448 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



July, 1919 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



on liis locations in Idaho ready for the gath- 

 ering of a honey crop. Of course, in run- 

 ning for so much increase, one must lose 

 sight of the honey production to a great ex- 

 tent. However, this man produced some 

 orange honey. 



Shipments arriving at their destination 

 at least by June 15 are likely to give much 

 better results than those arriving later., 

 Various reports as to the condition of 

 these nuclei on their arrival have been 

 heard. From my experience, I would say 

 that most of the grief comes from one or 

 more of the following causes: Trying to 

 ship old bees, too much honey in the combs, 

 improper ventilation, shipping too large colo- 

 nies, and lack of water while crossing the 

 desert. Experience is a good but often ex- 

 pensive teacher. It might be better to em- 

 ploy some one who has been thru the game 

 to assist you in your first trial of shipping 

 bees. 



Considerable demand for bees by the 

 pound comes from Nevada, which has a law 

 prohibiting the bringing of bees on combs 

 into the State. 



Prices for honey have not been establish- 

 ed yet, so far as I can learn. Some sales 

 have been reported at 20 cents for orange 

 honey. There seems to be no reason for the 

 prices being lower than last year. Apricot 

 and peach growers are offered prices never 

 before known. Why should honey prices go 

 down, while all other food products seem 

 to be advancing? L. L. Andrews. 



Corona, Calif.. 



• * « 



In Mirhiaan Michigan needs more 

 in iviicnigan. ^^^^^ _ breeders. This 



territory will not attract any of the exten- 

 sive queen-breeders of the South, for we 

 have a very short season as compared with 

 the South. However, many of 'our own bee- 

 keepers are in position to take up queen- 

 breeding along with honey production. There 

 is a great demand for queens in every coun- 

 ty, and no one need fear that the queens 

 would not find a ready market at good prices 

 if reared in a yard of good Italian stock. A 

 few years ago some one advertised ' ' black 

 Italians. ' ' We do not need any more of 

 that kind. We have too many now. 



The prospects for honey at this datie 

 (June 8) seem to be better than the average, 

 altho the fall drought killed the clover in 

 spots all over the Lower Peninsula. In the 

 region of light soils the crop may be very 

 short. On the heavy soils the prospects are 

 excellent. Everywhere one hears the ex- 

 pression that "this is basswood year." The 

 number of colonies of bees in the State has 

 increased very largely since a year ago. 

 Also, thousands of colonies in box hives have 

 been transferred into modern equipment, 

 and a large part of them are now in the 

 hands of beekeepers who make a business of 



producing honey. This fact will contribute 

 somewhat to the Michigan honey crop this 

 year. Incidentally, the number of beekeep- 

 ers has been reduced, but the number of 

 honey-producers is increasing. 



The summer meeting of the State Bee- 

 keepers ' Association will be held at Boyne 

 City on July 22 and 23. Boyne City is an 

 admirable place for the holding of the sum- 

 nier meeting, as it is not only in the heart 

 of the summer-resort section of northern 

 Michigan but it also lies within the terri- 

 tory of some of the most extensive bee- 

 keepers in the State. The date was chosen 

 so that the beekeepers from farther south 

 might be able to view the crop on the hives 

 and so that it might come at a time when 

 the beekeepers of the north would be able 

 to leave their bees for a time. Boyne City 

 is located on Pine Lake in Charlevoix Coun- 

 ty. It is a city of about 6,000 people and 

 is amply equipped for accommodating all 

 that may attend the Convention. It is with- 

 in reach of the apiaries of Ira D. Bartlett, 

 Hubbard Bros., J. D. Robinson, Peter So- 

 winski, L. C. Gordon, E. E. Coveyou, George 

 Jaquays, and a host of other successful bee- 

 keejjers of the north. It is expected that 

 the Convention will be invited to view the 

 apiaries of several of these men. Some of 

 the speakers will be E. E. Root of Gleanings, 

 Kennith Hawkins of the G. B. Lewis Co., 

 Dr. E. F. Phillips, Chas. Yost, Inspector of 

 Indiana, and a number of Michigan men. 

 This is our first effort in the way of a sum- 

 mer convention. The attendance will de- 

 termine whether or not another one will be 

 held. After the convention, there will be 

 a beekeepers ' excursion to the Upper Penin- 

 sula for the benefit of those who wish to see 

 at first hand the opportunities that are there 

 for the commercial honey-producer. This 

 will be an ideal time to view the possibili- 

 ties of the region, as the raspberry crop will 

 be gathered by that time and the clover 

 flow will be at its best. The excursionists 

 will visit several quite extensive producers 

 in the Upper Peninsula. 



I feel honored to be corrected by Dr. C. 

 C. Miller in regard to some remarks refer- 

 ring to the rearing of queens and drones, in 

 the May issue. I gladly yield the points he 

 ' ' calls ' ' me on, but wish to emphasize here 

 what I did not mention then as being the 

 cause for those remarks. We need here in 

 Michigan not less than 100,000 high-grade 

 Italian queens. We need such a preponder- 

 ance of Italian drones in our yards that the 

 bees of the woods and the black bees of our 

 neighbors may soon become Italianized. The 

 need is not so much the rearing of queens 

 and drones from the best of a yard full of 

 Italians but the rearing of the queens and 

 drones from the one or two good Italian 

 queens that are in the yard. The average 

 apiary does not contain over one good Ital- 



