1910 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



riit 



bring about a change from of that kind of 

 bee-keeping I will risk the overstocking 

 part, and would be in favor of voting to help 

 pay for her contribution instead of barring 

 her out. 



It is easy for us to persuade ourselves that 

 our particular right is divine, but the de- 

 mand of some one else to share our right is 

 rebellion against the divine order; but any 

 one with knowledge enough to keep bees 

 successfully will not trespass on another's 

 range, for he would know that such a course 

 would spell failure for one and perhaps both. 



Do not think that I by any means include 

 all California bee-keepers as ne'er-do-wells, 

 for a majority produce as fine honey in every 

 respect as can be found anywhere. The 

 class I have referred to would be ne'er-do- 

 wells in any vocation. AVe can not afford 

 to go to sleep. The struggle for supremacy 

 in all of the industries is on. It is fierce. 

 It will be fiercer, and will eventually end in 

 the survival of the fittest. 



Do not be deluded by the pessimist who 

 talks about over-production. If the popu- 

 lation of this country increases as fast in 

 the next two decades as it has in the past 

 two there will be scarcely enough nectar- 

 producing plants in this country to supply 

 the demand for honey. I am judging of the 

 future by the past. I could give some sta- 

 tistics by one of our honey-buyers who has 

 bought honey here for thirty years; but 

 time and space will not permit. 



Jamul, Cal. 



[It was not our purpose in the editorial to 

 which you refer to give California a "black 

 eye," but, rather, to let those who are in- 

 tending to migrate to your State of sunshine 

 and beautiful climate know that there are 

 some drawbacks, the chief of which is the 

 irregularity of the seasons. We had in mind 

 particularly the locality around Los Angeles 

 — especially the mountain-sage districts. If 

 we are correct, in those districts the seasons 

 have been very uncertain. We believe that 

 your locality is more dependable from what 

 you say than any in and about Los Angeles. 

 Central California, while it does not have, 

 some seasons, as heavy yields as Southern 

 California, seems to average fairly well. Tak- 

 ing it all in all, California is a State that 

 has every kind of climate and conditions; 

 and when we speak of California, perhaps it 

 woukl be well that we particularize as to lo- 

 cality. 



While we may perhaps have unwittingly 

 given the region in and around Los Angeles 

 a "black eye," yet we know of many bee- 

 keepers who have pulled up stakes to move 

 to these "El Dorados" only to find, when 

 it was too late, that it had been better for 

 them if they had remained at home under 

 conditions with which they were familiar. 

 In our last issue Mrs. Acklin pointed out 

 how different California conditions are, so 

 far as bee management is concerned, from 

 those here in the East. This very difference 

 is what makes it hard for a tenderfoot to get 

 in right when he goes into new territory. 



A " little bird " tells us that some of your 

 colleagues may get after you. While, no 

 doubt, you have adhered strictly to the facts, 

 they will tell you that you will have a flood 

 of bee-keepers who will spoil the locality. 

 All we can say to these outsiders is, go slow 

 and be careful. Do not pull up stakes, but 

 spend a year with some bee-keeper, leaving 

 your family at home until you see whether 

 you like it or can cope with conditions suc- 

 cessfully; then take advantage and hunt up 

 some locality where there are no bee-keepers, 

 and where you will not be trespassing. Cal- 

 ifornia is a large State. There is room for 

 more people in it, and for more bee-keepers; 

 but do not make the mistake of squatting 

 down beside another bee-keeper who has 

 long held the field. The old timer will out- 

 distance you every time because he knows 

 the peculiar conditions that alTect the bee 

 business. — Ed.] 



PERFECT CONTROL OF BEES WITH ECON- 

 OMY OF LABOR. 



Tke Double-bottom-board System Explained. 



BY J. B. HAND. 



Continued from last issue, page 693. 



Bee-keeping is somewhat different from 

 other branches of rural industry in that we 

 have to deal with creatures whose every act is 

 guided by a mighty impulse — an impulse 

 that neither time nor location can change — 

 an instinct that kings and armies can not 

 overthrow, and yet the very strength of this 

 mighty impulse is its most vulnerable point 

 — the point that admits the entering wedge 

 of man's reasoning powBr, and makes it 

 easier to control bees than it is to control 

 other domestic animals. 



Without systematic effort but Httle is ac- 

 complished along business lines, and bee- 

 keeping is no exception to this rule; there- 

 fore, I o render the equipment doubly effec- 

 tive there is a sys'era that goes with it. Ev- 

 ery bee-keeper in the North knows how dif- 

 ficult is the task of getting all colonies in 

 condition to enter trhe supers at the begin- 

 ning of clover bloom. It is bees that gather 

 honey, therefore we should see to it that ev- 

 ery hive is chock full of bees at the begin- 

 ning of the harvest. Remember that 25 

 strong colonies will store more surplus hon- 

 ey than 100 weaklings; therefore all colonies 

 that are not in condition to enter the supers 

 at the beginning of the harvest should be 

 united with some other colony. There is 

 no more excuse for a bee-keeper to allow a 

 part of his apiary to remain unproductive 

 than there is for a farmer to allow a part of 

 his farm to become unproductive by failing 

 to attend to the simple details of his occu- 

 pation. 



It is true that it requires some skill to con- 

 trol a rousing colony; but it is the rousing 

 colonies that give us rousing crops of surplus 

 honey if we possess the skill to direct their 

 energies in the right channel. To prevent 



