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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



April 



providing the bees come through the 

 winter in good shape. We had sev- 

 eral very cold days— 20 to 30 degrees 

 below zero — and in many cases the 

 high price of honey induced the bee- 

 keepers to extract rather too closely 

 and the high cost of feeding may 

 have stinted the bees' winter stores 

 and large loss may result from star- 

 vation. GEO. F. KINGSMILL. 

 Toronto, Ont. 



California Conditions.— J list as the 

 hopes of the California beekeepers 

 had reached almost the lowest possi- 

 ble ebb, it suddenly rained, Feb. 17. 

 Now we are all at sea as to the fu- 

 ture. Many believe that regardless 

 of the amount of rain that may come, 

 we will not secure a crop from the 

 sages. Personally I do not share 

 the opinion of those who think so. 

 By the time this reaches the readers 

 of this journal we will know more ot 

 the season conditions, but 1 venture 

 the opinion that, should good rains 

 follow through March, with sufficient 

 in April to sustain the moisture 

 through May and June, we may ex- 

 pect a flow from the sages. In tact 

 I should not be surprised to see one 

 of the best sage crops for a number 

 of years if those conditions should 

 prevail. But, on the other hand, it 

 the rains should be very light from 

 now on (March 1), we may expect 

 little from the sages, or indeed any 

 wild flora. There are two factors 

 that, to my mind, have played in our 

 favor, the thorough drying out of 

 the sage being one, the other that 

 there had been so little rain previous 

 to Feb. 17 that the plants were per- 

 fectly dormant, the rain having come 

 just at the time the sage should be- 

 gin its spring growth under normal 

 conditions. It will be all the more 

 vigorous for that reason and will 

 have escaped any great danger of 

 frost. P. C. CHADWICK. 



P. S. Much rain has fallen since 

 this was written. — Ed. 



UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT 



OF AGRICULTURE 



Bureau of Markets 



Semi-Monthly Market News Bulletin 



Honey arrivals since last report: 

 Keokuk, Iowa. — No arrivals 

 Hamilton, 111. — No arrivals. 

 Medina, Ohio— 50,900 pounds from 

 M innesota. 



Telegraphic Markets from Today's 

 Markets — Jobbing Prices 



(In many markets in the honey 

 trade the term "jobber" is commonly 

 applied to the original receiver who 

 buys direct from the grower in car- 

 lot quantities. However, in these re- 

 ports we use the term "wholesale 

 carlot receiver" to designate the car- 

 1'it purchaser, while the term "job- 

 ber" refers to the dealer who buys 

 in less than carlot quantities from 

 the carlot receiver and who sells di- 

 rect to retailers. The pi ii i qui it ed 

 in this report represent the prices at 

 which the "wholesale carlot receiv- 

 i 11 to the "jobbers.") 



Note. — Arrivals include receipts 

 during preceding two weeks. Prices 

 nt current quotations. 



Philadelphia — No fresh arrivals 

 Practically no demand or movement; 

 market strong, very few sales. Ex- 

 tracted: no sales. Comb honey: very 

 few sales, light amber, No. 2, 22c per 

 pound. Beeswax: no fresh arrivals, 

 no sales. 



Minneapolis — No fresh arrivals. 

 Supplies very light. Demand good, 

 market strong. Comb honey: 24-sec- 

 tion cases Minneapolis best white, 

 20c per pound; Colorado white, sup- 

 plies cleaned up, $5.75-6.00 per case. 

 Extracted : no sales reported. Bees- 

 uax: no sales reported. 



St. Paul — No fresh arrivals. De- 

 mand moderate, but exceeds supply; 

 market very strong. Comb honey: 

 Minnesota and Wisconsin: No. 1, 

 light, 24-section cases, few sales 25c 

 per pound. Beeswax: no sales re- 

 ported. 



Kansas City — No fresh arrivals. 

 Demand limited, movement moder- 

 ate, market firm; very few sales; all 

 sales in small lots. Comb honey: no 

 sales reported. Extracted honey : 

 Colorado and California white to light 

 amber, 16-18c per pound. Beeswax: no 

 ^ales reported. 



Denver — No fresh arrivals. Demand 



moderate, market strong. Jobbing, no 

 -ales reported. Sales direct to re- 

 tailers; few sales, comb honey $5.50 

 per 24 section case. Beeswax: re- 

 ceipts light; price to producer 38c 

 per pound. 



Cincinnati — No fresh arrivals. Ex- 

 tracted honey: demand good, move- 

 ment fair, market firm; domestic 

 17-19c per pound; orange and white 

 sage, 22c per pound. Comb honey: 

 supplies cleaned up. Beeswax: de- 

 mand good, market steady. Average 

 yellow, 43-45c per pound. 



