1921 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



325 



20 of the 10-frame size and don't think I will 

 ever keep over 60. Now, would you change 

 hives, or would you adopt the Demaree plan for 

 swarm prevention? 



2. The Demaree plan, when you unite the 2 

 hives, is it necessary to put paper between, or 

 will they unite peaceably without it? 



3. I am going to raise some queens this 

 summer and had intended to adopt the C. C. 

 Miller plan, but since our State -ee specialist 

 tells me that it is better to raise them by the 

 Doolittle plan, and to do it in a queen-right 

 colony, I am undecided. Would like to have 

 your opinion about it. Which do you think 

 would be better, raised in a queen-right, or a 

 queenless colony?, I am not going to raise them 

 for sale, so you see I will only need a few, 

 but want the best 'lut it is possible for me to 

 raise. 



4. I have Langsti i the Honey Bee, re- 

 vised by Dadant, ai <. Practical Queen Rear- 

 ing, by Frank C. i'elldtt.. Langstroth says in 

 transferring larvse to put in cocoon and larvae 

 together. Pellett says to transfer with tooth- 

 pick or grafting tool. What I want to know is. 

 is it necessary to put the cocoon in tlie artiti- ' 

 cial cell? 



5. In putting in royal jelly, is it all right 

 to put the jelly in on top of larva, or should 

 the cells be put in first and larvs next? 



MISSISSIPPI. 

 Answers. — 1. In order to prevent swarming 

 there are several requirements. So the chang- 

 ing of colonies from 10-frame to 12-frame hives 

 is only a very small part of the needs. You 

 had better use the Demaree system, which will 

 probably fill your needs best, and cost you less 

 since there will be no additionaj investment. 



2. With the Demaree plan, such as given on 

 page 182 of the May number, there is no unit- 

 ing of two colonies. But if you should divide 

 the two stories and wanted to put the bees to- 

 gether again later, it would be best to use the 

 newspaper system. 



3. The Doolittle plan is a little more labor, 

 but it loses less time for the bees. Both plans 

 are good if you see to ft that the colony which 

 is rearing queens has brood from the very best 

 queen and is well supplied with honey and bees. 



4. The Langstroth way is that given by 

 Pridgen m "Advanced Bee Culture" and 

 quoted; the Pellett way of transferring the 

 larva with a toothpick is nearer to Doolittle's 

 way. Either way is good. One way may 

 please you better than the other. 



6. Put the jelly in first and the larva on top. 

 That is the way you will see it in naturally 

 built queen-cells. However, the bees evidently 

 place the jelly on the side of the Httle grub 

 and the latter glides down upon it. 



ODDS AND ENDS 



Apples and Peaches in the U. S. 



A significant report is that of the 

 census covering the apple and peach 

 crop of the United States. Apples 

 produced in 1909 totaled 145 million 

 bushels, as against 156 million bush- 

 els in 1919. Peaches produced in 

 1909 were 35 million bushels, and 51 

 million bushels in 1919. 



The most remarkable part of the 

 report, however, covers the decreases 

 in number of trees of each kind of 

 fruit, there being 115 million apple 

 trees, as compared with 151 million 

 in 1910. Peach trees 65 million, as 

 against 104 million in 1910. 



There is as great a contrast in 

 number of trees not of bearing age, 

 there being 36 million apple trees, as 

 against 65 million in 1910. There 

 were also 21 million peach trees not 

 bearing yet in 1919, compared to 42 

 million in 1910. 



If this indicates anything, it indi- 



cates that there is not now that fever- 

 ish desire for heavy orchard planting 

 so apparent ten years ago. Should 

 this reach a point where fruic oe- 

 comes more scarce, it would tend to 

 mean better markets for honey. 



The better methods of handling and 

 caring for trees, however, will mean 

 a relatively larger per tree produc- 

 tion, which will, in part, offset the 

 shortage in plantings. 



Short Crop of Maple Sugar and Syrup 



Fewer maple trees were tapped 

 last spring than in any one of the last 

 five years, and only about half as 

 much sugar was made as during any 

 of the preceding four years, and 

 about three-fifths as much syrup, ow- 

 ing to the unfavorable weather, says 

 the Bureau of Crop Estimates, United 

 States Department of Agriculture. 



The average producer's price of 

 maple sugar in the middle of Apr-' 

 was 25.7 cents per pound, compared 

 with 37 cents in the same montn in 

 1920, and 26.9 cents in 1919, al- 

 though above the 22.5 cents of 1918 

 and 16.3 cents of 1917. Maple syrup 

 had the average price of $2.21 per 

 gallon in April, above which was the 

 price of $2.92 in 1920 and below 

 which were the prices of the preced- 

 ing three years. — U. S. Weekly Crop 

 Letter. 



