February, 1915. 



O's'j^-IJLZJ 



^) American 'See Journal i 



hives, good location, ventilation, shade, 

 sunshine and methods of handling are 

 as essential as a good strain of bees. 

 And these as well as bee diseases are 

 topics of discussion at our conventions 

 and field meets. 



"The most important thing required 

 is educational work. Many practical 

 beekeepers who are keeping bees for 

 commercial consideration, pay little 

 attention to disease until it is in their 

 own yard. They hardly know what it 

 looks like, and often before they are 

 aware of it, the disease has gone 

 through a large part of the apiary. 



"When the beekeepers come to un- 

 derstand the serious nature of these 

 diseases, to recognize them and the 



proper methods of treatment, a great 

 improvement in apiculture will be 

 made. Until a desire to understand 

 beekeeping is awakened, and the bee- 

 keepers are anxious to examine the 

 brood-nests of their hives, and learn 

 to care for the various diseases, it is 

 imperative that there be authority to 

 compel proper aitention. 



" With conventions, field days, bee 

 literature, and such men as Dr. Miller, 

 N. E. France and C. P. Dadant to 

 divide knowledge with us. and good 

 practical application on our own part, 

 we should make rapid strides toward 

 profitable beekeeping." 



[Mrs.] a. L. Kildow. 

 Putnam, 111. 



Caufornia ^ Bee-Keeping 



Conducted by J. E. Pleasants. Orange. Calif. 



California Stale Beekeepers' Meeting 



The annual meeting of the Califor- 

 nia State Beekeepers' Association was 

 held at the Y. M. C. A. Building in Los 

 Angeles on Dec. Hi and 17, 1914. There 

 was a fair attendance, about 100 mem- 

 bers being present. 



The time was mostly devoted to busi- 

 ness, and considerable enthusiasm was 

 shown among the beekeepers, owing, 

 no doubt, to the pleasi ig prospects 

 already shown by the weather condi- 

 tions. There have already been fine 

 rains. And as the winter has begun so 

 promising, we hope for a honey crop 

 the coming season. The most interest- 

 ing number on the program was Dr. A. 

 J. Cook's address on " Honey as a 

 Food." As all the beekeepers of the 

 country know Dr. Cook, it is only nec- 

 essary to say that the Doctor spoke in 

 his happiest vein. 



At the election of ofiicers Prof. Willis 

 Lynch, of Berkeley, was elected presi- 

 dent ; A. B. Shaffner re-elected secr.;- 



tary; Messrs. Gilstrap and Allen re- 

 elected on the Executive Board, and 

 Harry K. Hill, of Willows, Glenn Co., 

 elected as a new member of the Board. 

 Glenn county is in the northern part 

 of the State. This with the new presi- 

 dent in the north also, and one member 

 from the central, gives a majority of 

 the Board now from the north. This 

 is as it should be. We have had the 

 majority in the southern part of the 

 State for a long time, so it is only fair 

 to divide. 



It was decided to hold the next an- 

 nual meeting in San Francisco. 



IVI. H. Mendleson. 



This month we give Mr. Mendleson's 

 letter describing his home apiary. Mr. 

 Mendleson needs no introduction to 

 any but the new members of the bee- 

 keeping world, being a man of national 

 fame as one of the largest, if not the 



700 COLONY HOME APIARY OK M. H MHNDLESON AT HIS PIRU HEADQUARTERS 



Hives are kept in pairs and individual record of each colony kept. 



Notice how neat everythins is. 



largest, beekeepers of America: 



"Attached are two photographs of 

 my home apiary near Piru, Ventura 

 Co., Calif. It now contains near 700 

 colonies of bees in prime condition for 

 winter. It was located in the spring of 

 189.3 on rough brushy sidehill land; on 

 the most of it a wheelbarrow wO'ld tip 

 over with a load of honey unless set 

 carefully, cons-quently I terraced it in 

 1898, 1899 and 1900. Working among 

 the bees, 1 had to work mostly eve- 

 nings and sometimes the main part of 

 the nights, to grade with pick and 

 shovel. These terraces were made 

 about 14 feet wide, and about 350 feet 

 long. Two rows of hives are set in 

 each terrace, facing from the alley- 

 way in pairs, a numbered stake be- 

 tween each pair, and an individual rec- 

 ord kept of each colony. All queens 

 are replaced, every year or two, from 

 the best Italian stock that can be 

 gotten. 



"The lay of the grounds and the 

 manner of terracing are such that there 

 is no confusion of bees from monotony. 

 These grounds are kept clean, costing 

 me over $100 annually to keep the 

 weeds down. There is a great advan- 

 tage in keeping an apiary clean and 

 orderly, causing greater freedom and 

 ease and pleasure of work, not as 

 much loss of queens and bees from 

 vermin, and almost entire freedom 

 from the dangers of mountain fires. 

 Great mountain fires have raged, sur- 

 rounding nearly all of my apiaries, and 

 only one colony of Kees has been lost 

 from fire. Ihis one colony was a 

 swarm that went into a pile of hives 

 outside the apiary proper, and this 

 would not have been lost had not my 

 helpers neglected to keep the weeds 

 down surrounding this pile of hives. 



"This is a scenic canon, cheerful sur- 

 roundings and healthful, and an ideal 

 place for bees following our wet sea- 

 sons. Mr. Ernest Root (many years 

 ago) wrote a descriptive article of this 

 apiary and location, and that g-em of 

 manhood, the late John H. Martin (The 

 Rambler), gave an article of me in 

 Gleanings in Bee Culture in 1893. 



"Providence permitting, the first good 

 season I have I shall run this apiary 

 up to 1000 colonies or more, to test the 

 range in a good season. 



"I am using an 8-frame Root power 

 extractor in this apiary, and I intend 

 to put in another one and run 2 power 

 extractors instead of one in this apiary 

 alone, as the past season nearly three 

 tons of honey were extracted within 

 eight hours, the honey being thick 

 the extractor could not keep up with 

 the men, or there would have been 

 near the four-ton mark for that day's 

 work, as a test of what could be done 

 in one day of less than 10 hours' work. 

 "In an extra photograph you will 

 notice a row of cone-top galvanized 

 iron seven-ton honey tanks. I have 

 five of this capacity alone, made from 

 20 pound iron. Cone or closed top 

 tanks prevent vermin and dust from 

 dropping in. They are ventilated, and 

 the honey always thickens much more 

 when standing a while in these tanks. 

 Cloth-top tanks are subject to draw in 

 much of the dews. 



" For the reason of the cool cloudy 

 season preventing good secretion, and 

 preventing bees from working in the 



