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ona the rvérace is the average length of life of the cages in any group. There 
is a cleéarecut difference between the 1/2 to 1 and the 2 to 1 groups, but not so 
narked a difference between the 1 to 1 and 1/2 to 1 groups, and no explanation 
has been offered of the superiority of the 1/2 to 1 syrup. The incubator is 
being checked at 100° F,, and another test will start soon, This test was run 
at 90° F. and 65 percent humidity." 
A. P. Sturtevant, in charge of the Internountain States Bee Culture Field 
Laboratory, Laramie, Wyo., reports results of the examination of 75.samples of 
commercial Intermountain honey. The majority of the samples were from alfalfa, 
“sweet clover, or mixtures of the two, Of the samples, 5.3 percent were Water 
he minim requirement under the U. S. grades. Bight out of the 75 samples 
weighed 12 pounds: or.more to the gallon. So far as cleanliness was concerned, 
38.6 percent of the samples graded U. S. fancy, 58.6 percent graded U.S, No. 1, 
and the rest greded lower, ‘he most significant feature of the stucy was that 
only 1 sample out of the 75 showed the presence of spores of Bacillus larvae 
White, and in this one sample the spore content was below the minimum infectious 
dose. . 
Frank E, Todd, of the Pacific States Bee Culture Field Laboratory, Davis, 
Calif., reports as follows: "Owing to the dearth of nectar at this tine, bee~ 
keepers in the Sacramento Valley are finding it necessary to feed their bees. 
The aveilable feed at this time is in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Moun- 
tains, where Buckeye trees (poisonous to bees) are prevalent and in bloom at 

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White, 26.6 percent Extra White, and 53.3 percent White. The balance were darker 
than White. Not one sample was found to weigh less than 11.75 pouncés per gallon, 
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this time. A survey of the situation last year incicated that buckeye poisoning 
took a toll of colonies in the State nearly as large as the loss from bee dis-— 
ease. In the Sacramento Valley the buckeye poison toll was about 5 percent of 
the commercial beekeepers? colonies. Sa serious is the problem that the State 
Beekeepers Association proposed the eradication of buckeye trees from the honey~ 
producing areas, as a CCC project. : As heekeepers must either feed their bees 
or take a loss from buckeye, they are faced with serious economic losses," 
Hashine Murayama, an artist with the National Geographic Society, is making 
a series of action drawings of bees in color.at the Somerset laboratory. These 
drawings are to accorpany an article on.bees-:which will appear in some future 
issue of the National Geographic Magazine. In view of the fact that practically 
no illustrations of bees in actual colors have been made, the series of illuse 
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trations will be lookedc forward to-with, great interest. 
he beekeepers in-.the drousht-stricken States are faced with a very serious 
situation. In most places the matter of obtaining a crop this year is already 
out of the question and beekeepers are confrontec with the need of finding ways 
ani means of maintaining their colonies for another yeear., Like other classes 
of farmers in croughtestricken areas, beekeepers do not have the cash with which 
to purchase sugar to tide over their colonies. The condition of the beekeeper 
is particularly aggravated, as a colony without food will.starve in 2 or 3 days! 
time. Word has been receivec that the Crop Production Loan Office of the Farn 
Credit Administration can grant loans to beekeepers, but no information is at 
hand as to how generally beekeepers have availed themselves of loan privileges. 
Geo, E, Marvin, of the Somerset, Mc., laboratory, made counts of pollinate 
ing insects in a number of commercial orchards in the vicinity of Geneva, N. Y., 
