GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



BEEKEEPING IN CALIFOKNIA 



P. C. Chadwick, 



It seems that our eastern broth- 

 ens have been getting a taste of 

 the same variety of weather that 

 rerlucefl our orange flow at least 

 75 ])er cent. 



Spreading brood is rarely nec- 

 essary where a young queen is at the head 

 of the colony. Their first operations will 

 extend the brood-nest just about as fast as 

 Ihoir bee force \\i\l permit. Even the faalt 

 of the bees blocking the way with pollen is 

 greatly reduced with a young queen. Some 

 way they seem to get matters to move along 

 much better than with an old queen. 

 « * * 



The value of wired combs was most foi'- 

 cibly illustrated to me recently when four 

 colonies that Avere being moved on an auto 

 truck fell with a thud. Aside from slight 

 damage done to few combs, and the crush- 

 ing of a few bees, the accident was not 

 serious. With unwired combs the whole lot 

 would have been a mass of broken combs 

 and dead bees, making the loss almost com- 

 plete. 



My qu(>eii-i'earing this season has been 

 carried on by Mr. Byron Crawford, who 

 was with me last season and part of the 

 previous one. He has become interested 

 with me in the bee business on general lines, 

 and T hope he will remain with me for many 

 years to come. While he has been out of 

 his teens only a few years, he has a store 

 of knowledge on bees of which any young 

 man of his age might well be proud. 

 * * * 



Judging from scattering reports from 

 various localities in the southern end of the 

 state, there will be no very large crop of 

 honey in the sage districts this year. Had 

 this been the year for a sage flow we would 

 have seen the largest crop of sage honey in 

 recent years. Some are inclined to the be- 

 lief that they have a sage crop this year; 

 but the fact remains that they secured only 

 a comparatively small amount, considering 

 (he immense rain, and late rain at that. 

 ■* * * 



The value of young queens, and what they 

 can accomplish, has been more thoroughly 

 proved to me than ever during the last few 

 weeks. Kequeening was begun with colo- 

 nies that wei'e not requeened last season, and 

 that failed to come up to standard. With 

 vigorous young queens these colonies have 

 forged to the front, while coloines with 



Redlands, €al. 



last season's queens were slowing down in 

 their brood-rearing operations and decreas- 

 ing in numbers. The fact most significant 

 to me was that where a vigorous young 

 queen began operations, even the worst 

 honey-bound brood-chambers were cleared 

 for her, and the honey moved above the ex- 

 cluder. * ,j, ,r, 



We have had some perplexing experi- 

 ences during our operations of requeening. 

 Many cells have been lost by being torn 

 down in raating-hives. It a protector was 

 used then the queens would be balled for a 

 few days, or even after returning from the 

 mating-flight. Colonies hopelessly queenless 

 have killed as inany as three laying queens. 

 The only plan of introduction that has a 

 score of 100 per cent safe was by the 

 method recommended by Mr. Doolittle. But 

 just to prove that new conditions are mot 

 from time to time, and that the bees are 

 sometimes on their good behavior in spite 

 of all precedents, I will state that only a 

 few days ago Mr. Ci'awford and myself 

 discovered two young queens less than a 

 month old laying in the same brood-cham- 

 ber. We have placed one above an ex- 

 cluder over the othei-, and will see if they 

 will remain so during the winter, or 

 whether one will eventually disappear, 

 as is so often the case where (wo are left 

 in the same hive during the winter. 



Late in May I purchased twenty-three 

 colonies of bees at what might be consider- 

 ed a vei'v low figure. A few were in frame 

 hives. Kearly all the frames were not 

 wired, and in a part the bees had taken the 

 liberty to build the combs crosswise of the 

 frames. Most of them were in any kind 

 of old box that happened to be at hand 

 when the swarm was captured, ranging in 

 size from a small soap-box to an orange- 

 box. Twenty dollars was the price paid 

 for this conglomeration. Hives weie 

 brought from the Tremont apiary with full 

 sets of combs and an excluder. The bees 

 from a box were smoked and jarred out of 

 the box on to a set of frames. As soon as 

 (he queen was down, an excluder was ]daced 

 over the hive and (he box placed over the 

 excluder. In three weeks the brood had all 

 hatched fi-otn (lie boxes and (hey were re- 

 moved, thus making a comi)lete transfer 

 without the loss of any time in (he opera- 

 tion. Tf we had followed (he old me(hod of 

 transfening combs to the frames the price 

 ivould have been excessive. 



