UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTU 

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Number 231 Activities for June 
(Not for publication) 




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tion.—-"Various methods have been tested in an attempt to reduce the great 
variation in the pollen count for one gram of honey," reports Alice M. 
Mayo, Somerset, Md. "Instead of using a l-gram sample, it is believed 
that the error in weight is reduced to a minimum if a small sample of 
well-mixed honey is weighed to the fourth decimal and mixed with 5 coc 
Of water, centrifuged, and decanted to 1 coc. The resulting number of 
grains per field is multiplied by the constant 5,555 and then divided 
by the exact weight of the sample taken. This gives the number of grains 
per gram. While the results by this method vary somewhat, the variation 
is much less than that obtained by any other method. The data obtained 
by these pollen counts have proved interesting; for instance: The count 
for tupelo honey from Louisiana is about 7,000, whereas that for tupelo 
honey from Florida is about 56,000; sweet clover and alfalfa honey from 
Montana has a count of about 26,000, whereas sweet clover and alfalfa 
honey from Wyoming has a count of about 56,000; sumac honey has a count 
of only about 4,000; and goldenrod and peppervine honeys from Louisiana 
both have high counts, the former being about 180,000 and the latter about 
155,000." 
Package bee industry holds its own.--E. L. Sechrist, Davis, Calif., 
reports that notwithstanding the general depression, "the volume of pack-— 
age bee shipments has held up well, although the prices have fallen to 
the lowest levels in the history of package bee shipping." The total 
number of packages shipped in 1932 was 28,417; in 1933, 29,276. The aver-— 
age price per package in 1932 was $1.79; in 1933, $1.48. "The price de- 
cline started in 1922 and has continued ever since, the average price in 
1933 being one third that in 1921 and about half that of 1926. The price 
difficulty appears to be owing more to competition between shippers and 
their inability to get together than to the unwillingness of the honey 
producers to pay higher prices." 
FRUIT AND SHADE TREE INSECTS 
Life history of the pecan phylloxera.--Howard Baker, of the 
Shreveport, La., laboratory, has been giving special attention to the 
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MONTHLY LETTER OF THE BUREAU OF ENTOM( LOGY tae 
REX SCP 1S 1933 & 
UB, Veyortument of Agriculture 
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