704 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



NOVEMBEH, 1921 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



was secured. By August most of the bee- 

 keepers in unfavorable locations had de- 

 cided that they could not possibly get a 

 surplus and would probably have to feed 

 their bees. However, fall flowers came on 

 early and secreted nectar freely. One bee- 

 keeper reports having secured 700 sections 

 of honey after the middle of August in the 

 vicinity of Madison. This apiary was lo- 

 cated near low marshy ground where the 

 soil moisture had not been greatly reduced. 

 The buckwheat honey flow was good and 

 practically every beekeeper in the buck- 

 wheat sections secured a fair surplus. Dur- 

 ing September we had an unusual amount 

 of rain, and the clover and other honey 

 plants are at present in excellent condition. 

 It is quite likely that some of our bee- 

 keepers will come to grief this winter, un- 

 less they have held back stores or feed the 

 bees sugar syrup. The weather continued 

 warm and up to October first we had no 

 frost. The bees are still rearing large 

 amounts of brood, and many colonies will 

 go into winter quarters strong in bees, but 

 short in stores unless beekeepers are ex- 

 tremely careful. 



Eeports indicate an unusual variation in 

 production. Racine. Milwaukee, Washing- 

 ton, Ozaukee, and Sheboygan counties were 

 favored with a good honey flow. The south- 

 west portion of the State and the western 

 tier of counties were away below normal in 

 production, while the northern tier of coun- 

 ties are high. The early yield in the north- 

 central sections was very poor, but all of the 

 good beekeepers were able to secure a sur- 

 plus from willow-herb and other late sum- 

 mer flowers. The yield for the entire State 

 is less than 40 per cent of last year, and 

 with the exception of Milwaukee and ad- 

 joining counties the crop was not more 

 than 50 per cent. A few reports have been 

 turned in showing that it was necessary 

 for some even to feed their bees during the 

 summer. 



Lack of organization and co-operation 

 among beekeepers is well demonstrated by 

 the reports on prices. No two beekeepers 

 in any one county seem to have the same 

 standard for prices either wholesale or re- 

 tail. Prices for the State vary all the way 

 from 16 cents to 35 cents wholesale for comb 

 honey, and from 20 cents to 35 cents retail. 

 Prices for extracted honey run from 12i/^ 

 cents to 20 cents wholesale, and from 12% 

 cents to 35 cents retail. One beekeeper re- 

 ports retailing at 18 cents in 5-pound 

 pails. With such a variation, it is evident 

 that honey prices cannot be stabilized, and 

 in some counties where there is practically 

 no crop at all, beekeepers who have small 

 amounts are offering it at ridicuously low 

 prices. Some beekeepers who report low 

 prices claim that they cannot find a market 

 for their honey, and that the local market 



will take care of only small quantities. 

 This in spite of the fact that in some coun- 

 ties there is no honey at all. 



Lack of co-operation and a marketing or- 

 ganization to stabilize the price and to se- 

 cure distribution is evidently responsible for 

 this condition. An organized selling agency 

 should help a great deal in eliminating this 

 situation, and we all hope that within the 

 next few years our beekeepers will become 

 aware of this fact and will unite in a state- 

 wide marketing organization. 



Madison, Wis. H. F. Wilson. 



« * * 



In Michigan.— p«i«^ie\^«^t ^^^^ y^^- 



o ter quarters last fall m 



excellent condition both as to the age of 

 the bees and the quality and quantity of 

 stores. Then came one of the mildest win- 

 ters ever known, and. the colonies naturally 

 came thru in fine shape. The spring was 

 early as a result, and the bees were gather- 

 ing pollen in late March, tho it is not un- 

 usual for them to be held off until late April 

 or early May. 



With this exceptionally favorable start, 

 had not the weatherman been partial to 

 some localities and passed the drouth to 

 others, a bumper crop would surely have re- 

 sulted for Michigan; but unfortunately this 

 particular location got practically no rain 

 in June and July, resulting in a very light 

 crop of white honey. By the way, when the 

 crop is light, the color is always darker and 

 vice versa. The fall honey plants got a 

 very slow start, and the buckwheat that 

 was sown lay in the soil without germinat- 

 ing: whereas, where the soil was naturally' 

 moist, everything advanced quite naturally. 

 Then came the rains and favorable weather 

 and the fall plants took a new life; the 

 buckwheat germinated, and fields of this 

 dark honey-secreting plant were in all stages 

 of growth, resulting in a continuous flow 

 until late in September, there being no 

 frost to cut the bloom even at this date. 

 So bees are again going into winter quar- 

 ters in fine shape. 



Now what about the disposition of the 

 honey crop? What we require more than 

 anything else is organization, co-operation, 

 and a well-worked out per capita distribu- 

 tion of our honey. With sugar continually 

 declining and no acceptable offers from the 

 extensive buyers, every beekeeper from the 

 backlot producer to the specialist got out 

 and hustled. With no understanding as to 

 prices they should receive, each one got 

 what he could and with the continuous 

 advertising and soliciting practically all 

 honeys are sold excepting a portion of the 

 dark. One person with some three to four 

 hundred colonies told me that he had two 

 chances in one day to sell his entire crop, 

 after he had it pretty well disposed of, to 

 local parties who wishes to pail it up and 



