740 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



December, 1920 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



In North Carolina.— ?«f ^^"^ ^^^^^ 



had an excep- 

 tionally fine representation in the recent 

 North Carolina State Fair at Ealeigh, ac- 

 cording to the Ealeigh News & Observer in 

 a half-column report of the features of the 

 exhibit, wonderfully demonstrating the 

 possibilities in this State both in ability 

 to make a most creditable showing at this 

 time and the vast resources there are for 

 advancement in the scope and importance of 

 the industry. "Bee Culture is a Coming In- 

 dustry, ' ' was the headline the report car- 

 ried. And it declared, ''A most interesting 

 and significant demonstration of the possi- 

 bilities and progress in bee culture and 

 honey production in North Carolina was that 

 embraced in the bees and honey division of 

 the fair, where an exhibit by one beekeeper 

 this year was larger than the whole exhibit 

 for the industry in the 1919 fair." 



This year the exhibits were assembled un- 

 der the direction of C. L. Sams, the Govern- 

 ment bee specialist for North Carolina, as- 

 sisted by E. W. Etheredge, a successful side- 

 liner in beekeeping at Selma, N. C. Mr. Eth- 

 eredge did not put in a competitive exhibit, 

 but had a quantity of honey in tins and a 

 unique display in shallow extracting super 

 combs in which he had induced his bees to 

 inscribe thereon in large bold honeycomb 

 lettering, the words, "Pine View Apiaries, 

 Selma, N. C." The explanation of just how 

 Mr. Etheredge induced his "educated bees" 

 to work out this wonderful lettering on the 

 frames made a most interesting story for 

 the thousands of fair visitors. The lettering 

 was indented. He really intended to have 

 his bees produced raised letters; but he took 

 the completed frames and cut the lettering 

 in the honey just a little too late to catch 

 the full honey flow, and the bees just moved 

 below the honey in the crushed cells instead 

 of building out these cells for the lettering 

 as he had intended for them to do. How- 

 ever, he got a very creditable job of sign 

 painting from his bees, any way. 



Eight of the prize ribbon awards at this 

 fair went to the Lower Cape Fear Apiaries, 

 W. J. Martin, Wilmington, five of them be- 

 ing blue ribbons for highest awards for 

 various types of honey and bee products. 

 J. G. Kiliian, Eidgeway, won first prize for 

 finest section comb honey; E. E. Kirkham 

 first for white honey; and J. G. Powell, Eal- 

 eigh, first for dark honey. The award for 

 the largest and best exhibit went to W. J. 

 Martin, operating Lower Cape Fear Apiaries. 



The JHdging for the Bees and Honey divi- 

 sion was by C. W. Gary of Norfolk, who is 

 especially popular among North Carolina 

 beekeepers and thru whom special supple- 

 mentary prizes went to the various winners 

 of highest awards. These included uncap- 

 ping knife, bee-brush, smoker, comb founda- 



tion, and a number of other articles espe- 

 cially useful in bee culture. 



With the enthusiastic co-operation of Sec- 

 retary Joseph E. Pogue of the State Fair, 

 Director Sams is already planning to assem- 

 ble an exhibit for the bees and honey exhibit 

 next fair, that will be several times larger 

 than the one this year. Fully five times as 

 much space has been allotted to the division, 

 and there are assurances that the cash prizes 

 will be more than doubled by the fair man- 

 agement. There will be big special prizes 

 from numerous sources that will prove a 

 wonderful factor in bringing together one 

 of the finest displays ever gotten together 

 in this section of the country. 



Wilmington, N. C. W. J. Martin. 



* * * 



Tti Onfarin ^ presume most of central 



and eastern Canada, as 

 well as as Ontario, has been blessed with 

 wonderful weather during the past autumn. 

 Today (Nov. 9) I noticed some fodder corn 

 in a neighbor's orchard that had not been 

 cut, and it was as green as ever. Tomatoes 

 and other tender vegetables are untouched 

 by frost in sheltered locations — ^certainly a 

 very rare thing in our latitude for the sec- 

 ond week in November. 



Clovers have been growing all fall and at 

 present are looking fine indeed, making pros- 

 pects good for next year so far as the bee- 

 keeper is concerned, provided, of course, that 

 it does not winter kill; but, needless to say, 

 the real "beekeeper never worries about what 

 might happen, as enough always does hap- 

 pen to make things interesting without do- 

 ing any worrying. 



In the November Gleanings I referred to 

 the sweet-clover situation in our district, and 

 since that comment was written at least two 

 farmers in our neighborhod have burned up 

 their sweet-clover crop in the field after cut- 

 ting it. While there is absolutely no mar- 

 ket for it at present, it seems too bad to 

 sacrifice the crop after it is grown; and, if 

 I had the seed, it would be sport enough 

 to hold it for a year or more if necessary, 

 instead of burning it in the field after all 

 the labor and expense of growing, it. But 

 we still look to alsike as our main honey 

 source here in this part of Ontario at least, 

 and I am glad to note that the stand is good 

 for next season, and that farmers are still 

 thinking of growing this clover, even if is 

 only about half the price it was a year ago. 



Honey markets are still dull in a whole- 

 sale way, as dealers will not load up with 

 large quantities at a time unless they can 

 buy at a price that they feel is absolutely 

 safe. But honey is not the only item in 

 the line of food and other products that are 

 being handled like that; so in this period of 

 readjustment in prices ("which was bound to 

 come sooner or later) beekeepers will just 



