6+2 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 1 



thiug strange in the new hive, will go into 

 another hive near by; and it is advisable, 

 therefore, when the first case appears, to 

 burn bees and combs, and scorch the hive 

 inside and out. If the hive is an old one I 

 would consign it to the flames. In that 

 case I would remove the cover and dump 

 the hive upside down right on to the hottest 

 part of the fire. Last of all, throw the 

 cover also, with adhering- bees, into the fire. 



I 'honpy-ceop rfpokt ; prices, etc. 



Up to the time of going to press the sea- 

 son is very various all over the rain-belt, or, 

 more specifically, the clover-belt. In Wis- 

 consin, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, 

 Pennsylvania, and the New England States, 

 the season has been good and poor. In 

 some localities in the States named, the 

 honey-flow has been s^vy heavy. In others 

 it has been almost an absolute failure. 

 There is going to be more white-clover hon- 

 ey this year than last, I think, but the sea- 

 son will be late. The clover-belt will pro- 

 duce mixed basswood, sweet clover, and 

 red clover all combined, although there 

 will be localities as formerly where nothing 

 but white clover will be gathered. But it is 

 too early yet to give an accurate forecast. 



There has been much rain this year, es- 

 pecially in this part of the country, and in 

 consequence the land has been too wet for 

 the mower to go over it. As a result, the 

 timothy and red-clover fields have been al- 

 lowed to stand much longer than usual, 

 with the result that the bees have profited 

 greatly from this. I never saw the bees 

 work on red clover better in our localitv. 

 At this writing, July 26, the bees are work- 

 ing well in the fields of red clover at our 

 out-yards, and even white clover is hanging 

 on more persistently than I ever saw it be- 

 fore. 



There will be very little Western honey, 

 and I doubt if any of it finds its way to 

 Eastern markets. Colorado will have le:^s 

 than half a crop; Arizona the same; and 

 Southern California will have little or no 

 honey. Even Texas is not faring quite 

 as well as usual. But Texas honey almost 

 never finds its way into the Northern mai- 

 kets, because the people of that State are 

 large consumers of their own product. 

 Florida will do fairly well; but from the 

 best reports it is hardly up to the usual 

 quota of honey. 



Taking every thing into consideration the 

 markets "throughout the East ought to be 

 fully as firm as last year, and, if any 

 thing, a little more so. Very little new 

 honey has been offered so far. As nearly 

 as I can judge, supers are being filled; 

 but the sections are not completed, and 

 there will not be much honey on the market 

 before about the first of September, al- 

 though a little will be offered, probably, 

 about the 15th of this month. 



Considering the general advance in food 

 stuffs and the decided scarcity of Western 

 honey, the prices on Fancy extracted and 



comb ought to be higher than last year. 

 As yet it is a little too early to give a def- 

 inite idea of the honey-flow east of the Mis- 

 sissippi. 



To give the reader a fair idea of the out- 

 look in Colorado and Southern California I 

 publish two letters from among hundreds 

 of reports received. Mr. Frank Rauchfuss 

 is Manager of the Colorado Honey-pro- 

 ducers' Association. He is in close touch 

 with every locality in Colorado, for nearly 

 all of the honey goes through his hands 

 before it goes to market ; and if any bee- 

 keeper is well posted as to the crop condi- 

 tions of his State, it is Mr. Rauchfuss. He 

 writes : 



Friend Ernest: — During April and May the pros- 

 pects were quite good for a honey crop; the bees were 

 building up fast, and were getting ready to swarm. 

 We knew that there would be a shortage of irrigating 

 water; but as we had good hor ey yields in former 

 years when there was a scant water supply this did 

 not worry anybody much. June, however, opened 

 up with unfavorable weather — cold days and nights, 

 and considerable wind, and, as a consequence, thei e 

 was hardly any swarming except in a few localities iu 

 Weld and l,ari:ner Counties 



We received reports about June 20 that bees were 

 commencing m the supers, from the following coun- 

 ties : Boulder, L,arimer, Weld, Morgan, L,ogan, Bent, 

 Mesa, Otero, Montrose, Delta, and portions of Jeffei- 

 son ana Arapahoe Cos.; on June 'Ih and 25 we had 

 another cold rain which seemingly stopped the honey 

 yield in all parts of the State, and the bees did not go 

 into the supers again. In some Ijcalities there ha.-, 

 been a little honey coming in again for the past seven 

 or eight days, but hardly enough to do good work iu 

 the sections. 



It is out of the question now to expect even half a 

 crop for the State. To show that bee-keepers have 

 given up hopes of getting any more surplus, I want to 

 relate you a few instances. The other day a bee- 

 keeper who runs 260 colonies offered his whole season's 

 i.rop to any one who would run the chances, for fifty 

 doliars; and another from a different locality offered 

 his half-share in 110 colonies for a box of c gars. 



I begin to fear that the crop failure will have a ten- 

 dency to keep quite a few Colorado people away from 

 the meeting this fall. 



Mr. G. W. Brodbeck, at my special re- 

 quest, has made quite a thorough canvass. 

 His letter was received just before our last 

 issue went to press, but was crowded out; 

 but more recent advices show that the situ- 

 ation has not materially changed. Mr. B. 

 writes: 



Friend Root: — Additional information which has 

 come to hand since my last report simplj' confirms 

 the statement made in regard to this season's honey 

 crop. In some localities the bee-keepers are feeding. 

 Orange County, which, as a rule, never fails in pio- 

 duciiig some honey, even during dry seasons, and 

 which, a 1 ecent report stated, won d have ten carloads 

 of surplus, will have about three to this season's cred- 

 it; l,os Angeles County, about one; Riverside, about 

 three; >San Diego, scarcely any, San Bernardino, somt- 

 thing over one; and a great many that have reported 

 arc feeding back. If all of the hone}- produced in 

 Southern California thi^ season were held hy the 

 bee-keepers, every pound of it could be marketed 

 here at home. Three years ago we secured just about 

 the same amount, and before the next season opened 

 honey was imported to Southern Calilornia from 

 other sections. Our bee-keepers are very lax in work- 

 ing up their home market. 



As nearly as I can ascertain, Central 

 California will have a fair crop as usual; 

 but I think most of the honey from that por- 

 tion of the State will be marketed in that 

 State, although a little of it may go east. 



N. B. — Be sure to send in reports as }'ou 

 have been doing, dear friends, all along 

 the line. You have done splendidly so far. 



