" Oh! What Shall the Harvest Be?" 



Europe is again disappointed with 

 the prospect for produce and grain. Ev- 

 erywhere complaints are heard of not 

 over half of an average yield. Here in 

 America we rejoice over a splendid crop 

 of wheat, oats, barley, potatoes, and all 

 kinds of fruit ; corn promising a large 

 yield. But in the midst of these gen- 

 eral rejoicings, bee-keepers mourn over 

 the prospect for honey. In many local- 

 ities the bare ground of last winter al- 

 lowed the frost to kill the white clover, 

 and, of course there is no honey from 

 it ; in others, basswood yielded no 

 honey. In the absence of these two 

 principal sources, only those having the 

 excellent melilot and alsike clovers, or 

 some other honey-producing plants to 

 depend on, have obtained even a mod- 

 erate honey harvest so far. 



In this issue of the Journal is pub- 

 lished 20 reports from 11 different 

 States. From these, and private letters 

 from other portions of the United 

 States, we conclude that the crop so far 

 will not exceed one-third of the aver- 

 age. Minnesota and Tennessee boast 

 of the largest yield for many years ; 

 Xew York, Missouri, California and 

 Canada have but one-half; Wisconsin 

 and Michigan one-third, and Kansas 

 and Arkansas a very small crop. In 

 Illinois, Indiana and Georgia there is 

 but very little or no surplus. Still in 

 some localities, even in tbe latter 

 States, an average yield is reported. 

 One bee-keeper in "Wisconsin has ex- 

 tracted 10,000 lbs. of basswood honey. 

 By the time the fall crop is obtained, 

 for which now there is an excellent 

 prospect, we may have a fairly average 

 product for the year 1880. 



We notice by English papers that 

 Messrs. Thurber, of London, have re- 

 ceived the first instalment of Califor- 

 nia honey, which is of excellent qual- 

 ity. In Liverpool, 1,400 barrels of Cali- 

 fornia and Chilian honey were offered 

 for sale on July 1, and sold at about 10 

 cents per lb. 



As our readers are aware, two impor- 



tant conventions of bee-keepers are to 

 be held in September, at Cincinnati and 

 Chicago. These bodies are expected to 

 deliberate on the product, prices and de- 

 mand for honey, and determine if pos- 

 sible, upon uniform prices for the entire 

 crop. To do this, it is important 

 that they should have correct figures 

 relative to the size of the product, 

 whether it is one-half, three-fourths, or 

 an average yield. We have, therefore, 

 determined to publish in the Bee Jotjk- 

 nal for September reports from all 

 honey producers who can and will re- 

 port the crop which they may have, or 

 reasonably expect to obtain at the close 

 of the harvest. As this matter is for 

 the benefit of every producer, we ask 

 them to sit down, as soon as they read 

 this article, and send us a postal card, 

 stating the relative proportion of their 

 entire yield, both of comb and extracted 

 honey, including what may reasonably 

 be expected from fall flowers, stating 

 the amount of light and dark honey sep- 

 arately. 



This will cost each one a cent, but for 

 it he will obtain information and advice 

 which will be worth many dollars. Let 

 no one fail to report, and at once. Be 

 particular to give your name, postorhce 

 and State. 



Cyprian and Syrian Bees. — Mr. D. 



A. Jones has sent to our Museum sam- 

 ples of Cyprian and Syrian bees, as 

 promised last month. They are put up 

 in bottles of alcohol, and are very fine 

 in appearance. Some have 4 and even 

 5 yellow bands. With this exception we 

 can see but little difference in appear- 

 ance between them and our lightest-col- 

 ored Italians. We await with much in- 

 terest a test in this country of their 

 working qualities, and a specific state- 

 ment of their superiority, as claimed 

 by our distinguished German bee-cul- 

 turists— Dathe, Cori, Hroby, Count Ko- 

 lowrat, etc. — viz.: ll prolificness, hardi- 

 ness and honey-gathering. " We thank 

 Mr. Jones for a good photograph of him- 

 self, which is placed in our album of 

 bee-culturists. 



