Jim:. Hi-Ji- 



L K A N I N f ! ft T N B K V. CULTURE 



387 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



tliose exposed to the iiu-kMneucy of the 

 weatlier. The broodless period had been 

 longer tlian usual, and most of the losses 

 oi-curred during the building-up period in 

 Martdi. During this nionth there was an 

 actual shortage of pollen along certain sec- 

 tions of our coastal region. Several hundred 

 colonies were forced to give up breeding, 

 and subsequently died. There was plenty 

 of honey but not a cell of pollen in the 

 hives. Depleted apiaries are still fresh in 

 the minds of some of us, and we sliould 

 analyze tlie causes thereof so that when fall 

 arrives we may avoid future losses. The 

 essentials to bear in mind are a young queen, 

 a fall flow or feeding, stores and protec- 

 tion. 



There liave been no alarming reports of 

 brood diseases. European foul brood espe- 

 cially seems to be on the wane witli reports 

 of infection ranging not higher than five 

 per cent. Better beekeeping is making it- 

 self felt, and our county inspectors every- 

 where are working very energetically to re- 

 duce American foul brood. Inyo, Madera. 

 Monterey, Napa and Solano county in- 

 spectors report, that their spring cleaning is 

 well under way. 



Tt is rather difficult to .judge the season's 

 prospects. It will be a season that will com- 

 mence nearly one iMonth late in most sec 

 tions. To date the rainfall is below normal, 

 and during March there was an unusual 

 amount of cold dry Avinds. The year ought 

 to bring nearly an average crop. Outside of 

 the irrigated districts some rain during 

 May would help more than any other one 

 factor to insure a most excellent crop. 



Big Sur, Calif. M. C. Eichter. 



* * # 



InOrCiTOn. After a very much pro- 



& longed and cool spring, tlie 



bees are beginning to build up rapidly. The 

 Oregon maple which came into bloom on 

 March 20 last year started yielding nectar 

 one nionth later this year, being followed 

 immediately by fruit bloom and dandelion. 

 With this abundance of nectar in the field, 

 and with fairly continuous good weather for 

 the past tw^o weeks the bees are regaining 

 much which was lost. However, in many 

 localities the winter loss will run from 10 

 to 20 per cent, and in some individual eases 

 much higher. Much of this loss was due to 

 starvation during February and March. 

 During this time European foul brood got ;i 

 start, but is now being more or less held 

 under check and under proper care cleaned 

 up by the bees. 



There seems to be a growing demand 

 among fruit-growers for bees for pollina- 

 tion. Most of the fruit men are renting 

 bees rather than buying. The prevailing 

 rental price is from $?,.{){) to $;").00 per col- 

 ony. 



The local supply of honey has been prac- 



tically cleaned up for some time, and retail 

 prices remain approximately the same. 

 Corvallis, Ore. II. A. Scullen. 



* * * 



In West Virginia. '^^'^ swarming sea- 



^ son began in earn- 



est the first part of May, which is about one 

 month earlier than usual in this country, 

 taking everybody by surprise. Bees did ex- 

 ceedingly well during the month of April. 

 The brood-nests were crowded with honey 

 and brood unexpectedly to the beekeepers, 

 which fact caused the heavy swarming. 1 

 visited one beekeeper who had taken ad- 

 vantage of the season and put on his supers 

 early in April, and on April 27 he told me 

 that the bees Avere capping the first super. 

 This is out of the ordinary in this country, 

 as we do not expect any surplus until about 

 May 10. 



Bees in general are in good condition for 

 a honey crop, and the floral prospects are 

 good. This refers to modern beekeepers, as 

 last year was a hard year in many parts of 

 the state and the old box-gum beekeepers 

 were almost wiped off the map. Winter 

 stores were light and practically no feeding 

 was done. I know one man who had seven 

 old box hives and got through the winter 

 wdth three, two of which were very weak. 

 I also heard of others who lost practically 

 all theirs. We have many beemen in this 

 state who still cling to the old way, partly 

 because they have not as much as heard of 

 the standard hives equipped with movable 

 frames. I myself read my first article on 

 bees in the year 1920, not because I was not 

 interested but because I had not heard of 

 Gleanings in Bee Culture. Since that time 

 I have read everj^ thing on bees I could find. 

 The public needs more education on the bee 

 industry. I would suggest this be brought 

 about through our county agents, who could 

 talk face to face with people that w^ould be 

 glad to subscribe for Gleanings. - 



Kenova, W. Va. L. Perry. 



» * * 



In Indiana. ^^es in northwestern Indi- 

 ana came through the win- 

 ter in excellent condition except that a 

 much larger proportion than usual were 

 short of stores, and many losses resulted 

 from starvation. The shortage of food was 

 probably due to two causes: first, warm 

 weather in September brought about late 

 brood-rearing which forced a larger propor- 

 tion of honey into the supers; and secondly, 

 a larger amount of stores was consumed, 

 owing to comparatively warm weather later 

 in the season. 



With an abundance of rainfall, both last 

 fall and through March and April, clovers 

 are in fine condition. Fruit bloom and dan- 

 delion were never more plentiful and, since 

 the opening of these blossoms, the weather 



