1893 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



305 



Is being done in many places in California. De- 

 ciduous fruits are being more extensively culti- 

 vated in the more northern counties, where they 

 not only do better but come into the market 

 several weeks earlier than they do in the south. 

 This is one of the wonders of ihe State. Why 

 fruits should ripen sooner 500 miles further north 

 is something hard to understand. Even oranges 

 ripen earlier ^.'00 miles north of San Francisco 

 than they do in the regular orange-belt of the 

 State. No one can doubt that the southern 

 counties have a finer climate, all things con- 

 sidered. 



PUT MONEY IN THY J'URSE. 



I have borrowed this head from my friend the 

 late lamented Willie Shakespeare, and now use 

 it for the benefit of our impecunious apicultural 

 societies. I should like to use it also for the ben- 

 efit of individual bee-keepers: but I refrain from 

 doing so because I believe that the bee-keepers 

 of our land already know how to line their pock- 

 ets with gold. Should there, unfortunately, be 

 any bee-keepers who need a little more filthy lu- 

 cre, they may be able to take a hint from the 

 plan I am about to relate for the aforesaid 

 societies. 



We know that our societies are not overbur- 

 dened with a big bank account. There are many 

 calls upon the society: there are printer's bills 

 to pay; the secretary is too ill paid, and there 

 are lots of other things which should have a lit- 

 tle more of the grease of the " almighty dollar " 

 rubbed upon them, that the industry might run 

 in a smoother manner than it now does. 



The plan I would offer is this: When the soci- 

 ety meets the next time in annual convention, 

 let some member propose that the society get 

 up an exhibition which it will have exhibited 

 at tlae leading fairs in the State. If there are 

 many fairs, or should they meet at about the 

 same time, then let there be several exhibits. 

 One member might give, or. rather, loan, a few 

 hundred pounds of comb honey: another could 

 give a quantity of extracted honey. Then there 

 could be beeswax, etc. These loans could be 

 swelli'd up until the amount collected would run 

 up into tons, if the premiums warranted a grand 

 display. The products of the apiary, along with 

 the different appliances used with the same, 

 would. I think, justify the society in getting 

 together a creditable showing. Where liberal 

 prizes are offered, the association should be able, 

 without any great trouble, to carry off all the 

 premiums. It might be possible to show such 

 an exhibit at several fairs in one season. After 

 show time is over, the wares contributed could 

 revert to those who loaned them, or the person 

 attending to the show could sell the different 

 articles, and turn the proceeds over | to the 

 owners. I never saw this plan published; it 

 may be new; and if it is I should like to see 

 some of our societies try it. I think it could be 

 made to work. There are many fairs where lib- 

 eral sums are offered for the best display of 

 honey. Oftentimes these premiums are never 

 taken advantage of. At the last fair given by 

 the Mechanics' Institute in San Francisco, a 

 premium of $50 was offered for the best display 

 of comb honey. When I was at the fair early in 

 its opening, there was noexhibit of honey of any 

 kind. If I had not sold my comb honey early last 

 season I should surely have had a quantity of 

 honey there, and probably would have captured 

 that $50 prize. There was no offer for any other 

 kind of honey, as there should have been. A so- 

 ciety working in the lines I have tried to out- 

 line could get the agricultural societies in their 

 districts to "map out'" a fair list of premiums 

 for competition among apiarists. 



Should it be said that a society, giving a fair, 

 object to awarding premiums on such a layout 



as the one I have just described, then the society 

 that wishes to recuperate its funds in a legiti- 

 mate way could arrange so that one of its mem- 

 bers, the secretary, for instance, could get up 

 the exhibit and draw down all the premiums 

 in his own name. Later they could be turned 

 over to the society for which they were really 

 intended. 



If any one knows of any reason why this plan 

 should not be tried, I should be pleased to hear 

 from him. There is no doubt in my mind that 

 it would be one of the very best means to ad- 

 vance the interests of the bee-keeper's pursuit. 

 We know full well, that, when the making of a 

 honey-exhibit at a fair is left to the individual 

 bee-keepers themselves, very little, if any thing, 

 is done in that line. It is simply a case of " what 

 is everybody's business is nolwdy's business." 

 Where but a few jars of honey are now shown 

 at a fair, and that of any thing but an inviting 

 appearance, we could show tons of the most ex- 

 quisite honey-nectar, I might say, that would 

 tickle the palate of a god. W. A. Pryal. 



North Temescal, Cal., Feb. 28. 



BEES IN THE OPEN AIR. 



OBSERVATIONS BY J. A. C4REEN. 



We have occasionally had accounts of bees 

 building comb in the open air during warm 

 weather, when, for some reason, they were una- 

 ble to find any thing that would serve as a hive. 

 Such cases have been most frequently noticed in 

 California or other warm places. Even in that 

 warm and equable climate such a thing is con- 

 sidered remarkable. Now, I don't like to have 

 Illinois left behind in any thing, and I am going 

 to help her hold up her end, even in the matter 

 of climate, that execrated and villitied climate, 

 which is the one drawback to what would other- 

 wise be the "garden spot of the world," which 

 we have so often heard about. 



On the 25th day of last September I discovered 

 a swarm of bees hanging on a tree in an out-of- 

 the-way corner of my apiary. It was late in the 

 afternoon. I was busied with other matters and 

 I concluded to let them hang there until the next 

 morning. Morning came with new duties, and 

 I forgot all about the bees, and did not think of 

 them again for several days. When I finally re- 

 membered them and went to look for them, I 

 was surprised to find them still there. A closer 

 examination showed that they had considerable 

 comb built, stored with honey, and brood in all 

 stages. Some of this brood had hatched, so that 

 it could not have been later than Sept. 8th or 

 9th when they settled there, probably several 

 days earlier. It must have been an after-swarm, 

 led by a virgin queen, or her wing would have 

 been clipped. 



This apiary is situated on the edge of a sixty- 

 foot bluff', with perpendicular face. Close to the 

 brow of this bluff is a white-oak tree with its 

 limbs projecting beyond the edge. The bees 

 were on one of these overhanging limbs, which 

 was in such a position that it could not readily 

 be seen except from one spot, which ordinarily I 

 would have no occasion to visit. This accounts 

 for their not having been seen before. 



As they appeared to be getting along very com- 

 fortably, I decided to let them stay there awhile 

 in the interests of science. They got along well 

 through October, and were apparently just as 

 happy as their sisters in hives. I fed a great 

 deal of honey in the open air by putting out un- 

 finished sections, cappings, and combs from the 

 extractor, putting out a fresh lot every day. Of 

 course, the bees worked very briskly on these for 

 a time, and, according to the usual teachings, 



