744 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15 



Kansas. — " Never were bees in such fine con- 

 dition; prospects are favorable." 



Minnesota. — "Bees ligiit but strong. White 

 clover opens up well. " 



Kansas. — " I never saw bees in such fine order. 

 If we have a dry year we shall have a good hon- 

 ey crop." 



Iowa. — "Bees are in fine condition here. I 

 have had several swarms. " 



California. — "Bees are doing well at loamosa, 

 working on orange-bloom, and beginning on 

 sage. " Elsewhere in Southern California the re- 

 ports are not favorable. 



In the northern part of the State the situation 

 is better. The following from the Pacific Ru- 

 ral Press v/Wl explain: 



The Chko Enterprise says: " Orange honey, which is pure 

 white, only slightly inferior to sage, will be a full crop-, perhaps 

 the largest in the history of the industry. The orange-groves 

 probably will produce 25 carloads. Except for the fact that it 

 crystallizes quicker, orange honey is equal to sage. The other 

 honey-producing sections have been badly affected by drouth. 

 In about 25 per cent of the hives the production will be very 

 small. The other half will produce fairly well, but not a full 

 crop. Last year the State produced 275 carloads. The holdings 

 of honey are not large, but apparently many holders are not aware 

 of the situation, and are still selling at below the actual value 

 based on the prospective short crop. Whatever honey is carried 

 over will be good property, as it does not deteriorate materially 

 in a year. It crystallizes, but when melted it comes out all 

 right and will remain in a liquid state for another year." 



Wisconsin. — "Prospects are exceedingly good 

 — never saw so much white clover." 



West Virginia. — "We are having the best hon- 

 ey season we have had in ten years, and more 

 swarms than were ever known before. " 



Pennsylvania. — " Prospects are that this will be 

 one of the best seasons we have ever had. " 



Georgia. — "Bees have been doing well." 



Florida. — "Some report good crops, and some 

 report almost a failure. " 



In a general way we may say there have been 

 heavy rains and hot weather. In most of the 

 Northern States clover has come out remarkably 

 well; and at this writing the flow is just begin- 

 ning. But "there's many a slip 'twixt the cup 

 and the lip," and therefore we are looking to see 

 what old Dame Nature will do. 



rush, but the goods do not. Result, they have 

 bought and paid for something they can't use; 

 the honey comes, swarms come out galore; kegs 

 and barrels are pressed into service. The honey 

 in such contraptions is not marketable, and then 

 the dealer comes in for a scoring. 



THE FOLLY OF ORDERING BEE-SUPPLIES TOO LATE. 



The following letter from a prominent dealer 

 in bee-keepers' supplies in New York carries its 

 own moral: 



The A. I. Root Co. — Orders are now pouring in. Why don't 

 bee-keepers order goods before they need them! Nearly three 

 hundred dollars' worth of or ders came i n to- day. 

 \- Syrac use, N. Y., May ""= BBfr - ^L F. A. Salisbury. 



In Mr. Salisbury's case we are informed that 

 he has a large stock of goods on hand; but in 

 most cases the dealer is swamped this season with 

 orders because he can not get goods fast enough 

 from the factory. The trouble is, the dealer did 

 not lay in a large enough supply in the fall, tak- 

 ing advantage of the discount, and then when he 

 calls on the factory he is unable to get the goods 

 promptly. What is true of the dealer is more 

 true of the consumer. 



Bee-supplies should be bought and put togeth- 

 er in the fall and winter months. It is folly to 

 wait until the last minute, when the honey-flow 

 is nearly on, before ordering the goods. Yet ex- 

 perience shows that is precisely what many are 

 doing. They wait till they know there is to be 

 a flow and then order. The honey comes with a 



THE DIFFICULTY OF FINDING QUEENS IN A POP- 

 ULOUS COLONY; WHEN TO CLIP; SEE FRONT 

 COVER PAGE. 



On the front cover page of this issue we pre- 

 sent a view taken in our home apiary, situated 

 just back of one of the factory buildings, show- 

 ing Mr. C. F. Bender, of Piano, 111. (who was 

 then in our employ), at work hunting for a queen 

 in a populous colony. The scene is fairly rep- 

 resentative of almost any section of our home 

 yard. 



We do not often have as populous colonies as 

 this for queen-rearing; but the presence of the 

 Boardman feeder at the entrance indicates that 

 the colony in question is devoted to cell-building, 

 for all such colonies, unless honey be coming 

 freely from natural sources, must be given liberal 

 stimulative feeding. Mr. Bender has removed 

 the cell-building frame, and, as we remember, 

 was hunting for a young virgin that emerged 

 from the cell prematurely. Frame after frame 

 had to be removed, and, as fast as examined, set 

 down on end as shown. Sometimes the task of 

 locating a virgin is a difficult one, as she may go 

 off on a mating-flight; and even if she be in the 

 hive she is but little larger than an ordinary work- 

 er bee, and her erratic dodging results often in a 

 fruitless search. 



That is one reason why queen-breeders have 

 virgins mated from comparatively weak colonies 

 or nuclei. The weaker they can be and still 

 maintain their collective individuality without 

 replenishing with fresh bees, the better. 



But the picture shows another thing — namely, 

 that if one practices clipping queens he should 

 go through his hives as early in the spring as 

 practicable, when the colony has a light force of 

 bees, and when the queen can be easily located. 

 To defer the operation until near swarming-time 

 means going over the combs thickly covered with 

 bees, not once, but sometimes two or three times, 

 and not infrequently the searcher may have to 

 close up the hive for the time being, and then 

 come back an hour or two afterward and hunt 

 again. Occasionally we have seen a colony like 

 the one shown on the front cover, where the own- 

 er was almost in despair because he could not 

 find the queen. He sees the eggs and brood in 

 all stages. He knonvs she "is there; but where, 

 oh! where is she.? " 



Where a colony is very populous, or is on the 

 eve of a honey-flow, or right in it, the queen- 

 hunt should be conducted during the middle 

 hours of the day when a large percentage of the 

 flying bees are in the air. If many are in the 

 field, all combs removed should be stationed in 

 the rear of the hive rather than the front. In 

 this case we requested Mr. Bender to put them in 

 front, where the camera could catch them. 



In speaking of Mr. Bender we may say that 

 we consider him one of the best bee-keepers and 

 one of the closest observers in the country. He 

 left our employ of his own accord; and in spite 



