162 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



March, 1919 



@) FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



In Northern California. - 



There was 

 'b u t little 

 rainfall here (luring January, not enough in 

 fact to warrant the beekeeper to move into 

 the Coast foothills. Unless several inches 

 fall during the early part of February it 

 would not seem advisable to move to this 

 early source of nectar. Sjtring moving will 

 be confined mainly to the almonds, prunes, 

 and then to the oranges. The large almond- 

 producing counties are Butte, Sutter, Yolo, 

 Sacramento, and San Joafpun. The prune 

 belt is found in Santa Clara and the orange 

 belt in Tulare Coiinty. As yet there is no 

 overstocking among the almonds and prunes, 

 nor is it likely that there will be, altho each 

 succeeding sjjring many more orchardists 

 are paying beekeepers one, two, and three 

 dollars a colony for bees placed in their or- 

 chards. The value of moving to almonds 

 and prunes is not so much for the crop of 

 fruit-bloom honey so secured (as a matter of 

 fact it is only under favorable conditions 

 that a full extraction is taken off), but for 

 the purpose of breeding up the bees into 

 full colonies and for making some increase. 

 Bees having received the benefits of almond 

 bloom are usually in excellent condition to 

 be moved to the oranges. On the other 

 hand, in order to bring bees up to proper 

 shape for the orange flow, they should have 

 been left with ample stores the previous 

 fall. By ample stores is meant from .30 to 

 50 pounds to the colony. Bees left with 

 ample stores will always begin breeding 

 early, and this early activity within the 

 colony may be hastened by moving or stir- 

 ring up the colony in some manner and by 

 breaking the cappings of sealed honey near 

 the brood from time to time. Likewise, at- 

 tention must be paid to a sufficient source 

 of pollen during the breeding period. Combs 

 containing pollen help, but better and 

 quicker results are obtained when the pollen 

 supply conies fresh from the fields. If a 

 beekeeper contemplates moving to the 

 oranges and finds it impracticable to make 

 a move to decidous fruit bloom, let him 

 then take advantage of mustard and wild- 

 radish fields. An early pollen and nectar 

 source always gives better results than stor- 

 • ed honey in the hive, and it is much the 

 cheaper way to strengthen colonies for a 

 main honey flow. Stimulative feeding, 

 which is feeding small quantities at regular 

 intervals, is a burdensome and laborious 

 task and is not to be recommended to the 

 beekeeper with outyards. 



The Central Valley Honey Producers' Co- 

 operative Exchange, altho lacking three 

 months of being a year old, had during 

 1918 a very successful season. It started 

 on its career last April with but half its 

 present membership of 43 members. Altho 

 the members were not required to market 

 their bee products thru the Exchange, the 

 Exchange handled nevertheless slightly 



over 200 tons of honey and several tons of 

 beeswax. With increased membership it is 

 anticipated that the Exchange will handle 

 the coming season double the output of last 

 year. M. C. Eichter. 



Modesto, Calif., Feb. 5. 

 » « » 



In Southern California -^ " ! ^ « " s 



period of 

 dry, windy weather was broken Jan. 31 with 

 a gentle soaking rain. From one and one- 

 half to three inches of rain fell during the 

 storm over the southern part of the State. 

 We have now had considerably more rain 

 than at this date last year. The sages, 

 which are the first wild plants to show 

 growth, sent out some new sjjrouts early in 

 tlie winter but have grown little or none 

 since. This rain will likely give them a 

 new start. By Mar. 10, everything being 

 favorable, several inches of growth should 

 be seen, and by Apr. 1 blossoms should ap- 

 pear. The orange buds are swelling and, 

 as usual, the blooming season will be gov- 

 erned very materially by the weather condi- 

 tions. We have a variation of almost a 

 mouth in the beginning of the prime blos- 

 soming period of the orange — from Mar. 25 

 to Apr. 25. 



The California State Beekeepers' Asso- 

 ciation held its thirtieth annual session in 

 Exposition Park, Los Angeles, Jan. 29-30. 

 E. R. Eoot, Editor of Gleanings, gave a very 

 fine talk on honey, markets, and beekeeping 

 in general. Mr. Root gave much encourage- 

 ment to the beemen with the information 

 that, in his opinion, honey would remain at 

 a good price during 1919. From the articles 

 appealing !> the Los Angeles papers giving 

 Mccounts of talks before large audiences, it 

 would seem that he is doing good work in 

 getting our industry properly before the 

 public. Pictures of Mr. Root, with his face 

 covered with bees, were also found in the 

 ]iapers. A. B. Shaffner, who has had much 

 beekeeping experience, talked on market- 

 ing the crop. R. Powell, president of the 

 Riverside County Club, spoke on moving 

 from the oranges to the sages. He paints 

 his hives two coats on the inside and gives 

 the outside three coats, and perhaps has 

 one of the neatest apiaries in the county. 

 Having everything uniform, the hives tight, 

 good moving screens, and plenty of ven- 

 tilation were some of the strong points 

 in favor of successful moving. L. L. 

 Andrews had assigned to him the topic, 

 '^ Migratory Beekeeping." The shipment 

 of four carloads of bees to northern Utah 

 during the years 1912 and 1913, moving 

 several hundred colonies 'two and three 

 times each year to reach the orange, sage, 

 wild buckwheat or river-bottom ranges 

 have been part of his beekeeping experi- 

 ences during the past 20 years. The aver- 

 age price received for extracted honey dur- 



