174 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



May 



WANTKD 



Wanted— 75 or 100 colonies of bees; lo-fr. 

 hives: wired frames. Price reasonable. 

 P. O. Box 506 ■■ U " Farm. St. Paul. Minn. 



Wanted— Your old combs, cappings or 

 slumKum to render into beeswax by our 

 high steam pressure wax presses. 



Dadant & Sons. Hamilton, III. 



MISCELLANEOUS 



25 Ladies' Coots, bird dogs, wild ducks 

 for sale or exchange for bees 



A. J. Graves. Ocheyedan. Iowa. 



For Trade— One $21 post card camera and 

 outfit to exchange for a secondhand extrac- 

 tor. Write J. L. Barkley, Lometa. Tex. 



For Sale— 10 a. home. 4 a. in blue grass 

 pasture; 4 a. in alfalfa; 2 a in garden and 

 orchard; 12 varieties of fruit; watered by 3 

 springs and creek; 4-roomed house and out- 

 buildings; J^ mi. to school: I mi. to R. R. sta- 

 tion; electric lights and telephone; $j8oo. 

 Terms easy; 100 col. bees also for sale. 



Jes Dalton, R. R. i. Cove, Oregon. 



For Sale— Oak Ridge Apiary, consisting 

 of 150 colonies of bees, house, barn, work 

 shop, cement chicken house, with 5M acres 

 of land and bearing fruit. Situated 2!4 miles 

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

 point. 20 miles from a city of 80.000 inhabi- 

 tants. Address, Box A 12 R. F. D. 3. 

 Chillicothe, 111. 



I A ^ H "rh Ejiy worL Even two boyi camni goojr 



\^/\L'I1 money wilii molh«-! hrip and my pictnrM.\_ 



desenplioni. pncc luC. and simple inilnjetionS / 



cei painlculy Llting. elc Send 2c iCamp at once for proapeclus- ^ 



SINCLAIR, Box 244, D 41, Los Angeles, Cal. 



Statement of Ownership, Management, 

 Circulation, Etc., 



of the American Bee Journal, published 

 monthly at Hamilton, Illinois. 



Editor— C. P. Dadant. 



Managing Editor — M. G. Dadant. 



Owner — C. P. Dadant, Hamilton, 111. 



Known bondholders, mortgagees, and 

 other security holders holding one per- 

 cent or more of total amount of bonds, 

 mortgages or securities — None. 



[Signed] M. G. Dadant, Manager. 



Sworn to and subscribed before me 

 this 14th day of April, 1917. 



[seal.] R. R. Wallace. 



Notary Public. 



My Commission expires Sept. 22, 1917 



Crop Reports and Market Conditions 



CROP AND MARKET REPORT. 



For our May reports we sent out the following ques- 

 tions: 



1. How much winter losses? 



2. Crop and plant prospects? 



3. How is the honey crop, so far? 



4. Has any honey of 1917 crop been sold ahead, and 

 at what price? 



5. What is being offered in carloads for fall deliv- 

 ery of honey? 



6. What prices would you suggest in car lots for 

 honey, comb, extracted, and bulk comb? 



WINTER LOSSES 



The following is a summary taken from the reports 

 coming in: Losses in the whole northeastern part of the 

 country and as far west as the Missouri river have been 

 about normal, varying from as high as S07o with the be- 

 ginner down to 2'Jo with the veteran, with probably an 

 average loss of 6 to 10%. Losses have also been normal 

 throughout the south, with some large losses from cer- 

 tain Louisiana and Oklahoma districts. The weather 

 there has been exceedingly backward, however, and 

 spring losses from starvation are large. The average loss 

 will be probably 10%. 



In the west, the winter has been exceedingly severe 

 and losses run higher than common, Utah reporting 40 

 to 60% loss, and this from experienced producers. Idaho 

 losses range from 10 to 30% generally, with about the 

 same for Washington. Colorado reports 10 to 15% loss, 

 with one producer reporting 50%. 



