Mav, 1917 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



371 



March 9, ajiod G4 years. He was a man of 

 except ionally lovable character as well as a 

 most resourceful beekeeper. In 1808, Mr. 

 A. I. Root visited him in his Cuban home, 

 when a fast friendship between the two was 

 formed, and later Mr. Hochstein contributed 

 a number of articles to Gleanings. 



ANOTHER REPORT ON WINTER LO.SSKS, PRES- 

 ENT CONDITION OF BEES^ AND HONEY 

 PROSPECTS. 



Below are printed answers, from widely 

 different parts of the country, to questions 

 concerning: (1) winter losses in the lo- 

 cality of the correspondent; (2) strength of 

 colonies and stores; (3) likelihood of colo- 

 nies being ready for the honey-flow; (4) 

 likeliliood of the honey-flow being I'eady 

 when the bees are ready; (5) condition of 

 principal honey-producing plants; (6) rain- 

 fall. The answers printed below were writ- 

 ten from the 12th to the IGth of April. 

 They show some decided changes in certain 

 sections of the country as compared with re- 

 ports of a month ago. Conditions are now 

 apparently much brighter in Micliigan, New 

 York, and the white-clover section generally 

 than a few weeks ago. The Texas outlook 

 seems to be poor because of unusual drouth ; 

 and conditions in California and on the 

 Pacific coast generally appear to be \ery far 

 fi'om satisfactory. Here are tlie lepoi'ts 

 from our eori'espondents briefly summa- 

 rized : 



CALIFORNIA, reported by P. C. Chadwick, Red- 

 lands. — Winter loss hard to estimate but has in- 

 creased greatly during the last two weeks; strength 

 of colonies good where abiindance of stores were 

 available, but elsewhere poor and there has been 

 much lo.ss during the past ten days from shortage of 

 stores; colonies will be ready for the honey-flow ^vhen 

 on in cases where sufficient stores were available for 

 breeding but not under other conditions; honey-flow 

 from the orange will be on time and ready for the 

 bees but sage and wild flora will be late; as to 

 cou'dition of principal honey - pradujcing" plants, 

 orange good but wild flora fair to poor; there has 

 not been enough rain. There has never been a sea- 

 son for years when so much stores has been consum- 

 ed between February 1 and April 10. Many colonies 

 with plenty February 1 are now destitute save for 

 what they gather from day to day. A week's bad 

 weather would be fatal to many colonies. 



COLORADO, reported by Wesley Foster, Boulder. 

 — Winter loss 10 to 15 per cent ; condition of colo- 

 nies as regards strength and stores, in good shape 

 and probably enough stores; colonies likely to be 

 ready for the honey-flow and the honey-flow will be 

 ready by the time the bees are; principal honey-pro- 

 ducing plants are in good condition; alfalfa and 

 sweet clover are all right in Colorado; there has been 

 sufficient rain thus far. 



CONNECTICUT, reported by L. Wayne Adams, 

 Hartford. — Winter loss about 30 per cent; colony 

 strength and stores good; not all colonies will be 

 ready for honey-flow and honey-flow will not be 

 ready when the bees are; condition of principal 

 honey-producing plants good ; too early yet to tell 

 condition of clover; fair amount of rainfall. 



FLOT?IDA, reported by E. G. Baldwin, Deland. — 

 Winter loss perhaps 10 per cent, a little heavier than 

 usual owing to lack of stores in spring; colonies 

 strong in bees but stores diminishing rapidly; never 

 have known bees to breed more rapidly than this 

 winter and early spring; colonies will be ready all 



right for honey-flow, but quest ion when the honey- 

 flow will come as the freeze did niiich damage; scrub 

 ])ahnett<) is already begun in southern part of the 

 state and will be in flower in middle of the state 

 within two weeks or thereabouts, and bees are ready 

 for flow now; as to main honey-producing plants, 

 orange was frozen as far south as Tampa and only 

 scattering bloom south of there; scrub palmetto looks 

 fine and blooming earlier than usual ; mangrove in 

 the water is not badly hurt, tupelo ought to yield well 

 as the trees are not hurt by the cold; rainfall very 

 deficient over the entire state and badly needed now. 