Beekeeping at Colorado Agricultural 

 College 



With the coming of vocational men 

 to the Colorado Agricultural College 

 and the increase in price and demand 

 for honey, there came a request to 

 reinstall the course of beekeeping, af- 

 ter a fifteen-year absence from the 

 cuiTiculum. A two-year course in 

 combination with poultry raising, 

 small fruits or gardening is offered, 

 and the general course on beekeeping 

 touches the various phases of organi- 

 zation, anatomy, physiology and ac- 

 tivities of honeybees, together with 

 diseases and enemies of bees, manage- 

 ment of the apiai-y and production of 

 honey. The Federal Vocational Board 

 has let a contract amounting to 

 $1,500 for bee equipment, which in- 

 cludes the modern apparatus and 

 25 colonies of bees. 



Mississippi Bees 



Bees in Mississippi have increased 

 from 74,350 colonies in 1909 to 82,- 

 770 colonies in 1919. The production 

 for 1919 was 731,630 pounds, or a 

 per colony production of 9 pounds. 



Cleaning Excluders 



For several years I have cletned 

 wood and wire excluders of wax by 

 use of a sharp-pointed knife. It is 

 slow. I brought home a lot of ex- 

 cluders and placed what would go in 

 my wax boiler, with wooden slats be- 

 low, so excluders did not touch the 

 water; covered them, and with a pail 

 of water in boiler soon had the live 

 steam cleaning them like new in a 

 few moments. It does not damage 

 the wood with a few moments ol 

 steam, and cleans them so much bet- 

 ter, as well as faster. 



N. E. France. 



Wild Honey 



"Wild honey is as near like tame as 

 wild bees are like their brothers in 

 the hive. The only difference is that 

 wild honey is flavored with your ad- 

 venture, which makes it a little more 

 delectable than the domestic article." 

 — (John Burroughs, "An Idyl of the 

 Honeybee.") 



Italy to Have New Customs Tariff 



According to a cablegram dated 

 June 13, from the American commer- 

 cial attache at Rome, the new Italian 

 customs tariff, increasing the import 

 duties, has been approved and will be- 

 come effective in the near future. De- 

 tails, however, are not yet obtainable. 



Bees and Honey in California 



Bees have decreased in California, 

 there being 201,023 colonies, as 

 against 180,719 colonies in 1909. The 

 honey crop for 1919 was 5,501,738 

 pounds, or 30 pounds per colony. 



Misbranding, Etc. 



There were pending before the 

 Federal Trade Commission, on June 

 1, 412 complaints of all kinds. These 

 include misbranding, false advertis- 

 ing, etc. The subjects range from 

 oil stock to toilet preparations and 

 razors. Fortunately, none of those 

 mentioned has to do with honey. 



Beekeeping in India 



Beekeeping, as an industry, is un- 

 known in the plains of northern In- 

 dia, but nevertheless honey is col- 

 lected in quantities and sold in the 

 villages of the hill country. 



The poor villagers who live in jun- 

 gles dig out shallow spaces in the mud 

 walls of their huts and whitewash 

 these spaces, later closing up the 

 spaces except for a small entrance 

 through the mud. It is not at all un- 

 usual for these spaces soon to be oc- 

 cupied by the wild bees. Nobody 

 ever cares to bring bees to any par- 

 ticular hut or space, provided for 

 them. Apparently it is not necessary, 

 as the bees appear to find them soon. 



When the natives wish to gather 

 honey they bum a combination of 

 wood chips and cow dung to drive the 

 bees out of the spaces in the hut 

 walls and remove the whole of the 

 comb. Instead of using a veil for this 

 process, the man keeps covered with 

 a blanket, provided with suitable 

 holes for seeing. The bees are either 

 destroyed entirely or left to shift for 

 themselves, and thus the "goose" is 

 killed for her "golden egg." 



In the plains no one ever cares for 

 the bees, although they may often be 

 seen in clusters hanging from the 

 branches of roadside trees and projec- 

 tions of the walls of houses. When 

 shown a catalog of beekeepers' sup- 

 plies, everyone was surprised to hear 

 that it is possible to keep bees and to 

 make them produce honey on a scale 

 fit to be called an industry. — (Gange 

 Pershad, India). KH. 



More Census Reports 



Louisiana had 31,079 colonies of 

 bees in 1919, as against 29,591 in 

 1909. The honey per colony average 

 for 1919 was approximately 8 pounds, 



