OCTOBER 15, 1915 



887 



BEEKEEPING IN CALIFORNIA 



P. C. Cliadwick, 

 Dr. Miller tells us, page 747, 

 Sept. 15, what points he would 

 breed for under various conditions, 

 but omitted sayiiiii' anythiiii;" about 

 disease-resisting' qualities. Is that 

 not one of the most important 

 points in this day of disease? 



• • * 



^Ir. Fiank B. Gunther. of this city, has 

 recently sold his apiarj^ and retired from 

 the bee business. Mr. Gunther has been a 

 beekeeper in this locality for many years, 

 and is one of the old timers. Failing health 

 has caused his retirement. 



• • * 



Mr. W. T. Gary says, page 770, Sept. 15, 

 " Use two queen-excluders instead of one, 

 with a bee-space between them," as a mod- 

 itication of the Alexander plan for keeping 

 queens apart. 1 am carrying several queens 

 over others, separated only jjy screen wire, 

 which, to my notion, is the best plan yet 



introduced. 



• > • 



On page 695 I read this headline : 

 " Drone-laying Queen Brood Sometimes a 

 Slinking Mess."' Correct! I had some 

 experience in that line last season and this. 

 La^t season I was very much alarmed for 

 fear of '' black brood," but it proved to be 

 only dead brood dried down in the cells, 

 and otherwise greatly resembling black 

 brood. A change of queens soon corrected 



the matter. 



• • « 



There is a beekeeper in this locality who 

 claims to have cured American foul brood 

 in an apiary that was badly affected, with- 

 out destroying any combs above the ex- 

 cluders, the bees being allowed the free use 

 of the honey. He contends that the honey 

 above the excluders is not diseased; and to 

 my notion he has proved the fact. But it 

 must be remembered that the excludei-s arc 

 not to be removed at any time of the year. 

 Shaking (or any other system used) can be 

 carried on without permanently removing 

 the excluders. 



• • • 



'Mt. Crane says, page 658, Aug. 15. " Do 

 we sing as we work? It is interesting to 

 note that the birds sing the most when they 

 work the hardest during the nest-building 

 and the rearing of their young." Weil, 

 most of the singing takes place during the 

 nest-building, Bro. Crane. When the little 

 mouths begin to open for food there is a 



Redlaiids, Cal. 



(Change in the atmosphere, so to speak, and 



business takes the place of song. I am 



" some wise " on this line from my ow;i 



experience. 



« » « 



On page 60S, Sept. 1, the editor says: 

 " Every time the granulated article is re- 

 liquefied some of the flavor is lost." That 

 depends on how it is reliquefied. If the 

 cans are set in the hot sun with the caps 

 left on, the honey will reliquefy without 

 any injury to the flavor. This season I 

 placed a quantity of gi-anulated orange 

 honey in a local warehouse on an upper 

 floor next to the roof. The heat during the 

 .summer became intense at times, causing 

 the honey to reliquefy perfectly, yet I do 

 not think any one could detect the slightest 

 injury to the flavor. In my opinion intense 

 artificial heat is the chief cause of the loss 



of flavor. 



» » » 



In dividing colonies for increase, the old 

 queen Avith the old bees should be left on 

 the old stand, and the young bees and a 

 good portion of the brood moved to a new 

 stand. Many do not realize the importance 

 of eliminating the old bees as much as 

 possible before introducing the new queen. 

 It is a good plan to remove a colony to a 

 new place when introducing a queen and 

 placing an empty hive on the old stand for 

 a few days to catch the old bees, after 

 which they may be returned to the original 

 colony on the original position. This is 

 not necessary Avhere there are other hives 

 near for the field force to find their way 

 into. 



« « • 



Dr. Miller, page 631, Aug. 1, says he has 

 had many cases of laying workers, but does 

 not remember a single case in the spring. 

 Well, as I have before said, that is the most 

 natural time for them to occur with me, 

 and I have seen very few after the season 

 was advanced far enough for the produc- 

 tion of plenty of drones. He asks also if 

 I ever knew a case of laying workers and 

 not a whole lot of 'em. Now he has me, 

 and I believe the Avhole beekeeping frater- 

 nity. I never saw a bee in my life that I 

 could point out as a " laying worker." If 

 Dr. Miller has, he is an exception and has 

 enjoyed a rare sight. FolloAving the instinct 

 of the bee it is more natural to think of a 

 colony tolerating only one laying bee to the 

 hive. And, 'way down in the bottom of my 

 heart, I don't believe that any one knows. 



