1899 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



581 



bee-paper a sort of "experience meeting." 

 While this is all right and eminently proper 

 for a prayer-meeting, bee-papers are not run 

 for the benefit of the correspondents, but for 

 the benefit of the subscribers who take them 

 simply for the information they can get out of 

 them. Very many bee-keepers are brimful of 

 practical thoughts and suggestions, but either 

 are not able or are disinclined to commit them 

 to writing ; but there are only a few practical 

 ones who can or will put their practical ideas 

 into good readable English, so it has come to 

 pass that comparatively few do most of the 

 writing for the bee-journals ; and it remains 

 for the editor or editors to prevent those few 

 from running their followers into ruts. The 

 men who do write should be practical, up-to- 

 date men ; nay, more — they should be a little 

 ahead of the times ; and the editor should rub 

 against those who don't write, by going to see 

 them. In that way he can keep himself out 

 of the ruts. 



THE SEASON FOR 1899, AGAIN. 



Reports have been slowly coming in; but 

 taking them as a whole they do not appear to 

 make out that the season will be any better 

 than was given in our last. For some reason 

 or other man}' of those who have secured a 

 crop are holding it quietly in reserve, hoping 

 they will possibly be able to "bear" up the 

 market. If there are such, they are pursuing 

 a " penny wise and pound foolish" policy, 

 for now is just the time to get good prices. 

 Later on, when fall fruits are on the market, 

 there will be less demand for honey. 



For the last few days we have kept a " tab " 

 of the reports as they have been coming in ; 

 that is to say, the clerk who opens our mails, 

 as soon as a letter is received has been mak- 

 ing a memorandum of that portion of any 

 letter that referred to the season in any way. 

 The following are the memoranda by States 

 and postoffices: 



Mcintosh Bluff, Ala. S. W. Very unfavorable hon- 

 ey season. 



Safford, Ariz. S. E. No surplus. 



Taylor, Ariz. E. Very ooor year. 



Bakersfield, Cal. S. W. ' Bees doing well. 



Famoso, Cal. S. W. Honey is coming in. 



Pala. Cal. S. Filling hives very fast. 



California. Near mountains, crop good. 



Chatham, Can. Crop failure. 



Grand Jc, Colo. W. Prospects not flattering. 



Palm View, Fla. S. W. Bees doing well. 



Bishop Hill, 111. N. W. Honey total failure. 



Hospital, 111. N. E. Sweet clover booming. 



Atwood, 111. C. Bees doing finely. 



Mead, Ind. C. Lots of honey. 



Terre Haute, Ind. W. Small crop. 



Knightstown, Ind. E. About half crop. 



Elk, Iowa. Bees doing finely. 



Charles City, Iowa. X. E. Small surplus yield. 



Natick, Mass. N. E. No honey in this section. 



Sanilac Center, Mich. E. Clover flow not very good. 



Chesaning, Mich. C. Honey flow good. 



Nirvana, Mich. W. Not much honey. 



Bentheim, Mich. Not getting any surplus. 



Benzonia, Mich. N. W. White clover poor; bass- 

 wood good. 



Holt, Mich S. Honey crop a failure. 



Filion, Mich. E. Bees doing well on clover. 



Milan, Mich. S. E. No honey. 



Montgomery, Mich. S. 200 lbs. top honey from four 

 swarms. 



Fruitport, Mich. W. Bees doing well. 



Farwell, Mich. C. Surplus good. 



Pease, Minn. E. White clover, basswood, and wil- 

 low-herb yield splendidly. 



Shackelford, Mo. C. Big crop of white clover honey. 



Lebanon, Mo. S. W. Surplus good. 



Arlington, Neb. E. Oceans of white clover, but bees 

 in a starving condition. 



Naples, N. Y. W. Almost no finished sections. 



Groton, N. Y. S. Not a full super. 



Eden, N. Y. W. No surplus. 



Harpursville. N. Y. S. No white clover. 



Pamelia, N. Y. N. W. Poorest season known. 



Cherry Valley, N. Y. C. Honev crop very light. 



Wellsville, N. Y. S. W. Honey crop lightest in 

 years. 



Syracuse, N. Y. C. Prospect very poor. 



Defiance, O. N. W. Honey failure. 



Canal Fulton, O. N. E. Boxes about filled. 



St. Stephens, Ohio. N. W. Honey crop light. 



Hannibal, Ohio. S. E. No white clover. 



Plain City, Ohio. C. Honey crop short. 



Camp Chase, Ohio. C. Bees not doing well. 



Mechanicsburg, Pa. S. Average per colony 40 lbs. 

 comb honey. 



New Lebanon, Pa. W. Season a failure. 



Rockton, Pa. C. Not much honey. 



New Milford, Pa. N. E. Honey crop very light. 



Antesfort, Pa. N. Honey-flow great. 



Coronaca, S. C. W. Utter failure. 



Paris, Tenn. N. W. Honey drouth. 



Hutto, Tex. C. Fine flow of honey. 



Clarksville, Tex. N. E. Bees doing no good 



Hutto, Tex. C. Go d flow. 



Mexia, Tex. C. Honey crop short. 



Uvalde, Tex. S. W. Only 5 gal. from 200 swarms 



Catlin, Wash. S.W. Flowe'rs plentiful, but no honey 



West Bend, Wis. S. E. Considerable basswood, but 

 no clover. 



Dilby, Wis. S. W. Very short. 



Riverview, Wis. N. W. Honev season good. 



Kickapoo, Wis. S. W. About "half crop. 



Kearneyville, W. Va. N. E. Honey crop light. 



Banister, Va. Bees doing well. 



Orwell, Vt. W. Bees doing nothing. 



Monkton Ridge, Vt. W. Worst drouth ever known. 



Vero, Fla. S. I have sold about one thousand dol- 

 lars' worth of honey this season. H. T. Gifford. 



Batavia. N. Y. C. My honey crop this season is 

 about 3500 lbs. from 150 colonies, or about the same as 

 last year. f. h. Fargo. 



Nipamo, Cal. S. W. 188 colonies, 7100' lbs. honey 

 Extracted, May 2, 840 lbs.; Mav 17, 1560; May 31 2000- 

 June 17, 2700. c. G. McNeil. 



Dilly, Wis. S. W. Crop very short. 



Gustave Gross. 



The capital letters N. W., S. E., S. W., C. v 

 etc., indicate respectively northwest, south- 

 east, southwest, and central portions of the 

 different States. It will be noticed that in 

 one section of any one State the season may 

 be extra good, and in another portion an utter 

 failure; and one will be surprised to read over 

 the number of favorable reports in the whole 

 list; and yet these are not one-fourth, out of 

 the total. 



As has been our custom every year, so it is 

 this year, to allow every honey-producer who 

 has honey for sale the free use of our adver- 

 tising columns to the extent of five lines of 

 space, one insertion. Those of you who do 

 have honey should make haste to let it be 

 known. 



HOW TO CARRY SWARMS OF BEES ON 

 A BICYCLE. 



I have secured swarms of bees in sacks this 

 time of year, and carried them on a bicycle. 

 It sometimes happens that a farmer will say a 

 swarm of bees is hanging on a limb a mile or 

 so from our office. It would hardly pay to 

 send a man with a horse and buggy ; but with 

 a bicycle and cheese-cloth sack I can very 

 soon have those bees back home and in a hive. 

 The sack should be carried by the upper end, 

 where it is tied. Before the sack is tied, how- 



