GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



January, 1918 



sections. In some localities mesquite trees 

 of considerable size have not been able to 

 withstand the drouth of the past year. In 

 many localities horsemint did not blossom 

 this year, which may be very disastrous. 

 Weeds are akeady coming up in some sec- 

 tions since the rain, and in one of the south- 

 western counties the bees were gathering 

 pollen and some nectar from the " white 

 brush ' ' during the last week in November. 

 * « * 



Another benefit to come from the Texas 

 Honey Producers ' Association, and no doubt 



the biggest to date, is the ability of the as- 

 sociation to furnish beekeepers of the state 

 with such sugar for feeding bees as may be 

 needed. When the sugar shortage threaten- 

 ed the beekeepers here, steps were taken by 

 the association in connection with the Food 

 Administration whereby sugar to meet feed- 

 ing needs immediately became available to 

 the beekeepers of the state. This is only 

 another example of the benefits of a mutual 

 organization, such as our beekeepers have 

 long needed. Still there are those who can- 

 not see any benefit from co-operation. 



THE rainfall 

 for the sea- 

 son to date 

 (December 6) has 

 been very light; but the total absence of the 

 usual north winds, and an exceptionally 

 warm pleasant autumn, gives us stronger 

 hopes for a heavy fall later, which, after all, 

 is what counts the most. 



Help for the beekeepers is going to be a 

 problem next season, and is even now to 

 some extent. When the draft list of present 

 eligibles is completed it will have drawn 

 many of our best helpers, whose places must 

 be filled by men of less experience as well 

 as less enthusiasm and vigor. There are 

 avenues in farm labor that can be traveled 

 very well by most persons; but when it 

 comes to the bee business it requires both 

 knowledge and experience to fill the place 

 satisfactorily. 



IN CALIFORNIA 



P. C. Chadwick, Redlands, Cal. 



Comb-honey production is on the decline, 

 if we are to believe the various reports we 

 hear from time to time, and we have no rea- 

 son to disbelieve them when a good comb- 

 ■honey producer like Wesley Foster, of 

 Colorado, gives us the sign of despair. 



In my opinion it is the most economical 

 transformation that ever visited the honey 

 industry. There are few places in the Unit- 

 ed States where beekeeping has been a flat 

 failure for comb-honey production, ^ that 

 would not have proved good locations if ex- 

 tracted honey had been the line of effort and 

 education. One of the great needs of the 

 day is to have some one round up these comb- 

 honey producers and show the superior value 

 of extracted-honey production. Year after 

 year they buy hives and sections to put on 

 their colonies, only to be disappointed in the 

 returns. If they "do get a super or two of 

 comb honey thoy take it off and leave the 

 bees with so little stores that they become 

 destitute before the following season. The 

 average farmer with ten colonies, now al- 

 most neglected from failures, could be shown 

 that, with the aid of an extractor and plenty 



of combs, he 

 could have as 

 great an asset as 

 the dairy cow or 

 poultry. This education of the small honey- 

 producer is a work that is given far too small 

 consideration in this present-day need of an 

 increased production of sweets. The differ- 

 ence between the amount of comb and ex- 

 tracted honey that may be secured is from 

 50 to 75 per cent — not that there is so much 

 difference during a heavy flow where the 

 bees are in experienced hands, but the 

 average would amount to that much if the 

 bees would only store the slow flow. There 

 is a big missionary work to be done among 

 the farmer beekeepers who do not read the 

 bee journals and never see an extractor. 



Mrs. Allen says, page 928, December, 

 ' ' Spring after spring finds combs in the 

 hives so moldy that even the bees, skillful 

 and thrifty tho they are, destroy them rather 

 than try to repair them." I have plenty 

 of moldy combs, even in this climate; but I 

 never knew of a colony destroying them to 

 save labor, or for any other cause. I have 

 never seen the combs too moldy for a new 

 swarm to tackle and clean up in short order. 



The American Bee Journal for November 

 shows a picture of a 27,000-pound honey- 

 tank. I thought I had a large one at 10,000- 

 pouiid capacity. It is only in case of emer- 

 gency that I allow it to become full. I have 

 known of two or three that have leaked bad- 

 ly because of the great pressure, and I al- 

 ways feel that it is putting too many eggs 

 in one basket. 



Combs, combs, combs! the greatest asset 

 in honey production. Give the bees plenty 

 to do at home and they will not be inclined 

 to leave you. But do not give it all to them 

 at once. Give them a chance to finish as 

 chej go, with an addition of empty comb room 

 whenever they need it, so that every possible 

 ounce of nectar may be procured. 



