288 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



May, 1918 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



In Northern California— c o p i o us 



rams visit- 

 ed this section during March and the wea- 

 ther on the whole was not favorable for bee 

 activity. There were comparatively few 

 bee days during almond bloom. Nevertheless 

 both beekeeper and almond grower have 

 been benefited considerably. On the other 

 hand, conditions in the orange groves are 

 excex:)tionally favorable. The trees are now 

 (Apr. 5; iu bloom and many beekeepers with 

 colonies in fair condition are taking advan- 

 tage of this excellent Source of nectar. 

 Filaree and mustard are yielding, but they 

 have not the rank growth of normal years. 

 April showers will prolong their blooming 

 periods and beekeepers may yet secure con- 

 siderable increase. The condition of the 

 bees generally is backward. Very few colo- 

 nies are strong enough to swarm and many 

 are still weak owing to disease and the mild 

 winter which has resulted in an unusually 

 high death rate among the old bees. Some 

 J'resno County beekeepers report 20 per cent 

 of their colonies queenless this spring. This 

 trouble in a less degree is prevalent else- 

 where. 



The Monterey Beekeepers' Club held their 

 second meeting at Salinas on March 16. The 

 principal topic of discussion was that of or- 

 ganizing a honey producers' co-operative 

 exchange, as outlined previously in Glean- 

 ings. The consensus of opinion was heartily 

 in favor of such action and it was held that 

 at least 6,000 colonies without much effort 

 could be subscribed. A local promotion 

 committee of prominent beemen was named 

 in order to carry on the campaign work. The 

 officers of the club are: M. G. Lee of Pa- 

 cific Grove, president; Geo. Sill of Watson- 

 ville, vice-president; and H. J. Hemriken of 

 Salinas, secretary-treasurer. Crop prospects 

 in Monterey are good, with the black sage 

 in bloom at the time of the meeting. A. 

 Norton of Watsonville, the inspector of the 

 county, reported the results of a unique and 

 successful experiment, namely, the sowing 

 of a hillside with the seed of white sage. 

 This honey plant, which is not indigenous 

 to the locality, according to Mr. Norton, 

 made a thrifty growth and yielded a surj^lus 

 at a time when ■ there always existed a 

 dearth. Mr. Norton urged beekeepers to sow 

 not only white sage but white sweet clover 

 seed as well. The two types of brood dis- 

 eases in the county are not only prevalent, 

 but are also seriously interfering with in- 

 crease and honey production. 



The series of meetings held in the San 

 Joaquin and Sacramento valleys at Bakers- 

 field, Visilia, Hanford, Fresno, Modesto, and 

 Sacramento, during the first week in April, 

 were decidedly helpful and instructive. The 

 outstanding features at these meetings were 

 as follows: The desire for organization, the 

 general prevalence of disease, and the lack 



of an efficient state law relative to bee dis- 

 eases. Pertaining to organization work the 

 results were highly satisfactory. Many thou- 

 sand colonies were signed up and the inter- 

 est in the subject was very keen. It is ex- 

 pected that a large part of the beekeepers in 

 our valleys will become members of ex- 

 changes in record time. The Central Val- 

 ley Honey Producers Co-operative Exchange 

 has already applied for articles of incorpora- 

 tion, and it will not be long before this ex- 

 change is in operation. 



The disease situation is serious, and it may 

 be stated that the production of honey will 

 be curtailed considerably in northern Cali- 

 fornia. In many of the sections where meet- 

 ings were held Geo. S. Demuth, of the Bu- 

 reau of Entomology at Washington, found 

 that both American and European foul brood 

 not only existed in the same apiary and 

 colony but also the the same comb. In not a 

 few cases it was extremely difficult to diag- 

 nose samples, as in some instances a colony 

 would have considerable European and a 

 few cells of American foul brood. In one 

 case in particular, a short honey flow result- 

 ed in healthy unsealed brood, a considerable 

 amount of sealed European with a few cells 

 of unmistakable American. In the same api- 

 ary^ the next few colonies examined were in- 

 fected mildly by European, only to be fol- 

 lowed by another colony showing a few 

 cells infected with American. Such condi- 

 tions are not rare and are becoming increas- 

 ingly common. Your correspondent in sev- 

 eral of his apiaries has a sprinkling of 

 American scattered thruout a large part of 

 colonies infected by European. Is it any 

 wonder that so many beekeepers become con- 

 fused in their diagnosis? This condition 

 exists today thruout our entire section. Not 

 only this spring, but in some years past, 

 many colonies with traces of American, but 

 covered up and apparently lost sight of by 

 the more discernible symptoms of European, 

 have been treated for European and the 

 destruction of combs was not practiced. It 

 must be seen that American is spreading wide- 

 ly and undetected. So we are grateful to 

 oui Agricultural Department at Washing- 

 ton for their help in impressing upon us the 

 importance of careful diagnosis. Colonies 

 predominately affected by European, yet con- 

 taining some American, should unquestion- 

 ably be treated for American. Let every bee- 

 keeper make a thoro study of the symptoms 

 of the two diseases, and, when in doubt as 

 to diagnosis, treat the trouble as if it were 

 American foul brood. No reports of sac- 

 brood have been received this spring. Many 

 of our counties have secured new ordinances 

 this spring as a protection against infected 

 Tuaterial thru migratory beekeeping. There 

 is increasing dissatisfaction over our anti- 

 quated state foul brood law, and one of the 

 first things that our California Honey Pro- 



