1919 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



85 



scription should be worth while. 

 What do the American beekeepers 

 say? 



March Beekeeping 



While in the South the bees are 

 I beginning to make honey, in some 

 places preparing to swarm, in the 

 Middle and Northern States March 

 is the most critical month of winter. 

 Many a colony which has apparently 

 done well through the cold months 

 begins to dwindle in March. The 

 hive may be short of stores, if not 

 well provided in the fall, or the be<:s, 

 while rearing brood, may make too 

 many trips for water in a half sun- 

 shine on cloudy days and become 

 chilled before getting back home. 



Sometimes a remnant of winter, a 

 few days of exceedingly cold 

 weather compels the bees to again 

 shrink the cluster to the compact- 

 ness of cold weather cluster. If the 

 weather continues cold, they may 

 starve with honey almost in reach. 



At this time, more than at any 

 other, populous colonies prove best. 

 They eat less than weak ones, keep 

 their brood warm and can afford to 

 lose a few bees of those who venture 

 out after water and early pollen. 



If they are plentifully supplied 

 with honey and breed vigorously, 

 the bees may be kept contented at 

 home if a little thin, warm syrup is 

 given them in the evening. They 

 should not be fed in day time, for 

 fear of inducing robbing. 



Do not remove bees from the cellar 

 until a warm day comes. If possible, 

 put the colonies back on the stand 

 they occupied before winter. We 

 have very positive evidence that some 

 of them, at least, remember their 

 fall location. 



A French-Canadian 

 Bee Magazine 



"L Abeille" (The Bee), a 12-pagi 

 magazine in the French language, 

 made its bow to the beekeepers of 

 the Province of Quebec in January, 

 too late for review in our February 

 number. 



"L 'Abeille" is published under the 

 patronage of the Ministry of Ag- 

 riculture of the Province of Quebec, 

 by Mr. C. Vaillancourt, chief apiarist 

 of that Department, at Quebec. 



It is too early to judge of the fu- 

 ture of this magazine. But we know 

 that the Province of Quebec, in the 

 short summers that it enjoys usually 

 furnishes as much honey, to the bees, 

 as some of our most favored regions. 

 To illustrate this, we will quote from 



a private letter to us, from Mr. 

 Jacques Verret, concerning the past 

 summer, which was very unfavor- 

 able : 



"Our crop has been poor, an aver- 

 age of 30 pounds per colony, with 

 an increase of only 35 on an apiary 

 of 89 colonies. The colonies sold 

 brought $15 each and the price of 

 honey is from 25 to 28 cents per 

 pound. For the year 1919 we are 

 asking $21.50 for colonies of common 

 bees and $25 for Italians." 



If we figure that the expense of 

 hives and supplies for colonies 

 amounted to half the selling prices, 

 which is certainly sufficient, there 

 was still a profit of over $10 per col- 

 ony, spring count, on this Quebec 

 apiary in a season much under av- 

 erage. 



This ind ; <'-i'es a thrifty condition 

 and is surHy an inducement for the 

 beekeepers of Quebec to sustain a 

 magazine devoted to their industry. 

 We wish the new macazine good 

 luck. 



A New Interest in Bees 



There never was a time when our 

 educational institutions were giving 

 so much attention to bees as now. 

 More than half of the agricultural 

 colleges now support beekeeping 

 courses. Boys' and girls' bee clubs 

 are becoming popular and beekeep- 

 ing short courses and conventions 

 are matters of every-day occurrence. 

 Following the California series of 

 short courses for commercial honey- 

 producers, the University of New 

 York offers a similar course. Short 

 courses of a more general nature 

 are also offered at Kansas and On- 

 tario Agricultural Colleges. It is ex- 

 pected that several other States will 

 announce such courses for the spring 

 months. 



In times gone by conventions were 

 infrequent and the journals reported 

 the proceedings rather fully. To do 

 that now would be an impossibility, 

 since state and county meetings of 

 beekeepers are held everywhere with 

 increasing frequency. 



A Franco-American-Palestine 

 Beekeeper 



We quote the following from a let- 

 ter of our old friend Ph. J. Balden- 

 sperger : 



Nice, December 2, 1918. 



Received your kind letter of No- 

 vember 2, a few days in advance of 

 the number containing my article on 

 Punics, and was glad to see that you 

 appreciate fully my views, in another 

 article from your pen. 



We have them at last; thanks to 

 the Yanks, in a great measure, and 

 we have our Alsace-Lorraine back 

 again. When I was a boy, in Jerusa- 

 lem, I heard that ghastly music of 

 the "Sedantag." I went to France in 

 1875 and enlisted for five years, hop- 

 ing to take back the lost provinces. 

 But it was too soon. Back to the 

 Orient, in 1881, I first read the 

 American Bee Journal and Gleanings, 

 when I met D. A. Jones and Benton. 

 Then I became engaged to an Ameri- 

 can young lady and married her in 

 1884. 



This sealed my alliance with Amer- 

 ica. Now the dream has come true. 

 Vive la Republique Universelle. 



How much I was touched by the 

 letter of Sevalle, in the September 

 number, I cannot express; but your 

 broad views on our future humanity 

 almost surpassed me. Yet I heartily 

 thank you for your idea of inviting 

 all beekeepers at one table, not 

 omitting * * * Berlepsch and Dzi- 

 erzon. That was grand, at a moment 

 when the armistice was not yet 

 signed, not yet in view. 



We are expecting your President, 

 and hope peace on earth will be re- 

 stored for good. 



Thanking you once more, I am, 

 Ph. J. BALDEN SPERGER. 



Downward Trend of Prices 



As this is written newspaper re- 

 ports announce a sharp decline in the 

 piece of butterfat, with the further 

 statement that a second drop is to be 

 expected shortly. Several other arti- 

 cles show a downward trend. As yet 

 there has been no decided drop in 

 honey prices, owing to the fact that 

 the supply in the hands of the pro- 

 ducers has almost been exhausted. A 

 few concerns are offering honey at 

 slightly lower prices and it is not to 

 be expected that the present ex- 

 tremely high quotations will hold for 

 another crop. There never was a 

 time when beekeepers needed to or- 

 ganize as now. Within a few years 

 past honey sold at ruinous prices, 

 which were shortly followed by 

 prices higher than the most opti- 

 mistic thought possible. It is highly 

 important just now that the beekeep- 

 ers take prompt action to stimulate 

 interest in the use of honey as a sta- 

 ple product to prevent the return to 

 the disastrously low levels of the re- 

 cent past. 



When the new crop starts to move 

 the test may come. If there should 

 be a decided break in market prices 

 it may be hard to raise again to a 

 living scale. Beekeepers should 

 study advertising during the coming 

 months as never before. We don't 

 expect war prices but we must have 

 a profit above the cost of production. 

 We cannot afford to let the public 

 forget to ask for honey. 



