(; h 1<: A N I N S IN B K K (' U L T U K K 



SKl'TK.MliKH, \91H 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



In Northern California— ^™«'^*^^t^° 



we reported 

 our crop prospects as favorable. The sea- 

 son opened several weeks earlier and indi- 

 cations were that we would get a normal 

 crop. During the past month alfalfa has 

 bloomed i^rofusely, yet as far south as Kern 

 County and as far north as Butte County 

 reports continually come in that the honey 

 flow is very disappointing. Some isolated 

 sections re2)ort a fair flow, but the majority 

 of reports indicate very poor yields. This 

 is es^jecially true in the southern portion 

 of our valley. The prospects for a fall flow 

 are likewise disappointing as the condition 

 of fall plants is much below normal. As yet 

 there is no indication of a honeydew flow 

 along the. rivers. Ordinarily "river honey" 

 should have put in its appearance at this 

 writing (Aug. 5). As it appears to the bee- 

 keeper the weather conditions were not un- 

 favorable for a good flow of honey from al- 

 falfa. The absence of a good flow has caus- 

 ed no little astonishment among our best 

 beekeepers. Undoubtedly there are some 

 climatic factors, which either control or 

 have a very great influence on the secretion 

 of nectar in plants. What these conditions 

 are we do not know, and, even should we 

 know, we would be powerless to have any 

 control over them. 



It is now a month or more before most of 

 us will give much thought to the problem 

 of wintering, yet a few lines on this sub- 

 ject will not be out of place. Colonies at 

 this time which have yielded 50 per cent 

 or less of the averagd yield per colony in an 

 apiary by all means should be requeened as 

 soon as possible. At this time queens are 

 easily secured and readily introduced. In 

 this manner weak colonies may be built up 

 with a sufficient number of young bees to 

 pass the winter. The experienced beekeeper 

 knows well the value of a colony the fol- 

 lowing spring when it received a young 

 queen the autumn before. The advantages 

 gained in requeening are twofold. In the 

 first place colonies that are producing little 

 or nothing now are almost always the ones 

 that are lost during winter. Barring dis- 

 ease the fault lies invariably with the 

 queen. She is failing and should be replac- 

 ed. In the second place, a weakling re- 

 queened at this time is not a source of trou- 

 ble the following spring, as is usually the 

 case when a colony is allowed to retain its 

 old queen. It has proven disastrous to let 

 such colonies sujjersede their queens. Next 

 to the importance of good queens comes 

 the question of the amount of stores neces- 

 sary for wintering purposes. The amount 

 necessary is, to a large extent, dependent 

 upon location. Beekeepers situated along 

 rivers are able to winter successfully colo- 

 nies in single stories that contain no more 

 tlian five fra:;'.es filled witli iioiicv. In tlie 



foothill districts a little more honey is re- 

 quired for successful wintering; and, on the 

 plains, especially when there is considerable 

 alfalfa and little or no deciduous fruits, it 

 is wise to retain at least six full frames of 

 honey in the super. It is of the utmost im- 

 portance for each beekeeper to study very 

 carefull}^ his locations, as no two locations 

 are alike and it is impossible to set forth 

 any definite information regarding the 

 amount of honey necessary for wintering in 

 a given location. Beekeepers that have 

 studied this problem know that the amount 

 of honey necessary varies greatly from year 

 to year, and that it is always wise to leave 

 with the bees the maximum amount of 

 honey that they required during any unfa- 

 vorable winter or spring. Such an eventu- 

 ality may arise any year, and this is a very 

 wise precaution to follow. The writer win- 

 ters his bees with all their surplus comb. 

 About 10 per cent of the colonies have two 

 extracting supers and the balance only one. 

 Queen-excluders are left on the entire year, 

 and the queen and her brood always remain 

 in the brood-chamber. In this manner, the 

 bees have properly arranged their nest for 

 the winter, and the brood combs are kept in 

 good condition. After the last extracting it 

 is necessary to see that each colony is 

 queenright, and that the brood is well sur- 

 rounded with honey. All covers should be 

 fastened down tight either by means of two 

 nails, one on each side, or weighted down 

 by rocks or the like. Entrances, should 

 be contracted to about the space of one inch 

 until bees commence active breeding the 

 following spring. This is best done by 

 means of a cleat. Entrances are contracted 

 for the jjurpose of conserving the warmth 

 within the colony, and as an aid in enabling 

 the bees to better protect themselves 

 against their enemies, such as robber bees 

 and wasps. M. C. Eichter. 



Modesto, Calif. 



In Southern California— ^«'"^ P^^' 



pie - — • and 

 some who are beekeepers, too — think we 

 have no wintering problem in California; 

 but I believe in many cases the crop will 

 be harvested in proportion to the care and 

 skill exercised in wintering bees. Septem- 

 ber, a month in which bees of some locali- 

 ties are still gathering honey, is none too 

 early to begin to prepare for winter. 

 Tor years I practiced wintering with the 

 supers on the hives. This was done for 

 two reasons: first, the bees can take better 

 care of the extract combs than I can, for 

 the wax moth is an constant handicap to 

 storing empty combs, unless one has a sul- 

 phur house or is otherwise prepared to care 

 for them; secondly, a colony run without 

 exc]u:l('i-s, foi' extract honey, is not likely 



