682 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



June 1 



the underbrush, and with such entrance, the 

 combs would not have melted down, you say. 

 We should infer that, had the entrance been 

 larger, even with the underbrush, there would 

 have been no trouble. If that be true, it goes to 

 prove that, with a large entrance, and an Alley 

 trap over it, there would be no breaking-down of 

 the combs. In this we assume that the Alley 

 trap would be the equivalent of the underbrush. 

 —Ed.] 



Louis Scholl, replying to your question, p. 

 629, I never had either of the troubles from wide 

 bottom-bars that you mention. Before the first 

 comb is taken out, the removal of the dummy 

 makes sufficient room so that never do " the wide 

 bars cause the bees to be rolled over the combs of 

 the next frames. " Perhaps you use no dummy. 

 The bottom-bars do not " stick together " " when 

 the frames do not hang quite true" because it 

 never happens that the frames do not hang quite 

 true. They are exactly spaced by nail spacers, 

 and a nail in the end-bar, 2% inches from the 

 bottom, makes the spacing just as true at the bot- 

 tom as top. Perhaps your bottom-bars are not 

 thus spaced. [Day before yesterday, May 14, 

 owing to the rush of honey from fruit-bloom we 

 found it necessary, at an outyard, to give extra 

 room. In the case of some strong colonies hav- 

 ing extra wide bottom-bars, we noticed that they 

 were stuck together with great chunks of propo- 

 lis so that it was difficult to pull the frames out; 

 and as the frames were removed, a taffy-like glue 

 stretched out in strong strings. This attaching, 

 however, was only by the Caucasians and the 

 Caucasians crossed with Italian blood; and if 

 one were to use this race and their crosses he 

 might be compelled to use both narrow end-bars 

 and bottom-bars, and perhaps get along without 

 self-spacing devices. — Ed.] 



"Much labor can be saved in the critical 

 time of the honey-flow if there is a superabun- 

 dance of supers and combs," Rez'iciv, 151. Sup- 

 pose I average one year with another a surplus of 

 two supers per colony. Will that number in 

 readiness be a plenty? But what if an extra good 

 year comes? Suppose the best year in the past 

 gave me five supers to the colony. I might call 

 that an abundance to have in readiness, but it 

 would take about another super to be a super- 

 abundance. Yes, I believe in superabundance, 

 and, as a matter of fact, I generally have in read- 

 iness more than six supers to the colony. [If 

 ever a bee-keeper feels like kicking himself, met- 

 aphorically speaking, it is when he has been so 

 shortsighted as not to have a sufficient number of 

 combs or supers ready for a good honey-flow. 

 By the rush of orders that have been coming in, 

 we imagine that the fruit-bloom this season took 

 a great many by surprise. About every two or 

 three years the supply-dealer and the manufac- 

 turer find themselves swamped with orders sim- 

 ply because bee-keepers do not or will not order 

 in the fall, thus getting the benefit of a discount 

 and the further advantage of having goods ready 

 when needed. It may be said that the supply- 

 dealer and manufacturer should have a large 

 stock in readiness for rush orders. That may be 

 true; but it would be impracticable to have ware- 

 house capacity sufficiently large to take care of 

 the exceptional seasons. — Ed.] 



Editorial 



As we go to press we are pained to learn of the 

 death, on May 16, of Mr. D. E. Merrill, of the 

 W. T. Falconer Mfg. Co., Jamestown, N. Y. 

 Particulars will be given in our next issue. 



Mr. Orel L. Hershiser, of 493 Woodward 

 Ave., Buffalo, N. Y., has been recently elected 

 to life membership in the Buffalo Society of Nat- 

 ural Science. This came unsought and entirely 

 unexpected to our friend. It was due to certain 

 lectures that he has given before that organization. 



crop reports. 



If we may judge by orders that have been com- 

 ing in, as well as by the work of bees in our own 

 locality, this has been a very remarkable year for 

 fruit-bloom honey in the northern belt of States. 

 While this honey will not reach the market, it 

 will be the means of putting the brood-nests in 

 fine condition for the clover flow yet to follow. 

 The frames will be full of brood and honey, and 

 the new flow from clover will necessarily have to 

 be put in the supers. 



The reports from other parts of the country 

 have been quite encouraging, as a rule. Briefly, 

 they are as follows: 



ALAB.\MA. 



Prairieville. — White clover in bloom, but weather too wet and 

 cold. 



CALIFORNIA. 



San Diego. — Not very good prospects for crop along the coast. 

 In the mountains a good crop is expected. 



Surrez. — No honey, many bees dying. 



Ventura. — Dry weather and frost checked the growth of sage, 

 therefore no prospect for honey. 



CANADA. 



Marchurst. — Backward spring, but prospects good for clover. 



ILLINOIS. 



Lawrenceville. — Bees swarming early. 

 Royal. — Bees beginning on white clover. 



INDIANA. 



Madison. — Good prospects for a crop. 



Huntington. — Necessary to feed to prevent starving, prospects 

 good for white and alsike clover. 



Wolcottville. — Colonies very strong. 

 iow.\. 



Marshalltown. — Good rains; white clover everywhere; good 

 prospects for a crop. 



Kalona. — Cold weather causes great loss of field bees. 



Bloomfield. — Heavy rainfall insures good white-clover bloom. 



KENTUCKY. 



Cornishville. — White clover abundant. Good prospect for crop. 

 Boyd. — Honey prospects extra good. Fine crop of alsike and 

 white clover. 



MISSOURI. 

 Blufiion. — Weather wet; good prospects for clover. 



NEBRASKA. 



Bradshaw. — Bees working in supers. 



NE\V JERSEY. 



Frenchtown. — Weather very unfavorable for honey and brood- 

 rearing. 



NEW YORK. 



Middleburg. — Weather wet, but lots of brood and young bees. 

 Bedford Station. — Weather cold and wet. 

 North Branch. — Good prospects for a crop. 



OHIO. 

 Shanesville. — Good prospects for a crop. 

 Athens. — Bees swarming, and working in supers. 

 Belpre. — Bees swarming, and good prospects for white clover. 

 Akron. — Bees swarming very early. 



OREGON. 



Hillsboro. — Coldest spring in many years. Half the bees are 

 dead on account of spring dwindling and starvation. 



