April, 1917 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



283 



BEEKEEPING STATISTICS IN MINNESOTA. 



From the last circular of the Apiary De- 

 partment of the Minnesota University Farm, 

 the winter loss for 1915-16 in Minnesota is 

 given as 10.2 per cent — 668 colonies out of 

 6508. Beekeepere owning over 100 colonies 

 had a loss of 9.5 per cent while those own- 

 ing less than 100 colonies reported 10.6 pev 

 cent loss; 37.7 per cent of the IMinnesota 

 beekeepers are farmers. The greatest prob- 

 lem in wintering is the supplying of winter 

 stor€S. 



Of the beekeepers that reported, 5 per 

 cent were subscribers to one, two, three, or 

 four bee journals. Only 16 per cent were 

 members of some beekeepers' organization ; 

 42.7 per cent owned Italian bees. 



* * * 



BEES ON COMBS BARRED FROM ONTARIO. 



Shippers of hives of bees should be 

 notified that bees in hives or in nuclei con- 

 taining combs, if shipped lo Ontario, Can- 

 ada, will be quarantined at the port of 

 entry for a period of not more than nine 

 months. If such bees are found to be in- 

 fected they shall be destroyed. Bees in 

 pound packages without combs are exempt 

 from this detention provided they are ac- 

 companied by a satisfactoi'y certificate from 

 a state or provincial inspector declaring 

 them to be free from disease at the point of 



shipment. 



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DEATH OF D. C. POLHEMUS. 



The editorial staff is very sorry to learn 

 of the death of D. C. Polhemus, on Feb. 13, 

 as announced by Wesley Foster in his de- 

 partment, beekeeping among the Rockies, in 

 this issue. For one who was so largely 

 engaged in the business — one who probably 

 knew more about handling bees in a large 

 way than most beekeepers — he was exceed- 

 ingly modest. A member of our staff met 

 him on his way to the Madison convention, 

 where he was elected vice-president and 

 chairman of the Industrial Committee. At 

 that time, while he did not seem to be 

 strong he gave no indication that death was 

 so near. 



Mr. Polhemus would have made a good 

 vice-president as well as chairman of the 

 Industrial Committee of the Natimial had 

 he lived. He will be missed in more ways 



than one. 



* * » 



DEATH OF EDW.^PD BERTRAND. 



Edward Bertrand, the veteran editor of 

 the Swiss bee journal entitled Bulletin 

 c^ Apiculture , later published under the 

 name of Berne Jnlerndiional" d' Apiculture, 

 died on the 17th of Januarv in liis 85th 



year. Mr. Bertrand was widely known all 

 over tlie world. It was he who translated 

 Dadant's Langstroth Revised into French. 

 His influence was widely distributed thru- 

 out Europe. He leaves a wife with whom 

 he had lived for 51 years. 



DEATH OF J. VANDEVORT. 



Mr. J. Vandovort, of Laceyville, Pa., died 

 on the 10th of February last. In the early 

 80's Mr. Vandevort made foundation-mills, 

 and very good ones too. 



WINTER LOSSES. 



Reports are beginning to show that in 

 most localities of the United States be3S 

 have been apparently wintering well. But 

 there are some exceptions. In the North- 

 west, Minnesota, the Dakotas, Colorado, 

 Montana, and in parts of Idaho, there 

 appears to be some mortality. Some 

 losses have been reported from Pennsyl- 

 vania. The severe freeze in some of the 

 southern states, pai-ticularly in Alabama, 

 Georgia, and Florida, has been hard on 

 the bees and the brood. It has killed 

 off the pollen and honey bearing plants 

 in some of the localities, and this will 

 make it difficult for bees to breed up 

 properly. 



Those beekeepers who are furnishing 

 bees in pound packages, and who may 

 be located in districts where the frost 

 was severe, may be handicapped in fill- 

 ing their orders. 



« » « 



LATEST REPORTS ON BEE CONDITIONS AND 

 PROSPECTS FOR 1917. 



Below we print special correspondence 

 on bee conditions and present prospects in 

 various parts of the country. We asked our 

 correspondents to report on how bees have 

 wintered, condition of colonies and amount 

 of stores, condition of clover and other 

 honey-producing plants, weather conditions 

 and rainfall. Here is a summary of the 

 replies received up to March 20 : 



Redlands, Calif., March 16. 

 Winter loss normal; conditions fair to good; condi- 

 tion of honey plants good; colonies progressing 

 nicely; some shortage of stores; season cold and 

 backward with not sufficient rain to insure crop; 

 bees advancing about with season; more good rain 

 will insure crop; buyers contracting from 7%c down. 

 — P. C. Chadwick. 



Portland. Ore., March 16. 

 Bees wintered well; loss lisrht: clover conditions, 

 etc., never better; winter mild tho prolonged; colonies 

 strong; stores plenty: at various times ^een flying 

 for weeks; weather still cool, later than 1916; rain- 

 fall thirteen inches short; prospects never better; 

 1916 surplus still unsold; indications tend to more 

 extracted than con\b. — Portland Seed Co. 



