1917 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



139 



Wanted— Your old combs, capplngs or 

 slumnum to render into beeswax by our 

 high steam pressure wax presses. 



Dadant & Sons. Hamilton. III. 



HONEY LABELS 



For Sale— Beaele hound pups: beauties; 

 cheap. Leo Bentz. Kt. 4. Granton. Wis. 



Wanted — Six • frame power extractor, 

 small circular saw combination for power, 

 four-horse casoline euKine. 



W. J. Dixon, Shellmouth. Manitoba. 



, , , , V, . , $80 buys my «c7(i $120 outfit, consistine of 28 



Honey Labels of the better sort. Not only complete zstory 5 frame hives for extracted 



the most attractive but also the lowest in honey (comb also); nearly all nailed and 



price. Send today for free samples. painted two coats. With this outfit toes 40 



Liberty Pub. Co.. Sta.D.Box4H. Cleveland. O. |bs. of super and brood foundation. Will 



■..■^^...;^.y..^...-^.-..-_..-^.;,—^.^-..;y.^.;.."^.;..;.^-..^,.-,^.j^.,_.^.^.^.. shipauywlifre on receiptor price. Goods 



,..~^ .^...-v-.-^, ^-N---'-~.-~~^^>^^~^^~^ -^-^ guaranteed first quality Address 



MISCELLANEOUS a. N Mestler. East Syracuse. N. Y. 



Q^j^^f^g g^ Approval— A select tested 

 25 Ladies' Coots, bird does, wild ducks queen on approval. Send address for de- 

 for saleor exchange for bees. scription etc. Bees and supplies for sale. 



A. J. Graves. Ocheyedan. Iowa. A. M. Applegate, Reynoldsville, Pa. 



Perfk' TiON Swarm Catcher; no ladder, 

 no cutting of fruit trees. Bees tal<e right to 

 it; la<Iies can handle it. Directions with 

 each order; slii[)ping weight H pound. Price. 

 ti.511. C. S, Keyes, R t. j. Salem. Oreg. 



KOH Sale— Oal( Kidge Apiary, consisting 

 of isu colonies of bees, house, barn, work 

 shop, cement chicken house, with s>4 acres 

 of land and bearing fruit. Situated 2% miles 

 from town with two. R. R.. one a divison 

 point. 20 miles from a city of 80.000 inhabi- 

 tants. Address. Bo5t A 12. R, K. D. 1. 

 Chillicothe. HI. 



CASH 



ilfici 



piid (of bulIerfliM. invttU. SooM tl to f7l 

 '.tch. EAiy wcwk. Evm two btryi suiwd food' 

 mon'y *>th malhrr'i tidp «ftd my pxturn, 

 ducriplioni. pnf» lul. Atvi umpl' inilrucUgMJ 

 i, 'Ic Senii it lUmp »l ante loi pnmntxiu. 



LAIR. Box 244, D U, U>Angelu,C*L 



Crop Reports and Market Conditions 



Questions sent out this month were as follows: 



1. What is the condition of the honey market? 



2. How large have winter losses been? 



3. What is the condition of honey plants com- 

 pared to normal? 



4. Are beekeepers making much increase? 



5. Are many turning from comb to extracted? 



6. What has the honey crop been, so far? 



Many more reports were received than last month. A 

 summary by subjects follows: 



THE HONEY MARKET 



New England reports the demand exceedingly good, 

 with practically all holdings sold. What comb honey 

 there is left is expected to be disposed of before the 

 new crop comes on. In New York and other eastern 

 states conditions are the same. Honey is all cleaned up 

 in the south, but through the central Mississippi states 

 comb-honey seems to be of slow sale and many bee- 

 keepers fear they will not be able to clean up all stocks 

 before the new crop comes on. In the west conditions 

 have improved greatly. All extracted is sold long ago, 

 and most of the comb is out of the hands of producers. 

 One locality in Colorado reports two cars of comb still 

 on hand. All in all, however, the situation, even in the 

 comb-honey line is greatly improved over a year ago. The 

 large markets are not glutted with comb-honey as a year 

 ago, though prices range very little if any better. Texas 

 producers report considerable honey of the 1917 crop sold 

 ahead (bulk comb) and at satisfactory prices. The de- 

 mand for extracted is excellent everywhere. In fact, ex- 

 tracted honey seems to be gaining in favor with the con- 

 sumers. No extracted is offered anywhere except to 

 supply regular customers, and this at a much increased 

 price. 



LOSSES OF WINTER 



Where bees have had a flight in the North and East, 

 losses seem to be under normal. But a large part of the 

 North has had a continuous cold, with no flight, and, 

 though the bees went into winter in the best possible 

 shape, there is danger of considerable losses if spring 

 does not open soon. One report from Wisconsin of a 50 

 per cent loss is certainly above the average. 



Conditions have materially improved in the South- 

 east and reports now agree that losses were small, prob- 

 ably less than normal. The same is true of Texas, which 

 reports generally less loss than last year. Uvalde county 

 seems to be the exception. 



It is too early to determine the losses in the North 

 and West, owing to excessive snows and prolonged cold. 

 Several reporters intimate that the loss is apt to be 

 above average. 



California has suffered from unseasonable, cool 

 weather, and there have been many cases of spring dwin- 

 dling, there being two reports of whole apiaries lost from 



this cause. Losses have been above average, as they 

 have in Washington and Oregon. 



CONDITION OF HONEY PLANTS 



In all sections north of a line passing through Cen- 

 tral Iowa and northern Nebraska, there has been a great 

 amount of snow, which bodes well for excellent condi- 

 tion of honey plants when spring opens up. This is also 

 true of the whole west, including Colorado. 



In the districts comprising Nebraska, Kansas, Mis- 

 souri, Illinois, Tennessee and Kentucky, the amount of 

 winter moisture has been small and clover has suffered 

 as a consequence. Honey-plant conditions are not up to 

 last year. Recent rains have made some improvement in 

 the last two weeks. 



The southeast has recovered from the early frosts 

 previously reported and honey-plant conditions seem to 

 be normal. A report from Florida states that the out- 

 look is better than a year ago. 



In Texas, the horsemint crop is a total failure, except 

 in the Goliad district, where there is some chance. 

 Mesquite is almost a month late, owing to the backward 

 spring, but prospects for a crop are excellent, as it re- 

 quires dry weather. The Guajilla prospects in the Uvalde 

 district, seem to be poor. Crop prospects for the state 

 should be probably 85 per cent of normal. 



In California, recent rains have bettered the prospect, 

 which is now about 80 per cent of normal. A late spring 

 has retarded growth. All sections must have more rain 

 to secure a good crop. Oranges will soon be in bloom. 



INCREASE 



There will be no general phenomenal increase by vet- 

 eran beekeepers in any locality, although some are in- 

 creasing as fast as they can equip to handle more bees. 

 Beginners are increasing their holdings, generally, in the 

 Middle West. 



EXTRACTED TO COMB 



There is a general tendency toward the production of 

 extracted honey to supply the increased demand. One 

 very prominent Wisconsin beekeeper is discontinuing 

 comb honey for extracted, as is one in Illinois. The 

 change throughout the country should be large enough 

 to be noticeable. 



HONEY CROP 



The season is late in both California and Texas, and 

 no honey has as yet been harvested. One reporter m 

 Florida states that his earliest crop is coming in and that 

 it will be 25 per cent better than in -1916. 



In Texas where bulk-comb honey is produced almost 

 exclusively, producers are aiming to get a better price 

 than in 1916, when practically all stocks were sold by 

 December 15. 



