568 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1 



he gives numerous instances to show how 

 home-seekers have gone there and made a 

 good living. 



With regard to what Mr. Hyde has to 

 say about the bringing of foul brood into 

 Texas, and that any bee-keeper who brought 

 it there would be summarily dealt with, he 

 wishes to say they are not going to hang 

 the man who does it — that they will treat 

 him right, and will expect him to do the 

 same. He thinks there is no danger of 

 overcrowding in the State, but condemns 

 the practice of some bee-keepers who have 

 located apiaries within a few hundred yards 

 of other apiaries that have a prior right to 

 the location. 



A FEW FIGURES REGARDING SOME OF THE 

 BEST HONEY LOCALITIES IN THE WORLD. 



Our honey-man, Mr. A. L. Boyden, has 

 prepared a statement that I think will 

 prove of interest. It reads: Comparisons 

 of the honey crops of different States have 

 been made by several writers lately, and 

 we notice that Rambler, in March 15th 

 Gleanings, estimates the California crop 

 for 1901 at five million pounds, and con- 

 cludes from the table of exports that Cuba 

 produced as much as did California. In 

 the Pacific Bee Journal for April we find 

 the editor has given space to the Census 

 Report, and by the heading of the article, 

 "Only Texas Beats Us," we conclude that 

 California acknowledges Texas ahead of 

 them. Let us look for a little at the amount 

 of honey produced per square mile in some 

 of these countries according to the figures 

 of the Census Bureau report of the exports 

 from Cuba and Jamaica : 



Area in Honey Produced 



Square Miles. Gross Yield. Per sq. mile. 



Texas 2(i5,-80 4,780,000i 18 lbs. 



California 158,360 5,000,000^ 31 lbs. 



Cuba 42,000 4,795,000^ 114 lbs. 



Jamaica 4,200 1,503,376* 358 lbs. 



'Census report for 1899. 



-Rambler's estimate for 1901. 



^Exports for 1901. 



"Exports for 1901. 



By the above table it will be noticed that 

 Jamaica is way ahead of any of the other 

 mentioned States per square mile, and 

 their honey is of most excellent quality, too. 

 We have just recently received a lot of their 

 logwood hone3% and it compares very favor- 

 ably with our alfalfa, or sage, or white 

 clover. It is fully equal in color to white 

 clover, and has a very delicate flavor. 



WHY THE GOVERNMENT STATISTICS WERE 

 NOT TRUE AS RELATING TO CALIFORNIA. 



Referring to the census report of bees 

 and honey, the accuracy of which I ques- 

 tioned, Mr. Hutchinson, of the Bee-keepers'" 

 Review t says: 



Mr. Root says the trouble is that statistics are not 

 "gathered systematically in some States." As I un- 

 derstand the matter, the taking of a census is a sys- 

 tematic matter, carried on by enumerators appointed 

 by the government, and furnished with proper blanks. 

 1 should expect that they would get as correct statis- 

 tics in one State as in another. Mr. Root feels sure 

 that California ought to rank first as a honey-produc- 



ing State. He admits that Texas might come in sec- 

 ond. It must not be forgotten that Texas is a large 

 State — the largest in the Union — and is an excellent 

 honey-producer. 



What I had in mind more particularly 

 was not that the government did not gather 

 its statistics systematically, but in some 

 States the work is done much more thor- 

 oughly than in others. 



I made a trip through Texas, and through 

 the entire length of California, and I should 

 say that bee-keeping operations in the lat- 

 ter State are conducted on a far more ex- 

 tensive scale than in the former. It is true 

 that Texas is a large State, and that it is 

 coming rapidly to the front for comb honey; 

 but in a fair year I feel sure that it can 

 not begin to compare, even in the aggregate 

 yield, with its sister State. Of course, I 

 may be mistaken; but those who live in 

 California are large consumers of hone)'; 

 and yet from 200 to 300 carloads of honey 

 may go east in spite of this large consump- 

 tion; but we never hear of more than four 

 or five carloads of Texas honey getting up 

 north. There is this to be said in favor of 

 Texas: Bee-keeping in that State is more 

 certain than bee-keeping in California; that 

 is to say, bees do well in Texas every year, 

 while in California there are only about 

 two years out of five that 3'ield much honey. 



The main reason why I questioned the 

 California statistics was that they referred 

 to a particular year. The j'ear 1899 was 

 selected as the one where the yields were 

 reported for the several States. That was 

 an off 5'ear for California — a decidedly off 

 year, but it was a fair one for Texas, if I 

 mistake not, as Texas generally has good 

 seasons; so it can be readily seen how Tex- 

 as might seem to outstrip California. But 

 compare some of California's good 5'ears 

 with Texas, and the latter will be found to 

 be far behind. A set of figures, to be at 

 all instructive or fair, should cover a peri- 

 od of years — not some particular year that 

 will be good for one State and poor for an- 

 other, as in the case already cited. 



BEES AS pollinators IN GREENHOUSES. 



The following, written to Mr. W. F. 

 Marks, President of the New York State 

 Association of Bee-keepers' Societies, has 

 been referred to me for reply: 

 Mr. W. F. Marks, Chapinville, N. K, Dear Sir:— 



Can you give me any information as to what extent 

 honey-bees are used in greenhouses for the purpose of 

 securing cross-fertilization of cucumber and tomato 

 flowers? Where used successfully are they in large 

 houses? Do the bees have to be fed, and do they store 

 up honey? Can you give me the address of any green- 

 house men who are now using bees for this purpose ? 



Thanking you for your trouble, I am 



Very truly yours, V. H. I,owE, 



Geneva. N. Y., Mar. 29. Entotnologist. 



I regret that I am not able to give any 

 specific information. I can only say that I 

 know that certain florists do make use of 

 colonies of bees in their greenhouses to 

 bring about cross-pollination on the flowers. 

 So far as I know, the results have been 

 much more satisfactory than pollination by 

 hand. 



