AuGi.sT, 1919 



GLEANINGS IN REE CULTURE 



ft FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



In T 



exas. 



.The new foul-brood regula- 

 tions have been sent to every 

 beekeeper whose name appears on the mail- 

 ing list in the office of the State Entomolo- 

 gist. No doubt there are many who are 

 interested in these regulations who have not 

 received a copy. Such parties should make 

 application for Control Circular D of the 

 Experiment Station. These regulations are 

 greatly changed from those forni;erly in 

 force, and it is to the interest of every bee- 

 keeper to acquaint himself with them. 



H. B. Parks, formerly with the Extension 

 Service of the A. and M. College, has ac- 

 cepted a position with the Experiment Sta- 

 tion. j\Ir. Parks has traveled widely among 

 the beekeepers of the State and is thoroly 

 acquainted with every section and its prob- 

 lems. In his new work, in charge of the 

 work of the experimental apiaries, this 

 close contact with the apicultural condi- 

 tions of the State will be of special value. 

 All of those who are acquainted with the 

 work which Mr. Parks has done in the past, 

 feel that in his new line of work he will 

 be able to secure results of great value. 



Beekeepers are urged to prepare for the 

 apiary exhibit at the State Fair this fall. 

 T. P. Kobinsoii of Bartlett, who is in charge 

 of this work, has requested the co-operation 

 of every beekeeper in making the exhibit 

 the most attractive that has even been 

 shown. The war has placed honey before 

 every household and it is up to the beekeep- 

 ers to retain it in this position. Good pre- 

 miums are being offered, which should prove 

 to be an inducement to many. 



Henry Brenner of Seguin has returned to 

 Santo Domingo after a visit of six weeks in 

 Texas. Mr. Brenner has extensive yards 

 that have been developed during the war. 

 He feels that the future of beekeeping in 

 the islands is very bright. Mr. Brenner has 

 been responsible for the introduction of late 

 methods and an excellent stock of queens. 



One hears among other questions, "When 

 is the price of honey going to come down?" 

 This is a rather difficult question to answer; 

 but one thing is certain, the beekeepers are 

 doing all in their power to push down the 

 price of honey. In one section there has . 

 been a very good crop of honey harvested, 

 and every one seems to feel that it is 

 necessary to put this honey- on the market 

 at once. They have been warned time and 

 again that this is not a good marketing prin- 

 ciple. Extracted honey was bringing as 

 much as 16^2 cents f. o. b., loading station. 

 Now there are plenty of beekeepers who are 

 begging to sell their honey at 10 to 11 cents. 

 How is it going to be possible to command 

 the respect of the public for honey when 

 such practice is so common? There will 

 soon come a time when co-operative organi- 

 zation can not offset such • practice. It is 

 now due to co-operative selling organiza- 

 tions that all honev is not 10 cents. And 



do sucli beekeei>erR tliiiik there can be anv 

 money in such selling.^ One has only to 

 recall that supplies in general have increased 

 1(10 per cent in cost to see the fallacy of 

 selling honey on a pre-war basis. Why do 

 the beekeepers continue such suicidal prac- 

 tices.' 



Local and sectional rains prevailed over 

 the State during May and June. In such 

 localities the honey crop has been short. 

 Colonies have been observed to consume all 

 surplus during each rainy spell. The proba- 

 ble honey crop has been more difficult to 

 forecast this year than for many past. 



College Station, Tex. F. B. Paddock. 

 * * « 



In Ontario. Reports received to date 



(July 9) seem to point to 

 the fact that the white-honey crop for On- 

 tario this year will be very light. Some 

 8 or 10 counties are included in these re- 

 ports and they run from nothing at all to 

 50 per cent of a full crop. As an exception 

 to the rule, the locality around Lindsay in 

 Victoria County will have a good crop. 

 Abundance of rain there all thru the season 

 tempered the extreme heat and kept the 

 clover alive, while 15 miles north of Lindsay 

 where we have one apiary, everything was 

 literally burnt up so far as clover bloom 

 was concerned. Last year conditions were 

 exactly reversed in those localities, which 

 goes to show that one season is not sufficient 

 to size up the honey possibilities of any lo- 

 cation. For the first time in my experience 

 we have obtained quite a respectable surplus 

 from raspberry. At the apiary 16 miles 

 north of Lindsay already referred to, the 

 colonies were so strong that I was at a loss to 

 know what to do to hold them in during 

 clover provided the latter yielded like last 

 year. But that immense force of bees so 

 early in the season proved a real bonanza 

 for this year, as they were in shape to take 

 advantage of the raspberry flow, which w^as 

 better than usual. With no clover flow at 

 this yard, bees lost all desire to swarm; and, 

 after all our planning to hold down swarm- 

 ing, we find the precautions needless unless 

 something unusual happens to bring on an- 

 other flow. When the clover season is over 

 swarming is always reduced to a minimum, 

 no matter how much honey comes in — at 

 least that has been our experience. 



Following the extreme heat of over a 

 month, Avith temperatures running from 90 

 to 100 in the shade all the time, we have 

 now had heavy rains and cool weart;her. 

 Basswood has a great showing of bloom; 

 but here in Markham hardly a bee is to be 

 seen on the blossoms as yet, so it looks like 

 another failure from that source. However, 

 we do not count on basswood any more, for 

 it fails to yield nectar five years out of 

 six in our various locations. 



Speaking of the heat wave, I cannot resist 

 telling of the experience of some good 



