260 



August, 1914. 



American l^ee Joarnal 



below that point. This is especially 

 true in the case of granulated honey. 

 It will be well not to hurry the process. 

 First, bring the entire mass to the 

 liquid state, allowing plenty of time 

 without keeping the honey very hot. If 

 there is no objection to having the 

 honey thin, it will be well to add 

 water. Then bring up the heat until it 

 is certain that the center is boiling, 

 and keep up the boiling for 10 minutes. 

 Honey thus treated ought to be safe to 

 feed to bees. It is hardly necessary to 

 add that if the honey is meant for win- 

 ter food for bees, care must be taken 

 not to scorch it, else it will be death to 

 the bees. c. c. m. 



Honey Exchange for Minnesota 



" The Tri-State Honey Exchange " 

 is the name of a new organization in 



Minnesota formed but a short time ago 

 with L. F. Sampson as president, and 

 P. J. Doll as secretary. Other directors 

 are L. D. Leonard, L. M. Bussey, and 

 Rev. Francis Jager.o 



The capitalization of the company is 

 $1000, divided into shares of $10 each. 

 The exchange states that it has for its 

 object "to assist honey producers in 

 Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin to 

 market their honey and obtain the 

 highest prices, the profit of the associa- 

 tion to go to the producer." 



Like alU other co-operative con- 

 cerns, its success depends upon the 

 support given. There is no reason 

 why such an incoporation could not 

 work in harmony with the National 

 association which has the same pur- 

 poses, the marketing of the honey- 

 producers' crop. 



Miscellaneous <^ News Items 



Crop Reports and Prospects. — The 



season of r.U4 may be said to be unique 

 in that the large proportion of reports 

 coming of prospects previous to the 

 opening of spring were very favorable 

 towards at least a normal crop if 

 not a very large one. California re- 

 ported fine prospects, the same was 

 true of Texas, while in the central 

 States and in the East reports came in 

 that clover was plentiful and that honey 

 should be also. 



The fact is that these advance "dope 

 sheets" were so alluring that many 

 beekeepers pictured a big slump in the 

 price of honey owing to over-produc- 

 tion. Let the reader judge for himself 

 as to the proportion of a normal crop 

 as reported by some of the largest pro- 



ducers in all parts of the United States, 

 men well situated to know what the 

 crop is. We give replies received to 

 all our letters witli reference to crops 

 this season. They follow: 



At the opening of spring of :qi4 around 

 here clover prospects were the best for 

 many years, and with frequent rains up to 

 July I. the plants and abundance of bloom 

 were all we could hope for. We also had 

 io/t/ nisht^ which prevented nectar in the 

 bloom, and it has been rare to see a bee on 

 either white or alsike clover bloom. Our 

 bees were extra strong:, and we encouraged 

 brood-rearing. When blooming season came 

 our hives were full of bees (20 Langstroth 

 frames.) Basswood bloom was also abun- 

 dant, and for five days has yielded well, so 

 that our hives are now full of honey, two to 

 four bodies above the brood. Yesterday we 

 extracted 2750 pounds of basswood honey 

 from one out apiary. The other apiaries are 

 tliesanie. Nothing more this season. These 



Part of the Vetter Bros, apiary near Crawford. Nebr. This country i.s>ccomine macli 

 better for bees with increase in acreage of alfalfa. 



conditions are local to this part of Wiscon- 



'"pi ,. 1, w- , , N. E, France. 



Platteville. Wis.. July 12. 



The honey-flow has been a total failure 

 here; have to feed to keep the bees from 

 starving until the fall How. I have over 400 

 colonies, half of them are located in a goid 

 c over district. 1 here is a lot of clover 

 bloom and the weather has been ideal, but 

 the hives are empty. I hope for a crop from 

 Spanish-needle next month. 



Knox, Ind .July 14. F W. Luebeck. 



The clover honey crop was a total failure 

 in our locality. Reports received from other 

 points indicate thesame condition nearly all 

 over the province, a few localities only re- 

 porting a very light yield from clover Bass- 

 wood looks fairly well where they have this 

 sourceof nectar, but at best it is an uncer- 

 tain yielder to the few localities that have 

 enough of the trees to amount to anything 

 Present prospects point to the lightest yield 

 of white honey that Ontario has known for 

 some time. i 1 n,.pr 



Mount Joy. Ont., July 13. ^ 



We give you crop reports as they have re- 

 cently come to us; 



Colorado — Lower Platte Valley — 

 Very little from first crop of alfalfa Bees 

 are in good shape, ar.d if favorable condi- 

 tions should prevail from now on a fair 

 crop is possible. 



Vicinity of DENVER-Super work is get- 

 ting along nicely, and some comb honey has 

 been taken off, but as there is very much 

 ess sweet clover than last year, the crop is 

 likely not to be large. 



Fort Collins. Longmont, Boulder — 

 Super work has almost stopped at present 

 but it is hoped that when the second crop 

 of alfalfa comes in bloom, it will be resumed 

 again. 



Arkansas Valley - Reports from this 

 locality are conflicting. In some places 

 bees so far have done well, and honey has 

 been taken off In other places not much 

 super work is done. 



Montrose and Delta DisTRiCTs-But lit- 

 tle honey in sight yet. Many bees in the or- 

 chard districts have been poisoned byspray- 

 ing clover beneath fruit trees. 



Northern New Mexico— Some honey has 

 been taken ofT. Prospects for a good crop 

 It is not likely that the Colorado honey crop 

 will be as good as last year, probably two- 

 thirds as much The quality of the honey 

 taken off so far is fine. 

 Colorado Honey Producers' Association. 

 F. Rauchfuss, .l/ffr. 



Denver, Colo.. July 14. 



Your letter of July 10 asking for a report 

 on honey conditions is received. Bees are 

 not doing very much right now. but the sec- 

 ond crop of alfalfa is just coming into bloom 

 and we should have a good flow during the 

 next six weeks if the weather is favorable. 

 A good rain would help a great deal. I have 

 taken off something over a ton of extracted 

 honey and 17 cases of comb honey. Pros- 

 pects are very poor in some districts, but 

 about normal in others. I think we will have 

 honey to ship this year in fair amounts, al- 

 though we will not have more to ship than 

 last year despite the increased number of 

 bees. Wesley F"oster. 



Boulder. Colo., July 14. 



Late severe frosts with very hot days have 

 cut down the alfalfa and about destroyed 

 all bloom. The chances for a honey crop 

 are very poor. I am feeding the bees. 



Halleck, Nev., June 26. J. E Patton. 



This section produced no surplus this 

 season. Many colonies had to be fed after 

 clover had been in bloom for some time, but 

 later the tlow was heavy enough to give the 

 bees stores to last until it will be time to 

 weigh up and supply additional stores for 

 winter. 



It is the "off year " for basswood bloom, 

 and the heavy stand of clover produced but 

 very little nectar on account of very un- 

 favorable weather conditions. 



F,. L. Hofmann. 



Janesville. Minn , July 16. 



The honey crop in this section of Ontario 

 will not be more than 10 percent of an avei- 

 age crop. Some report no honey at all, 

 others have had to feed tt) keep their bees 

 in good condition and prevent starvation. 



Claude, Ont., July 17. H. G. Sibbald. 



The white honey crop will be very light in 

 New ICngland. so far as I can learn— less 

 than half an average crop. 



Middlebury. Vt , ,Iuly 18. J. K. Crane. 



The honey crop in this vicinity is rather 

 uncertain at this date. Should the ritht 



