416 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



July, 1918 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



In Northern California— T^e south- 



em portion 

 of the valleys of our district this season ob- 

 tained their share of normal rainfall, while 

 the northern portion received only half its 

 normal. The rain was not well distributed, 

 as April and May were comparatively dry 

 months. Consequently the fall honey plants 

 are not expected to give a rank growth. It 

 is difficult to forecast the honeydew flow. 

 Caterpillars on the willows are becoming 

 very abundant but as yet there are few 

 ladybugs appearing. Both these pests are 

 known to cause considerable damage to the 

 aphids. 



The main honey flow practically every- 

 where started about three weeks earlier than 

 last season. At this writing, June 5, many 

 beekeepers are ojjerating their extracting 

 crews. The alfalfa crop promises to be 

 heavy. Alfalfa growers are experiencing 

 much difficulty in securing help, and it seems 

 likely that alfalfa will be allowed to bloom 

 even more profusely this summer than was 

 the case last year. The Tulare County orange 

 honey crop amounted to four or five carloads. 

 One carload that has been sold brought the 

 beekeepers nearly 21 cents per pound. At 

 this writing bona fide offers of 23 cents have 

 been turned down by some producers. Last 

 year the average amount of honey stored per 

 colony did not amount to much over 25 

 pounds, but this season several producers 

 averaged 75 pounds per colony. There was 

 no pollen scarcity, as was the case in 1917, 

 after this season's orange honey flow. Tak- 

 ing the situation as a whole the outlook for 

 a normal or even better than normal crop is 

 excellent. Were it not for disease and scar- 

 city of help, both of which are seriously 

 handicapping beekeepers, it would be safe 

 ■to assume that there will be a larger crop 

 for 1918 than there has been for the last 

 four years. Inspector Lynch of Stanislaus 

 County states that this year the county has 

 75 per cent more disease than last. It is 

 American foul brood that is causing practi- 

 cally all the damage. 



It is interesting to note that according to 

 the last U. S. Census (1910) there were 6,- 

 362,000 farms. Colonies of bees were re- 

 ported on 9.2 per cent of the farms. By 

 means of comparison with other products it 

 is shown that 6 per cent of the farms grew 

 barley, 4.4 per cent alfalfa, 5.1 per cent to- 

 bacco, 4.4. per cent sugar cane, 6 per cent 

 sugar beets, 14.5 per cent grapes, and 9.6 

 per cent sheep. The very fact that 585,304 

 of the farms in the U. S. possess bees tells 

 us that the status of beekeeping has risen to 

 a very important position amongst other 

 agricultural industries. 



During the past month the advance of our 

 co-operative marketing exchanges has been 

 very marked. Considerably over 50,000 colo- 

 nies of bees thruout the Stafe are within 



the organization and at the present rate of 

 securing signatures we are getting between 

 2,000 and 3,000 colonies daily. The Pro- 

 motion Committee fully expects that 75 per 

 cent of the colonies in the State will be in 

 the organization this winter. When it is 

 understood that it has been hardly over two 

 months since the campaign started and that 

 the exchanges have secured over $25,000 

 within this short period, it must become evi- 

 dent that this co-operative movement is 

 meeting with the hearty approval of nearly 

 every beekeeper. Northern California has 

 now three local exchanges organized. They 

 cover the territory of the Owens Valley, and 

 the upper and central San Joaquin Valleys. 

 On June 6, the lower Sacramento Valley will 

 be organized. There yet remains unorganiz- 

 ed thruout our section the upper Sacramento 

 district and the district comprising the coun- 

 ties of Monterey, Santa Cruz, and Santa 

 Clara. This territory will be worked within 

 the next two months. M. C. Richter. 



Modesto, Calif. 



* * » 



In Southern California— 'FY'^ P<^j:* f 



the State 

 experienced about three weeks of as cool 

 weather as was ever known here during the 

 month of May. It cut off fully one week 

 of the orange flow and held back the sages 

 and other wild flowers. Work of extracting 

 has been very much delayed by this cool 

 weather, and many beekeepers were two or 

 three weeks late in getting their orange hon- 

 ey extracted. June 1 it turned warmer and 

 the black sage is still yielding some honey, 

 altho on most ranges it is pretty well past 

 its best honey-yielding period. The wild 

 buckwheat and the white sage promise some 

 honey, but few beekeepers even hope for 

 much of a crop. A freak storm with a heavy 

 thunder shower passed over some parts of 

 southern California, giving as much as two 

 inches of rain in some localities. This will 

 help the late jjlants to a longer blooming sea- 

 son. Beekeepers in the great sage belt of 

 Los Angeles and Ventura Counties differ in 

 their opinions about the prospects of a crop. 

 However, most of them expect about half a 

 crop or one 60-pound can per colony. The 

 bees were slow to build up and this, together 

 with the ravages of disease, has very mater- 

 ially cut down the yield of honey in almost 

 all sections of the State. 



By the time this reaches the readers of 

 Gleanings all of the migratory beekeepers 

 will have moved from the orange districts 

 to their summer ranges. Apiaries that were 

 located within a mile or two of each other 

 to gather orange honey are now, in many 

 instances, a hundred miles apart. This is 

 but the onward course of events, constantly 

 changing in our business as well as every 

 other line of industry. We nnist get on the 

 band wagon and keep up with the procession 



