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1951 ABJ

3K views 4 replies 5 participants last post by  jim lyon 
#1 ·
Our club just started a library of bee books. I am the librarian and just brought all of the books home last night. One of the items is a collection of ABJ from 1951 to 1996. So today as it was snowing outside I started on the 1951 book.

I was pleased to see the similarity between today's practices and that years. If you don't pay attention to the prices a lot of the queen sales are from the same areas though not many of the same names. What does seem to be different is the agricultural practices that are discussed. Although I am only a hobbyist I'd bet not nearly as much pollination goes to clover and other crops here. Unless you are growing them for seed production does anyone still grow those type of crops?

The talk of pesticides mentions no familiar chemicals except for DDT and that is only from talk about the problems it caused way beyond my years. I should mention that I would have been 3 years old when this was published.

They also talked about the shortage of tin for storage and shipping due to the war effort. It took me a while to realize they meant the Korean war. I did see one ad for 1 lb plastic containers which surprised me as I would have suspected those not to appear until the 1970's.

Anyway lots of time to follow through the years to see how things changed in the bee world. Although not lots of snow days ahead to make it all the way til 1996.
 
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#2 ·
Plastic Jars in 1951. Curious they would advertise them as they would have been very expensive at the time. Although plastic bottles were first used commercially in 1947, they remained relatively expensive until the early 1960s when high-density polyethylene (HDPE) was introduced. Must have been trying to appeal to the beekeepers looking for that touch of class. The appeal back then was they were considered unbreakable.
 
#3 ·
Although I am only a hobbyist I'd bet not nearly as much pollination goes to clover and other crops here. Unless you are growing them for seed production does anyone still grow those type of crops?
Here in SW Pennsylvania farmers for crop rotation will sometimes
sow red or sweet clover, or let fields set idle with clover. They
do tell me that the idle fields of clover will reseed better, which
is noticeable by more florets in subsequent years if colonies of
honeybees are present on the farm.

Farmers here now in the midst of a boom in natural gas drilling.
Many farmers have become millionaires or at least wealthy enough
to not have to subsist on corn production. Some fields are going
idle, or signed over as nature preserves. It will be interesting
to see how this increased varietal of forage will benefit the
bees in the future.

Best Wishes,
Joe
 
#4 ·
Yes Clover and alfalfa are still grown today. Unfortunately when grown as forage the highest nutritional content for livestock is when mown before it blooms, which isn't good for beekeepers.

As far as pollination of these crops go they are on the migratory rotation... when the hives head to the Dakotas they are often put on grass seed crops.
 
#5 ·
Yes, of course alfalfa is cut. The research I have seen show 10% bloom as ideal for maximum protein content. However conditions are rarely ideal. If rain is in the immediate forecast farmers will usually delay mowing. Also if it gets too dry and it blooms in a stunted stage of growth then bees often do very well off of it as there isn't enough to age for the farmer to bother with. My perspective is what is good for the alfalfa farmer is ultimately good for the beekeeper. I want to see them make a nice profit off of their alfalfa so they continue to plant it. I don't cringe at all when I see it being cut but rather look at it as "planting" the next bloom which could occur as early as 2 weeks if the weather is hot.
What "grass seed crops" are you referring to in the Dakotas?
 
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