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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUltE. 



63 



GALliirP'S IDEAS OX BEE-CIL,TUBE IN 

 CALIFOBIV1A. 



IDEAS THAT ARE EXCELLENT FOR ANY PART OF 

 THE WORLD. 



Now, Mr. Editor, I do not say that the black boos 

 aie all dead, by any means; for I kuow of some 

 apiaries that were properly managed, where they 

 arc in good condition. 



E. Gallup. 



Santa Ana. Los Angeles Co.,Cal., Dec. 12, 1870. 



" n J DITOR GLEANINGS:— I was at the Los Ange- 

 '{' 1 les Co. fair, but as this season has been a 

 failure in the bee business, I saw little of 

 interest in the bee line, except a stone bee hive 

 manufactured, as I understood, at San Barnardino, 

 but could find no owner, and therefore could gain 

 no information. 



From 50 to 75 per cent of the bees will perish, or 

 have already perished, in many localities in Southern 

 California; still the loss of some bee-keepers is but 

 trilling-. When a good stock of bees will produce 

 from 300 to 400 lb. of honey in a good season, it ap- 

 pears to me to be rather poor policy, to allow them 

 to starve for the want of a little of that honey in a 

 poor season. Bees that were kept in ten-frame, L. 

 hives, with supers, and the honey only extracted 

 from the supers, are now in good condition, as far 

 as I have examined. A stock of bees that has just 

 managed to starve through, with a pint or even a 

 quart of bees, and no stores to fall back on, in my 

 estimation, are in a sorry condition to commence a 

 good season, in comparison with a strong stock with 

 abundance of stores. The "penny-wise and pound- 

 foolish" plan of managing bees in California may be 

 profitable to some people, but it is not my plan; 

 neither is it a plan that 1 could recommend to others. 

 In fact, Mr. Editor, I am faiily and firmly disgusted 

 with ir. 



Bees in this section are now gathering stores from 

 willow blossoms; still the surplus stored here in the 

 valley is of very poor quality, and not tit for market. 

 Thousands of stocks were moved down into the 

 valleys, and if the season proves to be a good one, 

 they will be moved back into the mountains in the 

 spring. We have had early rains, and, if we have 

 thein often enough, the season will be early. 

 Peaches, apricots, etc., will be blossoming about 

 Christmas, and the Alhllcr.i' will bloom quite early 

 or many more stocks would perish. The sages arc 

 commencing an early growth. Things in general 

 look brighter for bee-keepers that have their bees 

 in fair condition. Good stocks are gathering pollen 

 and commencing to breed in Ventura Co., near Sania 

 Paula and farther down in the Santa Clara valley. 

 Of course, the season is s;ill farther forward hero, 

 near Santa Ana. I was offered 70 stocks in good con- 

 dition, in two-story, L. hives, with double set of 

 combs, in Ventura Co., last week, at $3.00 per stock. 

 So you see that if a man wants to bring bees from 

 the Southern States here, it would simply be almost, 

 if not altogether, foolish, to say the least. In fact, 

 a man with cash, by watching his opportunity, can 

 purchase at almost his own price. 



The Italians have again proved their superiority 

 over the blacks, and the purer the Italians, the 

 greater their superiority. It is your poor seasons 

 that fairly test the qualities of the two species or 

 races. The blacks have starved to death long- ago, 

 in apiaries where the Italians, right by their side, 

 have made a good living; and then the little black 

 rascals were up every morning-, trying to rob their 

 neighbors or steal something, while the Italians 

 were making an honest living. Comparatively few 

 apiaries that I have visited are Italianized. The 

 most of the bee-keepers think it of little importance. 



JJO BEES EAT GBAPES? 



^f"~r'AVIX(; been a grape-grower and bee-keeper 

 | ! P'|' for 20 years, and now having charge of 33 



— ' acres of grapes and keeping from 25 to 40 

 hives of bees, it is quite natural that I should take 

 an interest in the discussion of the question.; "Do 

 bees eat grapes.-" 



My father planted one of the first vineyards in 

 Kentucky, and he was also quite a bee-man for those 

 days, having invented a number of contrivances to 

 check the ravages of the moth, which, at that time, 

 threatened the destruction of all the bees in that 

 state. When our first crop of grapes was ripe, I 

 well remember his coming to me, when I was but a 

 boy, and saying that we would have to give up our 

 bees, as they were destroying the grapes. But. be- 

 ing leluctant to part with them, he did not brim- 

 stone them without investigating the matter, and 

 this investigation led to the conclusion that the bees 

 only fed upon the grapes that had been punctured, 

 and he discovered a small bhd doing that mischief. 

 Our bees and grapes were both saved. 



We have been troubled here by having our early 

 grapes, especially the Hartfords and Delaware's, 

 punctured, and the juice sucked out. It seemed to 

 be done at night or early in the morning, and it was 

 very hard to find out what was doing the mischief. 

 Bees would sometimes be seen on them, but not in 

 sufficient numbers to do so much damage. 



One of my neighbors determined to find out what 

 it was, as they had not left him a perfect bunch of 

 Hartford grapes. By careful watching, he discover- 

 ed the depredators to be the beautiful Baltimore 

 orioles, which were passing here in large hocks. In 

 a day or two, he killed 4(1 or 50 of them, and saved 

 the remainder of his grapes. Had there been many 

 bees in his neighborhood, no doubt they would have 

 been accused of destroying the grapes. 



My bees frequent the grape boxes where we arc 

 gathering, sucking at the bruised grapes, and I lose 

 many bees by their getting mashed, and by their re- 

 maining out so late that they get chilled and unable 

 to get home, but I am satisfied that we never lose a 

 single sound grape by the bees. 



In regard to the instance mentioned of Concord 

 grapes: I have known nearly every Concord on a 

 vine to be cracked open, or to be loose at the stem. 

 Especially is this the ease when a rain follows a dry 

 spell, while the grapes are ripening. It is true, that 

 While these cracked grapes may not do to ship, they 

 are worth something for wine or for family use. 



Thaijdeus Smith. 



Pelee Island, Out., Ca., Dec. 17, 1870. 



Tt may be that you are coned, friend S., 

 and that our Concords were either cracked 

 or punctured by the birds ; but the question 

 now arises, do people generally consider 

 their cracked grapes of so little value, that 

 they are willing to put up with the ravages 

 of the beesV 1 hope such may be the case, 

 and that we may haveirght damages to pay 

 when the season is such that the bees work 

 on the grapes, ^r 



