634 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



OCTOBKK, J 919 



ket reports directly to one's door; or if one 

 wishes to know prices during the interval 

 between the semi-monthly reports, a tele- 

 gram will give quick results. 



Any beekeeper who learns of another re- 

 tailing at so ridiculously low a price as 17 

 cents will doubtless find it quite worth his 

 efforts to help place such a one in touch with 

 the markets. 



3fi ^QSZ 



WE HAVE EECEIVED from the United 

 States Department of Agriculture, Bureau 

 of Crop Estimates, 

 Honey Crop the September 



This Year Larger Monthly Crop Ee- 

 Than Last. porter. On page 



92 is a column de- 

 voted to ' ' honeybees and honey plants. ' ' 

 The report of the average amount of honey 

 per colony produced by States and for the 

 whole United States is very interesting and 

 instructive. For the whole country it ap- 

 years that the average yield per colony up 

 to Sept. 1 was 42.6 per cent; 37 per cent for 

 1918; 35.9 for 1917, and 46.1 for 1916. The 

 average beekeeper at first thought might 

 think that the crop for the whole United 

 States is less this year than last; but as one 

 comes to analyze the report by States he 

 will become convinced that it is right. 

 Fortunately, the editor has an intimate 

 knowledge, from private sources, of the pro- 

 duction in some important bee States; and 

 in every case, with the possible exception 

 of one, the report from the Bureau of Crop 

 Estimates by States agrees almost exactly 

 with our own private estimates. For ex- 

 ample, we made the statement some time 

 ago that the clover yield for Ohio, Indiana, 

 and Michigan would fall far short of that 

 of last year. The Bureau of Crop Estimates 

 shows for Ohio an average, per colony, of 

 24 pounds as against 42 for last year. For 

 Indiana the figures stand 20 and 41; for 

 Michigan, 29 and 54. -Again, we stated that 

 the clover crop for Wisconsin and Minnesota 

 would be about double that of last year. 

 The Government reports show Wisconsin 

 with an average of 54 pounds for this year 

 and last year an average of 26. Minnesota 

 stands 64 and 32; Iowa, 67 and 30. 



In most of the alfalfa-producing States, 

 there is shown to be a slight gain over last 

 year. 



Among the Southern States, Texas leads 

 off with an average of 63 pounds for this 

 year as against 20 for last year; Louisiana, 

 40 and 25 respectively. Some of the other 

 Southern States show a falling off, but they 

 are not important honey-producing States. 



With so many States showing a lead over 

 last year in spite of the shortage in Cali- 

 fornia, it is easy to see that the total crop 

 for the entire United States is larger than 

 last year. This accounts for the fact that 

 the price of honey did not advance more 

 sharply than it did. 



In other respects the Government report 

 shows that the condition of the colonies and 



of the fall honey plants is much superior to 

 last year. 



In the meantime we observe that honey is 

 now being exported to Euroj^ean countries, 

 the bulk of it going to Austria-Hungary, 

 Norway, and Turkey. If this keeps up it 

 will have a tendency to counteract what 

 might otherwise amount to a slump in 

 prices, in view of the fact that the yield 

 this year is larger than last year. 



We have learned that the prospects for 

 honey in California next season are unusual- 

 ly' good. This view is based on the fact 

 that the month of August was one of fogs. 

 When this occurs it is said there will be 

 plentiful rains, so necessary and important 

 to the sages. 



THE AVEEAGE PEESON in the colder cli- 

 mates is apt to draw the conclusion that 

 the beekeepers of 

 Regional Differ- the Southland or 

 ences in the Win- those in a semi- 



tering Problem. 



tropical climate 

 have no wintering 

 problem — that all they have to do is to see 

 that the bees have plenty of stores, and 

 then pay no further attention to them. 

 While, of course, a large amount of natural 

 stores is a prime requisite in semi-tropical 

 wintering,, there are other factors to be con- 

 sidered. Indeed, the editor is coming to 

 believe that the wintering problem in the 

 semi-tropics is really as great as, if not 

 greater than, that in the cold, cold Northern 

 States where snow and ice and zero weather 

 prevail for months at a time. The beekeep- 

 ers of California and the Southland might 

 as well make up their minds to the fact that 

 it is no small job to bring a good colony of 

 bees thru from fall till the following spring. 

 The principal danger is starvation. While 

 it is probable that only a small percentage 

 of the colonies actually starve to death, a 

 very large percentage, because of a short- 

 age of stores, do not breed up properly, 

 with the result that said colonies will be 

 too weak to take advantage of the first hon- 

 ey flow. This is particularly noticeable in 

 the orange districts of California, where 

 thousands and thousands of colonies range 

 from two and three frame nuclei to four 

 and five frame at the time the orange flow 

 comes on, and the yield from the orange is 

 very heavy some seasons. Unless there is a 

 large force of bees of the right age to 

 gather the crop the colony will dwindle 

 rapidly. In the same way colonies will be 

 below par at the time tupelo comes on in 

 the Southland. 



The editor is pretty well convinced that, 

 while plenty of natural stores is a prime 

 requisite in the semi-tropics, many beekeep- 

 ers are making the mistake of not providing 

 adequate windbreaks and suitable protec- 

 tion. One reason why bees consume enor- 

 mously of their stores in the semi-tropics is 

 because of a lack of protection. Too many 

 times colonies are wintered in two-story 



