230 



August, 191 1. 



American ^ee Journal 



difference whatever, especially if there 

 should be no fall flow. 



In most cases it will be advisable to 

 allow a number of colonies to con- 

 tribute each its quota. Take from each 

 of -3 or 6 colonies a frame of brood 

 with its adhering bees, and if a flow is 

 on they will quickly recover from the 

 depletion, and a week later may be 

 called upon to start another new col- 

 ony. But those -5 or 6 frames of brood 

 put into a new hive with their adhering 

 bees and a laying queen will be at once 

 a colony of fair strength, and if the hive 

 be filled out with frames of honey no 

 anxiety need be felt for its future. 



The question may arise whether it be 

 not necessary to fasten these bees in 

 the hive for a few days, in order to 

 prevent them from returning to their 

 old homes. If you start a 2-frame 

 nucleus in the same way, merely put- 

 ting the 2 frames of bees with adher- 

 ing bees in the hive without fastening 

 them in, and pay no attention to them 

 for 'i or 4 days, upon opening the hive 

 at the end of that time you will find 

 nearly all the bees gone and the brood 

 dead. But the case is quite difi^erent if 

 as many as -j or 6 frames covered with 

 bees be used. Whatever may be the 

 reason, enough bees will stay to pro- 

 tect the brood fully, and if the brood 

 be mostly sealed you may even find an 

 increase'of strength at the end of 3 or 

 4 days. 



Another plan, that may be labeled 

 " Made in Germany," may be used at 

 the time of harvesting the crop, requir- 

 ing the least possible amount of trou- 

 ble. Suppose you have a nucleus in 

 which a young queen has begun to lay. 

 From the nucleus take one or more 

 frames of brood with adhering bees 

 and the queen, and put them in an 

 empty hive, filling up the hive with 

 empty combs or frames filled with 

 foundation. Put a bee-escape on the 

 hive, and on this put 3 or 4 of the su- 

 pers that you wish to empty of bees. 

 These bees will after a time seem in 

 some way to make the discovery that 

 they are separated from the queen. A 

 few' of them will find their way down 

 through the escape, and being young 

 innocents will be glad to find a queen 

 and a brood-nest, even if the queen be 

 not their own, and will show no hos- 

 tility toward her. Others will follow 

 on their downward way, and by the 

 next morning the beeless supers may 

 be removed, and there you are with 

 your new colony. It has really cost 

 you no extra trouble except to put the 

 frames from the nucleus in the hive, 

 for putting the supers over the escapes 

 and taking them off later is hardly 

 more trouble than to have put the es- 

 capes on each of the hives. 



tially filled sections taken off, and 

 credit accordingly. 



When working for extracted honey 

 it is not so easy. But you can count 

 the number of filled combs taken from 

 a colony at each extracting, and if you 

 take any combs that are only partly 

 filled, make an estimate as to the num- 

 ber of full combs they would make. 



Of course, there are other things to 

 be taken into consideration. One col- 

 ony may have had brood taken from it 

 earlv in the season, while another had 

 brood taken from it. Allowance must 

 be made for this. Other things being 

 equal, a colony that makes no prepara- 

 tion for swarming has the preference, 

 and so on. But the main thing is to 

 keep tally of the crop harvested, and 

 you can not begin any too soon at this. 



Breeding from the Best 



If you are intending to breed from 

 the best it is important that you have 

 some definite record of the yield of 

 different colonies so as to be able to 

 decide with some degree of certainty 

 which is best. If working for section 

 honey it is an easy thing. Each time 

 you take any number of sections from 

 a colony set down that number to the 

 credit of the colony. When taking off 

 at the last, estimate about how many 

 full sections are equivalent to the par- 



Orange Farmers and Co-opera- 

 tion 



There appears in the Chicago Record- 

 Herald a very interesting article by the 

 noted newspaper correspondent, Wil- 

 liam E. Curtis, who says : 



This co-operation has been the salvation 

 of the oranee business. Until it was ar- 

 ranged m 1005. the industry was uncertain 

 and often conducted at a loss. There have 

 been years when orange growers have been 

 compelled to go down into their pockets to 

 meet deficits and sell their shipments for 

 less than the freight charges. In 1802 half 

 the oranges in Riverside county were sold 

 for 10 cents a box, although it cost an aver- 

 age of so cents a box to raise them. Other 

 years there were large profits, but nothing 

 was certain until the organization of the 

 California Fruit Growers' Exchange, which 

 now handles from 60 to 70 percent of all the 

 citrus fruits grown in the State, and does a 

 business varying from 520.000.000 to 825.000.000 

 a year. , . , ., . 



At first growers shipped their oranges to 

 persons thev knew, to be sold at any price. 

 Then the middlemen came into the business 

 and demanded the larger share of the profit. 

 They sent agents out to buy the crops on the 

 trees, picking, packing, and shipping them- 

 selves. When the growers revolted, the 

 fruit was handled on a commission basis in 

 an irregular manner. The fruit was dumped 

 in Chicago. New York, and other markets to 

 be sold for what it would bring. In that way 

 a market capable of absorbing one carload a 

 week was likely to receive several carloads 

 the same day. Again.it would have an or- 

 ange famine. 



