1919 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



301 



The Italian editor adds: "The evi- 

 dent result of variety of observations 

 is that the number and duration of 

 the flights are, and must be, varied, 

 according to the extension of the 

 bloom, the abundance of nectar se- 

 cretion, which is exceedingly viri- 

 able, and the distance to be trav- 

 eled. An accurate study of this ques- 

 tion may be of value to calculate the 

 divers conveniences in the locatin 1 

 of an apiary." 



Winter Stores 



It may seem a little early to talk 

 of winter stores, in September. Yet 

 this is the month when, in most of 

 our Middle States, the bees store the 

 surplus needed in the brood-chamber 

 for the use of the bees, not only for 

 winter, but for brood-rearing in 

 spring. 



The older we are, the better we 

 realize that the bees are too often 

 restricted, for stores, to an insufli- 

 cient amount. In the production of 

 extracted honey, especially when the 

 supers are of easy access to the bees, 

 they often fail to store a sufficient 

 amount in the lower story to carry 

 them through. Not so in comb- 

 honey production. lis the latter case, 

 they always, or nearly aTways, crowd 

 the brood-combs with honey, so that 

 the queen may even be narrowed 

 down to a few combs only for breed- 

 ing. Both of these conditions are 

 bad. If the breeding room is de- 

 ficient, the amount of brood reared 

 at the proper time to furnish a good 

 cluster of young bees for winter will 

 be inadequate. A small winter clus- 

 ter in a hive full of honey is as bad 

 as a larger cluster with insufficient 

 food. 



This is the month when we must 

 investigate the conditions of the 

 brood-nest. If too little honey is 

 placed there, we find it quite benefi- 

 cial to crowd the bees into a smaller 

 number of supers, so that enough of 

 the crop may be placed in the brood- 

 nest, above the cluster, where it will 

 be handiest. If two stories are used 

 for winter, we may find the lower 

 one so destitute of honey that it is 

 of but little use, unless we follow 

 the method of the Canadian leaders, 

 who give the bees sugar syrup in or- 

 der to get the brood-combs well 

 filled. It is very important to attend 

 to this matter before cold weather, 

 or as soon as the crop shows signs 

 of terminating. 



How much is needed for good win- 

 tering and spring breeding condi- 

 tions? Many of the treatises say 25 



pounds. This amount may be suffi- 

 cient, if the early flowers yield plen- 

 tifully in spring. But if, as we see 

 it often, the spring days are unfavor- 

 able, the above amount will prove 

 inadequate. We prefer as large a 

 winter store as 40 pounds, for a 

 good, strong colony. If they have 

 plenty they will not shirk their 

 breeding and will give us better re- 

 turns the following summer. 



If the hive is crowded with too 

 much honey, in early September, it 

 will prove beneficial to remove one 

 comb from the center of the brood- 

 nest to allow the queen some laying 

 room. 



We need a good force of young 

 bees for winter and a large amount 

 of stores, close to the cluster. 



Failures 



We would caution our readers 

 against ordering bees or queens from 

 old advertisements unless they make 

 sure that the parties are responsible. 

 We have found it necessary to refuse 

 the advertising of several who have 

 failed to make good their agree- 

 ments. We try to use every precau- 

 tion to ascertain that our advertis- 

 ers are responsible, but some who 

 have furnished satisfactory refer- 

 ences at the start have failed. As 

 soon as we find an advertiser to be 

 dishonest or unable to meet his obli- 

 gations promptly we refuse his ad- 

 vertising. Some breeders have dis- 

 continued advertising because they 

 already have more business than 

 they can care for; others have been 

 refused space. Orders from current 

 advertisers are most likely to receive 

 satisfactory- service. 



Honey Prices 



There are too many producers who 

 are unable to see that it is worth 

 something to sell honey. The man 

 who enquires the wholesale price and 

 then proceeds to sell to his neigh- 

 bors at about that figure is doing all 

 within his power to ruin the market. 

 The bottler must get enough above 

 the price he must pay to cover the 

 cost of freight, labor, containers, la- 

 bels, advertising, rent, etc., and to 

 provide a living beside. If he finds 

 the producer is selling at retail at 

 about what he must pay for honey 

 his only recourse is to lower the 

 price. If the producer meets this 

 condition by again selling at retail 

 at about wholesale prices the market 

 again is depressed until ruin faces 

 the business. 



The cost of bottling and selling 



honey is heavy. Unless the producer 

 is willing to sell his honey at retail 

 at prices which will enable the bot- 

 tler to live, he should sell his honey 

 in a lump in the wholesale market. 



The only hope for a prosperous in- 

 dustry lies in maintaining a sufficient 

 margin between wholesale and retail 

 prices to furnish an inducement for 

 good men to make a business of de- 

 veloping the honey markets. 



Mould as an Enemy of 

 Adult Bees 



In the present number our readers 

 will find the translation of an article 

 from an Italian magazine, upon the 

 work of the Swedish scientist, Tu- 

 resson, who is attempting to prove 

 that the so-called May disease, of 

 the adult bee, is due to a fungus of 

 mould. 



The reader will notice that the 

 writer of the article in question 

 makes light of the nosema, as a bee 

 disease. We suggest that the trouble 

 lies in believing that all the diseases 

 of the adult bee may be condensed 

 into one. Yet it is sufficiently proved 

 that, among these diseases, paralysis, 

 vertigo, Isle of Wight, constipation, 

 some are more or less contagious, 

 while others are light, of short dura- 

 tion and unimportant. It seems, also, 

 to us, that when the stomach of bees 

 is coated heavily with the nosema, 

 of which examples have been shown 

 in our July number, there must be 

 a very positive diseased condition, 

 and that Dr. White is right when 

 he specifically describes that condi- 

 tion as "nosema disease." 



But the Turesson experiments ap- 

 peal to us. The so-called paralysis 

 which we see constantly, in spring, in 

 our Northern States, comes at a 

 time when the weather is damp, chil- 

 ly and favorable to the production 

 of a musty condition within the hive. 

 So, as long as our knowledge of the 

 cause of these diseases amounts only 

 to a number of interrogation points, 

 let us not discard any suggestions 

 until the arguments and the facts 

 given are pumped dry. Experiments 

 are valuable and valuable are the 

 men who know how to properly con- 

 duct them. 



Horticultural Complaints 



It appears that in a town in Al- 

 geria, the City Council lately passed 

 a resolution condemning beekeeping 

 in the vicinity, because the bees de- 

 teriorate fruits through the re- 

 moval of the honey from the blos- 

 soms. They hold that this affects the 

 flavor of the fruits, and renders them 

 tasteless. What next? (Nahhla). 



