224 GLEANINGSIN BEE CULTURE April, 1918 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



In Northern California— ^i^e College 



f Apicul- 

 tui'e of the University of California recently 

 issued circular No. 185 entitled "Beekeeping 

 for the Fruit-Grower and Small Eancher or 

 Amateur. ' ' Geo. A. Coleman is the author 

 and in this work he has outlined in a brief 

 manner a plan whereby a few colonies may 

 be kept profitably. Mr. Coleman also points 

 out the desirability of beekeeping on a small 

 scale, not only from the standpoint of the 

 honey that might be produced, but likewise 

 that amateur beekeeping is of much value 

 for the proper pollination of most fruits, 

 some vegetables, and where alfalfa and clover 

 are grown for seed. This circular is for free 

 distribution and may be had by addressing 

 the College of Agriculture of the University 

 of California, Berkeley, Calif. 



The beneficial rains during the latter part 

 of February have assured at any rate a cer- 

 tain amount of increase. The rate of in- 

 crease will be in proportion to the amount 

 of late spring rains. Beekeepers should 

 show no hesitancy now towards ' ' more bees ' ' 

 during the next two months prior to their 

 honey flow. Increased production is our 

 duty. Winter losses in the Eastern States 

 are said to be high, and we here must help 

 to overcome as far as is possible the antici- 

 pated shortage in the East. It may also be 

 mentioned that prices for this season's crop 

 are expected to be as high (and perhaps 

 higher) than those obtained for the crojj of 

 last year. It will be safe to assume that the 

 number of colonies this season will be fully 

 as large as that of last year, since this 

 spring's increase will compensate for the 

 loss thru disease, queenlessness and other 

 causes. 



During the past few weeks several thou- 

 sand colonies have been moved to deciduous 

 fruits, orange, mustard, and wild radish 

 bloom. Should any beekeeper experience 

 difficulty in securing an apiary site on the 

 property of a deciduous fruit grower, let him 

 show a copy of the March issue of Gleanings 

 to the orehardist and point out to him the 

 fact that some fruit growers are willing to 

 go to the expense of several hundred dollars 

 in order to avail themselves of a sufficient 

 number of bees to pollinate properly their 

 fruit bloom. 



There has been active breeding thruout 

 February and the forepart of March, which 

 lias resulted in many apiaries having from 

 four to six frames of brood to the colony. In 

 not a few instances drones were flying in 

 March. During the above period consumption 

 (){' stores was high, and there is some likeli- 

 liood that bees may run short during in- 

 clement weather this spring. The above con- 

 ditions, however, have not prevailed soutli of 

 Stanislaus county, where very little breeding 

 so far has taken place. 



On Friday evening, March 1, the Los Gatos 

 Bee Club held the most enthusiastic meeting 



in its history. There were 70 persons in at- 

 tendance. The principal speakers were Mr. 

 Demuth of the Bureau of Entomology, Wash- 

 ington; and Mr. Coleman of the State Uni- 

 versity. The following day in the afternoon 

 another successful meeting was held at Mon- 

 terey. This gathering of beekeej^ers was 

 not only large, but was also very representa- 

 tive of the county. Thru the efforts of Mr. 

 Coleman, a county club was organized. The 

 need for such had long been felt. Frank 

 Henniken and Earl Hansen, both prominent 

 beekeepers of the county, are taking an ac- 

 tive part 'in the activities of the club, for 

 both realize the necessity for a co-operative 

 organization. The desire for collective action 

 in this county is so strong that the club has 

 proposed a meeting for March 16, with a spe- 

 cial request that a representative of the Cali- 

 fornia Honey Producers ' Co-operative Ex- 

 change be present at the meeting. Monterey 

 and Santa Clara County readers of Gleanings, 

 who are interested in this movement, should 

 get in touch with Mr. Hansen, Box 106, Sun- 

 nyvale. 



It must be gratifying indeed to the Pro- 

 motion Committee (see March issue of Glean- 

 ings, under "Northern California") that so 

 much enthusiasm has been shown amongst 

 so many beekeepers regarding the California 

 Honey Producers' Co-operative Exchange. 

 The most important step taken by the Pro- 

 motion Committee was that of securing the 

 services of A. B. Massey of Fresno as their 

 exchange organizer. For the past six years 

 Mr. Massey has been engaged as campaign 

 organizer for co-operative marketing associa- 

 tions. He conducted the campaign work of 

 the raisin, peach, prune, and apricot growers, 

 and it is common knowledge thruout the 

 State today that these growers are organized 

 into strong co-operative associations whicli 

 have worked wonders for the mutual benefit 

 of their members. Several thousand colo- 

 nies have already been signed up according 

 to the agreements of the Exchange, the ap- 

 proval of which amongst the beekeeping fra- 

 ternity is everything that can be desired. 

 Not only do many beekeepers respond readily 

 to this co-operative work when approached, 

 but there are also several instances where 

 beekeepers, living in remote districts of 

 northern California, have communicated with 

 the writer to the effect that they wished to 

 become members of the Exchange. 



Modesto, Calif. M. C. Richter. 



In Southern California_J;«;;^^^"|fj|f^« 



at a recent meeting elected Earl Shaffner, 

 President, and W. H. Engle, Secretary. The 

 club has been able to get a very satisfactory 

 discount on all bee-supplies by buying col- 



