Decbmbeb, 1921 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



743 



production and distribution costs, as well as 

 the price of honey, will become adjusted to 

 leave more profit to the producer. 



A year ago it began to look as tho the 

 good effects of the introduction of honey 

 during the war into thousands of homes 

 where it had not been used before would be 

 lost, but apparently many who learned to 

 use honey wlien sugar was so difficult to ob- 

 tain, are willing to use it regularly when it 

 can be obtained at a reasonable price. If 

 the present intensive selling effort is con- 

 tinued a few more j-ears, there is no tell- 

 ing how much honey will be consumed by 

 the American people. 



Those who have made a lot of new cus- 

 tomers for honey but have sold out their 

 crops should by all means secure enough 

 honey elsewhere to supply this newly cre- 

 ated demand, or at least see that it is sup- 

 plied by someone, for every possible chan- 

 nel for the movement of honey should be 

 kept open for a possible good crop next year 

 and other years to come. A constant and 

 vigorous effort on the part of all the agen- 

 cies now at work in the distribution of 

 honey is the only way the gains now being 

 made will become permanent. 



More evidence is coming to the editor 's 

 desk every day indicating a growing popu- 

 larity of the 5-pound pail as a standard 

 package for honey. Let us hope that the 

 time is not far distant when this package 

 will be as well known to the American 

 housewife as standard packages of other 

 food products now so familiar to the Ameri- 

 can people and so commonly found on the 

 grocer's shelves. 



"WITH the lower prices for honey now pre- 

 vailing and which may prevail for some 

 time to come, bee- 

 Some Plans keepers must figure 

 for Gleanings closely to make their 

 in 1922. business show a prof- 



it. No doubt some 

 of the honey now being marketed is being 

 sold for even less than it has cost to produce 

 it when all the factors that enter into its 

 cost are figured, especially in those localities 

 where the crop was light. 



Obviously, unless the price of honey can 

 be increased, the only way left open for 

 the beekeeper to increase his profit is by re- 

 ducing his operating expenses or increasing 

 his yield, or better still by doing both. In 

 many cases, probably in most cases, there is 

 abundant rooin for increasing the now too 

 narrow margin of profit in both these direc- 

 tions, but especially in the matter of in- 

 creasing the 3'ield. 



To meet the situation as it exists today 

 Gleanings has plans under way for publish- 

 ing, during 1922, specific seasonable articles 

 from the best authorities in the country, 

 giving their latest short cuts in production 

 . and their best methods for increasing the 

 yield. 



During the spring we expect to publish 

 the very latest and best ideas from some of 

 the most successful beekeepers in the coun- 

 try on spring management, telling how to 

 have the largest possible force of bees in 

 each hive at the very beginning of the hon- 

 ey flow instead of in the middle or at the 

 close of the honey flow, as too often hap- 

 pen in many of the colonies. Much has been 

 learned about this important problem with- 

 in recent years, and Gleanings proposes to 

 publish the best matter obtainable on this 

 subject just when the need for this informa- 

 tion is greatest in the spring. 



In the May issue, the problem of swarm 

 control will be discussed by beekeepers who 

 have been most successful in dealing with 

 this difficult problem, tolling how to hold 

 down swarming with the least possible 

 labor, and at the same time to keep the 

 spirit for work among the bees at the high- 

 est pitch thruout the entire period of the 

 honey flow. 



In July and August we expect to publish 

 the latest short cuts in harvesting the crop 

 of honey and packing it for market, both 

 for comb honey and extracted honey. The 

 September issue will be devoted largely to 

 the problem of marketing; the October is- 

 sue to outdoor wintering, and the Novem- 

 ber issue to cellar wintering, giving in each 

 case the very latest information on each of 

 these subjects from experts in their par- 

 ticular line. These are a few of the out- 

 standing features now under way for Glean- 

 ings for 1922. 



In addition to these special features for 

 the more extensive honey-producers, the 

 needs of the amateurs and beginners will be 

 conscientiously taken care of in the depart- 

 ments, Talks to Beginners and Gleaned by 

 Asking, but in every case the matter 

 will be selected and arranged with the 

 thought constantly in mind of making the 

 special feature articles of benefit to the be- 

 ginner as well as the extensive honey-pro- 

 ducer, and the Talks to Beginners and 

 Gleaned by Asking departments useful not 

 only to beginners but also to professional 

 beekeepers. The other departments in 

 Gleanings are to be continued and strength- 

 ened. The North, East, West, and South de- 

 partment is being modified, so that it will 

 be more useful to beekeepers everywhere. 

 Our market report service will be strength- 

 ened and made of more value to beekeepers 

 than ever before. Grace Allen and Con- 

 stance Eoot Boyden will continue their de- 

 light contributions for the many who en- 

 joy them. 



J. E. Crane, with his rich and ripe ex- 

 perience in beekeeping, will continue his 

 valuable monthly comments on the preced- 

 ing issue. 



A. I. Root, still young despite his 81 

 years and as much interested in all affairs 

 of life as ever, will of course continue his 

 unique "Our Homes." 



