76 



G I, E A K T X G S IN BEE C F E T U R E 



February, 1919 



Pig. 2. — This is not a gang of highway robbers l:ut a nie,eting of beekeepers wearing " flu " masks. At 

 Visalia, Calif., where there w-as held a short course in beeikeeping, the influenza was so bad that masks 

 were required to be worn indoors where there was any crowd. In one respect this was one of the most 

 remarkable gatherings of beekeepers ever held m the history of beekeeping. The attendance at this 

 meeting would have been much largeT had it not been for the "flu." 



whole week at each of the places, giving the 

 closest of attention. Dr. Phillips aiid his 

 staff of assistants gave particular considera- 

 tion to bee diseases — how to distinguish 

 one brood disease from another; the 

 potency of education rather than police 

 powers to hold them in control; the need of 

 strong colonies; what might be done in se- 



curing crops of orange honey at the ap- 

 proach of the flow; the value of pro- 

 tection in a climate where during nights 

 and mornings in the winter the temperature 

 drops almost and sometimes quite to the 

 freezing-point, and then runs up to 70 de- 

 grees during the middle hours of the day. 

 On this last point, M. H. Mendleson, a 





Fig. 3. — Farmerette beekeepers who worked for M. H. Mendleson of Ventura, Calif., last season, rearing 



queens and extracting. Mr. Mendleson — who ought to know because he is a bachelor — says this kind 



of help is the> best he ever had. Tliey are better for queen work and cleanei' in uncapping and extracting 



than any men that he ever had. Their dress is sane and safe. 



