284 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



April, 1917 



San Jose, Calif., March 17. 

 Bees have wintered very poorly, owing to coldest 

 winter ever known here; great deal of stores candied; 

 season over two months late: rainfall a little lelovv 

 normal, but sage and everything now looking good; 

 fruit trees in bloom will be at their best March 25. 

 —J. E. Wing. 



Parawan, Utah, March 16. 

 Bees have wintered poorly, hon^y - producing 

 plants best in years ; coldest weather in eighteen 

 years; plenty of snow; colonies have consumed a 

 great amount of stores; average prospects for 1917 

 best in years ; all honey sold at high prices. — M. L. 

 Skogard. 



Idaho Falls, Ida., March 16. 

 Long hard winter ; too early to estimate results ; 

 anticipate heavy winter losses on account of heavy 

 snow and long winter ; alfalfa and sweet-clover 

 should be excellent; long winter and heaviest snow- 

 fall in 20 years; expect large demand for bees in 

 pound packages to build colonies this spring. — 

 Idaho Honey Producers' A»sociation. 



Hansen, Ida., March 16. 

 There will be a loss of 50 per cent in bees all over 

 Twin Falls district. It is snowing today. We have 

 had the worst winter I ever saw anywhere, and the 

 bees had much honey-dew for winter stores too. — 

 C. C. Matthews. 



Denver, Colo., March 16. 

 Bees wintering below normal: alfalfa and .sweet 

 clover in fine condition ; strength of colonies weak- 

 ened by severe winter; stores short; heavy losses 

 reported from Idaho and western Colorado on ac- 

 count of honey-dew ; abundant snowfall in moun- 

 tains ; precipitation above normal; quite a number 

 planning to fill empty hives with package bees. — 

 Wesley Poster. 



Grand Junction, Colo., March 16. 

 Winter loss probably 10 to 15 jaer cent above 

 normal; condition of honey-plants good; colonies 

 probably weaker than normal, but with plenty of 

 stores; winter has been severe with a favorable 

 amount of snow. — .1. A. Green. 



College Station, Tex., March 16. 

 Bees wintered much better than usual; horsemint 

 will be short; catsclaw and huajilla may be short, 

 but mesquite will be good ; bees are in good condition 

 now; winter and spring has been dry; more interest 

 being taken in beekeeping than ever before; honey 

 market is cleaned. — F. B. Paddock, State Entomol- 

 ogist. 



Augusta, Kans., March 15. 

 Kansas and Oklahoma bees wintering best in 

 years, now in strong condition and stores good; rains 

 this week make outlook for clovers good, but winter 

 has been very dry; very little cold; .iudging from this 

 date, outlook is best in years for a big year in honey 

 and bees. — Carl F. Buck. 



Stillwater, Okla., March 4. 

 Bees have wintered fine: lost five per cen' : col.mies 

 strong; plenty of stores; prospects for alfalfa and 

 sweet clover good; season as to weather about nor- 

 mal. — P. W. Vandemark. 



Sioux City. Iowa, March 16. 

 It is still winter and the condition of bees winter- 

 ed outside is not known ; the few reports that come 

 in vary widely from total losses to good wintering ; 

 estimate the loss to be 50 per cent on outside win- 

 tering; bees went into winter quai-ters benvy with 

 stores as a rule; but owing to continued low tem- 

 perature in this locality the consumption of food 

 has consequently been abnormal ; bees in cellars are 

 in good condition ; clover prospects good ; moisture 

 abundant but not in excess. — W. R. Soutliwoith. 



Nashville, Tenn., March 16, 

 Bees seem to have wintered -excellently ; crimson 

 and red clover seem badly damaged, but wlii'e 

 clover, our main dependence, looks promising ; con- 

 dition of colonies normal; pollen-gatherers are at 

 work ; fruit bloom is on time and sufficient, stores 

 will be all right ; rainfall ample ; winter has been 

 severe and trying, hut spring seems opening up 

 satisfactorily.- — -Grace Allen. 



Savannah. Ga., Manli IT. 



Expecting a good crop this year despite the big 



frost and freeze of some weeks ago. — Tj. W. Crovatt. 



Springfield, 111., March 15. 



