T68 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Decembee, 1921 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



age width of nearly 40 miles. According to 

 the State Soil Survey, this land is exceeded 

 in fertility only by that of the Nile Eiver 

 Valley. A few months back much of this 

 land sold for over $500 an acre. Cotton is 

 the main crop, and blacks predominate over 

 the whites four to one. 



For many years commercial honey produc- 

 tion has been successfully carried on here. 

 Writing for Gleanings in one of the latter 

 years of the last century, Dr. Blanton of 

 Greenville, Miss., referred to this wonderful 

 section as a beekeepers ' paradise. Extract- 

 ed honey is produced, and until recently 

 honey was shipped in barrels to St. Louis, 

 Kansas City, and New Orleans. Cheap 

 labor and large yields of honey made five 

 cents a satisfactory price until the change 

 in affairs was brought about by the World 

 War. 



During the war that five-cent honey sold 

 from 17 to 22 cents. The big slump in busi- 

 ness came in October, 1920. Honey, above 

 all other crops, suffered because honey bor- 

 ders on luxury. The five-cent honey again 

 became five-cent honey and was slow in mov- 

 ing even at that price. To make matters 

 worse, both American foul brood and Euro- 

 pean foul brood had seriously reduced the 

 average per colony yield. The beekeeper 

 was up against a problem, for like the re- 

 turned soldier who would not take back his 

 old job at his former w-age, the beekeeper 

 was unwilling to accept the old price of 

 honey. 



The situation was ripe for organization. 

 All the beekeepers in the Mississippi Delta, 

 contiguous counties, and river counties south 

 were invited to come to a meeting at Green- 

 ville on February 12. A large and repre- 

 sentative crowd of beekeepers turned out. 

 Those promoting the organization had pre- 

 pared a constitution and by-laws that, with 

 a few minor changes, were accepted. Offi- 

 cers were elected, dues paid, and a member- 

 ship campaign launched. The Association 

 pledged by a unanimous vote to assist the 

 State Plant Board in their foul brood eradi- 

 cation campaign which was soon to begin. 

 Six weeks later another meeting was held 

 at which a purchase and sales program was 

 arranged. Dealers in beekeepers' supplies 

 were present who agreed to allow liberal 

 discounts to association members. The co- 

 operative selling of honey was planned. A 

 central bottling establishment was deemed 

 impractical, and the members decided to op- 

 erate individual bottling plants. It was 

 agreed to adopt an association label. A 

 four-ounce sample of each kind of honey 

 extracted to be sold under the association 

 label was to be filed with the secretary and 

 approved by him before shipping. Each bot- 

 tle was to contain a packer 's paster on 

 which each member was to place his num- 

 ber so that any honey could readily be 



traced to its producer. All honey was to 

 be heated to 160 °F. before bottling. 



This association, like all kindred organi- 

 zations, has had its knocks and bumps, de- 

 lays and misunderstandings, and it was only 

 by the utmost effort on the part of its offi- 

 cers that it was able to get ready to make 

 its bow to the public at the Tri-State Fair 

 at Memphis the last week in September. 

 When they received their invitation from 

 this Fair Association, including $150 for 

 expenses and the privilege of selling honey 

 on the grounds, their label was still at the 

 engraver's and somewhere cu route was a 

 car of bottles. But they did get the stuff to 

 Memphis and they put on a beautiful honey 

 show. Incidentally, Delta Pure Southern 

 Honey was introduced to over 1000 Memphis 

 homes. As a result of this exhibit a chain 

 grocery company made an initial purchase 

 for the shelves of each of their stores, and 

 one broker insisted that he be given the 

 business of selling the Delta brand. 



So these beekeepers have made a good be- 

 ginning. They have their heating tanks, 

 their floating thermometers, their labels, and 

 packer's pasters, and they are ready for big 

 business. At a recent meeting the Execu- 

 tive Committee elected to a levy a tax of 14 

 cent a pound on all association honey, which 

 sum will be used for follow-up advertising 

 in the Memphis territory. Things may be 

 slow at first and perhaps discouraging, but 

 these beekeepers believe in themselves and 

 the fine flavor of their amber honey, so that 

 it looks as tho the old five-cent honey, all 

 dressed up and having a new place to go 

 to, is going to bring the desired rp=!ults. 



E. B. Willson. 



Agricultural College, Miss. 

 * # * 



In New York. "^^^ season's rainfall 



has been in streaks 

 and spots, some localities getting plenty and 

 others almost none. The lowlands of Lake 

 Ontario suffered the worst drouth that can 

 be remembered by even the oldest residents, 

 with practically no rain from May until Oc- 

 tober. Orchards and well-cultivated crops 

 showed but little injury, while uncultivated 

 crops, such as oats, were a total failure. 

 Clover, which was none too promising to be- 

 gin with, made a feeble attempt at bloom- 

 ing and dried up without yielding any nec- 

 tar at all, and was all cut and harvested 

 earlv in June, a month earlier than usual. 



There are a good many large apiaries, in- 

 cluding a large percentage of our own hold- 

 ings, located in this dry territory, which 

 have yielded no surplus at all. aiid in the 

 majority of cases feeding has been resorted 

 to to supply the required amount of stores 

 for winter. Some yards have done well on 

 fall plants, such as goldenrod and asters, 

 but in some localities these plants were en- 

 tirely destroyed by the grasshoppers which 