IOWA, reported by W. P. Southworth, Sioux City. 

 —^Winter loss of bees 50 per cent hereabout; colo- 

 nies surviving are in normal condition but short of 

 stores ; bees in the hands of specialists that have 

 been wintered in cellars are generally in first-class 

 condition and well supplied with stores; bees likely 

 to be in excellent condition for the opening of the 

 honey-flow; but on account of spring being late pros- 

 pects are that the honey -yielding plants will be 

 abundant and will bloom by the time the bees are 

 ready ; white clover is not showing much at present 

 and too early to estimate condition of that plant: 

 abundant snow during the winter and plenty of 

 spring rain ; accordingly clover crop should be good. 



ILLINOIS, reported by .Tames A. Stone, Spring- 

 field. — ^Winter loss perhaps 5 per cent; condition of 

 colonies and amount of stores better than average; 

 colonies will be ready for honey-flow, but there is 

 always a shortage between the fruit bloom and the 

 clover; condition of main honey-producing plants a 

 little less than average apparently; clover is looking 

 fairly well ; there has been enough rainfall. 



INDI.'VNA, reported by .John C. Bull, Hammond. 

 ^Three to five per cent winter loss; colonies strong 

 and plenty of stores; the colonies will be ready for 

 the honey-flow and the honey-flow will be on time 

 for the bees ; condition of clover nothing extra and 

 other plants about normal; none too much rainfall. 



IDAHO, reported by F. C. Bowman, Idaho Falls. 

 — Percentage of winter loss yet in doubt but esti- 

 mated to be 50 per cent; condition of colonies as re- 

 gards strength of stores fair; colonies will be ready 

 for the lioney-flow and the honey-flow will be on 

 time for the bees; too early yet to state the condition 

 of the honey-producing plaJits; rainfall has been 

 sufficient. 



KENTUCKY, reported by Virgil Weaver, Fal- 

 mouth.- — Loss of healthy bees about 15 per cent; 

 strength of colonies normal and stores aljundant ; 

 colonies will be ready for the honey-flow, but a 

 very late spring will have a tendency to delay the 

 blooming of the clover unless the weather is ex- 

 cessively warm from now on ; sweet clover and 

 aster are normal, while white clover is short, but 

 the excessive moisture we are now having is making 

 it do itis very best; reports from central Kentucky 

 where there is nothing but white clover for the 

 spring flow indicate good prospect for a big white- 

 clover flow. 



MASSACHUSETTS, reported by H. H. .Tepson, 

 Boston.- — Winter loss about 5 per cent; colonies not 

 very strong; stores rather short; season rather late, 

 but colonies will probably be ready for the honey- 

 flow; clover likely to yield a good honey-flow; had 

 an average rainfall. 



MICHIGAN, reported by E. M. Hunt, Lansing. — 

 Winter losses not nearly so heavy as at first suppos- 

 ed, as present indications would seem to be that 

 they will not be over 10 to 20 per cent: bees appar- 

 ently strong for this season of the year and stores 

 generally in pretty good shape: bees will be ready 

 for honey flow if weather is favorable during soft- 

 maple bloom and fruit bloom a little later; clover ap- 

 parently in fair condition; rainfall about one-half 

 normal since January 1 ; weather still remains cool. 



MISSISSIPPI, reported by the Penn Co., Penn. 

 — Winter loss about 3 per cent ; condition of colonies 

 generally good with plenty of stores ; colonies will 

 be in fine shape and ready for honey-flow and the 

 honey-flow will be ready when the bees are ready ; 

 condition of main honey-producing plants not the 

 best as some were winter-killed; clover not looking 

 so good, about 50 per cent winter killed; 25 inches 

 of rainfall since .Tanuary 1. 



MISSISSIPPI, reported by the Stover .\piariefi, 

 Starkville. — Bees are very backward and making 

 very little headway, also have used up worlds of 

 stoJ-^s and not gained much ; season here is very 



