424 



When the work is coinpleted it will con- 

 tain between 900 and 1000 pages, and will 

 be sold at $2.50; but in the meantime all 

 orders up to September 1 will be accepted 

 at $2.00, because the old edition will be ex- 

 hausted within a month or six weeks. 



Clover Prospects 



The United States Weather Bureau maps 

 show that thruout the clover area of the 

 country there has been a large amount of 

 rainfall. Clover was already in prosperous 

 condition, and recent rains had given it an- 

 other big boost. Unless we have a very 

 severe drouth and cold weather during the 

 latter part of May and the first of June a 

 big crop of clover is almost assured. Re- 

 ports from all over the clover districts con- 

 firm the Weather Bureau maps. The ques- 

 tion now is, "Are beekeepers ready?" It 

 is a fearful mistake to be only half ])r"- 

 pared and then get only half a crop when 

 a whole crop might have been secured by 

 having proper appliances on hand ready for 

 the flow. 



Long-range Weather Predictions 



T"^p till vei-y recently, at least, tlie United 

 Slates Weather Bureau has given out that 

 it could not make accurate predictions very 

 much beyond 48 hours; but recent develop- 

 ments have taken place, showing that in 

 some cases, at least, the Bureau is able to 

 forecast the weather for a week in advance. 

 In our locality, for example, last Saturday, 

 May 13, the Bureau sent out the report that 

 in northern Ohio there would probably be 

 a week of bad weather — cold and rainy, in- 

 terspersed with sunshine. The Sunday fol- 

 lowing was beautiful, weather hot, and it 

 looked as if the prediction were consider- 

 ably strained. Monday began to show rain- 

 clouds, but it was warm. Then it began to 

 turn colder, and for nearly a week we have 

 had bad weather, just as the Bureau pre- 

 dicted. 



Shipments of Bees in Combless Pack- 

 ages and How they can Make the 

 Difierence between Profit and Loss 



This is, apparently, getting to be q-nte 

 an industry in the United States. Many 

 shipments are constantly arriving from the 

 South to boost colonies in the North below 

 par \\Y> to honey-gathering pitch. The thing 

 works out nicely, because the Southern 

 producer, after his crop is secured, can ship 

 to the Northern producer the bees that 

 would otherwise be useless consumei's, but 

 which, when sent north, are ready for busi- 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



ness again. While the Southern-shipped 

 b?es may die before the beginning of the 

 Northern harvest, they help immensely? in 

 making more brood possible, and of course 

 a large force of young bees of the right age 

 for a crop. 



The value of these pound shipments will 

 be better understood, perhaps, when it is 

 remembered that a colony slightly belcw 

 honey pitch will do but little more than 

 hold its own. A little boost of a pound or 

 two pounds of bees early enough will make 

 all the difference between a good surplus 

 and no surplus. A colony that does no 

 better than hold its own is a dead weight 

 on the business. 



Those who have colonies that are below 

 par would do well to consult our advertis- 

 ing columns, and other things being equal, 

 purchase of the nearest man who has comb- 

 less bees for sale. 



Dr. Nelson's Book 



We beg to call attention to the sketch by 

 Doctor Nelson on the development of the 

 bee egg, on page 447 of this issue. Until 

 Doctor Nelson finished his job, we were 

 without any reliable account in the English 

 language of this interesting and important 

 part of the life of the bee, and the accounts 

 published abroad were all old and out of 

 date. The changes which occur in the egg 

 are very intricate, and a whole volume is 

 necessary to describe them. The article to 

 which we would call the reader's attention 

 is only a brief sketch, but it may at least 

 awaken in our readers an interest in this 

 part of the bee's existence which has been 

 to most of us a sealed book. 



Our readers may be interested in know- 

 ing that, in addition to the commendatory 

 notices of Doctor Nelson's work which have 

 appeared in the beekeeping press, this work 

 has been favorably received by such jour- 

 nals as The Canadian Entomologist, Ento- 

 mological News, The Journal of Economic 

 Entomology, Science, and The Nation, on 

 this side of the Atlantic; in England by 

 Nature, and The Entomologist's Monthly 

 Magazine, and by Miscellanea Enlomologia 

 in France. 



Bees — How Long Can They Remain 

 in a Chilled Condition and Revive? 



On page 416 of our last issue, Mr. H. F. 

 Bohon reports a rather interesting case of 

 how he discovered that the bees of one of 

 his colonies had starved and dropped down 

 on the bottom-board and lay there in a 

 chilled condition, apparently dead. He 

 picked the queen up and carried her to the 



