1921 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



97 



Columbia west of the Cascades and 

 has been identified by the writer at 

 St. Maries, Idaho. 



The Spray Problem 



The loss from poisoning of bees 

 with orchard spray was apparently as 

 serious as the loss from disease. Our 

 estimate, based on a questionnaire 

 sent to a large list of beekeepers in 

 the fruit districts, places the loss at 

 $50,000 for the summer of 1919. Many 

 of the large honey producers in or- 

 chard districts are contemplating 

 moving to other locations. 



THREE WEEKS AT BEE CON- 

 VENTIONS 



By C. P. Uadant 



Following the announcement on 

 page 13 of the January number, I 

 went to Wilmington, Niorth Carolina, 

 for the State meeting of January 11. 

 Wilmington, close to the ocean shore, 

 is a fine place, one of the old- 

 cities of the original 13 colonies, and 

 a ship-building port, on Cape Fear 

 River. When I reached the station 

 from the train, I saw a smihng face 

 looking at me. It was Mr. C. L. Sams, 

 Extension Specialist in Beekeeping. 

 We had never met, but he had seen 

 my photo, and was looking for me. 



The meeting was well attended, 

 though it was held at the extreme 

 southeast corner of the State. The 

 Association has a live secretary, Mr. 

 J. E. Eckert, who works without pay, 

 with great enthusiasm. The weather 

 was mild, which is perhaps not as- 

 tonishing in a winter like the present 

 one. Mr. W. W. King reported hav- 

 ing seen bees carrying pollen on the 

 5th, probably from the soft maple or 

 the alder. 



The Carolinas are geologically di- 

 vided into three . quite distinct sec- 

 tions — -the coastal plains, low and flat, 

 with marshes and sandy lands; the 

 piedmont regions or foothills; the 

 mountain sections, covered mainly 

 with timber. These differ slightly in 

 vegetation, and consequently in the 

 number and quality of the honey 

 plants. But all are good for beekeep- 

 ing. Cotton is grown everj'where, and 

 in most places it yields some honey, 

 especially from extra-floral nectaries. 

 However, some of their best honey 

 pnoducers are the -tulip-tree, which 

 many call "tulip poplar" or even sim- 

 ply "poplar," and the sourwood, witli 

 gallberry, goldenrod, etc., in the low 

 lands. 



Traveling through the immense 

 areas of sandy lands of the coastal 

 'plans, I was reminded of the "Landes" 

 of southwestern France, south ,of 

 Bordeaux, near the Gulf of Gascony, 

 where wife and I visited some ex- 

 tensiive honey producers in 1913; 

 those lands produce very similar 

 vegetation to these — pitch pine, scrub 

 oaks. But they also produce heather, 

 a splendid honey plant, which does 

 not exist in the Carolinas. Could not 

 the heather be acclimated in this 

 country? If so, another very import- 

 ant resource would be added to those 

 already known. Heather makes 

 honey which is rather dark and 



strong in flavor, but of good quality 

 otherwise. I spoke of it to several 

 of our southern friends and propose 

 to secure some seed for a trial. It 

 grows wild, wherever the trees are 

 not too thick, and needs no cultiva- 

 tion. 



There must be some wild sections 

 in North Carolina, for one of the 

 members, Mr. W. P. Kobinsion, living 

 at Belviderc, south of the Dismal 

 Swamp, gave an account of the dep- 

 redations of bears in his apiary. 



A great deal of enthusiasm was 

 shown towards increasing the mem- 

 bership and joining the League, but 

 no action was taken in this respect. 

 The officers elected were B. Ander- 

 son, of Terra Ceia, President; D. W. 

 Monroe, of Chadbourne, Vice Presi- 

 dent, and J. E. Eckert as Secretary. 



The very next evening I took the 

 train for New Jersey, and arrived at 

 Trenton the following day at noon. 

 New Jersey beekeeping has several 

 live wires: Dr. Headlee, the State 

 Entomolog*ist ; Richard D. Barclay, 

 the President of the Association, and 

 Elmer G. Carr, Secretary, who is also 

 Extension Specialist and Teacher. 

