1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



795 



DR. PHILLIPS AND HIS SCIENTIFIC ARTI- 

 CLES ; THE SENSE OF SMELL IN BEES. 



I HAVE asked Dr. E. F. Phillips, of the 

 University of Pennsylvania, to prepare sev- 

 eral articles detailings in a popular way 

 some of the things he has learned in the 

 line of scientific bee-lore here at Medina 

 during the last few weeks. He is a trained 

 zoologist in the regular employ of the uni- 

 versity which he represents; and I appre- 

 hend that some of his investigations will be 

 of great value to bee-keepers. Some of the 

 things he tells me on the bee's sense of 

 smell have been quite interesting to me, and 

 I believe they will be equally so to many of 

 our readers. In accordance with my re- 

 quest he has prepared two articles, the 

 first of which appears in this issue. These 

 studies are not without their practical val- 

 ue. I believe it will pay our honey- pro- 

 ducers as well as our queen-breeders to 

 read these very carefully, more particular- 

 ly as they will enable us to explain many 

 of the phenomena connected with our pur- 

 suit, and perhaps put us in position where- 

 by we may be able to improve our methods 

 and introduce shorter cuts. 



Dr. Phillips is very conservative, care- 

 ful, and conscientious in his work. Train- 

 ed scientist that he is, he is very slow at 

 drawing conclusions, and in one case that 

 I know of he took thousands of measure- 

 ments before he formed an opinion. He has 

 read all the bee literature that bears on the 

 subject he has been investigating; and in 

 this connection it may be inter* sting to 

 know that he bestows unstinted praise on 

 the naturalist Huber, whom he regards as 

 having been one of the most accurate ob- 

 servers who has ever written on bees, es- 

 pecially their general habits, for Dr. Phil- 

 lips has. in addition to his wide reading, 

 been sitting down before an observatory 

 hive for hours and dajs at a time, to get 

 his information. I am not at liberty to 

 make public some of his discoveries, but 

 these will appear in due time, or as soon as 

 he is prepared to give them to the public. 

 He is not much given to wild speculations, 

 and the reader need have no fear that he 

 will launch any thing on the public like 

 the Dickel theory, although he says Dickel 

 himself, in spite of his erroneous conclu- 

 sions, made some important observatioas. 



A RE REVISED HONRVCROP REPORT FOR 



1904. 

 Reports have been coming in from all 

 sides and from all parts of the country. 

 There is not much to say in addition to 



what has already been said, except that the 

 crop in the Northwest, including Minneso- 

 ta, Iowa, and Wisconsin, seems to be very 

 much lighter than it was a year ago. It 

 also seems to be quite apparent that the ag- 

 gregate crop for the entire United States 

 will be lighter than it was last season. 



While we have had reports from honey- 

 producers from various parts of the coun- 

 try, and endeavored to summarize their 

 statements, it seemed to me it might be 

 well to get a statement from the commission 

 men and buyers in the principal markets, 

 and accordingly I drafted the following 

 letter: 



Dear Sir: — We are anxious to get at the amount of 

 honey (comb and extracted) that has been produced 

 this year. While it will be impossible to get the total 

 aggregate, we think we can, perhaps, get a compara- 

 tive estimate of the yield for 1904. We should be glad 

 to have you send us a brief report, based on the best 

 information that you may have, of the probable 

 amount of honey that has been produced this year as 

 compared with last. This you can determine some- 

 what by the number of offers you have had to furnish 

 honey, and the aggregate amount as compared with 

 last year. 



We are of the opinion that we had a large crop of 

 honey throughout the country last season ; but many 

 bee-keepers held back until after the holidays, expect- 

 ing a rise in price. This gave a false estimate of the 

 amount of honey on the market at the beginning of 

 the season. Then when these crops were unloaded it 

 produced a slump. We should like to get from you a 

 l3rief statement of two or three hundred words, giving 

 your impressions of the crop for 1904, based on inform- 

 ation that has come to you from various sources. 

 The A. I. Root Company. 

 E. R. Root. 



The replies will speak for themselves. 



We have received more honej; this July than we did 

 last, but the outlook for a crop is not as good as last 

 year. From what we can learn from Iowa and Mis- 

 souri there will be from a fourth to a half of what 

 honey there was last year, taking it as a tc tal; but as 

 the stands are more in some sections than in others it 

 is haid to estimate exactly what the crop conditions 

 are; but we believe the above statement on Iowa and 

 Missouri will about cover it. We understand from 

 some souices, however, that Kansas has a big crop, 

 but a greaft deal of it will depend on the late lunof 

 honey. C. C. Clemons & Co., 



Aug. 3. Kansas City, Mo. 



It is impossible for us to give you any correct figures 

 in regard to last year's crop of comb and extracted 

 honey, as the market, the entire season, has been in 

 an irregular condition. There were large quantities 

 of comb honey carried over of the 1902 crop, and al- 

 most every dealer in this market was overstocked on 

 the article, and little new comb honey was brought 

 here in carload lots. We, at least, don't know of a 

 single car which came to this market. The situation 

 was almost the same on extracted honey, and there is 

 some of the 1902 crop of extracted honey held in this 

 market yet. The offerings of honey were numerous 

 last year, but more .so this season for new honey. The 

 demand is very limited as yet. Quotations are more 

 or Uss nominal. R Hartmann & Co., 



Aug. 4. St. Louis, Mo. 



It is a little too early to give a fair estimate of the 

 honey-crop for this year. It is, however; a fact that so 

 far the bees have done very little. To start with, a 

 great many bees did not get through the very severe 

 winter ; then the clover-blossom was a failure, with a 

 good deal of wet weather to hinder bees from work- 

 ing. They are now working in basswood, which 

 promises to yield well; but on the whole we can not 

 expect more than half an average crop. So far as I 

 can learn, there is very little honey carried over from 

 last year, so we think prices will be a little higher 

 than last year. Honey, however, is an article that 

 will be used only at a certain price. When it goes 

 beyond that, other things are used in its place. 

 Therefore, in spite of the short crop we do not think it 

 will command more than an ordinary price. 



M. Mover & Son, 



Aug. 4. Toronto, Can. 



