GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



BEEKEEPING IN CALIFOENIA 



P. C. Oiadwick, 



A lieadline reads, " Wintering 

 bees on peppennint candy." I 

 believe I could winter on that 

 myself. 



Keeping' comb honey too warm 

 Avill give it the appearance of be- 

 ing '' water-capped," due to the fact that 

 when the honey becomes too" warm it runs 

 against the cappings. 



* » * 



Mr. Scholl, will you kindly explain the 

 difference between bulk comb honey and 

 chunk honey? I am a little hazy on that 

 distinction, and I presume there are others 

 the same way. 



T have just received woid th.at a new 

 beekeeper has arrived in the home of Mr. 

 and Mrs. Wesley Foster. 1 have extended 

 my most hearty congratulations, wishing all 

 the blessings attending such an oecurrt^nce. 



* * * 



I read, page 686, Aug. 1.1. '' The bee on 

 the left was killed by a sting in the second 

 joint of the front leg." It must have been 

 a black bee. Colored folks are said to be 

 very susceptible to injuries on their shins. 



I saw an apiary last week that would 

 burn "body and breeches" if fire ever got 

 started in it. Weeds and grass were knee 

 high, and as dry as tinder all around the 

 hives and honey-house. If it should burn, 

 the owner would have only himself to blariie. 



y- 3fe * 



From the point of knowledge of the bee, 

 San Bernardino County lost one of its fore- 

 most beekeepers on the 26tli of this month 

 in the death of Mr. Ijeroy Straight. He 

 had been in i»oor health for many years, 

 and had been failing rapidly for nearly a 

 year. He died at the age of 6.3 years. His 

 ability in successfully handling bees was 

 excelled by few beekeepei's of the stale. 



* » » 



The California State Commission of 

 Horticulture has issued a book of 500 

 pages, entitled "Injurious and Beneficial 

 Insects." I am indebted to Prof. A. J. 

 Cook, who heads the department, for a 

 copy of the same. There ai-e some data on 

 enemies of the sage and other honey-bear- 

 ing plants; but our old enemy the sage-wee- 

 vil, so called, seems to have been missed in 

 the shuflle. This enemy is a worm t.f n(jl 

 more than ^4 inch in length, ])ossibly more. 



Medlands, Cal. 



Tlie egg that i»roduces it is laid at the base 

 of the button, in what has the appearance 

 of being a sting in the button. It is at 

 least a puncture of some kind for the de- 

 positing of the egg. The egg hatches, and 

 the worm cuts its way around in the base 

 of the button, destroying much of the bloom 

 before it has time to open. 



* * * 



One of the most sudden and freakisli 

 storms burst upon us on the 2Gth of Au- 

 gust. The morning was clear and bright. 

 By noon the sky was fast becoming clouded. 

 At one o'clock a dust storm broke all over 

 the southern part of the state, and, to use 

 a common expression, it was " some dusty." 

 The dust was followed closely by rain in 

 many sections, some places merely a sprin- 

 kle, at others a heavy downpour. The heat 

 .since has been very oppressive, the usual 

 cool nights ha\ing disappeared for the time 



being. 



* * * 



Last week I was passing under a [)epper- 

 tree which was in bloom, and noticed many 

 dead bees upon tlie walk and ground. I 

 counted 19 on a space 4 feet wide and 12 

 feet long. At the same rate there must 

 have been at least 200 dead bees under this 

 (Uie tree. I found upon further investiga- 

 tion tJiat other trees had a like number 

 under them. But the cause I cannot locale. 

 Their bodies were distended much as in 

 poisoning. Yet I have never known of bees 

 liaving been poisoned by pepper bloom 

 before, it is a mysten^ to me. 



Mr. Doolittle, page 573, July 15. says 

 " Clieaply reared queens are detrimental," 

 and also, " As long as consumers insist on 

 paying a low price for their stock, and 

 queen-breeders advertise queens at $50 a 

 hundred, so long must they be content with 

 the results of queens reared without proper 

 care." Hei'ein lies food for thought. Grind- 

 ing out quantities of queens without propei- 

 individual care and examination is not 

 '•onducive to the best interests of the con- 

 suming public. I have had sufficient expe- 

 rience with queen-rearing to cause me lo 

 believe that producing great quantities of 

 queens is the only way that cheap queens 

 can be turned out with profit, but the re- 

 sults aio very much as Mr. Doolittle has 

 said. ^. ^. ^, 



There is some honey being exported from 

 the coast — the first for nearly a year. The 



