March, 1919 GLEANINGS IN BEE OULTURB 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH ffl) 



iiig these years has been 6^/4 cents, ranging 

 from 314 to 22 cents per pound. The of- 

 ficers elected for the ensuing vear are: 

 A. E. Whiteside, president; F. G. Bedell, 

 vice-president; A. B. Shaffnor, secretary- 

 treasurer; executive committee, M. H. Men- 

 dleson, Frank Buchanan, Mrs. Ilussel J. 

 Waters. The place of the next annual meet- 

 ing was left with the executive board. 



Carloads of bees continue to arrive from 

 Utah and Idaho. Many of these apiaries 

 were taken in the fall to a place near a 

 railroad siding, and when the proper time 

 came, they were loaded on the cars. Some 

 owners will run their bees largely for in- 

 crease, the shipment of pound packages, and 

 early queens for their northern yards. Oth- 

 ers will apply all of their efforts to the pro- 

 duction of honey, making only such increase 

 as seems justifiable. About 3,000 colonies 

 have already arrived and more will likely 

 follow. 



The Orange Belt Co-operative Honey Pro- 

 ducers' Exchange met in annual session at 

 Pilgrim Hall, Eiverside, Jan. 8. It was 

 decided at this meeting by a unanimous 

 vote to unite with the State Exchange. H. 

 A. Wagner of Eedlands, J. A. Mack of 

 Bloomington, E. Powell of Eiverside, E. W. 

 Home of Eiverside, and L. L. Andrews of 

 Corona were reelected as directors. E. W. 

 Home was chosen as secretary-manager and 

 will have charge of all assembling of honey, 

 distribution of supplies, etc. — in co-opera- 

 tion with the State Exchange. General 

 Manager Chas. B. Justice and State Market 

 Commissioner Harris Weinstock were in at- 

 tendance and gave excellent talks on mar- 

 keting and the successful workings of the 

 various exchanges in California. E. E. 

 Eoot of Gleanings' fame was also there. In 

 his address he surely gave us some valuable 

 information about honey marketing and the 

 uniformity of interest between the supply 

 manufacturer and the honey producer. Mr. 

 Eoot made it very clear why it is to the in- 

 terest of the one as well as the other that 

 the price of .honey should not be allowed 

 to slump, thereby discouraging the buying 

 of supplies as well as the production of 

 honey. L. L. Andrews. 



Corona, Calif. 



In Michigan. 



The indications are that 

 the demand for bees 

 during the coming spring will be as great as 

 or greater than it was last spring. More 

 bees will be for sale, but the price seems to 

 be even higher. The State Inspector of 

 Apiaries is attempting to place buyers and 

 sellers in touch with each .other thru secur- 

 ing a list of colonies for sale and a list of 

 persons desiring to purchase. If you wish 

 either to buy or sell, write your wants to 

 the undersigned. 



Much anxiety is being felt among some 

 beekeepers because of the shortage of 



stores, due largely to the warm weather of 

 the fall and the winter. An examination 

 of some colonies which were fed up to nor- 

 mal last fall has revealed the need of more 

 food before spring. Every Michigan bee- 

 keepe!' should make an exjimination of his 

 colonies at the first opportunity. If food is 

 needed and the weather is not suitable for 

 feeding syrup, then feed hard candy or loaf 

 sugar. From reports received, it is feared 

 that there may be a repetition of the losses 

 sustained a j^ear ago unless feeding is re- 

 sorted to very soon. 



The writer was much impressed by the 

 oft-repeated statement at the recent con- 

 vention that the price of honey is in no way 

 based upon the cost of production. How 

 many Michigan beekeepers know how much 

 it costs them to produce a pound of honey un- 

 der their particular conditions? I venture to 

 assert that not a dozen Michigan producers 

 who read this paragraph can write to me 

 the exact cost of production for the past 

 year. If this statement is true (and I be- 

 lieve it is), is it not high time that some 

 steps be taken at once to determine ac- 

 curately what it costs to produce honey un- 

 der the varying conditions present in this 

 State? It has been shown that nine persons 

 out of ten are losing money with their 

 chickens. May not that be true with the 

 bees'? As long as it has not been shown 

 that honey is being produced at a profit in 

 the average yard, the statement of a loss 

 can stand undisputed as well as a statement 

 of a profit. If you are interested in this 

 and if you would like to have the College 

 take some steps toward determining this, 

 then write me a letter at once stating the 

 handicap which this condition imposes and 

 ask that some steps be taken immediately 

 toward determining the cost of production 

 thru a series of several years. Don 't wait 

 for some other fellow to write. Get busy 

 yourself. If the beekeepers will not ask to 

 have this done, who will? 



The annual convention of the Michigan 

 State Beekeepers' Association, which was 

 held in Lansing Jan. 21-23, was pronounced 

 by those present as the best convention in 

 many years. The attendance was above ex- 

 pectation. An average of about 150 persons 

 attended each session and it is estimated 

 that over 250 persona were present at one or 

 more of the sessions. The program was fol- 

 lowed out as printed with few exceptions, 

 one being that Miss lona Fowls appeared 

 in place of E. R. Eoot, adding greatly to the 

 interest and profit of the program. Gleanings 

 surely picked a winner in securingMissFowls 

 as assistant editor. O. P. Dadant was un- 

 able to be present^ btit he forwarded his pa- 

 per, which was read by the secretary, Ar- 

 thur Sharrow, who was to have spoken on 

 "Two Queens in One Hive," was called 

 into Government work some time ago, and 

 the letter notifying him of the date of the 



