- 

 tunity of welcoming him among us. While 

 we have met Mr. Gates only once, yet at 

 various times we have had correspondence, 

 and I feel sure that he will be given a 

 hearty welcome by Canadian beekeepers. 

 No doubt Prof. Gates will attend our coming 

 convention and will have an opportunity of 

 meeting and getting accjuainted with many 

 of the fraternity from Ontario and other 

 parts of Canada. That his stay with us may 

 be long and his labors successful is the wish 

 of all of us who are interested in the busi- 

 ness of beekeeping. 



Markham, Ont. J. L. Ever. 



Tj, 'T'exac During the last month condi- 

 tions over the State have im- 

 proved very materially. Rains in many lo- 

 calities have greatly changed prospects, and 

 if early frosts do not occur the bees will be 

 in good shai3e for the winter. Generally the 

 bees now are in better condition than they 

 were a year ago at this time. In the Rio 

 Grande Valley a light summer flow has. re- 

 sulted in the hives now being full of bees 

 with plenty of winter stores. In the Gulf 

 Coast section the bees now are 75 per cent 

 better than last year at this time. In the 

 southwestern territory the poorest condi- 

 tions prevail of any place in the State, but 

 very recent rains will improve conditions 

 here wonderfully. Bees resjionded very 

 readily and brood was being raised in great 

 quantity wherever rains had brought out 

 any bloom. A late frost will allow great 

 improvement in this territory. In west 

 Texas the bees are in better shape now than 

 a year ago, but the drouth has not been 

 broken as it has in the other sections. In 

 east Texas the bees are in better condition 

 for the winter; the colonies are stronger and 

 with more stores. In central Texas the con- 

 ditions vary greatly with localities. In the 

 southern portion the drouth still fjrevails 

 and bees are not in as good condition as 

 last year. In a few favored localities there 

 is an improvement over last year. Thruout 

 the northern part of the State the bees are 

 liow in better condition than a year ago. 

 Of course, the condition of the bees is 



entirely dependent upon the plant condi- 

 tions. In the Valley there was a good flow 

 and the plants were recovering from the 

 drouth. In the Gulf Coast section the recent 

 heavy rains caused some of the spring flora 

 to bloom and bees built up rapidly, even 

 draining comb from foundation on Oct. 1. 

 Bees will go into the winter with good stores 

 and plenty of young bees. In the southmost 

 sections the fall bloom has caused so much 

 brood-rearing that considerable increase is 

 being made. In west Texas those bees that 

 have been allowed their stores will go into 

 the winter in good condition. In the eastern 

 section the fall flow was good and ample 

 stores for winter were assured. In the cen- 

 tral section some bees were not able to 

 store any from a fall flow and so will start 

 the winter short on stores. In the north 

 section the bees will go into the winter with 

 sufficient stores. 



I often wonder after another year of ad- 

 verse conditions what proportion of bees 

 exist as compared with a year ago. In the 

 valley section there is a slight increase, the 

 losses having already been made good by 

 dividing. In the coast section there are 

 now only 60 per cent as many bees as last 

 year and only 50 per cent as many as two 

 years ago at this time. In the southwest 

 section there are now only 50 per cent as 

 many bees as there were two years ago. The 

 loss this summer was about one-fourth of 

 the total. The shortage is not much in the 

 western section, perhaps 10 jier cent due to 

 general carelessness. In some localities of 

 the eastern section there are now not over 

 60 per cent the bees that there were last 

 year. In'other localities there has been no 

 loss. In the central section the loss during 

 the past summer has not been over 5 per 

 cent, but the number of colonies now as com- 

 pared to two years ago is about 70 per cent. 

 Thruout the northern section there has been 

 almost no loss. 



Feeding bees was such a common practice 

 last year that many beekeej^ers expected to 

 feed again this year. The general rains re- 

 sulting in good fall flows over most of the 

 State has changed these feeding expecta- 

 tions. There will be some feeding in the 

 southwest section. In some localities feed- 

 ing has been done for some time and will 

 cease now. In some localities in the central 

 section there will be some feeding. 



The increase that is being made in some 

 localities has disclosed a shortage of queens 

 at this time of the year. Practically no 

 queens are available in this State. 



The pound-package trade for this State 

 for next year is very uncertain. One owner 

 has sold his entire supply in three large 

 orders. Many who have had bees to sell in 

 the past will need all they can supply for 

 increase at home. Having lost faith with 

 the old transportation facilities, it will be 



