640 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



October, 1921 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



will havo to be some pretty difficult ex- 

 plaining done by some beekeepers when tkey 

 do finally attempt to get the market price 

 for their product; or they will continue to 

 do business at a loss and make themselves 

 a nuisance in the business, as they are now. 

 Better not cut prices too far; it is easier to 

 lower the price later, if conditions indicate 

 it, rather than to have to try to raise the 

 price after having established a lower level. 

 The public accepts the cut in price with 

 smiles, but when the price has to be raised 

 then often frowns and the loss of customers 

 are the result. 



The fall flow has been the best ever. 

 Every part of the State has been blessed 

 with an unusually heavy flow of nectar from 

 goldenrod and other fall flowers. Yields of 

 as high as 150 pounds per colony have been 

 reported, but such are doubtless unusual. It 

 is likely, however, that good colonies have 

 stored an average of from 40 to 50 pounds. 

 The fall flow is much earlier than usual. 

 The honey is being tlioroly ripened and 

 should make first-class winter stores. How- 

 ever, many have learned by long experience 

 that the fall honey is never as good as the 

 white summer honey. It may, therefore, be 

 well to supplement the fall honey with a 

 feed of 10 pounds or so of granulated sugar 

 .syrup, in order to be sure that the bees may 

 have a pure food, at least during the fore 

 part of the winter. 



Excepting the doubt that may be experi- 

 enced regarding the fitness of the fall honey 

 for winter use, the conditions in the colo- 

 nies seem to be excellent for wintering. 

 Heavy brood-rearing is going on all over the 

 State. An increasingly large number of 

 persons have requeened many of their colo- 

 nies during July and August. Nature has 

 made all the provisions she can for good 

 wintering^now it's up to the beekeeper to 

 give the bees the protection they need. 



East Lansing, Mich. B. F. Kindig. 



Tr» OttfoMrk A-t beekeepers' conventions 

 in wntano. ^^^^ ^^^^^ places where the 



members of the craft happen to assemble, 

 one often hears the expression, "We had 

 a most peculiar season." There is no ques- 

 tion in my mind but that the reason for this 

 expression being heard so often is because 

 the business is so uncertain and subject to 

 so many factors, such as seasonal and cli- 

 matic conditions. This year has been no 

 exception, and it can be truly said that here 

 at least, we "had a most peculiar .season." 

 After nearly 20 years of commercial bee- 

 keeping (and by that I mean during the 

 time we have made our living from the 

 bees), never before in all this time have we 

 had a light clover flow all thru August, and 

 never before have we had any swarming to 

 speak of. In fact, a swarm in August was 



almost an uiilieard-of happening in this sec- 

 tion. 



This year the second crop of sweet clover 

 bloomed during most of August and gave a 

 light honey flow. Alsike clover, seeded in 

 the spring, came up after wheat was cut and 

 bloomed freely — in fact, is still blooming at 

 this date (Sept. 9). The long-continued 

 light honey flow caused swarming at two 

 yards, and on Aug. 25 when I went to one 

 of these apiaries I found five large swarms 

 hanging in the apple trees there. Seeming- 

 ly they were loath to go and find a home in 

 the trees at that late date in the season, as 

 the limbs they were clustered on had wax 

 plastered on them, showing that they had 

 been there for a day or so. I had been at 

 the yard four days previous, so they had 

 swarmed during that time. Colonies have 

 an abundance of bees and brood — in fact, 

 too much to allow us to feed very early for 

 winter this year. 



Market conditions have changed but little 

 since last month 's report. While prices are 

 about the same, wholesale and retail men 

 say that there is a great lot of honey mov- 

 ing for table use at present. In fact, they 

 think that more is being used than at any 

 previous time. Fruit is rather scarce and 

 not any too cheap, while honey is cheaper 

 and of good quality this year. These fac- 

 tors undoubtedly help to cause the great de- 

 mand that Ontario is now experiencing. 



The Ontario BeekeiJers' Association has 

 a very fine exhibit at the Canadian Na- 

 tional Exhibition now being held in To- 

 ronto. Those in charge report heavy sales 

 of honey at the booth, as they saw fit to 

 pay for a concession allowing them to sell, 

 anticipating that there would be a big call 

 for the honey. Eesults have justified pay- 

 ing this rental, as they will dispose of 

 enough honey to have profits to well nigh 

 cover the expenses of the exhibit. 



This annual exhibition, with an attend- 

 ance running over a million each year, is 

 possibly the best advertising medium that 

 can be secured to bring the merits of honey 

 before the people. While there, it was my 

 pleasure to meet Mr. Spaulding, who is in 

 charge of The Koot Company 's exhibit in 

 the same building with the honey. A con- 

 tinual group in front of the Root exhibit 

 testified to the fact that the public were 

 interested in the educational features that 

 made up a big part of this display. 



While we have a big crop in Ontario as a 

 whole, and while prices have dropped, yet 

 after all we have much to be thankful for, 

 as honey has not dropped as much as cer- 

 tain farm products. If cheaper containers 

 and supplies were in sight, no one would 

 complain about how soon we got back to 

 normal. 



An event of a few days ago that causes 



