GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



beekeeper, before he consigns his honey, to 

 secure prices by mail, based on sample or 

 samples. 



PRICES ON HONEY EASING UP AS A RESULT OF 

 SOME HEAVY LATE SHIPMENTS. 



We have time and time urged the impor- 

 tance of selling honey, especially that in 

 the comb, early. The latter should be sold, 

 as far as possible, in the large jobbing cen- 

 ters in September and October — certainly 

 before the holidays. After that time it is 

 liable to granulate or break down during 

 shipment, and, what is worse than all, car- 

 load shipments of comb honey after Janu- 

 ary' 1 often have to meet markets already 

 overloaded with the product. The situation 

 this year is not as good as it miglit be. Nu- 

 merous carloads of honey have lately been 

 coming from the West, and in some cases 

 have been dumped on to markets already 

 congested. If these same shipments could 

 have been delivered two or three months 

 earlier, when consumers are calling for new 

 comb honey, better prices would have been 

 secui'ed. Too many times producers have 

 gotten the impression that, by holding off, 

 prices will become firmer. In a very few 

 instances (and very few they are) delays 

 have been to the advantage of the beekeep- 

 er; but such delays are always exceedingly 

 dangerous, and usually there will be a slump 

 in prices along toward or shortly following 

 the holidays. It is difficult to get them back 

 again, because buyers, fearing that their 

 comb honey will granulate on their hands, 

 will begin to cut prices. 



While the situation is not quite the same 

 with extracted honey, yet the market on 

 liquid honey will generally ease up along 

 about January. 



This past year has seen an unsual pro- 

 duction of clover honey, both comb and ex- 

 tracted ; and had it not been for the short- 

 ness of the California crop, prices would 

 have been completely demoralized. As it is, 

 delayed shipments of Western comb honey, 

 and extracted also, are being dumped on 

 the Eastern markets, when they are in no 

 condition to receive them. It is impossible 

 to maintain prices under such conditions. 



Another thing that has eased the market 

 somewhat this season is the oi^en winter we 

 have been having. Buyers invariably claim 

 that honey sells much better during a snug 

 cold winter, and there is a reason for this. 

 Carbohydrates (fats and sugars) are heat- 

 producing. During cold weather our sys- 

 tems crave sweets. Neither candy nor hon- 

 ey sells during mild winters as they do in 

 cold, hence it is not surprising that there 

 has been less of a natural craving and de- 

 mand for honey this winter. 



One heavy clover year is not likely to 

 follow another; and the probabilities are 

 that prices will equalize another season. In 

 the mean time a lot of comb honey now on 

 the markets may become granulated, and 

 gi-anulated comb honey, if sold at all, must 

 go at a big sacrifice. 



EUROPEAN FOUL BROOD NOT THE TERROR IT 



ONCE WAS ; HOW IT IS ELIMINATING 



BLACK BEES. 



We have lately been in districts where 

 this disease has held sway for a few years 

 back. But the foul-brood inspectors tell us 

 that it is not as ditlicult to handle as ii was 

 formerly supposed to be. In the first place, 

 it has been clearly demonstrated that a 

 vigorous strain of Italians will hold it in 

 check, and often cure it. Some even go so far 

 as to say that where this strain is used ex- 

 clusively tliere need be no fear that the dis- 

 ease will make any headway, and probably 

 never get even a start. There are numerous 

 instances where Italians are free from this 

 disease, notwithstanding other yards of 

 black bees within flying distance are rotten 

 with it. Indeed, it is becoming increasingly 

 apparent that European foul brood will 

 ultimately clean out the black race entirely. 

 It has already done so in many sections. 



Another thing, the Alexander treatment, 

 or a modification of it, is coming to be more 

 and more thought of for treating European 

 foul brood. While it fails in some cases, it 

 is very clear that the shaking treatment 

 fails quite as often with the same disease. 

 In this connection one will do well to read 

 an article on it by E. F. Bender, in the last 

 issue, who only voices opinions concerning 

 this disease that are beginning to be ac- 

 cepted in many parts of the United States. 



Taking every thing into consideration, 

 the up-to-date, progressive, careful beekeep- 

 er need not fear European foul brood pro- 

 viding he keeps a vigorous strain of Ital- 

 ians, and is otherwise careful to avoid in- 

 fection by buying indiscriminate lots of 

 bees. Indeed, we have heard that in some 

 sections European foul brood has been a 

 blessing in disguise in that it has eliminated 

 entirely the careless, haphazard beekeepers 

 who have always been a thorn in the flesh 

 of the man who makes beekeeping a busi- 

 ness. It is this don't-read-the-papers class 

 who dump their honey on the market in all 

 shapes and at prices that are ridiculously 

 low. 



In this connection it should bo clearly 

 understood that European foul brood is 

 very different from the American type of 

 the disease. While combs can be saved, 

 many times, when treating European foul 

 brood, there is no substantial proof yet 



