January, 1919 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



under my i-arc I could coino pretty close to 

 a census. * * * Foul brood is also firm- 

 ly established here. In treating it the queen 

 seems to be the point to start from in our 

 research, and the tlow of nectar certainly 

 has a lot to do with both the control and the 

 incidence of European foul brood. I noted 

 with much interest that after the cold win- 

 ter young and high-grade queens became 

 drone-layers. There was a very great mor- 

 tality of queens as brood-rearing started, 

 and laying-workers would appear in 48 hours 

 after the death of the queen. ' 'George W. 

 Adams, Essex County, Mass. 



' * I believe, if we could persuade hive- 

 makers to make up hives full one and one- 

 fourth inches thick, the winter-case prob- 

 lem in our latitude (39) would be practical- 

 ly solved. You ask why"? I had occasion to 

 notice many hives in Wirt and Eitchie Coun- 

 ties, W. Va., and invariably the old home- 

 made hives, made from thick lumber, I14 

 to 1^/2 inches thick, and protected from 

 windsweep, were the ones that had lively 

 bees in them after the hardest winter ever 

 known here." — E. R. Ferree, Wirt County, 

 W. Va. 



' ' We have three pests to contend with 

 here, namely: foul brood; the wasp, for 

 which we bait a wire flytrap with a small 

 piece of salmon; and a very small ant. 

 * * * Winter packing is hardly neces- 

 sary for this latitude, as I have a number of 

 stands that have wintered well under a low 

 shed closed on three sides but entirely open 

 to the east, tliis being the direction from 

 which we seldom have any wind. Bees re- 

 main in this shed the year around. ' ' — J. W. 

 Beckley, Marion County, Ore. 



"In the field around me sweet clover 

 grows eight and nine feet high, and last 

 year I cut and measured one stalk nine feet, 

 ten inches. Along the roadside, it grows to 

 that height. » * * Before tacking the 

 metal on my covers I place several thick- 

 nesses of newspaper between the wood and 

 the metal. I thought this would act as extra 

 insulation. As this cost nothing, I thought 

 I would hand the idea along." — Maurice 

 Grinbh', Toronto, Ont. 



' ' The season just past has been one of the 

 most peculiar for several years. The most 

 peculiar feature was that from Apr. 2 to 

 Aug. 25 there was not a day but that the 

 bees had plenty of honey to gather, some- 

 thing I never knew before. However, the 

 honey crop fell short of the average. The 

 spring was exceptionally favorable, but the 

 summer very unfavorable because of cold 

 and wet. ' ' — M. E. Ballard, Delaware Coun- 

 ty, N. Y. 



' ' I believe the fact that we are called 

 'beekeepers' even by ourselves has belittled 

 the honey-producing industry. In using the 

 term 'beekeepers' and 'beekeepers' asso- 

 ciations' the public is not brought face to 

 face with the product of our business. We 



are 'honey-producers,' and should call our- 

 selves and our associations such." — Ivan 

 Whiting, Sheboygan County, Wis. 



' ' We have this year produced 102,616 

 pounds of honey from about 868 colonies 

 spring count, and finished the season with 

 1065 colonies that have the largest winter 

 stores ever left, nearly five combs to each 

 colony, besides all they have in the brood- 

 nests, so as not to draw on the sugar sup- 

 ply. I have bought out my father 's interest 

 in the business." — E. F. Atwater, Ada 

 County, Ida. 



"This winter is starting in much the same 

 as last winter did, with snow from Dec. 1 on. 

 If the snow stays it will be much better 

 than without it. I had to double up half of 

 my colonies for stores. Applied for sugar 

 cards in September and received them in 

 late November. ' ' — Robt. Elwell, Providence 

 County, R. I. 



' ' Here in eastern Pennsylvania the bees 

 that survived last winter's severe losses 

 have done well. Many lost all the bees they 

 had. But I recall one beekeeper who had 

 extra-good wind-breaks and his colonies 

 came thru in excellent condition. ' ' — Elwood 

 Bond, Monroe County, Pa. 



' ' All the honey has been sold at a good 

 price. At a sale here bees in old boxes sold 

 for $9.00 per hive. A few years ago I bought 

 a hive for $1.00. So you see the bee busi- 

 ness is looking fine here. ' ' — S. T. Bowman, 

 Morris County, Kans. 



' ' The beekeepers around here had a very 

 successful season, generally speaking. My 

 own averaged more than 100 pounds started 

 on foundation. These were packages from 

 the South."— C. C. Crosskill, Clarksburg, 

 Ont. 



' ' This has been an extra-good year for 

 honey with us. All sold at from 25 to 28 

 cents for clover and basswood, and 21 cents 

 for buckwheat. ' ' — J. I. Gillman, Locust Hill, 

 Ontario, Can. 



"The value of clover alone in adding ni- 

 trogen to the soil would justify its use in 

 the crop rotation, as proved by tests here. ' ' 

 Bulletin of the Ohio Experiment Station. 



' ' The real beemen are nice fellows. A 

 nervous and irritable man does not stay with 

 the bee work long, as the bees move him 

 on." — E. E. Mott, Cass County, Mich. 



' ' My 20 colonies made me a net profit of 

 $319.55 this year. I have the onlv bees in 

 this country.""— C. S- Hall, Bal'a" ":-*-, 

 Ky. 



' ' We are having good rains here and look 

 for a bumper crop. ' ' — W. E. Tuttle, Mon- 

 terey County, Cal., Nov. 28. 



' ' This is the first time in 30 years I have 

 fed bees for winter. ' ' — Gene Rogers, Se- 

 bastian County, Ark. 



