June, 1 D'J'J 



G Ij E A N I N G S IN BEE C U L T U R E 



389 



a FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



plenty of supers for a bumper crop, even 

 though wo may not expect to use them. 



New York is again to be favored with a 

 real live extension specialist in beekeeping 

 in the person of Prof. R. B. Willson, who 

 will take up the work about June 1. Mr. 

 Willson is a native of New York, a graduate 

 of the College of Agriculture of Cornell 

 Universit}', of the class of 1917, and for the 

 past several years has been beekeeping spe- 

 cialist in Mississippi. New York has been 

 Avitliout a beekeeping specialist since Prof. 

 Rea resigned several months ago. 



Prospects for a fruit crop are exceeding- 

 ly good for everything except Baldwin ap- 

 ples. H. M. Myers. 



Ransomville, N. Y. 



» * « 



In Alabama.— ;;^*^^ weather to May 1 

 has been very good ror 

 queen-rearing and package-shipping, and 

 most of the bees have built up well but at 

 the expense of the stores. Colonies have 

 been living for weeks on what they could 

 gather and a few days of bad weather would 

 bring on starvation, although they were left 

 an unusual amount of stores in the fall. 



In the black belt of Alabama and Missis- 

 sippi the main honey flow is on before June 

 1, and all danger of swarming is over. The 

 main work of the beekeeper at this time is 

 to see that all colonies liave plenty of room 

 to take care of the crop. 



Tf the crop is good there will be many bee 

 keepers who failed to put up the necessary 

 supplies last fall. These will send rush or- 

 ders to the supply dealer so that he will be 

 swamped with orders, and they will have a 

 chance to kick about the service. 



Several beekeepers of this vicinity en- 

 joj'ed a treat on April 29, when A. T. Root 

 visited Montgomery and talked to them of 

 his early trials and experiences. E. R. Root 

 also talked on some important topics of the 

 dav. J. M. Cutts. 



Montgomery, Ala. 



« * * 



In Ontario Following a March uiuusu- 



ally fine, we have had an 

 April here in Ontario that has been very 

 trying indeed for the bees. Here in our 

 locality bees carried pollen only four or five 

 days during the whole month, and freezing 

 nights were invariably followed by cold 

 raw days. When the sun was shining, some 

 bees would venture out, and in many cases 

 they went never to return. 



Thanks to fair wintering they have held 

 their own better than some years, but I 

 think it is safe to say that the bees, gen- 

 erally speaking, are not in nearly as good 

 condition as they were a month ago. I am 

 almost ashamed to say that in three of our 

 apiaries about 10% of the colonies are 

 short of stores and, as I have often stated, 



I regard spring feeding as a sort of night- 

 mare. These three apiaries had a continu- 

 ous light flow during all of last August, and 

 the bees went into winter, quarters alto- 

 gether too populous and seemingly started 

 early brood-rearing and used up their stores. 

 All of these light colonies are in 8-frame 

 Jumbo and 10-frame Langstroth hives. The 

 S-frame Langstroth hives in the other api- 

 aries are all right, and the 10-frame Jumbos 

 also have enough stores. Of course the 

 smaller hives were made "solid" with 

 stores last fall, while the larger hives that 

 are now short seemingly did not get quite 

 enough. Needless to tell you, we have again 

 made a resolve of "never again" being in 

 the position of being forced to feed bees in 

 the spring. As menory serves me, I think T 

 have made this same "resolve" at least 

 once before. 



Clover has been also checked by the long 

 spell of cold weather; but, as it wintered 

 well, it is still looking good in our locality. 

 However, I hear it is "heaved" some where 

 we have five apiaries south of Hamilton in 

 Wentworth County. 



Last week I was again in the wholesale 

 section in Toronto, and inquiry failed to lo- 

 cate any great amount of honey. Seem- 

 ingly there is but little of last year's crop 

 in the dealer's hands, and it is unlikely that 

 there is much left in the hands of the pro- 

 ducers, since beekeepers usually do not hold 

 honey over when they have any reasonable 

 offers to dispose of their crop. 



T think that one of the best moves made 

 in recent years toward protecting beekeep- 

 ers' interests is the concerted effort being 

 made by experts in the matter of keeping 

 "Isle of Wight disease" out of this coun- 

 try. I have long felt that we were living in 

 a fools' paradise by claiming that our cli- 

 mate here in America was not suitable for 

 the development of this dread disease on 

 this continent, and now that it, has been 

 found in the Alps, that idea is dissipated; 

 and at the same time the danger becomes 

 apparent, since tliere is no telling liow soon 

 it may invade the sections from which Ital- 

 ian queens are imported. By all means, 

 drastic efforts should be made to keep out 

 this scourge, for, if once established here 

 on this continent, it is quite likely that it 

 would seriously cripple the industry if not 

 wipe it out in many places as it has done in 

 Great Britain. 



These lines are being written on the first 

 day of May. I have just returned from work- 

 ing at one apiary, and it was pleasing to see 

 the bees getting pollen and nectar again. 

 This reminds us that, if spared, we shall soon 

 be in the rush of the busy season again. 

 May health and strength be the lot of the 

 many readers of Gleanings, and may success 

 crown the efforts put forth in 1922. 



Markham, t)nt. J. L. Byer. 



