394 



GLEANINGS IN B F, K C U Ij T U R E 



July, 1920 



tlio least, it is very wise to play safe by 

 lii)ltliiig ill reserve honey stores which can 

 he sold in the event that there is a fall flow 

 or that it will be possible later on to secure 

 sugar. 



But, even if it is possible to get it, the 

 price may be higher than sealed honey in 

 combs. The heavy loss of last winter and 

 spring was due in part to the fact that bee- 

 keejjers could not obtain sugar late last fall. 

 Do not let that experience be repeated. 



For outdoor wintering the opinion is grow- 

 ing that stores of good honey are better than 

 sugar syrup. For indoor or cellar winter- 

 ing sugar stores are better than natural 

 stores, but for the period of confinement 

 only. After that, honey is undoubtedly 

 better. 



THE DEPAETMENT of Agriculture ai 

 Washington has just issued a new bulletin 

 on buckwheat. 

 Beekeeping in which will be of in- 

 Buckwheat terest to the bee- 

 Regions keepers of those 

 sections of the 

 country where this plant is extensively 

 grown. It may be had free on request by 

 asking for Farmers' Bulletin 1062. The bul- 

 letin is written by Dr. Clyde E. Leighty of 

 the Bureau of Plant Industry, who has evi- 

 dently had considerable experience with this 

 plant. 



Of special interest to beekeepers is the 

 brief discussion entitled ' ' Buckwheat as a 

 Honey Plant." A few sentences from this 

 section are worth quoting. ' ' It is estimated 

 that an acre of buckwheat growing under 

 good conditions may supply as much as 150 

 pounds of honey in a season. " " Commer- 

 cial beekeeping in buckwheat-growing sec- 

 tions is advisable, as bees can make use of 

 the flowers produced and may in turn be of 

 use in fertilizing the flowers. Many buck- 

 wheat-growers, in fact, believe that the 

 weight per bushel of seed is heavier where 

 the crop has been worked largely by bees. ' ' 

 This gives an ofiicial endorsement to bee- 

 keeping in this region, which should serve 

 the beekeepers of the region in good stead 

 when they are looking for out-apiary loca- 

 tions. It is also in harmony with the ex- 

 perience of beekeepers, as the average ama- 

 teur, unfamiliar with European foul brood, 

 has a hard time of it in the buckwheat re- 

 gion. Thousands of colonies are put out of 

 commission every year from this disease, 

 and it is unsafe to recommend anything but 

 extensive beekeeping in that section. 



"The great need in such localities, how- 

 ever, is for a honey plant coining on earlier 

 in the year than buckwheat; as, otherwise, 

 European foul brood is sometimes very de- 

 structive. Alsike clover, sweet clover, win- 

 ter vetch, and, in the more southern regions, 

 crimson clover offer possibilities in this di- 

 rection. ' ' 



We do not understand the author to ad- 

 vocate the growing of these plants for honey 



.'iloiie. In the first sentence just quoted the 

 author has hit upon the great weakness of 

 the buckwheat region; for the honey flow 

 from this plant, coming as it does after the 

 season for European foul brood, allows the 

 colonies to be depleted by disease. Natural- 

 ly, it is outside the province of this bulletin 

 to give the remedy for this condition. It 

 lies in keeping the bees in such shape that 

 they are ready for white and alsike clovers 

 when they come into bloom. This is, in it- 

 self, a paying proposition. The great thing 

 is to have the colonies so strong in the 

 spring that European foul brood does not 

 have a chance. There is probably no region 

 in the country where annual requeening with 

 Italian stock and the best of care in winter 

 are so important as in the buckwheat sec- 

 tion. To the thoroly experienced beekeeper 

 of the buckwheat region European foul 

 brood has no terrors, but there are not 

 enough beekeepers of this kind. This Farm- 

 ers' Bulletin is one which every beekeeper 

 of the buckwheat areas will want to have 

 for reference and for distribution among his 

 neighbors. 



Q{= 



WITHIN THE LAST few months the price 

 of sugar has been soaring and it is still go- 

 ing up. In some 

 Sugar and the sections it has been 

 Honey Market, bringing from 25 to 

 35 cents a pound, 

 and there is a possibility that it may reach 

 a higher figure still. In the meantime we 

 hear of certain profiteers on sugar being 

 arrested, and other sugar-curbing activities. 

 Why sugar has gone up, or whether the 

 government could have stopped it, or wheth- 

 er politics will protect the profiteer, is not 

 necessary nor pertinent to discuss here. As 

 Grover Cleveland used to say, "It is a con- 

 dition, not a theory, that confronts us. ' ' 

 The price of sugar is up and probably will 

 stay up. As everyone knows, the price of 

 honey is affected by the price of sugar. 

 When the latter is hard to get and high- 

 priced, the demand for honey is stimulated. 

 Early this season the honey market was 

 weak. In the meantime sugar began to go 

 up, with the result that the market on honey 

 began to get better, and there is every in- 

 dication that there will be a good demand 

 for honey this fall. 



Conditions that make sugar scarce and 

 high-priced in the United States also ob- 

 tain in Europe. The result is that Europe 

 is beginning to look now to America for 

 honey. 



The canning season will soon be here, and 

 the housewife can get but a jjound or two 

 of sugar at a time. If she can obtain 

 honey, all she wants of it and at a less price, 

 she will use honey, of course, and the bee- 

 keepers of the country should not be slow 

 to inform her about the value of honey for 

 canning purposes. Heretofore, she has ar- 

 gued that sugar has been much cheaper than 

 iioney, and that was true. Now, apparent- 



