874 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



NOVEMBEE, 1917 



FLORIDA SUNSHINE 



E. G. Baldwin, Deland, Fla. 



SINCE last 

 issue, from 

 several 

 places in the 

 state, east coast and west, has come the 

 elieerin!>' news that some honey has been 

 and is being hai-vested. One man, a novice, 

 reports 200 lbs. from half a dozen colonies, 

 and larger apiarists say there is honey to 

 be had now. But we need to warn becmen 

 against extracting too closely at this time. 

 Under the impetus of high prices and good 

 markets many Avill bei tempted to extract too 

 closely. We know of one man on the east 

 coast who extracted 2500 lbs., and will have 

 to give it all back to the bees again ! Bees 

 need forty or fifty pounds of honey in 

 hives at this time of year to carry them over 

 surely to honey next spring again. Do not 

 be governed by the northern reports of 

 30 lbs. per colony. That must be almost 

 doubled for safety in Tlorida. Safety first, 

 honey seieond. 



AVERAGING HONEY PRICES. 



The latest Government bulletin, No. 7, 

 sent out by the federal authorities from 

 Washington, quotes from nearly a dozen 

 honey markets of the land ; and it is inter- 

 esting to note the prices. We averaged 

 these prices for amber and light extracted 

 honey, all (luotations, and find that it is ISVi 

 cents* per lb. for extracted honey. Think of 

 that! The average price, for all parts of 

 our land, north and south, east and west, is 

 over 1 3 cents per lb., wholesale, for all good 

 grades of extracted honeys ! To think that 

 we should live to see the day when extracted 

 honey would bring as much as butter used to 

 sell for, and more than beef used tio bring! 

 We hope that Florida beem.en will keep 

 posted, and send postals to Washing-ton for 

 copies regularly sent out, of the Monthly 

 Crop Report, issued by the authority of the 

 Secretary of Agriculture, Washington, D. 

 C. Get your name in, and the; reports will 

 be mailed you regularly. Keep posted. 

 That is the secret of success — one of them 

 at least. 



On p. 88 of the Monthly Crop Report re- 

 ferred to above, we note that Florida's esti- 

 mated average crop of honey up to Septem.- 

 ber 1, this year, is put at 58 lbs. per colo- 

 ny, spring count. We do not see how this 

 can be possible, and fear that some old or 

 erroneous reports or estimates must have 

 been received or used. So far as we have 

 been able to learn, for the bulk of Florida 

 tlie average amount of honey per colony 

 will fall far below this. Only in favored 

 localities has there been any surplus to date, 

 (October), and that was mostly gathered af- 

 ter Sept. i. Only a few reports come in to 



the Government 

 authorities from 

 Florida; and an 

 average, based 

 on the few fa^'ored localities, will always 

 be misleading. Federal authorities com- 

 plain that tliey can not get a good, repre- 

 sentative, avei'age report from our state. 



HONEY PRICES. 



Beemen of Florida, remember that honey 

 is now a scarce article, and prices are gov- 

 erned accordingly. Perhaps fewer aj^iarists 

 of Florida take bee journals than further 

 north. It is natural, because much of what 

 is written for the periodicals applies most- 

 I3' or only to conditions in tbei northern 

 states. As a result, many beemen, even of 

 good standing and wide experience in Flor- 

 ida, think it of little use to subscribe to 

 the northern papers, just as most truck 

 gardeners of Florida are helped not at all 

 by the northern papers in the general rules 

 for growing truck. Consequently, many 

 beemen in our state do not keep abreast of 

 the current conditions and prices, and so 

 are prone to take the first price offered even 

 when less than the real value. As a result, 

 they are a prej^ to jobbers and speculators, 

 and the South has always been considered 

 a fair field for exploitation by honey-sharp- 

 ers and cheap-price seekers. We are in- 

 clined to think that the usual quotation 

 readings, such as '•' Cuban and southern 

 honey," etc., that usually make a distinc- 

 tion in name, no matter what the grade or 

 quality, no matter how good the honey from 

 the South, is partly due to the effort of 

 bidders and buyers to keep the South a field 

 for cheap honey-buying but not necessarily 

 for buying of cheap honey. We protest 

 against the distinction that classes Cuban 

 with Southern, especially with Florida hon- 

 eys. The good honeys of Florida are as 

 good as the best; the poor honeys of our 

 state are as poor as the poorest. Good pal- 

 metto, tupelo', orange, and pennyroyal hon- 

 eys are not to be surpassed by the finest al- 

 falfa, sweet clover, basswood, or sage. Per- 

 haps white clover only can surpass them, 

 and even that does not always. 



So again we say, beemen of Florida, re- 

 member to ask a good price for your prod- 

 uct. While the quantity is slight this year, 

 tliere is all the more reason why you should 

 ask a stiff price for what you may have. 

 All other commodities are higher in price; 

 and as you must pay your toll of increased 

 and increasing rates and prices for all you 

 buy, you owe it to yoursehies and your 

 families to ask all your own product is 

 worth. 



