972 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Beekeeping ' Among the Eoche: 



'esley Foster, BouiMer, Colorado. 



Mr. W. B. Moore, of Illinois, 

 has been in the West for five 

 months looking up beekeeping 

 prospects and a location. He wants 

 (and probably will find) a good 

 beekeeping location with good edu- 

 cational facilities for his children. 

 Mr. D. C. Polhemus, of Lamar, Colorado, 

 our largest operating beekeeper, had almost 

 a complete failure in honey this year; but 

 to hold his honey, trade he has already 

 bought two cars of extracted and consider- 

 able comb honey. A very neat little story 

 could be told of his persistence in bi;ilding 

 up his trade to where he has to buy in such 

 quantities. It has been true for several 

 years that his sales have increased more 

 rapidly than his production, and he owns 

 and operates more than two thousand colo- 

 nies. 



WINTERING BEES. 



We have had a very open fall; and up 

 to ten days ago, or well into November, the 

 bees were storing honey from sweet clover. 



This is not any too good for the bees, as 

 they will not be able to ripen this honey 

 fully, and it may cause trouble later. Little 

 breeding has been going on except in those 

 colonies with young queens that are not 

 very populous. Most colonies are going 

 into winter in good shape except that they 

 are not up to the average in the number of 

 bees. 



THE HONEY MARKET. 



Comb honey has moved in fair shape 

 excei^t in a few cases. There has been a 

 slight slump in prices in some quarters for 

 carload lots, but local orders hold up well 

 in price. There has never been a year when 

 it was so easy to get above $3.00 a case for 

 the better grades. One or two markets 

 report a large supply on hand, and slow 

 sale on account of the high prices. 



Early in November several ears of comb 

 honey were offered in the West at $2.75 for 

 fancy, $2.50 for No. 1. and $2.30 for No. 2, 

 with no acceptances. This honey was pack- 

 ed in single-tier cases, and the freight rate 

 is high from these points. 



Extracted honey has been selling well, 

 and, with the advent of cold weather, the 

 trade will become brisk. Sales are made 

 at from five cents a pound up, according io 

 color and quality. White honey brings 

 about 8 cents wholesale. 



Sugar is noAv on the rise, and the way 

 conditions are now, some beemen should be 



able to sell honey for the same figure as 

 sugar. Such a time is auspicious for ex- 

 tending the use of honey in cookery. 



HONEY-LABELS. 



Beekeepers should by all means use labels 

 on their honey-packages. A neat label is 

 a good advertisement. The label on a glass 

 package should not cover up too much hon- 

 ey, neither should it be so small that it looks 

 only like a sticker. In choosing a label I 

 avoid white, for the reason that it will soil 

 more quickly. A yellow stock of paper is 

 good, or a blue stock with white letters. 

 The words " Pure Honej? " should be prom- 

 inent, and there should be some directions 

 as to the care of honey. 



The gummed labels are much to be pre- 

 ferred for glass and I am using them on lin 

 also ; but there is some difficulty in making 

 them stick on tin. I have used vinegar and 

 ammonia to wash the can with before ap- 

 plying the label. Ammonia works the best, 

 but is not very agreeable to handle on ac- 

 count of the odor. 



Probably the ungaimmed label for tin is 

 the best, as it is no more difficult to apply 

 the paste than the ammonia to make the 

 gummed label stick. 



EUROPEAN FOUL BROOD. 



I have received a letter from Mr. Grover 

 Matthews, of Filer, Idaho, saying that 

 caging the queen has worked better witli 

 him than transferring, and that the first 

 outbreak of the disease is the worst, gener- 

 ally. This disease is so variable that the 

 experience of one man may not be the same 

 as that of another. I do not want to speak 

 out too strongly against caging the queens 

 in European-foul-brood colonies ; but it has 

 been my observation that transferring and 

 requeening produces results while caging 

 the queens has not. I would not advise any 

 one to temporize with the disease. Gener- 

 ally it works so fast that one is given no 

 chance for temporizing. 



Another thing that might be mentioned 

 is this : Do not read everything on Euro- 

 pean foul brood before you get busy with it 

 if it is in your apiarj'. A little actual ex- 

 perience mixed with the reading helps 

 wonderfully. Nothing will so confuse one 

 as reading all the contradictory experiences 

 of the beemen printed in the journals. You 

 will not have all their problems in your 

 apiary; and if you try to apply everything 

 you read, European foul brood will likely 

 get the best of you for quite a while. 



