Ski'TKMHKk. 1019 



G L R A N I X G 8 IN B E K (' U I. T U R E 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



tlie Uowfronnvild biakwhoat aiidwliite sage. 

 I have yet to hear of a location in south- 

 ern California that furnished a full crop of 

 honey. Some farmers say that it is the dri- 

 est season that they ever experienced. The 

 water is very low in the mountain streams. 

 Much of the irrigating water is pumped 

 from wells, and these wells in many cases 

 have been dug deeper in order to get below 

 the water level. This shows a shortage be- 

 low as well as above the earth 's surface. 

 Corona, Calif. L. L. Andrews. 



In Texas '^^^'^ ^'^*^* °^ ^^- ^'- ^- -^^"^' 



lips was thoroly appreciated 

 by every beekeeper who attended the sum- 

 mer meeting at College Station. The attend- 

 ance was small, but those present were able 

 to carry home with them a good message 

 from Dr. Phillips. Only once before, 1906, 

 had Dr. Phillips been in Texas; but he has 

 always been impressed with the possibilities 

 of beekeeping in this State. He found that 

 the beekeei^ers of Texas are now ready to 

 admit that there is a winter problem in this 

 State. However, few are yet ready to be 

 sufficiently liberal with the bees to leave 

 ample stores in the fall. Eealizing the need 

 for further work in this State, tentative ar- 

 rangements were made to hold a Beekeepers' 

 Short Course during the fall. The pro- 

 gram will contain much of interest to every 

 one in the State. 



At the annual summer meeting the edu- 

 cational section of the Texas Honey Pro- 

 ducers' Association enjoyed the best pro- 

 gram in the history of the organization. 

 Every one present was able to profit by the 

 papers presented and the discussions that 

 followed. Some came great distances to this 

 meeting, but felt repaid for their efforts. 



During the Farmers' Short Course at Col- 

 lege Station a very interesting program was 

 given on beekeeping. This was largely at- 

 tended by people from every section of the 

 State. Interest in improved methods is cer- 

 tainly increasing. The day of the box hive 

 is doomed — education is winning. 



Crop yields thus far have been very good 

 indeed. Prospects are excellent for a good 

 late summer and, fall flow. Kains have oc- 

 curred frequently enough to insure good 

 flows from every honey plant. The price 

 of honey is causing some worry. The price 

 will remain good if the beekeeper does not 

 force it down by putting all the honey on 

 the market as soon as possible. 



Now is the time to begin preparations for 

 next season. Many colonies will need re- 

 queening. The colony should go into the 

 winter with an abundance of young bees, if 

 work next spring is to be of high quality. 

 Do not take too much honey from the colo- 

 ny. Honey will be needed next spring to 

 build up with. Best results are not secured 

 by a tardy feeding after semi-starvation. 



Several additional counties have become 

 interested in the organization of a county 

 beekeepers' association. Beekeepers are 

 very ready now to appreciate the value of 

 organized effort. Co-operation between the 

 association and the State Entomologist in 

 fcu'.-brood control work is a sufficient exam- 

 jile of immediate benefit for the association. 



College Station, Tex. F. B. Paddock. 



In Minnesota. 



There will not be so 

 large a crop of honey 

 in Minnesota this year as was expected 

 earlier. In some localities considerable loss 

 has been suffered from high water. Hun- 

 dreds of acres of pasture lands have been 

 flooded, killing the white clover. Some 

 commercial beekeepers suffered the loss of 

 their entire crop thru floods. Many have 

 reported that at times the clover ceased to 

 yield W'hile the fields were white with blos- 

 soms. There was an excellent yield from 

 basswood in some places, while in others the 

 buds were destroyed by worms. In some 

 localities the crop was much larger than the 

 average, so I believe that taking the State 

 as a wdiole the yield will come up to the 

 average — perhaps a little above. 



But the Minnesota honey crop might 

 easily have been doubled with the same 

 number of colonies, if the beekeepers had 

 only been awake to their opportunities. 

 This year we had a remarkable flow from 

 ilandelion, but thousands of colonies came 

 out of the cellar too light in stores to take 

 full advantage of the flow. This summer I 

 have met beekeepers having from 50 to 1.50 

 colonies, who have confessed that many of 

 their colonies lived on the border of starva- 

 tion in the early spring. Many beekeepers 

 are satisfied if their bees have enough honey 

 in the hive to keep them from starving, in 

 spite of the fact that for years our leading 

 beekeepers have emphasized, thru the pages 

 of the bee journals, the "rich-in-honey 

 plan." Mr. Doolittle has told us that after 

 trying all other plans for stimulative brood- 

 rearing he found that there is nothing that 

 compares with the plan of ' ' millions of 

 honey at our house." And now Dr. Phillips 

 and Mr. Demuth are telling us how they 

 have demonstrated that one of the condi- 

 tions that is necessary to secure a large 

 force of bees ready for the harvest is to see 

 that there is not less than 15 pounds of hon- 

 ey in the hive at any time, so that work will 

 continue in the hive uninterrupted. I 

 believe that if this rule had been adhered 

 to, and sufficient room had been provided 

 for the queen to lay, the Minnesota honey 

 crop would have been double what it will be 

 this year. And right now is the time to 

 make plans for next year. See that each 

 colony goes into winter with enough honey 

 to carry it thru to the honey flow. 



Minneapolis, Minn. Chas. D. Blaker. 