After various efforts with local asso- 

 ciations, in 1905 the California Fruit 

 Growers' Exchange was organized, 

 which has since managed the interests 

 of 60 percent or more of the fruit- 

 growers of California through a board 

 of 14 directors, one of whom is elected 

 by each of the district associations. It 

 is not a monopoly, as there are several 

 other co-operative organizations. 



Under the rules of the California Fruit- 

 Growers' Exchange every member has the 

 right to pick and deliver his fruit when he 

 chooses. He receives daily information 

 from headquarters as to the condition of the 

 market, and if he wants additional details 

 can call up headquarters on the telephone. 

 The exchange has salaried agents at every 

 important distributing point, each having 

 his own territory, and each making a report 

 by telegraph every day during the season. 

 The telegraph bills of the Exchange amount 

 to S6000 or S7000 a month. The advertising 

 bills have averaged Ssu.ooo a year since the 

 association was formed. The appropriation 

 for IQU is $100,000. The headquarters of the 

 Exchange are at Los Angeles, from which a 

 daily bulletin is sent out by mail at mid- 

 night, and its contents are usually tele- 

 graphed to the principal newspapers in the 

 orange district. Thus every member of the 

 Exchange can keep himself informed as to 

 the condition of the market and act accord- 



■Wlien he picksa load of fruit he hauls it 

 to the packing-house of his local association 



and there receives credit for its value on 

 the book of the agent. He has nothing more 

 to do with it. and no further responsibility. 

 His oranges will go to market with those of 

 other growers, and will be sold at the same 

 time for the same price. It is just like de- 

 livering milk to a creamery. 



That there is a remarkable stability 

 in the market since the organization of 

 these co-operative organizations may 

 easily be seen by any one who watches 

 the quotations of oranges, etc., in the 

 daily papers. Sometimes the price re- 

 mains stationary for weeks at a time. 



If fruit-men can get together in this 

 wav, is it, or is it not, possible for bee- 

 men thus to unite ? One answer to that 

 question is that the producers of honey 

 are so widely scattered that unity of 

 action is not possible. That may be 

 true. And again it may not be true. 

 With sufficient intelligence and eiiter- 

 prise it might be possible for Califor- 

 nia bee-keepers to co-operate with New 

 York bee-keepers to the advantage of 

 both. 



It is not merely that the orange-men 

 are located in one spot that makes co- 

 operation successful. Mr. Curtis says: 



Curiously enough, other fruit growers in 

 the State have never been able to co-operate 

 like the orange growers. They have made 

 several attempts to organize, but their asso- 

 ciations have never given satisfaction, and 

 usually have dissolved after a brief exis- 

 tence. The truck gardeners, the apricot 

 dryers, the prune men. the raisin nien. the 

 fruit canners. walnut growers, and other 

 horticultural and agricultural interests have 

 never been able to get together or work in 

 harmony like the orange growers. 



Is this ability to work in harmony, 

 that orange-growers possess, and that 

 others do not seem to possess, lacking 

 among bee-keepers ? Certainly, there 

 is a strong bond of union among all 

 who have to do with the busy bee. If 

 that is the thing that makes the dift'er- 

 ence, then bee-men should be able to 

 co-operate as well as orange-men. At 

 any rate, this example of the orange- 

 men is well worth thinking over. 



Losses in Shipping Bees 



When there is loss in the shipment 

 of bees, the question may be raised 

 whether the shipper or the purchaser 

 should stand the loss. On this subject 

 Editor Hutchinson was very emphatic 

 in his belief, and said in the Bee-Keep- 

 ers' Review: 



It is true that express companies will not 

 assume any risk in carrying bees, but that 

 need not necessarily decide that the cwi/cr. 

 the /t/"-!//.;!!'/-, must bear any and all losses. 

 On the contrary. I say that the shiU'cr of 

 bees ought in all cases to bear the loss in 

 shipping. Under no circumstances would 1 

 have bees shipped to me unless the shipper 

 would guarantee safe arrival in perfect con- 

 dition The purchaser has nothing what- 

 ever to do with preparing the bees for ship- 

 ment • the seller prepares the bees for ship- 

 ment, hence it is " up to him " so to prepare 

 the bees that they will bear shipment with 

 safety. It is no excuse to say this can t al- 

 ways be done, because it imi. To illustrate: 



A colony might be smothered by setting 

 something'on top of it. thus shutting off ven- 

 tilation. This can be prevented by nailing 

 two strips of wood across the top. thus mak- 

 ing it impossible to shut off ventilation. 



Broken combs can be entirely avoided by 

 using old brood-combs built ou wired foun- 



In the successful shipping of bees there is 

 no more important factor than the net ot 

 the bees. 0/</ bees are worse than worth- 

 less, unless the distance is very short. 



Have strong, old combs thoroughly fast- 

 ened give plenty of ventilation that can t 

 be obstructed; give room to cluster c// Ihc 

 combs- use only young bees; prepare colo- 



