292 



GLEANINGS IN BEE OULTURE 



Now, then, if the right amount of lime is put 

 on poor soils at the right time, and in the 

 Ijroperway, they mayyieid clover ueclareven 

 under poor or fair conditions. Do we make 

 the matter clear? In any event, do not get 

 the notion all soils everywhere need lime. 

 But there is a tendency toward a lime de- 

 ficiency everywhere; and in many localities 

 the lime has gone out so much that the land 

 has become clover-sick. There is, in fact, 

 no "sicknese" about it, but a want of one 

 element — lime. Clover, like animals, must 

 have a balanced ration. Chickens, for ex- 

 ample, must have green food and grain in 

 order to lay in the spring. They must, in 

 fact, have a variety. This item by Mr. 

 Crane was written for Siftings; but as it re- 

 quired a more elaborate answer than could 

 be made in that department we have placed 

 it in the editorial columns. 



LESS FRUIT ON ACCOUNT OF LACK OF PKOP- 

 BR POLLINATION OF THE BLOSSOMS. 



The severe losses that took p^ace last win- 

 ter will probably mean a considerable re- 

 duction in the amount of fruit produced, by 

 reason of the fact that there will not be 

 enough bees to pollinate the fruit blossoms 

 properly in many localities. The fruit-grow- 

 ers are feeling this very keenly, and are 

 making strenuous efforts to get bees from 

 somewhere. 



A large number have asked where they 

 can get bees to make up for winter losses. 

 Only a few have responded saying that 

 they had bees for sale. Among the former 

 is W. J. Manley, of Sandusky, Mich., one 

 of the most extensive honey-producers in 

 this country. Parties who have agreed to 

 furnish him a carload of bees are now un- 

 able to do so, owing to the severe winter 

 losses. You will find elsewhere that he has 

 in the Wants and Exchange department an 

 advertisement for bees. Albert J. Hann, 

 of Pittstown, N. J., is another party who 

 would like to get in touch with some one 

 who has bees for sale. 



We have a carload of bees on the way 

 from Florida, that we expect before this 

 journal goes to press, ^^'^e shall probably 

 send out an order for another carload. We 

 have been hunting right and left for bees 

 in the North, but have secured only a few 

 scattered lots. Practically every one w^ho 

 has any bees is mighty glad of what he has. 



David Keene, of Blackbird. Del., has 

 twelve of fifteen colonies of hybrids in 

 eight-frame hives that he will sell at $3.00 

 at his postoffice. If any one has any bees 

 for sale now is the time to advertise them. 



THE NEW POSTAL RULING CONCERNING THE 

 MAILING OF QUEEN BEES. 



On March 23 the PostofBce Department 

 amended paragraph 7, section 496, general 

 order 61o8, to read as follows: 



"Queen bees and their attendant bees, 

 when accompanied by a certificate from a 

 State or Government inspector that they 

 have been inspected and found free of dis- 



ease," may be transmitted in the mails. 

 The literal enforcement of this order would 

 make it almost impossible to ship any queen 

 bees, practically ruining the queen business, 

 and causing a serious handicap to bee cul- 

 ture in general. When we received notice 

 of this amended order from the Postmaster- 

 ( Jeneral we had on hand something like a 

 hundred queens ready to go out. While our 

 apiaries had been inspected by our State 

 foul-brood inspector last year, and found 

 free of disease, yet this particular lot of 

 queen bees and their attendants, which we 

 were proposing to send out, had not been 

 inspected. Obviously it would be impractic- 

 able for any State or Government inspector 

 to see every queen bee and her attendants 

 before they were sent out; and, besides, no 

 examination of the queen bees and their at- 

 tendants would show the presence of any 

 contagious disease such as American or 

 European foul brood in the hive from which 

 they came. An examination of the brood 

 is what determines the condition in this re- 

 spect. The order, therefore, v.-as clearly un- 

 workable. Evidently some blunder had 

 been made. We immediately took the mat- 

 ter up with Dr. E. F. Phillips, of the Bureau 

 of Entomology, and our manager, Mr. Sel- 

 ser, of our Philadelphia office. The result 

 was, a letter from the Department of Agri- 

 culture, signed by Secretary Wilson, was 

 sent over to the PostofiBce Department, rec- 

 ommending a further amendment reading 

 as follows: 



Queen bees and their attendant bees when ac- 

 companied by a copy of a certificate of the current 

 year from a State or Government apiary inspector, 

 to the effect that the apiary from which said 

 queen bees are shipped Is free from disease, or by 

 a copy of a statement by the beekeeper made be- 

 fore a notary public or other officer having a seal 

 that the honey used in making the candy used in 

 the queen-mailing cage has been diluted, and boil- 

 ed in a closed vessel. 



This was accepted by the PostofTice De- 

 partment, and duly signed by Postmaster- 

 General Hitchcock, May 3. It will be ob- 

 served that this amended form is workable, 

 and at the same time still makes it possible 

 for a queen-breeder who can not secure the 

 services of a State or Government inspector 

 to send out queen bees, providing he makes 

 oath to the effect that the honey he uses 

 in the candy has been properly diluted, and 

 boiled in a closed vessel. The order of 

 March 23 practically prohibited the mailing 

 of any queen bees, and had it not been for 

 the latter half of the newly amended para- 

 graph 7, queen-breeders so situated that 

 they could not secure the services of a State 

 or Government inspector would be compel- 

 led to go out of business. The new order, 

 of May 3, is a step in advance. It will not 

 handicap queen-breeders nor beekeeping in 

 general as did the order of March 23. It 

 will prevent the spread of bee diseases 

 through honey from infected hives that 

 might be used in making the queen-cage 

 candy. 



When we prepared the editorial that was 

 [mblished on page 222, advising all queen- 

 breeders to boil all the honey they use in 



