AiiKHSl, nHfi, 



265 



American l^ee Journal 



this is printed the early flow will be 

 over and mucli of the honey extracted. 

 While we anticipate a good crop we 

 can see no reason why a fair price 

 should not he realized. Those who get 

 nervous when a big crop is in sight 

 and sell at the first opportunity are 

 quite likely to sell below the best mar- 

 ket price. When a good price is offered 

 one will do well to close out early, but 

 it is a mistake to sacrifice anything in 

 order to insure an early sale simply 

 because the prospect irtdicates a large 

 crop. 



The area where honey production is 

 profitable is constantly being e.xtended. 

 In South Dakota and Nebraska the 

 clover growing districts are gradually 

 being extended westward. White clover 

 and sweet clover are now common in 

 many localities where they were not 

 to be seen a few years ago. There are 

 still many sections where mustard, 

 which grows abundantly in the wheat 

 fields, is about the only source of nec- 

 tar during the clover season, but yellow 

 sweet clover is being scattered along 

 the railroads and highways, and white 

 clover is beginning to appear in similar 

 places. 



One man who was visited shipped a 

 colony of bees from Wisconsin several 

 years ago. They have received but lit- 

 tle attention and have increased by 

 natural swarming until the neighbor- 

 ing farmers are now supplied with a 

 few colonies, and the original apiary 

 has increased to 40 colonies. They 

 have done so well for their owner that 

 he plans to make substantial increase 

 and to give them much more atten- 

 tion. As Dakota grows older and the 

 wheat fields give way to pastures and 

 diversified crops a large area of honey- 

 producing territory will be added. 

 However, there is little danger of 

 overstocking except in limited locali- 

 ties in any State as yet. Not 5 percent 

 of the available territory seems to be 

 occupied in any State east of the irri- 

 gated regions. With so much unoc- 

 cupied territory to be found by going 

 a short distance there is little excuse 

 for crowding into territory already 

 fully stocked. 



Average Crop of Honey 



One of the questions a beginner is 

 pretty sure to ask is, " How much honey 

 per colony should I expect ?" The 

 question is a troublesome one, and it 

 is not at all certain any one has the 

 right answer. If we take the reports 

 given in a bee journal during any given 

 year, and strike an average, that aver- 

 age is sure to be much higher than the 

 average of all the beekeepers of the 



country. This for more than one rea- 

 son. In the first place, those who take 

 bee journals and report in them are 

 likely to be better beekeepers than 

 those who do not. In the second place, 

 we do not have in the bee journals re- 

 ports from all the subscribers. Bee- 

 keepers, like other folk, like to tell of 

 their successes, but not of their fail- 

 ures. So the reports in the bee jour- 

 nals tell us of the possibilities rather 

 than what is done in general, and we 

 cannot get from them very much of an 

 idea as to the general average. 



Last year, under date of Aug. 5, Mor- 

 ley Pettit, the efficient Canadian leader, 

 sent out a " Final White Honey Crop 

 Report," which gave the average num- 

 ber of pounds of honey 55.1 per colony. 

 The addition of the fall flow would, of 

 course, increase that. But that report 

 included only 19,107 colonies, and it is 

 estimated that there are 300,000 colo- 

 nies in the province of Ontario. That 

 was only one out of 15, and no doubt 

 the other 14, if reported would bring 

 down the average greatly. In any case 

 the report for a single year gives noth- 

 ing decisive. 



In his book, "Beekeeping," Dr. E. F. 

 Phillips says : " In apiaries managed 

 for comb-honey production, it is per- 

 haps fair to estimate the average an- 

 nual crop at 25 to 30 sections. For ex- 

 tracted honey, larger averages may be 

 expected, perhaps of 40 to 60 pounds." 

 If that errs either way, it is quite pos- 

 sible it may be on the side of being too 

 high. At any rate, there are men who 

 have made a success in beekeeping 

 whose average in their earlier years of 

 inexperience did not show up so well. 



So the man who gets per colony 25 

 to 80 sections, or 40 to 60 pounds of 

 extracted honey need not be discour- 

 aged. But he should never be satisfied 

 to be only average. c. c. m. 



A Special Eciuipment Number 



Some of our readers have suggested 

 that we should issue a special number 

 of the American Bee Journal devoted 

 to the description of equipment. We 

 are considering the matter and if there 

 is sufficient interest will do something 

 of the kind in November or December. 

 If our readers who have worked out 

 some new plan of operations will d.;- 

 scribe the method fully, and if possible 

 send us pictures to illustrate it we will 

 be glad to have it and will make use of 

 as many such articles as space and im- 

 portance will justify. 



Nearly every practical beekeeper has 

 something which he has developed in 

 connection with his work which may 



be of interest to many others. Equip- 

 ment which saves time and lightens 

 labor is always worthy of being given 

 to the public. 



Another Step iu Cooperation — 

 Texas Honey Pro<lucer.s Or- 

 ganize 



More than 70 beekeepers from every 

 district in Texas, representing more 

 than 16,935 colonies of bees, met re- 

 cently in San Antonio, and organized 

 the Texas Honey-Producers' Associa- 

 tion. They will incorporate with a 

 capital stock of $2.'>,000, of which more 

 than $5i»00 was subscribed from the 

 floor of the convention. The shares 

 are in demominations of $10, and each 

 member is limited to 100 shares. To 

 make the organization most effective, 

 the organizers went on record as favor- 

 ing the holding of small allotments of 

 ten shares each. 



The purposes of the organization as 

 expressed during the convention are 

 primarily for cooperative selling, adver- 

 tising, and for the standardization of 

 the Texas output of honey, both in qual- 

 ity and packing. The organization is 

 modeled after the plan of the " Colorado 

 Honey Producers' Association," the 

 strong and successful cooperative or- 

 ganization whose headquarters is Den- 

 ver. 



A system of grading and labeling 

 will be established with inspectors at 

 the various points of collection and 

 re-distribution. A distinctive trade- 

 mark or label will be adopted, and 

 every crate of honey put out by mem- 

 bers of the association will be thus 

 labeled. Directors for the new asso- 

 ciation were elected as follows: W. A. 

 Winters, Jourdanton ; Louis H. Scholl, 

 New Braunfels ; Richard Voges, Poth ; 

 W. C. Collier, Goliad; W. J. Stahmann, 

 El Paso; Henry Brenner, Seguin ; and 

 E. G. LeStourgeon, of San Antonio. 



Officers elected are : President, Louis 

 H. Scholl; vice-president, W. J. Stah- 

 mann ; secretary, E. G. LeStourgeon. 

 Some of the principal beekeepers of 

 the State were present, among them 

 being Mr. Scholl, who has 1600 colo- 

 nies ; W. C. Collier, 1300; J. C. Cox, 

 450; R. J.Ormand,530; Tom Campbell, 

 500 ; Louis Biediger, 550 ; W. J. Stah- 

 mann, 1200; W. A. Winters, 1000; W. 

 A. Grant, 475; E. G. LeStourgeon, 860. 



With as able officers and directors as 

 has this association, it should gather all 

 the influential beekeepers of Texas un- 

 der its standard for their own good, 

 and be a success from the beginning. 



Further information may be obtained 

 by addressing the new secretary, Mr. 

 E. G. LeStourgeon, of San Antonio. 



