GLEANINGS IX P. E K C IM. T U R E 



July, 1919 



c 



SIFTINGS 



J. E. Crane 



WE have 

 li e a r d all 

 our lives 

 of those bees 

 living in the 

 rocks in south- 

 ern California, 

 and it was no 

 small pleasure 

 to look at those 



pictures on pages 355 and 356, June Glean- 

 ings, all characteristic of California. B.y 

 the way, I enjoy pictures of bee yards, as 

 they frequently give us a glimpse of the sur- 

 rounding regions, so in time we come to 

 have a very good idea of the topography of 

 our great country. 



* * * 



On page 364 our friend Horshiser in- 

 dicts the skunk for trespass and petty lar- 

 ceny. What is more he proves his allega- 

 tions true beyond the shadow of a doubt. 

 The skunk probably does far more damage 

 in our apiaries than in our poultry yards, 

 but works so quietly and persistently that 

 he must be classed as a nuisance. When I 

 find their depredations too great to be 

 borne patiently I have notified trappers 

 in the vicinity and these soon reduce them 

 to a reasonable number. The high price of 

 skunk fur at present makes it worth while 



to trap them. 



» * * 



The papers are reporting these days in 

 great headlines of the success of crossing 

 the Atlantic in a flying machine. It was 

 just about a hundred years ago that the 

 first steamboat crossed from America to 

 Euroi)«, and this was the cause of great re- 

 joicing; but it was twenty years later before 

 ocean steamships were a success. It may be 

 as long before flying across the big pond 

 will be safe. But the fact of special impor- 

 tance to beekeepers is that the food supplies 

 of some of these airmen consisted of choco- 

 late, bouillon, water, and honey. 



* * * 



A rather amusing item is that at the bot- 

 tom of page 365: "When you have a 

 swarm, do not go queen-chasing. Watch 

 for pollen going in. * * * If no signs 

 at the end of the third week, have a thoro 

 examination. ' ' This is quoted from H. C. 

 C. Carter, in Bee Craft. Watch three weeks 

 to see if a new swarm is carrying in pollen, 

 to discover whether they have a queen or 

 not, when you can open a hive in two min- 

 utes and know at once. This method might 

 answer very well if we expected to live as 

 long as some of those old antediluvian pa- 

 triarchs; but in these days of railroads, au- 

 tomobiles, telegraphs, and flying machines 

 three weeks is a rather long time to learn 

 whether a colony is queenless or otherwise. 

 [A part was accidentally omitted. The ad- 

 vice was to wait two weeks before looking 

 for eggs in the old stock. If no pollen was 

 seen going into the hive the third week, ex- 

 amine carefullv. Surely no one had any 



1 



idea of watching 

 that colony 

 three weeks. 

 And, by the way, 

 he was speaking 

 of the old colo- 

 ny, not the new 

 one. The chances 

 are there would 

 be no laying 

 queen for two weeks any way; and we re- 

 member Dr. Miller once said he hardly 

 thought it worth while to look for eggs 

 much short of three weeks. Of course, dur- 

 ing the third week one would probably see 

 a little pollen going in; but as soon as the 

 queen began laying, a much greater quantity 

 would be noted. We ourselves have always 

 been better satisfied with inside rather than 

 entrance observation, and yet it may be that 

 our Bee Craft friend is not so far wrong. — 



Editor.] 



* * * 



There seems to be a difference of opinion 

 between Dr. Miller and the editor, on page 

 368, as to the value of a queen-excluder or 

 sieve in finding the queen. It makes a great 

 difference when you look for queens. In 

 May, when colonies are not very strong in 

 numbers and the queen at her largest size 

 we rarely use a sieve; but in or about 

 swarming time, when the hive is crowded 

 with bees and the queen reduced in size, 

 we find forcing the bees thru an excluder 



most helpful. 



* « * 



A report of the discussion in the American 

 Bee Journal on the best methods of work 

 for a bee inspector is of unusual value. Po- 

 lice work is no doubt of value, but alone in 

 this section it is of little permanent value. 

 It is comparatively easy to go into a dis- 

 trict, examine the various yards, and tell 

 the owners of those having diseased bees 

 that they must clean up their colonies or 

 you will have to destroy them in twenty 

 days. When you come around again in twen- 

 ty days you will doubtless find a large per 

 cent of the colonies as they were on your 

 first visit. You may destroy them, but next 

 year you will be very likely to find most 

 of those beekeepers who have tried to clean 

 up their bees have just as much disease as 

 in the previous year. In a wooded country 

 you may destroy every diseased colony you 

 find during one season; but, if diseased bees 

 have escaped to the woods, you may expect 

 more or less disease the next year. On the 

 other hand, I know of successful beekeepers 

 where disease exists all around them, who 

 are able to keep bees successfully and 

 jjrofitably. It is of little permanent value 

 to destroy bees unless you teach beekeepers 

 how to succeed where disease exists, and 

 how to keep it under control in their own 

 yards while it is all around them. I can 

 not help thinking that my best work as 

 inspector has been in teaching beekeepers 

 how to overcome disease by proper man- 

 ngement. 



