18 



GLEANINGS IN BF.K CULiT'RE 



Jan. 1 



France has taken hold of it the membership 

 has nearly doubled, and that within the 

 sp^ce of one j-ear. 



The new Manager has looked after and 

 defended, during the year, something like 

 35 distinct cases. In some of these an ac- 

 tual fight in the courts had to be made; in 

 others a wise compromise has been effected; 

 and in every case the National has made 

 its influence felt for the good of apiculture 

 in the country. The most important suits 

 are outlined, and occupj' quite a little space 

 in the report. 



The matter of adulteration has received a 

 fair share of attention. The financial state- 

 ment shows that on March 3 $921.60 had 

 been received from General Manager Secor; 

 from Dr. Mason's estate, June 2, $81.08; 

 from membership dues, mostly at 50 cents 

 each, by joining through local associations, 

 $739, making a total of $1741.68. An itemiz- 

 ed account of expenditures shows $626.60, 

 leaving a balance of $1115.08 in the trea- 

 sury. 



The usual stories about adulterated comb 

 honey have received proper attention at the 

 hands of Mr. France. His denials have 

 been respectful and yet straight to the 

 point. 



Next follows a list of all the supply-deal- 

 ers, queen-breedc-s, and manufacturers, 

 honey-dealers, bee-keepers' associations, 

 bee-journals published in the United States, 

 and the last United States census relating 

 to bees. All of this furnishes a very inter- 

 esting array of information which will be 

 very convenient to the members. 



The last few pages of the report are par- 

 ticularly interesting in that they give not 

 only the name and address of each member, 

 but the number of colonies, fall count and 

 spring count, tax valuation, and the amount 

 of comb and extracted honey each has pro- 

 duced. 



California leads ofl" with the largest 

 membership. Next follows New York, Illi- 

 nois, Wisconsin, Colorado, Texas, Ontario, 

 Minnesota, Utah, Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, 

 and so on, clear down through the list. 



Never before has there been such an in- 

 teresting collection of statistics regarding 

 the number of colonies and honey produc- 

 tion of the most prominent bee-keepers of 

 the United States. One is amazed, in look- 

 ing over the California list, to see the actu- 

 al amount of honey that was produced last 

 year, and last season was only a fair one. 

 Scores of bee-keepers produced from 20,000 

 to 25,000 lbs. of honey, mostly extracted. 

 A few are credited with 50,000 to 60,000 lbs. 

 The one who seems to carry off the palm in 

 the whole membership of the National, for 

 the largest crop of honey produced last sea- 

 son, is L. E. Mercer, of Ventura Co., Cal., 

 who makes the enormous showing of 

 100,000 lbs. of extracted honey. Next comes 

 W. D. Moffatt, with 80,000 lbs. ; J. F. Mc- 

 Intyre and Joseph Moffatt, with 60,000 lbs. 

 each. 



It would be interesting to pursue this still 

 further. Suffice it to say that no other 



State shows such large crops and such 

 large apiaries. Of course this was a fair 

 j'ear.* But the other States that show large 

 yields are Arizona, Colorado, and Texas. 

 In Colorado, for example, M. A. Gill re- 

 ports 75,000 lbs. of comb honey; in Arizona. 

 Mr. Wm. Rohrig 72,000 lbs. of extracted; in 

 Texas, H. H. Hyde 75,000 lbs. of comb hon- 

 ey and 10,000 lbs. of extracted. In the cen- 

 tral and eastern States, and portions of the 

 middle West, aggregate crops are usually 

 under 10,000 lbs., but manj- are over 15,000. 

 But there are a great many bee-keepers to 

 the square mile, and the probabilities are 

 that the bee-keepers in these States, Iowa. 

 New York, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minne- 

 sota, will hold their own in the aggregate 

 of honey produced. In New York, for ex- 

 ample, we have just one bee-keeper who in 

 his aggregate yield comes anywhere near 

 the big yields of the Westerners. I refer to 

 W. L. Coggshall, who produced 1000 lbs. 

 of comb honey and 56,000 lbs. of extracted. 

 There are other reports that are left blank, 

 either because the returns were not all in or 

 because the bee-keepers did not care to an- 

 nounce what their crops were. 



The big "bee guns" are rather shy about 

 telling their actual yields; but General 

 Manager France has succeeded somehow in 

 getting their crop reports. And, by the 

 way, I should not omit to say that Mr. 

 France, besides being an excellent Gener- 

 al Manager, is a bee-keeper of no mean 

 order. Except W. L. Coggshall he has the 

 largest honey-crop showing of any bee-keep 

 er in the central or eastern States. We 

 find him credited with 54,000 lbs. of extract- 

 ed honey, and that, too, in a State like 

 Wisconsin, where the general average is 

 under 10,000 lbs. Mr. France must be a 

 tremendous worker. He is foul-brood in- 

 spector for his State; speaks at farmers' 

 institutes during the winter, not only in his 

 own State but in others as well (he is now 

 booked for New York State). He manages 

 the work of the National, taking charge of 

 some 35 distinct cases of difficulty arising 

 between bee- keepers and their neighbors; 

 got out this report, which must have taken 

 much time, and then on top of it all he pro- 

 duced a crop of 54,000 lbs. of honey. It has 

 been said that, if you want any thing done, 

 and done well, go to a busy man. That i.s 

 just what the membership did when it se- 

 lected Mr. N. E. F^rance to be their stand- 

 ard-bearer. 



The membership is to be congratulated 

 certainly in having so excellent a man at 

 the head of things. Very few" could be 

 found who would be willing to do so much 

 work for so small a pay. Nothing but a 

 love for the work and an intense loyalty for 

 the interests of the members could induce a 

 man to perform such a task. 



Say, those of you who are not members 

 are losing much. Better join the great 

 family at once. 



* It should be remembered that California has only 

 about one good and one fair year out of five. Thesi; 

 showings must he considered In this light. 



