GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



October, 1917 



low, when by united effort in getting the 

 matter before the public the price could be 

 raised to where it should be. Considering 

 the price and food value, honey is today 

 the cheapest food that can be purchased. 

 It must be remembered that honey is not a 

 luxury, to be indulged in as candy, but it 

 is a necessary article of staple food. This 

 year arrangements have be^en made with the 

 Secretary of the Cotton Palace, held at 

 Waco, to have an exhibit there. A premi- 

 um list is prepared which should prove at- 

 tractive to any beekeeper. The Cotton 

 Palace is held after the Dallas State Fair, 

 and many exhibitors prefer to show at both 



places. 



«- * * 



Tlie problem of combs melting down in 

 the hives has been one of much concern to 

 many beekeepers during the past summer. 

 It is generally agreed that the past season 

 has not been so much hotter than normal, 

 and most of the beekeepers have come to 

 the conclusion that the excessive melting- 



down of combs in the liive was due to a 

 much reduced colony. Those who reduced 

 their colonies materially for the pound- 

 package trade seem to feel that the combs 

 melted down most in the weakest colonies. 

 Some beekeepers who made a success of 

 pound-package shipments doubted if they 

 made money when the loss of the combs 

 in the hive was taken into consideration. 

 The matter of ventilating the hive is a 

 simple one, altho different beekeepers vary 

 the details of the process. Small blocks 

 sawed from the common one-inch lumber 

 serve very Avell for the purpose. These 

 may be placed under the brood - chamber^ 

 under the super, or under the cover, in 

 either case on the front side. 



Mr. H. D. Murry has moved his bees 

 from Mathis to Roxton, Texas. Mr. Murry 

 believes that his new location will be more 

 favorable for his queen-rearing business as 

 well as for honey production. 



NOTES FROM CANADA 



I. L. Byer, Markham, Ont. 



AS intimated 

 in my last 

 Notes, buck- 

 wheat at that 

 time gave great promise of a good yield 

 of honey, as the acreage was larger than 

 usual, and the stand was in excellent condi- 

 tion. It started out well early in August, 

 and for a while it looked like a good crop 

 for the beekeeper, when suddenly the weath- 

 er turned cool and remained that way right 

 up till now, when last night, Sept. 10, we 

 had a killing frost — quite a heavy one in- 

 deed for this date. Much of the later buck- 

 wheat will be injured so far as grain yield 

 is concerned; but as no honey has come in 

 for over two weeks it makes little difference 

 to the bees. 



However, there is a nice surplus on the 

 hives, and the feeding problem will be 

 simplified, which is worth something in a 

 year like this with the high price of sugar 

 at present. Just now the problem is, how 

 are we going to get the buckwheat honey 

 off tlie hives? The weather is so cool that 

 the bees are stupid on the combs; and, even 

 if combs were cleared of bees, the honey 

 is as thick as taffy. With five apiaries, and 

 nearly every colony having a full super, 

 many of them two each, and a few with 

 three supers of sealed honey, it is certainly 

 going to be a job to get this honey off 

 unless we get a big change in tlie weather 

 soon. 



The Crop Committee, in sending out tlieir 



report, say that 

 Ontario has an 

 average crop of 

 h n e y. The 

 (luestion I hear asked among beekeepers,, 

 wholesalers who handle honey, and retailers 

 as well, is, " Where is this average crop ? 

 We should like to get some of it." Last 

 Aveek I Avas at one of the largest handlers 

 of honey in Toronto, and at that date they 

 had not bought a pound of extracted honey. 

 The manager told me that he had an offer 

 of 15,000 pounds at 15 cts. and asked my 

 advice as to Avhether he should take a chance 

 on it. Needless to say I refused to pass 

 an opinion as to whether it was a good buy 

 or not ; for with wholesale and retail profits 

 to be added it would make pretty dear 

 honey for the consumer. 



While there at this same place a deal was 

 just closed with an eastern Ontario pro- 

 ducer for 400 eases of comb honey, each 

 case having 15 sections. While I do not 

 knoAv what they paid for it. j'et I do know 

 that they were offering it to the trade at 

 $4.00 a case. That would mean that the 

 retailer would have to get 35 cts. a section 

 to have anything like a reasonable profit. 

 Of course the comb-honey crop is extremely 

 light; and the most of the crop, so far as 

 No. 1 clover is concerned, is coming from 

 the eastern part of the Province. This is 

 also true of extracted, as I have seen very 

 little honey produced west of Kingston this 

 vear that will izrade as No. 1 clover. Cer- 



