1070 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 15 



He gives it as his opinion that what Dr. 

 Maassen, of Berlin, terms BueiUus Branden- 

 burgensis, and what Buttel-Keepen calls Ba- 

 cillus biirri are neither moi"e nor less than 

 Bacillus larvce. If this is so, the chain of 

 evidence in favor of Dr. White is complete. 



Any reader desiring a copy of this circular 

 can o'btain it by addi-essing Chief of the Bu- 

 reau of Entomology, Washington, D. C. 



HOW FAR MAY SWARMS FLY ? 



A SUBSCRIBER wishes to know what is the 

 longest distance a swarm of bees has been 

 known to travel to take up its new abode. 

 If any one has any actual data upon the sub- 

 ject we should be pleased to have him write 

 us. We are of the opinion, however, that 

 the distance it would go would not exceed 

 three or four hours of flight, or at a maxi- 

 mum of ten miles. The bees of a swarm 

 are usually heavy with honey, and such bees 

 can not fly very far without exhaustion. 

 We know that bees filled with nectar from 

 basswood seem to be about tired out, and it 

 is probable that the most of these bees have 

 not flown to exceed two miles. 



THE 1907 CROP LIGHT. 



In many localities, as reported in our last 

 issue, there was a change for the better; but 

 it came too late to insure very much of a 

 yield. Honey is still coming in, in many 

 places. Even white clover, where it rains 

 every now then, continues to yield a little. 

 Many localities are having a light flow from 

 red clover, which the farmers have been un- 

 able to cut, owing to the lateness of the sea- 

 son. Sweet clover is yielding well, but the 

 laws in the various States are requiring it 

 to be cut, while 4he oxeye daisy, the wild 

 parsnip, and other noxious weeds are al- 

 lowed to grow. In a word, the crop will be 

 light and somewhat mixed. It will pi'oba- 

 bly be late in getting on the market; and 

 right hex'e bee-keepers are making a mistake 

 in holding if they have any to sell. 



There will be some honey from California; 

 but while the crop is light the quality is ex- 

 traordinarily good. 



R. C. Ailiin, under date of July 22, re- 

 ports for Colorado that they are just enter- 

 ing on the best part of the season. The 

 weather is line and promising; but he says 

 that unfavoral)le weather might yet spoil the 

 chances for a fair crop. 



Reports from Michigan, New York, and 

 Wisconsin show that some honey has been 

 coming in; but it is clear now that the crop 

 in all thi-ee of the States named will be light, 

 unless from buckwheat. 



We shall be pleased to get reports from 

 bee-keepers everywhere; for the season is so 

 changeable that what is true at one time may 

 be modified at another. 



competitor of honey because it comes on at 

 just the time our product is offered for sale. 

 Our older subscriljers will remember how 

 commission men and honey-buyers have re- 

 peatedly remarked that, during the time 

 when fresh fi'uit is coming on, honey prices 

 are apt to ease up; that, after the fruit sea- 

 son is past, the honey market becomes firm- 

 er. With no fruit in sight, and with a light 

 crop, and with State and national pure-food 

 laws in operation as they never were before, 

 honey ought to sell at the prices that ruled 

 in the early days of bee-keeping. The trou- 

 ble is, a lot of fellows who "can't aflfoi'd a 

 bee- journal " will sell at any old price. But 

 the bad spring has probably put most of 

 these out of business. 



THE PRICE OF HONEY FOR THE YEAR 1907. 



We can now say definitely that the honey 

 ci'op for 1907 is very light. Thei'e is almost 

 no fruit on the market, and that is a strong 



LATER— PRICES ON HONEY GOING UP. 



The honey mai"ket in this issue will be of 

 great interest to those who have any honey 

 for sale. Notice how the quotations are 

 jumping upward. Indianapolis, for exam- 

 ple, quotes the best exti'acted in five-gallon 

 cans at 11 to 12 cts., and best comb at 19 to 

 20. The Pacific Rural Press says that 

 California honey is selling on the coast at 7^. 

 Bear in mind that these prices are wholesale. 



Now that the national and State pure-food 

 laws are in force something will be doing, 

 for the trade is fairly howlmg for honey. 

 Glucose can not piece out a light crop any 

 more. We firmly believe that the best grades 

 of comb honey should not be sold to the gro- 

 cer for any thing less than 20 cts., to say the 

 least. While extracted may not be able to 

 hold its own, that in the comb should rule 

 firm. Hip, hip, hurrah for the upward climb 

 in honey prices! 



A CITY COUNCIL VERSUS THE BEES. 



A LOCAL newspaper. The Hudson Morning 

 Pejmblican, for July 18, contains a very 

 readable article which treats quite at length 

 on the status of the bee industry as a whole. 

 The author of the contribution is James 

 McNeil, who is not unknown to fame as a 

 bee-keeper. The occasion which has drawn 

 out Mr. McNeil from his usual silence is the 

 discussion of a complaint against a bee-keep- 

 er of Germantown, Columbia Co., N. Y. 

 The complaint in question was lodged before 

 the board of health for Germantown by a 

 fruit-grower who, it seems, averred that bees 

 kept by a neighboring bee-keeper sucked the 

 honey from the fruit- blossoms until they were 

 worthless. For consummate ignorance about 

 his own business— the poUenation of fruit- 

 blossoms — this beats the world. From what 

 we glean the board of health has in view the 

 passage of an ordinance declaring bee-keep- 

 ing in the village a nuisance. 



Mr. McNeil has pointed out in his article 

 that a board of health has no jurisdiction in 

 a matter of this kind. The place to lodge 

 such complaints is the Department of Agri- 

 culture at Albany. A board of health has a 

 clear right to regulate matters pertaining to 

 the public health, and no more. This looks 

 like a clear case of pernicious activity. Mr. 



