1900 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



491 



tailed for duty at the Philippines, has made 

 arrangements for the sending of one or more 

 Apis iiorsata queens to us. To save a long 

 journey across the continent, and to give the 

 queens every opportunity, we have arranged 

 to have them sent to W. A. Pryal, of San 

 Erancisco. I wrote to him, asking if he could 

 receive the shipment, take care of the queens, 

 give them a rest, and allow the bees a flight 

 for a few days or weeks until the}- could re- 

 cover from their long journey, at the end of 

 which time to send the queens to us. In re- 

 ply he writes as follows : 



Mr. Root : — Your note of a fortnight ago was duly 

 received, and 1 have been daily expecting the an- 

 nouncement of those bees from the islands. They will 

 receive suitable attention when they arrive. I am 

 thinking of having thetn installed in the grounds of 

 the mayor of the city. His beautiful place is a block 

 up the street from our office. 'Twill be a good place 

 in more than one sense in which to introduce them to 

 the best portion of the United States. While he might 

 extend to them the freedom of the city, an exception 

 must be made against the queens. W. A. Pryal. 



In a few weeks' time we may expect that 

 there will be a shipment of the giant bees to 

 the United States. They may all be dead, be- 

 cause we do not know how well such bees can 

 stand confinement or long journeys. But the 

 effort is worth the trial. Mr. Pryal is an en- 

 thusiastic bee-keeper, and will, of course, give 

 the bees every possible attention. 



I hope we may have the full text of the 

 mayor's address of welcome to our shores. 

 Hip, hip ! Hold on ! We will not throw up 

 ■our hats yet, for may be our chickens will not 

 hatch, and our gilded air-castles may fall in- 

 gloriously to the ground. 



THE HONEY SEASON FOR 1900 ; PROSPECTS 

 NOT FLATTERING. 



Ai^THOUGH it is a little early to make any 

 -predictions as to the honey- flow, owing to the 

 lateness of the season, yet present indications 

 would seem to show that the supply of white- 

 clover honey will be rather limited this year. 

 Walter S. Pouder, of Indianapolis, who is in 

 close. touch with a large area of country, 

 writes, " There is scarcely any white clover in 

 Indiana, Southern Ohio, and Illinois. The 

 outlook is discouraging, and business is grow- 

 ing lighter." Owing to a lack of rains, H. G. 

 Acklin, of St. Paul, Minn., wrote us a rather 

 discouraging letter a week or so ago. Since 

 then there have been good rains, but I fear 

 they are too late to do much good unless with 

 Ijasswoods. 



The season in California will be better than 

 was at first expected ; and especially is this 

 true for the northern and central portions of 

 the State. The rains finally came in the south- 

 ern part, but too late for the amount of good 

 they might have done. 



Black brood has got such a start in certain 

 portions of New York that many of the bee- 

 keepers are discouraged ; and even if there is 

 a honey-flow I fear there will be but few bees 

 to gather it. F. A. Salisbury, of Syracuse, 

 N. Y., reports that prospects are not flattering. 



In our vicinity I have seen almost no white 

 clover out, although there are a good many 

 patches of alsike ; but these patches are so 

 limited I fear they v.'ill not yield much honey. 



Although this is the 13th of June, our bees at 

 the home yard are getting but very little hon- 

 ey, and the same is true of the out-yard about 

 two miles north of us ; but at a yard owned 

 by Mr. Boyden, secretary of the Root Co., 

 some honey has been gathered, but he says 

 his bees are not doing much now. 



While all of this looks very discouraging, 

 yet it must not be forgotten that the season is 

 unusually late, and there is yet a chance for a 

 fair honey-flow, because the greater portion of 

 the country is being visited with frequent and 

 warm rains. These will have a tendency to 

 stimulate clover, resulting possibly in a slow 

 but continuous nectar supply for a consider- 

 able length of time. It should also be remem- 

 bered that it is a little early yet for most places 

 for clover. 



By the way orders have been coming in from 

 Colorado, from the L. A. Watkins Co., Den- 

 ver, it would seem that indications, at least 

 for that State, are exceptionally good. As the 

 bee-keepers there do not have to depend on 

 rains, but on irrigation, in all probability they 

 will have another heavy honey-flow ; and I 

 would say to the bee-keepers of that State, 

 do not be in a hurry to sell your honey ; for if 

 there should be little or no honey in the East, 

 you of Colorado will have things largely your 

 own way. With your splendid organization 

 and fine honey, it is evident that the honey- 

 buyers will have to take the honey at your 

 price. 



On receipt of this issue I should like to have 

 our subscribers from every portion of the 

 country write us about 10 or 20 words, giving 

 the prospects for a honey- flow and whether 

 the indications are good ; or, if the season is 

 past, whether any honey was secured or not. 

 I should like, in our next issue, to give an ex- 

 act report for the whole country. 



Don't, don't write lorg letters, as it takes 

 time to summarize the contents of hundreds 

 of letters. 



These reports are very important, and bee- 

 keepers will confer a great favor on the indus- 

 try and on the trade by telling of the nectar 

 supply. If honey will be scarce, those who 

 do get a crop will be able to gauge prices ac- 

 cordingly. In any case, don't sell too low. 



PHILIP LARGE'S SOLAR WAX-EXTRACTOR ; 



BELGIAN HARES ; COLORADO NOTES 



RESUMED. 



Owing to the crowd of other matter I have 

 been obliged to discontinue my Colorado 

 notes for the time being, and I will now pick 

 them up where I left off. 



Mr. Rauchfuss and I made a stop for a day 

 or two at Longmont, a locality at the foot of 

 the towering Rockies in which are kept thou- 

 sands of colonies of bees. At this place reside 

 J. E. Lyon, Philip Large, and J. B. Adams. 

 All of them are prominent bee-keepers ; and 

 while there may be others I did not happen to 

 meet them. We stopped for half an hour or 

 so at Mr. Large's apiary. While here I could 

 not help noting the effect of the Colorado cli- 

 mate on the pine lumber — the checking and 

 the warping — especially the hive-covers. But 



