288 



GLEAN; TNGS IN BEE CULTURE 



April, 1917 



lias been spending a good deal of the winter- 

 in that state, and naturally I had a feeling 

 that North Carolina was comparatively 

 warm in the winter. But I also notice that 

 '' low stores " are mentioned. I wonder if 

 the latter item is not more responsible than 

 the cold weather. 



That picture of the apiary in the forest, 

 page 103, caught my eye, as it looks like one 

 of our ai^iaries very much. But when I 

 saw those high trees and then read of 

 swarming and no queens clipped — well, to 

 use a slang phrase " none for mine." How 

 a man can run out-apiaries and not clip 

 queens is a mystery to me, and I am 



sure if Mr. James tried the clipping plan 

 he would not be willing to climb trees any 

 more, which at best is a killing job on a 

 hot day, and often dangerous to body ur 



limb. 



* * « 



Just a word in regard to the editor's 

 racy account of his rush visit, page 109, 

 February. He speaks of the entrances of 

 those big hives as being 1 by 3 inches. They 

 are larger than that. As to strychnine be- 

 ing scattered around the yard, of course 

 that means that the poison mixed with 

 meal is placed in small tins in under tops 

 of outside cases. Some more " explaining " 

 may be in order when that article appears 

 as referred to by the editor. 



AMONG THE ROCKIES 



Wesley Foster, Boulder, Colorado 



TH E writer 

 has to re- 

 p r t the 

 death of Mr. D. 

 C. Polhemus, of Lamar, Colorado, Feb. 13, 

 1917, just three days after his return from 

 Madison, Wisconsin. Little did we think 

 death would claim our friend so suddenly, 

 for, so far as we could tell, he would live 

 for years. Mr. Polhemus was elected 

 vice-president of the National Beekeepers' 

 Association, and chairman of tlie Industrial 

 Section. In January he was elected presi- 

 dent of the Colorado State Beekeepers' 

 Association. We have lost a man from 

 whom we had hoped, and justly so, that 

 great good would come to beekeeping thru 

 his efforts. It will be very difficult to 

 fill his place. He was a man of quiet dig- 

 nity and sound judgment. Seldom have we 

 had in our ranks so substantial a force as 

 was he. He wasted neither his own time 

 nor that of any one else with useless talk. 



Mr. Polhemus was but fifty-six years of 

 age, and had been engaged in bee culture for 

 a little over twenty years, having become 

 associated with Oliver Foster at Las Animas, 

 Colo., in 1895. He decided to take up bee- 

 keeping and moved to Lamar, where he has 

 since resided. . He owned and operated over 

 2000 colonies of bees, and was a heavy buy- 

 er of comb and extracted honey for his trade 

 in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Colorado. 



Beekeepers who attended the National 

 convention will be glad to know that Mr. 

 Polhemus spent a very happy season there, 

 and Mrs. Pdhenuis tells me he was very 

 much pleased with the honor of the election 

 as vice-president and chairman of the in- 

 dustrial section. He had begun plannihg 

 the work for the coming year, and had hop- 



ed to aid 

 members in 



the 

 the 



purchase of hon- 

 6 y - c ontainers, 

 and also had a few plans in mind for aiding 

 beekeepers in marketing. Mr. Polhemus is 

 survived by Mrs. Polhemus, and son Edgar, 

 who was associated with his father under 

 the name D. C. Polhemus and Son. The 

 sympathy of all beekeepers goes to the wife 

 and son in their sorrow. 



THE HONEY-MARKETING SITUATION. 



Extracted honey is in good demand, the 

 sales running probably two to one for comb 

 honey. However, comb honey will be 

 pretty well cleaned up before the new crop 

 is harvested. Prices on comb honey have 

 not advanced recently to speak of ; but sales 

 have been better. The spring trade in comb 

 honey promises to be very good; and if busi- 

 ness conditions remain as they are now, the 

 comb honey will be moved at a fair price. 



Comb honey is offered at about .$2.25 to 

 $2.00 per case of 24 sections, according to 

 grade and packing. The advance in the 

 price of tin and glass containers has made 

 it imperative that the price of package 

 honey be advanced. Pint jars of extracted 

 honey now retail at 30 to 35 cts. each, and 

 one-pound glass jars retail at 25 cts. If 

 one is not careful he will find that where 

 honey is put up in 214-lb., 5-lb., and 10-lb. 

 cans the cost of the honey, cans, labels, 

 freight, etc., will come to more than the sell- 

 ing price. We have to keep revising our 

 prices to keep up with the advances. 



THE WINTERING OF BEES. 



Our winter has been a severe one — much 

 more cold and wind than usual, and conse- 

 quently we shall doubtless have heavier 



