774 



as it relates to he mailing of queens. A 

 great majority of beekeepers would wel- 

 come the exclusion of liquor from the mails. 



Competitive Civil-service Examination 

 for Apicultural Assistants on Sept. 20 



The United States Civil Service Commis- 

 sion announces an open competitive exam- 

 ination for apicultural assistants for men 

 only, on Sept. 20. The salaries will be 

 $1400 and $1000 a year. Those interested 

 should write to the United States Civil 

 Service Commissioner, Washington, D. C., 

 for particulars. These apicultural assis- 

 tants are de.sired in connection with the 

 extension work about to be undertaken in 

 the South. Competitors will be examined 

 on the following subjects : 



Svijert.1. Credits. 



1. Practical questions 40 



2. Thesis, to be delivered to the examiner 



on the day of the examination 20 



3. Education and experience 40 



Total 100 



Two years of experience with at least 

 100 colonies, or two years' experience in 

 apicultural inspection, or two years' experi- 

 ence in teaching bee culture, are pre-req- 

 nisites for the consideration of this subject. 



Honey-crop Conditions and Prices 



There is not much new to add to what 

 we have already given on page 710 of our 

 issue for Aug. 15. The drouth has con- 

 tinued, altho it was broken by some heavy 

 rains that seemed to be quite general ac- 

 cording to the U. S. weather maps. This 

 drouth, however, was severe enougih to 

 check the clovers — alsike and white. Had 

 tlie rains continued, the crop of clover 

 honey would have smashed all records. As 

 it is, it will greatly exceed last year; but 

 the very drouth that checked the alsike and 

 white has stimulated the second growth of 

 red clover. When the weather is dry 

 enough, the corolla tubes are short enough 

 to enable the honeybee to get the nectar. 

 In localities where red clover is grown 

 largely, the shortage in white clover will 

 be made up slightly of red-clover honey. 

 There has been almost no basswood honey 

 this year. 



Tlie reports from the West are still very 

 meager. The few reports show the yield 

 in the West has not been as heavy as in the 

 East. There has been a large amount of 

 lioney, both comb and extracted, left over 

 frotn last year in many of tlie warehouses 

 of the commission merchants. Whether this 

 will make up for the shortage in alfalfa 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



we are unable to say. Prices on mountain 

 sage and orange honev are firm in Cali- 

 fornia. On Eastern clover the prices will 

 be easier than last year. Comb honey in 

 general, where it is selling at all, is sell- 

 ing for less than last year's prices; for hi' 

 it remembered there was an enormous pro- 

 duction of comb honey in 1915, thousands 

 of pounds of which were carried over into 

 this year. We warned producers not to 

 run so much to comb honey this year. Tt is 

 er.sier and safer to carry over extracted 

 than comb. 



Early in the season the market took a 

 regular toboggan slide; but as soon as the 

 drouth came on in the East, and as soon as 

 a knowledge of the shorter crop in the West 

 became general, the market began to re- 

 cover and find itself. It is aj^parent, how- 

 ever, that Eastern honey, both comb and 

 extracted, will be lower than last year, while 

 mountain sage, orange, and the lighter 

 grades of alfalfa will possibly bring as 

 good prices as last year. But Western 

 producers should be careful not to unload 

 too nnich of their honey in the East, as the 

 markets there are well supplied with the 

 local production. Local consumption should 

 be encouraged as much as possible. The 

 Eastern markets will not stand heavy West- 

 ern shipments altho they will take orange 

 and sage, all that can be furnished. 



Dr. H. A. Surface; a Faithful Public 

 Servant 



For the last fourteen years Dr. H. A. 

 Surface has been the efficient and energetic 

 Economic Zoologist of Pennsylvania, with 

 headquarters at Harrisburg. He graduat- 

 ed from the Ohio State University, did a 

 large amount of post-graduate work, and 

 then taught botany, chemistry, and other 

 natui'al sciences. He finally accepted a 

 position with the State College of Pennsyl- 

 vania; later resigned and accepted the posi- 

 tion above m.entioned. 



Dr. Surface, a thoroughly trained man, 

 has been one of the most untiring workers 

 whom it has ever been our pleasure to meet. 

 He is a zoologist — one of the best in the 

 country — a fruit-grower as well as beekeep- 

 er. 



Here is a sample of his i^raefical effi- 

 ciency. A few years ago he bought a 

 piece of old worn-out land near Harrisburg 

 which everybody said was good for nothing. 

 He saw its great possibilities in fruit-grow- 

 ing, and began setting out fruit-trees. Af- 

 ter two and a half years of liis skillful man- 

 agement the trees were yielding a basketful 

 of peaches each, and now he is getting fruit 



