GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



July, 1917 



GLEANINGS FROM THE NORTH, SOUTH, EAST, AND WEST 



THE DIXIE BEE 



SUCH a cold, 

 d i s astrous 



spring! No Grace Allen, Nashville, Tenn. 



rain in April, no 



sun or warmth in May. And now in June 

 an occasional good day, then rain and sev- 

 eral days of chilly cloudy weather, with 

 starting thunderstorms and pouring rains 

 IDraetically every night. 



Clover has come out nicely as a result of 

 recent rains, but of what good is clover 

 bloom when bees can't leave their hives to 



Avork it? 



* * * 



Millers's slogan 

 " Breed from the 

 best" would 

 seem to be es- 

 tablished. A gTadual increase thru the 

 years to three times the former average pro- 

 duction is pretty convincing. I move that 

 slogan be officially adopted. " Eat honey," 

 " Keep more bees," and " Breed from the 

 best." 



Colonies are in unusually good shape, be- 

 ing heavy in brood. At the last meeting of 

 the Davidson County Association one mem- 

 ber reported one colony with thirty combs 



of brood. 



* * * 



From Memphis comec the Avord : " For 

 the first time in five years we are getting a 

 good clover and persimmon flow at Mem- 

 phis. Locust was ruined. Tupelo had 

 started wonderfully, when along came some 

 ice, and in a few days the scale hive fell off 

 15 lbs. and lost for three weeks." 



* * * 



" I shall be satisfied with half a crop," 

 one big beekeeper said recently. " The 

 prettiest prospects I ever saw spoiled," 

 sighed another. " The marketing problem," 

 one writes, " threatens to resolve itself into 

 a question, not of where and how we shall 

 dispose of our honey, but of where and how 

 we shall get sugar to feed our bees." 

 » * * 



As to honey prospects, the season has 

 played seesaw with us. First we were on 

 the very pinnacle of high hopes for that 

 always anticipated " bumper crop " 

 " Mary " refers to in her last letter. Then 

 down we came, hard, with an outlook of 

 complete failure. Now it looks as tho we 

 might finally settle somewhere between. 



* * * 



These are busy, busy days for us all, in 

 all parts of the country. Many are trying 

 to do extra work because of the serious 

 conditions of the time. With earnest en- 

 thsiasm the beefolk here mean to do their 

 share ; but unless the present prospects im- 

 prove materially, their most effective work 

 this season Avill have to be thru other lines 

 than honey production. 



* # * 



If the " proof of the pudding is in the 

 eating" (and isn't it?), the wisdom of Dr. 



" A misdemeanor to keep bees in a box," 

 and a " penalty of from $5.00 to $25.00 for 

 each offense " ! Well, Michigan is pro- 

 gressive ! I venture that the reading of 

 that item, page 460, made Mr. C. E. Bar- 

 tholomew heave a sigh and wish some one 

 would or could put such a law thru in Ten- 

 nessee. He is doing a lot himself, tho, to 

 raise the standard to the point where some 

 such demand might be made powerful 

 enough to be granted. 



* * * 



SOME RESULTS AT COUNTY MEETINGS. 



County organization goes on merrily in 

 Tennessee. The Williamson County Asso- 

 ciation reaped the first practical benefit by 

 purchasing several thousand honey-buckets 

 in one order, being thus able to get a slight- 

 ly better price. Moreover, as I understand, 

 they actually got the buckets, which seems 

 to be something of a feat these days. 



* * * 



At the last Davidson County meeting. Dr. 

 Ward, whose reappointment to the state in- 

 spectorship has just been announced, gave 

 a particularly able and instructive talk on 

 the two foul-brood diseases, telling clearly 

 and specifically how to identify each and 



how to treat each. 



« * * 



Speaking of disease, a friend has recently 

 sent me a clipping relating that some one 

 once wrote a eei'tain country editor asking 

 how to treat sick bees. " This is outside my 

 experience," the editor wrote in reply ; " but 

 personally I always treat all bees, sick or 

 well, with respect." 



" Henry," Mr. Allen asked the negro 

 porter down at the publishing house on 

 June 5, " have you registered yet?" 



" No, suh, I ain't yit, but I'se g-wine to." 



"How old are you, Henry?" 



" I'se 'bout twenty-two," Henry deliberat- 

 ed, " er twenty-three." 



" Why, don't you know how old you are?" 

 Mr. Allen expostulated, to dra^v him out. 



" No, suh, not rightly; 'n Pappy he don' 

 know neither. I done wrote Mammy — she's 