CROP PROSPECTS 



Except for spotted districts, the white clover pros- 

 pects of the north and east are good. Some parts of Illi- 

 nois, Iowa Nebraska and the Dakotas, report the clover 

 practically' all killed. Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan 

 and the east had even better prospects than last year. 

 Other sections are probably 60 to 85% of normal to a lit- 

 tle above normal conditions. 



In the southeast, the only places reporting normal 

 conditions are Georgia and parts of Florida. The balance 

 of the section is backward, with the anticipation that the 

 crop will not range much over 50% of normal. In Te.xas 

 and Louisiana it is extremely dry, bees are still starving 

 and the crop will run very low, being estimated by dif- 

 ferent producers in scattered sections at from 10 to 507© 

 of a normal crop. 



Conditions of plants in the northwest are about nor- 

 mal and probably a little lower than normal in Califor- 

 nia,' owing to a backward spring, and extremely cool 

 weather which still continues. 



THE HONEY CROP 



All early honey-producing plants in Texas have failed. 

 Louisiana is the same. In fact, the whole South is^ ex- 

 cept that there is a good flow now on from titi in Geor- 

 gia. It is yielding some surplus. 



HONEY SOLD IN ADVANCE 



There are no reports of advance sales in the East or 

 South, except that in Texas some sales have been made 

 in advance in a small way at 12c for extracted and 14c for 

 bulk comb. One Michigan and one Wisconsin reporter 

 state that they have sold their entire crop of extracted 

 clover at 8c f. o. b. their station. 



Practically no advance sales have been made in the 

 west, but in California, probably 25% of the extracted 

 honey has been contracted for at prices ranging from 

 6j/c to 7^c for amber and 7j,2C to 9c for white, f. o. b. 

 shipping point. 



OFFERS FROM BUYERS 



Buyers are very active. Many producers have refused 

 8c for white extracted and 7c for amber. Some offers 

 have been made for orange extracted, soon to be har- 

 vested, at 9^c, f. o. b. shipping point. Many offers have 

 been made in California of 7 or 7j^c for all the crop of a 

 beekeeper — amber and white. One party reported that 

 buyers were endeavoring to contract at almost any price 

 to get the honey. The above is not true of comb, very 

 little being offered on. 



It is reported that the British government attempted 

 to contract for 5,000 barrels of honey in San Antonio at 

 prices ranging from 7c to lie per pound, according to 

 grade. One New York buyer reports an order from a 

 British firm which he is attempting to fill at their prices. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR CAR LOT PRICES 



Almost all kinds of prices were suggested by report- 

 ers, from as low as 7c for amber extracted to as high as 

 $4.50 per case for comb in car lots. The consensus of 

 opinion is that extracted white honey should command 

 a price of not less than 10c f. o. b. shipping point in car 

 lots, with Xy-i to 2J'2C less for amber, depending upon 

 grade. The favorite prices for comb in car lots seem to 

 be $3.25 to $3.75 per case. 



We are passing through an unusual period at present. 

 The war, the demand from abroad, the increased demand 

 of large bottlers, and the increased local sales of honey 

 are bound to elevate the price. 



If contracts are ahead they should be made with as full 

 a comprehension as possible of existing conditions and at 

 a price absolutely satisfactory to the beekeeper. 



One point which we would emphasize among bee- 

 keepers is that there should be some distinction between 

 the retail and wholesale prices. That is, a beekeeper 

 should not get the same price for ten pounds of honey 

 as for ten thousand. If he tries to do this he is bound 

 to suffer from needlessly low prices when he tries to sell 

 his honey in large lots to others who are selling again. 



But remember, that though we as beekeepers want to 

 get our proportionate share of increased prices, we as 

 patriotic citizens must, above all, follow the suggestions 

 in the President's message and exert ourselves to the 

 utmost to increase the crop of honey from our bees. 

 Leave no stone unturned to increase the yield, not only 

 from our bees, but from every foot of available land. 



