706 



GLEANIMGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 15 



this as being the strong point in my hive, as 

 these bees are just the needed nurses for the 

 unsealed larvie, and are absolutely needed to 

 maintain a healthy condition, and enable the 

 queen to continue her work. If 1 live and have 

 the strength next year, I shall finish my woik 

 with non-swarmers; for if this fails I shall 

 '■ throw up the sponge." 



But whatever comes of the non-swarmer, the 

 house-apiary is a complete success with me, 

 and I greatly wish, friend Root, that you could 

 be here and be convinced. I have boomed the 

 house-apiary; i have nursed it as my choice 

 pet; and now, after three seasons' trial, I de- 

 clare that I made no mistake when I said that 

 the house-apiary had come to stay, and that 

 soon most good bee- keepers would keep their 

 bees in that way. li. Taylok. 



Forestville, Minn., Aug. V.K 



[So far the non-swarming plans have not 

 given us any great hope of success; but we are 

 all the time willing to '" grasp at a sti'aw.'' with 

 the hope that some time a plan or method may 

 be discovered. We would recommend a care- 

 ful reading of the article above, and we are 

 sure that all the bei'-brethren would be willing 

 to accord to Mr. Taylor whatever originality 

 in plan may belong to him.] 



RAINFALL AND ITS DISTRIBUTION IN CAL- 

 IFORNIA, 



A LETTER FROM COREY. OF SMOKER FAME. 



Mr. Root:— The district in which I am locat- 

 ed is known as the Santa Clara Valley. The 

 stream of the same name rises in the mountain 

 above Acton. Los Angeles Co.. and is called the 

 Solidad Canyon for the upper 30 miles. Streams, 

 both from north and south, flow into it; and 

 from Saugus to the Pacific it is Known as the 

 " Santa Clara.'' Bees are distributed along this 

 valley from its source to its mouth; and long 

 canyons, most, of which flow into ii from the 

 north, are well known to all Southern Califor- 

 nia bee-keepers, many of whom occasionally 

 contribute to the columns of Gleanings. 



The rainfall for the past season was very ir- 

 regularly distributed over this district. The 

 uppi'r |/ortion. vvheni the downpour has gener- 

 ally bern most lileral. was scant, in many lo- 

 calilif> ihe fall being less than 13 inches. The 

 amount gradually increased toward the Pacific 

 Ocean, uniii at Santa Paula our rainfall was 

 over 30 inches. 



The lioney-llow appeared to be more uneven 

 than the rainfall, the crop being quite light un- 

 til a point about 12 miles above Saugus; and 

 from that point west to the Piru the flow ap- 

 peared more even and abundant than higher 

 up and lower down the valley; still, some very 

 fair crops were made outside the district de- 

 scribed. 



The generally accepted theory, that uniform 

 warm weather is most favorable for a good 

 honey-flow, has received a backset this season, 

 as the weather was quite cool during all the 

 60 days of our flow; and so constant and even 

 was the flow that bees would not pay any at- 

 tention whatever to honey in any form'; in fact, 

 we paid no attention to the doors of ourex- 

 traenng-house, as bees were too busy to notice 

 the doors. 



In ^umming up, it would appear that less 

 than 12 inches of rainfall diminishes the honey 

 crop in this district; that 1.5 to 20 inches is 

 more favorable for a good crop than 2.5 to 30 

 inches, and that uniform temperature is of 

 more importance to bee-keepers than higher 

 temperature, a,g, in most cases, very hot weath- 



er is followed by cool weather, which cuts off 

 the honey-flow. 



The average per colony, over the higher por- 

 tion of this district, where the rainfall was 12 

 inches or less, was not over 100 lbs. of extracted 

 honey; in the central portion, about 200 lbs.; 

 and in the lower, or coast district, 1.50 lbs. per 

 colony, spring count. 



The vexed question of new or second- hand 

 cans and cases has nearly settled itself by the 

 bulk shipments of oils and gasoline from the 

 east, thus making gasoline and coal -oil cans 

 scarce, and high in price, and more difficult to 

 obtain in sufficient quantity. Heretofore the 

 bee-keeper who bought second-hand cans and 

 cases at from 2.5 to 50 cts.. planed the cases and 

 cleaned the cans, and packed his crop, had the 

 advantage of from *5.00 to *S.OO per ton over his 

 careful painstaking neighbor who paid 90 cts. 

 each for his cases and cans. Dealers ure help- 

 ing to bring about this much -needed reform in 

 style of putting up our honey for the market; 

 and, in the language of the country, '" soap-fat 

 cans " are doomed. 



Bee-keepers are gradually abandoning "gums 

 and boxes," and are using beit(^r hives and 

 frames. Better management in all departments 

 connected with the apiary is being brought 

 about by bee keepers' meetings in which all 

 the latest appliances are shown and their mer- 

 its canvassed. J. G. COKEY. 



Santa Paula, Cai., Sept. 1. 



RAMBLE 92. 



PULLED HONEY. 



" Pulled queens " seems to be the topic in cer- 

 tain ([uarteis lately, and it seemed to me that a 

 few words in I'elation to pulled honey would 

 not be amiss. This kind of honey is not par- 

 ticularly indigenous to California, any more 

 than pulled queens are indigenous to Texas; 

 for 1 hav.^ heard of it as being known in early 

 times in the far East. For instance, my grand- 

 sire had a fine low of Weeks hives, suspended in 

 the old-fashioned way upon two horizontal 

 scantling. One night some persons pulled sev- 

 eral boxes of honey fioiii the surplus chamber, 

 and kept pulling them until they were several 

 miles awiy. Suspicions and constables follow- 

 ed the pullers; suspicions materialized into 

 certainties, and the pullers were punished. 

 But the pulling did not end there. A few 

 nights after the unpleasantness had been set- 

 tled, the same pullers, presuiuably, smarting 

 under the infliction of justice, pulled one of the 

 scantling that supported the hives, and the 

 whole row was wrecked. Against this pull 

 there seemed to be no remedy; and from those 

 days of my grandsire the episode was handed 

 down to us grandchildren, with the solemn 

 admonition that pulled honey always had a 

 demoralizing elfect upon the puller — and a sort 

 of reflex action upon the puUee. The admoni- 

 tion was good; and, having no children of my 

 own to hand it down to, 1 wish to luake the 

 effect as widespread as possible, and therefore 

 hand it to other bee-keepers' children. Chil- 

 dren never pull honey. 



After a two-years' sojourn in California, I 

 find that honey-pullers are not confined to the 

 ancient days, but they also grow here in this 

 balmy clime. 



When I first commenced rambling with our 

 happy California bee-keepers, and saw their 

 honey in great piles in remote places, I ques- 

 tioned them in relation to the amount of pulled 

 honey, and was surprised to find that, in a 

 majority of cases, it was none. It was, there- 