 Mr. Carr is indefatigable. 



A laughable incident occurred in my 

 making the acquaintance of Dr. 

 Headlee. I was very anxious to meet 

 him, and at different times asked 

 about him, when he was not present. 

 After one of the sessions a large 

 bald-headed man came to me to ask 

 for addresses of reliable queen- 

 breeders of Italy, as he said they in- 

 tended to secure some, through an 

 Italian entomologist, whose name 1 

 did not retain. I furnished him the 

 addresses. A little later, talking with 

 other beekeepers, I again said that I 

 would like to meet Dr. Headlee. 

 "Why, there he is. See that big 

 bald-headed man? That's Dr. Head- 

 lee." The joke was on me, but I re- 

 turned to him and grabbed his hand. 

 He lauglied heartil}'. But I'll not for- 

 get his face, after this. 



The Beekeepers' Association of 



E. G. Carr. 



New Jersey is making an interesting 

 experiment. There is, in Burlington 

 County, a large plain, of some 25,000 

 acres, barren, sandy, where the vege- 

 tation of scrub pines and oaks is so 

 short that a man can look over their 

 tops. In this practical desert, sur- 

 rounded by civilization, they have es- 

 tablished an apiary for the fertiliza- 

 tion of queens, bringing to it both 

 breeding nuclei and colonies contain- 

 ing many choice drones. In this iso- 

 lation they are bound to succeed in 

 securing -select matings. Seventeen 

 queens were mated there the past 

 year. The experiment is to be en- 

 larged and imported stock is to be 

 used. This is certainly very inter- 

 est ing. 



Leaving Trenton at 9 a. m. January 

 14, I reached Washing'ton, D. C, in 

 the afternoon and found our good 

 friend, Dr. Phillips awaiting me at 

 the station. We went directly to Ihis 

 home, some IS miles from the city, 

 in Maryland, where I had the pleas- 

 ure of meeting his father and mother, 

 who were about to leave for another 

 visit farther south among their chil- 

 dren. Mr. and Mrs. Phillips Sr., live 

 in Ohio, near a very much traveled 

 road, and I learned incidentally that 

 he sells all his honey and several tons 

 from others, to travelers that pass by 

 in autos. All that is required is the 

 sight of the apiary and a sufficiently 

 conspicuous sign of "HONEV FOR 

 SALE." Is this not another evi- 

 rence that if people only believe that 

 our honey is pure, there will be un- 

 limited sale for it? Of course! What 

 is sweeter than honey? 



I was somewhat astomished at the 

 young-looking appearance of both 

 Mr. and Mrs. Phillips, Sr., having a 

 son of apparently mature age, like 

 Dr. Phillips. But why should I call 

 them old? Mr. Phillips is only 3 

 months older than I, and I don't feel 

 very old yet. 



Dr. Phillips has a delightfully pleas- 

 ant wife and 3 fine boys. I spent a 

 very pleasant afternoon there. 



I saw the office, laboratory and 

 apiary, at Somerset, just about a 

 block away from Dr. Phillips' home. 

 That is where the studies are made 

 of all the samples of bee diseases 

 which come for examination from all 

 parts of the country. That is aiso 

 whence start the extension workers 

 who urge the better management of 

 bees, upon all bee owners. Much 

 good has been done, by the study of 

 diseases^, and much is still done fay 

 diagnoses of the numerous cases of 

 foulbrood and similar troubles. The 

 study of wintering has gained a great 

 deal by the researches made here. 

 For all this, method, activity and 

 punctuaUty are necessary. These 

 qualities are evident in a visit to the 

 laboratory. Nothing is neglected 

 which may bring about a step for- 

 ward. They are constantly on the 

 lookout for good workers. But good 

 workers are rare, in a specialty like 

 this. I met several, in my trip, w-ho 

 are certainly w-ell chosen. There, I 

 met A. P. Sturtevant and G. H. Caie. 



We spent the next day at the Capi- 



