734 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Decembkr, 1918 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



In Northern California—^^Jf", /f; 



weather prevailed during October, beekeep- 

 ers were not benefited thereby. The month 

 of September with its intermittent rains 

 and cold weather definitely put out of com- 

 mission our fall honey plants. Had October 

 preceded September we would have had a 

 very fair flow this fall. According to 

 reports that have been received recently, I 

 fear that not a few apiaries will be short of 

 honey this winter and the following spring. 

 September weather is responsible for the 

 lack of stores, and, whether or not sugar will 

 be available for spring feeding, we cannot 

 as yet foretell. One of the members of the 

 Central Valley Honey Producers' Co-opera- 

 tive Exchange is holding his honey crop for 

 the express purpose of selling it for feeding 

 purposes to members of the Exchange. It is 

 dark honey and free from spores of Ameri- 

 can foul brood. Any member needing feed 

 may address the secretary of the Exchange 

 at Modesto. It might be mentioned here 

 that last winter California lost thru starva- 

 tion approximately 4,200 colonies. 



Your correspondent has been requested to 

 write a special article for Gleanings on bee- 

 disease legislation. He hopes to be able to 

 do this for the January issue. Unquestion- 

 ably, this is an important and timely topic. 

 Government statistics show that last year 

 California suffered in summer losses thru 

 disease (this does not include winter losses 

 from all causes, which were nearly double 

 the summer losses) over 11,000 colonies 

 valued at over $89,000. Furthermore, the 

 rate of increase of summer losses thru dis- 

 ease from 1916 to 1917 shows a loss of 2,- 

 450 colonies valued at $19,600. This indi- 

 cates that our industry thru summer losses 

 from disease alone is suffering a yearly in- 

 crease in loss of nearly $20,000, and that 

 probably this loss, instead of remaining at 

 about $89,000 for the year 1918, will amount 

 to $109,000. When it is taken into considera- 

 tion that our winter losses are almost double 

 the summer losses and also the resultant loss 

 of honey crop, it will be readily seen that 

 the matter of an effective bee-disease law 

 in the State is paramount for the protection 

 of our industry. Our State Exchange will 

 employ every means within its power to 

 secure this much needed legislation. 



The sugar requirements of soft-drink 

 manufacturers on Nov. 1 were again cut in 

 half, and the amount allotted now to such 

 manufactures is but one-fourth that used by 

 them in normal times. This brings up the 

 question of sugar substitutes which may be 

 used in replacing a part of the sugar in the 

 bottling of soft drinks. According to the 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of 

 Chemistry, the following sweetening agents 

 can be substituted for sugar: corn syrup 

 (ordinary glucose), corn sugar, maltose 



syrup, honey, and high-grade refiner's syrup. 

 It is interesting to note the relative sweeten- 

 ing powers (excepting refiner's syrup) of 

 the above-mentioned products. They are as 

 follows: ordinary sugar, 100; honey, 75; 

 corn sugar, 45; maltose syrup, 30; corn 

 syrup, 20. It is likewise interesting to note 

 that the Bureau of Chemistry does not rec- 

 ognize saccharin as a substitute for sugar. 

 It possesses no food value and has been 

 shown to be actually deleterious to health. 

 It might also be stated that saccharin cannot 

 be legally used in foods in the State of 

 California. M. C. Richter. 



Modesto, Calif. 



* * * 



In Southern California.— '^^^^^ '^^y,"' 



side Dis- 

 trict Fair or, as it was called this year, the 

 Southern California Fair, was held at River- 

 side, Calif., Oct. 8-12. For several years the 

 beekeepers of Riverside County have made 

 very creditable displays at these fairs. This 

 year a special effort was put forth to get 

 as fine a display as possible. In order to 

 stimulate interest and draw in exhibits from 

 outside of this county, a prize of $75 was 

 offered for the best display of bees, bee- 

 keeping appliances, etc., put up by a county 

 club. A second prize of $50 was also offered. 

 Some very fine exhibits were made by the 

 neighboring counties. (See picture of exhibit 

 on page 739). A generous display of comb 

 honey, extracted honey, and hundreds of 

 pounds of beeswax were part of the attrac- 

 tion. Riverside and San Bernardino Coun- 

 ties each had a miniature apiary in its ex- 

 hibit, Riverside County also having a minia- 

 ture man uncapping and extracting honey. 

 A genuine, old-fashioned "bee-gum" in the 

 nature of a log cut from an oak tree, con- 

 taining a swarm of bees in their native state, 

 was one of San Bernardino County 's special 

 attractions. About 25 ways of putting up 

 extracted honey were shown to the 30,000 

 people who visited the fair. The first prize 

 of $75 went to the Riverside County Club, 

 and the second prize of $50 went to the San 

 Bernardino County Club. Each of these 

 county clubs should be highly commended 

 for the efforts put forth. Demonstrations 

 were given daily in front of the grand stand 

 by A. C. Carpenter of Fallbrook, San Diego 

 County. His special demonstrations were 

 in preparing bees, queens, and pound pack- 

 ages for shipment. The Kinzie brothers, each 

 with his own exhibit, and E. J. Atchley, all 

 had good displays. The Kinzie brothers, 

 especially, vied with each other with very 

 fine displays of hives, bees, appliances, hon- 

 ey, and wax, together with canned fruit, 

 preserves, jellies, and cooked food sweeten- 

 ed with honey. They also had a wonderful 

 exhibit of mounted California honey-pro- 

 dueing plants. Charles Kinzie carried off 

 the first prize on bees and queens, and the 



