76 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



years that the industry has been given much 

 attention. Beekeeping is now in process of 

 development as an occupation ; and in the 

 future this state is going to rank well to the 

 front in honey production. 



In this section there are a few progressive 

 beemen, and a lot who ai'e not. There is 

 one apiary of probably two hundred colo- 

 nies near me, all in box hives. Those who 

 are progressive are mostly beginners, so 

 that experienced beemen are scarce. 



The country has in past times enjoyed 

 some measure of prosperity; but all that 

 has disappeared, and the people are now 

 very poor. Neai'ly all of the best people 

 have left, so that large tracts of once pro- 

 ductive land are abandoned. The principal 

 crop is cotton ; but the farmers have plant- 

 ed one crop after another of it without do- 

 ing anything to replace the fertility taken 

 from the soil. Consequently cotton farming 

 is not profitable any more. I have been 

 talking alfalfa and red and sweet clover to 

 them; but the seed costs 20 ets. a pound, 

 and they, balk at that. Wheat will do well, 

 but the farmers are not progressive enough 

 to take up any new crop. In fact, the only 

 people who are prosperous are beekeepers. 



The honey market here is vei'y poor. At 

 one time last summer the finest tupelo hon- 

 ey sold in New Orleans at wholesale at 42 

 cts. a gallon. There are several causes for 

 this condition. In past years all the honey 

 marketed was taken from bee-trees and box 

 hives. The comb containing bees, brood, 



and honey was mashed ud and strained, and 

 the product characterized on the market as 

 wild Washita honey. From all accounts it 

 was a villainous compound, and prejudiced 

 the dealers against all honey offered them. 

 Even yet they make no distinction in price, 

 and don't know the difference between ex- 

 tracted honey and this other stuff — I mean 

 the dealers in New Orleans. 



Another trouble with the commission 

 dealers is that they have been accustomed 

 to holding up the consignor of cotton or 

 any other commodity, and they are inclined 

 to follow up this policy in handling honey. 



On the other hand, they claim that the 

 European war is causing the market to be 

 so low. No' doubt it is causing much honey 

 to be sent here from South America and 

 the West Indies that formerly went to Eu- 

 rope. This condition will be only tempo- 

 rary, and will, no doubt, disappear soon 

 after the close of the war. I don't see how 

 the producers of this honey can break even 

 at the present prices, after paying trans- 

 portation charges, commission, and storage. 



The southerners do not eat honey to any 

 extent, and consequently there is no local 

 demand for it; and it must be sent to the 

 northern states for consumption. 



This is probably the main reason for the 

 market being so dull. I am fortunate in 

 having a market in my home state for my 

 honey, and have not been forced to sacrifice 

 any of our crop. 



Bordlon\alle, La. 



ANNUAL MEETING OF WESTERN NEW YORK BEEKEEPERS 



BY WILLIAM P. VOLLMER, SECRETARY 



The annual meeting of the Western New 

 York Honey-producers' Association was 

 held at the American Hotel, Akron, N. Y., 

 Dec. 14, 1915. It was very well attended 

 considering the weather conditions. Many 

 more would have attended had there not 

 been so much snow. 



After reports of the secretary, treasurer, 

 and delegates to the state association were 

 read and accepted, a suggested constitution 

 was read and adopted. As the weather for 

 two years has been bad on the day of meet- 

 ing it was decided to hold it in November 

 instead of December as before. Several of 

 the speakers were unable to be present on 

 account of the weather and other reasons. 



We had Mr. J. Roy Lincoln, of Niagara 

 Falls, with us, who told of his method of 

 making increase, which was 100 per cent 

 perfect. His method, very condensed, is as 

 follows : 



When bees are strong enough to swarm 

 naturally, place all the brood except one 

 frame and queen above the supei*s above an 

 excluder. When cells are started this top 

 story or nucleus is set off on a new stand, 

 provided the stock was satisfactory for 

 raising queens from. If not, a desirable 

 cell or queen may be given to this nucleus 

 or nuclei, as the case may be. After the 

 honey crop is taken off twenty-four hours, 

 exchange the nucleus and the parent hive. 

 The latter is generally overflowing with 

 bees at this time. 



The flying bees or old bees seem to get 

 added vigor by having a young queen in 

 the hive, and seem to work harder and wear 

 themselves out getting the nucleus stocked 

 with brood. This means young bees for 

 winter, which we must have to have a fair 

 measure of success. Thus both colonies are 

 in the pink of condition, with young bees 



