NOVKMRKR, 1917 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



835 



colonies of bees for next season's delivery. 

 What will it be when the season arrives? 

 It is true that higher prices might deter 

 some from placing as large orders as Ibey 

 would otherwise, but it probably would 

 have a tendency to cause the common bees 

 among the farmers to be picked up and 

 Italianized which would be a good thnig. 



I believe the pound-package business did 

 not meet the expectation of some of the 

 northern customers, especially those who 

 did not succeed in getting their orders filled 

 till late in the season. The reason we speak 

 thus of the pound-package business is that 

 the bulk of our package business was for 

 queenless packages to strengthen those that 

 were bought from the South and had dwin- 

 dled owing to bad weather. It is our can- 

 did opinion that eombless bees under two 

 pounds ought not to be expected to build up 

 from bare foundation or even dry combs. 



Bellevue, Ohio. H. G. Quirin. 



HALF THE EQUIP]\IENT, TWICE THE DEMAND. 



This was about the worst season that I 

 have ever seen in this part of the country. 

 In the early spring when the poplar and 

 spring tiowers were just beginning to bud 

 we had a severe freeze which practically 

 ruined the spring flow, so necessary for 

 brood - rearing. All during March and 

 April we had an unusual amount of rain 

 which left the roads impassable over most 

 of the country, making it impossible for us 

 to reach our outyards and feed the ones 

 that were short of stores. This caused our 

 loss in some j'ards to amount to as bigh as 

 25 per cent. The colonies that survived 

 were left in such a weak condition that it 

 was impossible to make up more than one- 

 fourth of the nuclei that we could have 

 taken out in a normal season. 



Then after getting our queen-rearing 

 started, so little nectar came in that it was 

 necessary to feed the nuclei in order to rush 

 up the queens that they might lay on time 

 (which very few did.) It usually took 

 from twelve to fifteen days and often more 

 to get a queen mated and laying, and this 

 delayed deliveries from two to five days. 



Then the clover flow came on with only 

 about half the blossoms that there should 

 have been. The bees being in the condition 

 they were, managed to store only enough for 

 winter with no surplus at all. 



With twice the demand for queens, half 

 the nuclei, and double the work, it was ab- 

 solutely necessary that some one wait. 

 However, I have had very few complaints 

 from dissatisfied customers, for I always ex- 

 plained just how it was; and if they were 

 unwilling to wait I returned the money. 



Fort Deposit, Ala. L. L. Forehand. 



OCTOBER SECOND^ AND STILL BEIirND. 



For rearing queens this has been the 

 hardest season ever known in this locality; 

 and from reports of southern breeders the 

 conditions were about the same there. Each 

 s:^ason we often have a few weeks at a time 

 when rearing is difllcult, but never are such 

 conditions continuous as during this sea- 

 son. Foreseeing the outcome, I put forth 

 extra efforts in starting cells, but soon 

 found that, even after the cells were nicely 

 started, I had to use twice the colonies to 

 finish them, as here we have nothing but a 

 slow flow till July. Even when feeding the 

 cell-builders, they seemed to note the out- 

 ward surroundings, and, altho crowded in 

 two stories, they would tear down some of 

 the cells after they were capped. It is 

 under such conditions that the breeders have 

 had to labor this season. 



Then, to make it much harder on us, we 

 find that in no other season have we had 

 such prosperous and liberal sales on bees 

 and queens. In sj^ite of all the extra labor, 

 I sent out more bees and queens than dur- 

 ing any previous season during the last 

 twelve years; yet it has been trying to the 

 customers, for since May, I was from a week 

 to ten days behind on all orders. I always 

 tried to respond promptly, stating my situ- 

 ation, and leaving it to the buyers to wait 

 or try elsewhere. Some of these orders 

 were passed around to other breeders who 

 were also unable to fill them. This is Octo- 

 ber 2 ; and at this date I have not yet caught 

 up on my orders. 



Glenwood, Mich. E. E. Mott. 



LONGING FOR SUNSHINY DAYS. 



There is no individual more to be pitied 

 than the queen-breeder, especially since his 

 business depends so largely on weather con- 

 ditions over which he has no control. We 

 never saw such a peculiar season as the one 

 just past. There were scarcely enough 

 bright sunshiny days to earn the name of 

 summer. The honey-flow came to a close 

 about July 20, and that ended the season. 

 It was very difficult to rear queens while 

 robbers were prowling around from morn- 

 ing till night. 



Getting queens mated was also uphill 

 business, for virgins were often lost. Where 

 nuclei were strong and well supplied with 

 stores we were more successful. The small 

 baby nuclei were veiy unsatisfactory. 



Queen-rearing, in order to be a pleasure, 

 requires warm sunshiny days with some nee- 

 tar coming in all the time. The average) 

 customer, not receiving liis queens on sched- 

 ule time, is I'oady to complain at once, not 

 knowing that the poor queen-breeder is 

 lying awake nights worrying about the 