Bees have wintered very well : cold has been 



quite severe, but with intervals warm enough for 



them to get to their food, and less frequently, had 



several good flights ; clover condition uncertain yet 



but hopeful; strength of the colonies and amount of 



stores is more than 100 per cent of an average con- 

 dition ; weather has been uncommonly dry all winter, 

 with very little snow, and only one or two light 

 showers, and that did not get into the ground be- 

 cause of the frost; have 18 acres of sweet-clover 

 pasture that is fine. — Jas. A. Stone. 



Platteville, Wis., March 15. 



Too early to know how bees have wintered; cellar 

 bees are fine ; those outside report liees spotting hives 

 badly ; some dead ; condition of clover fine ; condi- 

 tion of colonies uncertain; good winter stores; but 

 one day since Oct. 24 bees could fly ; long steady 

 cold; bees wintered well in cellars so far; where 

 plenty of good winter stores and protected, outside 

 should winter fair at least. A leport a month later 

 will tell better for Wisconsin. Ground is white 

 with snow yet; cold nights; plenty of ice. — N. E. 

 Prance. 



Hammond, Ind., March 13. 



Bees in cellar wintering perfectly; clover looked 

 fairly good last fall but not so much of it as the year 

 before; weather dry till March 13 when we had a-ood 

 rains; it will be hard to tell much about the bees 

 till they are out of the cellar. — .John C. Bull. 



Middlebury, Vt.. March 15. 



Too early in this section to report with much 

 certainty of the wintering of bees; so far as ob- 

 served, appear to have wintered fairly well; have 

 not had a chance for flight for over four months ; 

 clover should winter well, as the ground has been 

 covered with snow for over three months with little 

 ice on ground ; weather conditions appear favorable. 

 — J. E. Crane. 



Lansing, Mich., March 16. 



In central Michigan winter losses probably 50 

 per cent ; have had steady cold weather thru March 

 with exception of moderate weather for a day or so : 

 losses in many cases not due to lack of stores, but 

 too cold to move over; U. S. Weather Bureau here 

 reports rainfall one-half normal, and temperature 

 for .Tanuary to March below normal; condition of 

 clover uncertain as it had not advanced as much as 

 usual hist fall owing to dry weather. — Elmore .*£. 

 Hunt. 



Syracuse, N. Y., March 16. 



Bees in cellar wintering nife!v ; outdoors, 20 ver 

 cent loss; colonies well supplied with stores; bee- 

 keepers expect a good crop ; the weather for the last 

 two months has been cold, and no flights of bees out- 

 doors ; this month, so far, no flight, and weather has 

 been cold but not much snow. — F. A. Salisbury. 

 Markham, Ont., March 15. 



Too early to make a forecast for Ontario. Re- 

 markably steady cold winter, and bees have not had 

 a cleansing flight : hardly had a day warm enough 

 to let them change clustering spaces; weaker colo- 

 nies show signs of dysentery; would say that if we 

 get a warm day inside of a week or ten days, the 

 l)ulk of colonies will be all right; but unless we get 

 a warm day soon, something is liable to happen; 

 cellar winterers report their bees to be very quiet — 

 in fact, the season has been ideal for indoor winter- 

 ing; snowfall has been light here, but snow has been 

 with us continuously since last November, and at 

 this date nlsike-fields have a light covering yet; al- 

 sike is all right yet; critical time to come when 

 snow goes: other sections of the Province have had 



a heavy fall of snow. T. L. Byer. 



Deland, Pla., March 17. 



Bees wintered well; pennyroyal, altho thought to 

 be badly hurt by the cold, yielded fairly well ; orange 

 uow probably fair, liut owing to the cold as far 

 south as 28th parallel there may be only partial 

 crop; south of that, possible late in Anril or Ma- 

 will give a slight surplus; mangrove badly damaged 

 but too early to predict regarding it; main sources 

 for table honey are scrub and cabbage palmetto now 

 full of flowers; colonies strong but have consumed 

 stores rapidly on account of warm weather; weather 

 fine now, rainfall below average; general outlook for 

 surplus promising. — E. G. Baldwin. 



Liverpool, Pa., March 15. 



Bees have wintered well so far, and per cent of 

 winter loss is small; clovers had a good stand last 

 fall and were well covered with snow; rainfall has 

 been abundant; bees are fairly strong and have 

 plenty of stores; everything thus far is in favor of 

 the beekeeper. — H. C. Klinger. 



Falmouth, Ky., March 15. 



Winter losses about 15 per cent ; sweet clover and 

 ;is((M- in excellent condition, white clover poor; 

 moisture excessive; colonies strong. — Virgil Weaver. 