New York — Arrivals, 1,019 barrels 

 Cuba. Demand good, market strong. 

 Extracted honey: domestic, yellow, 

 supplies light, 20-22c per pound; 

 West Indian, light, 18-19c; dark, 17- 

 18c per pound. Beeswax: 279 bags 

 Cuba arrived. Supplies very light. 

 Demand good, market strong. Yel- 

 low, 40-41j4c per pound; dark 37 l /i- 

 3S]/ 2 c per pound. 



St. Louis — No fresh arrivals. Comb 

 honey: no sales reported. Extracted 

 honey in cans, supplies light ; bright, 

 17-18c per pound; dark, \6-\6YzC per 

 pound. Beeswax: prime, 39c per 

 pound. 



Chicago — Unreported. 



Dr. Millers 



Answers- 



Send Questions either to the office of the American Bee Journal or direct to 



Dr. C. C. Miller, Marengo, Il~.. 



He does not answer bee-keeoinsr Questions by mail. 



Clean Sections 



I have a small apiary of 50 hives, produc- 

 ing comb honey only. I find it is a grea>t deal 

 of work in our part of the country to clean 

 the sections of propolis, so it looks well to 

 put on the market. 



1. Is there anything on the market to place 

 on these sections, on top, while they are being 

 filled in the super, to keep this gum off the 

 wood? It seems to me that a piece of tin 

 to lay on top of the section, of the same shape 

 as the slat where the section rests on would 

 save an immense lot of work on cleaning 

 honey for the market. 



2. Is there any preparation made that you 

 could put on to take the yellow stain off from 

 the wood and make it as white as it comes 

 from the factory? OREGON 



Answers. — 1. I have never known anything 

 of the kind entirely satisfactory. Even if 

 you should cover them, as you suggest, you 

 would find that the bees would thrust glue 

 between the section and the covering. 



2. I doubt there being anything practical in 

 that line. 



I have produced many thousands of sections, 

 some covered with wood or oilcloth, but most 

 of them with tops and bottoms entirely ex- 

 posed to the bee , and I prefer these latter. 

 I he tops and bottoms are cleaned en masse, 

 ■ :i .ii ,i time, firsl scrap* 'I with 

 some steel tool, and thru sandpap< red, fin 

 ishing up the edges afterward, • as fully ex- 

 plained in "Fifty Years Among tie B 

 and a thousand a day is no hard task. 



Starting Pound Packages 



I want to buy ^ome bees and don't know 



how to get them started in empty hives with- 

 out stores. Do you have any circulars thai 

 describe method of taking' care of bees bought 

 in packages? I have "First Lessons in Bet 

 and "Dr. Miller's Thousand Answers." 

 1. Can one buy, say 1 pound of bees and a 

 queen and put them in an empty hive, say 

 April 20, and not give them any stores, and if 



they need stores, how much would be needed, 

 and what would be best to give them? 



2. Should there be foundation starters or 

 full sheets on the brood frames? 



3. I have six empty hives and wonder if it 

 would De profitable to buy bees to fill them. 



4. I have only one stand of bees and they 

 are very weak and in a box-hive. I want to 

 put them in a frame hive; would it be ad- 

 visable to move them into the frames now, as 

 I have them in the cellar? 



5. How would it be to buy some bees, say 

 1 pound, to put in with them? IOWA. 



Answers. — 1. To put bees in a hive without 

 stores April 20, or indeed any time before they 

 can gather, is pretty certainly to invite total 

 loss. Better not to get them before fruit 

 bloom, and, indeed, it may be better not to 

 get them, in your locality, before June. It 

 will be more likely to your interest to get two 

 pounds rather than one. Whether they can 

 gather or not, it is better to give them some 

 stores. The best thing is honey from bees that 

 you know to be free from disease. Likely you 

 haven't that. Then feed syrup of granulated 

 sugar, equal parts of sugar and water; no need 

 to cook it if it is thoroughly dissolved. Let 

 them have two or three pounds ahead, so that 

 there may be no danger of starving if there 

 an i Few lavs when they cannot gather. 



2. Give them frames filled with foundation. 

 You can give small starters, but will lose 

 money by it. 



. there's big money in it if you man- 

 age all right and have a bumper season. But 

 ii you have had as little experience as I sus- 

 pect, you better go a little slowly and try only 

 two or three this year. 



1 1 ion' t 1 In nk of transferring into frames 

 before fruit bloom, and it may be still better 

 to wait until the bees swarm. 



5. Yes, it may be all right, if you don't fum- 

 ble the thing. 



