July, 1915. 



American Hee Journal 



making of a honey crop in one place, 

 while its absence may mean a failure 

 in another. Having bees at widely sep- 

 arated localities has lots of disadvan- 

 tages, but there are also some advan- 

 tages, one of them beiig that, as a rule, 

 total failure of the honey crop is not 

 apt to occur the same year in two or 

 more localities. 



Late Flow Helps Weak Colonies 



Generally speaking, the farther north 

 one goes to keep bees the later the sea- 

 son for bloom and the later the bees 

 will build up ready for supers. But 

 there are e.xceptions to this. While 

 our bees in York county went into 

 winter quarters with old bees, owing to 

 the almost total failure of the honey 

 crop last year, at the north yard a mod- 

 erate flow in August and September 

 seemed to put all colonies in prime 

 condition; at least the way they win- 

 tered seemed to point to that conclu- 

 sion. Anyway, they have built up far 

 ahead of our home bees, and while the 

 latter are mostly just ready to enter 

 the supers now as clover is opening, 

 those at the north yard are nearly all 

 fully occupying a full depth super, and 

 many have the second one full of bees. 



With a short, quick, early flow, bees 

 just about ready to enter supers at 

 opening of flow will store little surplus, 

 while if flow is held back by a long 

 spell of bad weather the weaker colo- 

 nies will catch up to those much 

 stronger earlier in the season. Need- 

 less to say I will always give the pref- 

 erence to the early strong colonies, but 

 this year will test the matter out in our 

 case to a surety, as there is fully 10 days 

 difference in the bees in the two locali- 

 ties with little difference if any in the 

 period of clover bloom. 



A New Bee Escape 



On page 11)8 of the June American 

 Bee Journal, I read with interest what 

 friend Crane has to say regarding the 

 new pattern of a bee-escape illustrated 

 on that page. It has several features 

 that will appeal to all who use escapes, 

 but has the the old drawback common 

 to all escapes with solid board between 

 brood-nest and supers to be cleared. 



An Ontario beekeeper whose name 

 has slipped my memory, has brought 

 out an escape in which most of the 

 space is made of wire-cloth instead of 

 a board, and with this arrangement 

 the bees are cleared from supers and 

 still the honey is not chilled as is the 

 case with other escapes. So good an 

 authority as friend Holtermann has 

 recommended them, and I was just 

 thinking of having a lot of ours at the 

 north yard changed to this style, when 

 a friend told me that they are not mak- 

 ing good, the bees refusing to leave the 

 supers in many cases. If this meets 

 the eye of any person who has used 

 this escape, I would deem it a favor to 

 hear from them either personally or 

 through the American Bee Journal. 



Late Frost 



A late frost on the night of May 26 

 did considerable damage to tender 

 vegetables and small fruits in some 



sections ot Ontario. In our own 

 locality no damage was done from a 

 beekeeping standpoint, but at the 

 northern location the basswood buds 

 were frozen. While we depend little 

 upon that source of nectar, yet this 

 year was the season for heavy bloom, 

 so naturally we felt i bit sorry, as pros- 

 pects looked good for a chance crop 

 from the basswood. 



Two Queens in One Hive 



Early in May, while clipping queens 

 at the home yard, we found a colony 

 none too strong, with evidence of a 

 failing queen. It was marked accord- 

 ingly, and on getting a few queens 

 from the South a week later, this hive 

 was opened with intentions of remov- 

 ing the old queen and giving them one 

 just received. Lifting up a comb the 

 old queen (a bright Italian) was seen 

 at once, and within an inch of her was 

 a very yellow young queen that we had 

 not noticed at clipping time. This 

 young queen, while under size, did not 

 act like a virgin, and for the sake of 

 curiosity I closed the hive and let them 

 go. A week later the hive was opened 

 and the two queens were right near 

 one another on the same comb as at 

 the former visit. 



At different times we have looked 

 since and always find them there. It 



is now about five weeks since they 

 were first noticed, and I am rather puz- 

 zled at what they intend to do. The 

 old queen is still laying, as I caught 

 her in the act; but while I think this 

 small young queen is mated and laying 

 too, yet I am not real certain in the 

 matter. I first thought she was a vir- 

 gin hatched too early in the spring for 

 a successful flight, but just now it is all 

 an uncertainty to me. 



I have at different times seen two 

 queens in a hive together under super- 

 sedure plans, but this is the first time I 

 have noticed such an e.xtended period 

 of companionship of mother and 

 daughter in one hive. 



Is It Worth the Price? 



Allen Latham has clearly proved 

 that sections can be sent by post— if 

 he couldn't do it, no use of any one 

 trying it. Page 188. But after all is it 

 worth the price ? Seems to me that 

 such a bulky package as is positively 

 necessary to insure safe delivery, means 

 so much postage that the scheme will 

 never be a commercial success. 



Sumac honey! really the words make 

 my mouth water, as it revives sweet 

 memories of a section given to me at 

 Albany, N. Y., by friend Latham. I 

 brought it home— the rest of the family 

 didn't like the flavor— all the better for 

 me, for I did like it. 



Caufornia ^ Bee-Keeping 



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



Crop Conditions 



Extracting in the mountain and foot- 

 hill apiaries is now in full swing, be- 

 ginning over a month late owing to 

 the cold, damp weather. It is too 

 early yet to give anything like an ac- 

 curate report as to crop or price. The 

 sage moth has done some damage to 

 black sage. 



Our bloom for honey yield is all 

 corning in at about the same time, 

 which makes it uncertain to figure 

 how long the flow will last. The honey 

 taken so far is light in color and of 

 good quality. 



Ripening Honey 



So many questions have come in 

 lately as to ripening of honey, whether 

 in cell or tank, that it seems fit to say 

 a few more words on this subject, 

 which always comes up during the ex- 

 tracting season. Especially should 

 beginners be given the right idea about 

 well-ripened honey. There is only one 

 point in favor of extracting honey be- 

 fore it is sealed, and that is the saving 

 of time. This is manv times offset by 

 the superior quality of honey left in the 

 hive until sealed. It is a great satis- 

 faction to feel that your honey placed 

 on the market is a finished product 

 about which there can be no complaint 



either as to its flavor or keeping quali- 

 ties. Sometimes even the best venti- 

 lated tank under a California sun will 

 fall far short of the ripening process 

 conducted in nature's own laboratory 

 — a bee-hive. 



I knew of an instance some years 

 ago of a neighbor beekeeper who was 

 a careful man, too, who had some of 

 his last drawings from his tank to sour, 

 while the first drawings from the same 

 tankwere good. This wasaccounted for 

 by the fact that the heavy honey set- 

 tled to the bottom while the honey still 

 containing ^ome water rose to the top. 

 I believe our young friend George 

 Brown, of Tustin, sounded the kiynote 

 when he said in a late number of the 

 .American Bee Journal, "Don't sell 

 nectar, sell honey." 



Harmonies in Insect and Plant Life 



While primarily we work our api- 

 aries for profit, and the commercial 

 side of beekeeping is the one foremost 

 in our minds, is it not well to turn 

 aside occasionally from this view point 

 and consider the .•esthetic side of our 

 calling ? It is a rest in the busv sea- 

 son to refresh our minds with the 

 curious and beautiful nature, without 

 any thought of gain. One of the most 

 wonderful of these manifestations of 

 nature's harmonies is the adaptation 



