GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



November, 1920 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



aries have been requeened and with more 

 or less success. This does not say that foul 

 brood has gone for keeps. I am inclined 

 to doubt it and expect more or le«s recur- 

 rences; but I do know of individual in- 

 stances of some few colonies remaining 

 clean and immune thru the whole season, 

 while 99 per cent of the apiaries were more 

 or less infected, and this is the character- 

 istic we want to perpetuate. 



By the way, while on the subject of 

 queens advertised, some describe and offer, 

 "Untested, select untested," etc., etc. I 

 have had occasion to send for a goodly 

 number at a time and to many queen-breed- 

 ers — always to those advertising as untest- 

 ed. Some breeders on receipt of an order 

 write back they have select untested only 

 ;iud will fill the order if the added price is 

 remitted. Still their advertisement appears 

 in bee journals offering untested. Some 

 might construe this as a hold-up and blame 

 the queen-breeder; and it seems to the writ- 

 er that the breeders of queens cannot afford 

 to send out any but good ones, and, if the 

 brand of untested are inferior, they should 

 advertise them as culls. In the last two 

 years hundreds of untested queens have 

 been bought, and most of them have prov- 

 ed good and some more than good. The 

 best queen on the place one time was just 

 a plain untested one. So much for select 

 and graded, and I am wondering whether 

 the big advertisers can put it over all the 

 time. 25c advance — $25.00 when sending 

 for a 100 — many nice orders have gone to 

 others that don't quibble; and not only 

 that, when other beekeepers ask where you 

 purchase, these breeders are not recommend- 

 ed or endorsed, but a warning sends the 

 order to others. Our experience has been 

 that southern-bred queens are in no way 

 inferior to northern - bred. Purchasing 

 over 300 this season and fiom many differ- 

 ent breeders in different States, I find some 

 strains do show more " ])e[i " and "get-up" 

 tiian others. 



Portland, Ore. E. J. Ladd. 



In Southern Indiana. - ^'"*'';. '''''/. 



ing t (t r tins 

 de|>artment in Sej)tember Gleanings, a great 

 change has come over the weather. l*rob- 

 ably the sun turned the other side toward 

 us and focused one of those "spots" on 

 us. At any rate, after that hot dry sjk'II 

 that cooked all of our splendid bee weeds 

 it began to rain. There was a nice little 

 shower every night, and nice, clear (hiys. 

 How the smartweed did brace up in the 

 cornfields, and the beautiful Spanish 

 needles stretched themselves high above tiie 

 wheat stubble. We had about begun to 

 believe that the rain had counteracted tlie 

 effects of the dry weather and that we 

 would have a fine fall flow to fill the hives, 



but the rain did not seem to know when 

 there was enough, for it continued to rain 

 harder both day and night for the latter 

 part of August and all of September. At 

 last the rain stopped, but too late to save 

 the honey crop, for the flowers were past 

 their nectar-secreting stage. Nothing is 

 left but asters, and the bees must be doing 

 quite a business on them, judging by the 

 smell that permeates the atmosphere for a 

 good distance around the apiary. 



Colonies that had large brood-nests have 

 abundance of stores left over from the 

 sweet-clover flow. The colonies with small 

 brood - nests, especially those run for ex- 

 tracted honey, are short of stores and must 

 either be fed or will starve. 



The denumd for honey seems to be good. 

 Extracted honey sells readily at 30c per 

 pound and comb honey at -iOc per section. 



Owing to the efficient inspection service, 

 foul brood is being eradicated in many lo- 

 calities. Beekeepers ' clubs are increasing 

 in number; auto tours by the inspectors and 

 education among the beekeepers are doing 

 much to stamp out bee disease and prevent 

 its spread to new localities. The heavy 

 rains have made the clover come on in fine 

 style, and at present the prospect looks 

 good for a crop from alsike and white 

 clover; still, it is mighty risky guessing on 

 a honey crop a year ahead. 



Vincennes, Ind. Jay Smith. 



In North Carolina. 



The season f o r 

 h n e y produc- 

 tion in Eastern Carolina has been very 

 satisfactory for nearly every beekeeper, 

 especially those wlio are using standard 

 hives and are giving their bees anything 

 like a reasonable amount of attention. The 

 reports from the western section of the 

 State where tlie sourwood and the jioplar are 

 the main dependence indicate very good re- 

 sults. So that North Carolina may be said 

 to have realized a very fair crop of honey, 

 with the bees generally reported as in satis- 

 factory condition for the coming winter. 



Wintering in this State is altogether an 

 out - of - doors pi'oblem — no basement stor- 

 age. However, winter ))acking is coming 

 more and more into favor, with a view to 

 lielping the bees to a decidedly stronger 

 condition in the early spi'ing in preparation 

 for iiandling the earliest honey flows. Very 

 few beekeepers ]iack all their hives as yet: 

 but more and more of them are packing 

 many of their hives. 



This year's product of honey has been 

 especially choice where it has been produc- 

 ed in standard hives and handled with ex- 

 tractors and other latest applianees. and the 

 tints and the flavors are of the finest. 

 Eighteen to twenty cents per pound seem 

 to be the prevailing prices where the bee- 

 keei)cr sells his crop in bulk, amd relatively 



