GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Byer bees. This raises the question whether 

 aster honey was the cause of oui- ti'ouble, or 

 something else that bloomed at about the 

 same linie. As there are many different 

 kinds of asters, there are of course several 

 different kinds of aster honey. Some of 

 them may be good while others are bad for 

 wintering. 



It will take further investigation before 

 we can arrive at definite conclusions. But 

 A. J. Halter, in whose vicinity we had a 

 couple of yards of bees in the aster swamps 

 of Summit Co., warned us to look out for 

 those aster stores. We knew the general 

 bad reputation of aster honey. Those that 

 had the most of it were sent down to Vir- 

 ginia. The rest were left at Medina, with 

 the result as already stated. 



The president of the National Beekeep- 

 ers' Association, Dr. Burton N. Gates, of 

 the Massachusetts Agricultural College, is 

 the author of a paper on " Beekeeping in 

 Massachusetts," which has been published 

 as Bulletin No. 75 of the Federal Bureau of 

 Entomology. A sketch of this nature, not 

 attempting too much, is particularly valu- 

 able for the study of conditions in a local- 

 ity, and takes its place among a number 

 of similar highly valuable reports of state 

 beekeeping, which, taken together, give a 

 comprehensive view of the situation in the 

 whole country. 



Colonial apiculture had its beginning in 

 Massachusetts as early as 1644, but we hear 

 little of it from that time until the begin- 

 ning of the last century, when what little 

 progress it may have made all but suc- 

 cumbed to a series of attacks by disease. 

 Langstroth's epoch-making invention in 

 185.^ transformed beekeeping in tliis state 

 just as in all the rest. 



Dr. Gates believes Massachusetts needs 

 " fewer but more proficient beekeepers who 

 will undertake the work along this line." 

 The reported average of 51/2 colonies to the 

 beekeeper is far too small; but if it were 

 very greatly increased many would have to 

 go out of the business on account of a lack 

 of forage for the bees. His figures reveal 

 the fact that half the beekeepers quit the 

 business after about five years of the pur- 

 suit. Probably this proportion would hold 

 general in other states. 



The room for improvement is shown most 

 strikingly in the conclusion that about one- 

 fourth of tlie beekeejiers still hang to the 

 use of old box liives. With the advent of 

 the modern professional beekeepr, with his 

 standardized e(juii)iiient and efficient meth- 



ods, this figure is doubtless approaching 

 zero as the limit. 



The author reviews the phase of beekeep- 

 ing most peculiar to Massachusetts. In 

 1909 there were at least one hundred and 

 eighteen greenhouse cucumber-growers. 

 Each of these used about eight colonies to 

 an extensive crop. He believes over a 

 thousand colonies are destroyed in this man- 

 ner every year, since each colony is fully 

 ruined after a year of use. The waste of 

 this condition could be improved by practi- 

 cal beekeeping methods among the cucum- 

 ber-growers, and a great deal of expense 

 saved. 



§ of I. 

 " Dogs ill title 



The Beel 

 Call 



We had the privilege of spending one 

 day in the wonderful Imperial Valley of 

 California. This valley is surrounded by 

 miles and miles of desert and mountainous 

 country that can never be irrigated, for the 

 simple reason that it cannot be reached by 

 water'. In fact, the valley is a mammoth 

 oasis of four million acres under cultivation, 

 with two more million to follow when water 

 can be got on to it. The soil is wonderfully 

 productive — deep and rich; in fact, the 

 territory has been called " the little Nile of 

 the Western Hemisphere." We doubt if 

 there is another spot in the world its supe- 

 rior. It will grow practically every thing. 

 It is one of the most wonderful alfalfa dis- 

 tricts in the United States; and that means 

 it is a wonderful bee country. But, like all 

 of these bee paradises, it has its drawbacks. 

 It is excessively hot there in the summer 

 time. It is already overstocked with bees 

 and beekeepers. The alfalfa honey there is 

 darker than the same kind of honey pro- 

 duced in Nevada and Colorado, and hence 

 brings a lower price. 



The fact that Imperial Valley is quite 

 isolated by a dry stretch of forty miles all 

 around, has enabled the beekeepers of the 

 valley to prevent the importation of bee 

 disease. If it is once free of European 

 and American foul brood, there will be no 

 danger of either of those diseases getting a 

 foothold, providing the importation of bees 

 can be stopped. Accordingly, taking ad- 

 vantage of the California county foul-brood 

 law, the beekeepers of Imperial Valley have 

 stopped all importation of honeybees into 

 thoir county that have either had disease or 

 wliicli came from a locality where disease 

 was present. The unpleasant duty and re- 

 sponsibility of enforcing this law fell on 

 Mr. A. F. Wagner, foul-brood inspector of 



