.Iii.v. IPIO 



A \ I NM; S I N p. K K (' r 1, T t' K K 



FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



In Northern California.— 7^,„,^r>""g 



ot 1919, on 

 the whole, was quite unfavorable. The in- 

 elenient weather during this period curtailed 

 the flow from tiie fruit blooms of mustard 

 and sage, caused an unusual consumption 

 of old stores, and brought about a greater 

 Ijrevalenee of brood diseases. The first few 

 days of June, however, were warm and as 

 early as June 5 the bees were bringing 

 in considerable nectar from alfalfa, so that 

 it may be said that the main summer flow 

 has started. The flow from spring plants 

 was cut short, this being especially true re- 

 garding the orange. An average produc- 

 tion of about 30 pounds per colony was gath- 

 ered from this source. 



Thru the efforts of A. J. Gilkison, Tuo- 

 lumne County Farm Advisor, I paid a visit 

 to the distressed beekeepers living in the 

 vicinity of Sonora. F. W. Burtch accom- 

 panied me. We found it was the same old 

 trouble — black bees. European had set in 

 and every now and then a case of American 

 foul brood to complicate matters. We did 

 what we could to help, and while I was ex- 

 plaining "methods of treatment," Mr. 

 Burtch was "signing 'em up" into the Ex- 

 change. Tuolumne County has many good 

 ranges. Eai'ly in the season the bees work 

 well on filaree and chaparral, and during 

 May there is frequently an extraction from 

 locust. Then follows cascara sagrada or 

 coffee berry, as it is more commonly known, 

 which is the main source of nectar. This 

 shrub produces a wonderful honey. It is 

 not light in color, but is of very heavy body 

 and of most delicious flavor. Other impor- 

 tant plants are yerba santa or wild peach, 

 jioison oak, tarweed, and blue curls. The 

 mountains rise abruptly in Tuolumne County, 

 and the migratory beekeeper takes advan- 

 tage of this fact by moving to higher alti- 

 tudes after the snow melts. 



A few words regarding the manipulation 

 of bees during hot weather may be worth 

 while at the present time. Yesterday was a 

 good bee-day, the thermometer registered 

 99 degrees in the shade, and as there was 

 little or no wind, nectar came in fast. The 

 handling of bees under these conditions in 

 aiT open field requires certain precautionary 

 methods. Upon removing a hive lid from a 

 colony it should not be placed in such a 

 position that the direct rays of the sun fall 

 upon the inner part of the lid. This is es- 

 pecially so, if there be any burr-comb upon 

 the cover. It is also inadvisable to give a 

 colony a lid, bottom, or excluder that has 

 been exposed to the sun. When a super is 

 removed from a colony, whether or not there 

 are robbers about, it should be covered even 

 if removed for but a short time. Shaking 

 or brushing bees on to the ground or on dry 

 grass at the hive entrance is sure death to 

 them, un'ess the portion of the ground upon 

 which the liees I'all is shade<l. Owing to 



the incoming nectar it is far better to use 

 a brush well wetted than to shake bees from 

 a comb. The thin honey daubs them, soon 

 filling their breathing pores and putting 

 more or less of them out of commission. 

 After a colony has been manipulated it is 

 wise to provide it with a shade-board and 

 give it ventilation, provided the beekeeper 

 is not working at an outyard which may 

 not be visited for a week or longer. On a 

 hot day a strong colony can maintain the 

 proper temperature within; but when once 

 manipulated it is quite impossible for it 

 to restore the normal temperature, and for 

 this reason it is good policy to provide 

 shade. " M." C. Kichter. 



Modesto, Calif. 



* -s * 



In Southern California '^}^'' ^^^. 



ther condi- 

 tions up to June 1 were about the same as 

 during April. High fogs continued practi- 

 cally every day until June 1, when it turned 

 hot with a drying wind and the flow from 

 the little orange still in bloom was stopped. 

 Some beekeepers became discouraged and 

 moved their bees from the oranges to the 

 sages, thinking thereby to improve condi- 

 tions. But they found the same weather 

 conditions on the sage ranges. The rainfall 

 being below normal, the ground in the 

 groves was rather dry. The cool weather 

 caused the bloom to remain on the trees 

 much longer than it would have otherwise. 

 Taking it all in all, I am of the opinion 

 that as much orange honey was produced 

 as there would have been, had we had hot 

 dry weather. Nearer the coast it seemed to 

 be a few degrees cooler, and the yield was 

 not so good. 



I was over a large part of the sage and 

 wild-buckwheat ranges of Eiverside Coun- 

 ty a few days ago and found that the black 

 sage has furnished no surplus honey. The 

 white sage is in bloom but does not show 

 any promise of a great amount of honey. 

 The wild buckwheat is just getting into 

 bloom and may yield some honey, but at 

 best the crop is sure to be very short. 



Most beekeepers have already moved 

 their bees from the oranges to their summer 

 ranges. Many do their own hauling, while 

 others depend upon the city truckmen to do 

 the work. One beekeeper says the truck- 

 man puts on SO two-story hives and hauls 

 them for a stated price. Others charge so 

 much per hour. One thing is important — ■ 

 the sooner one can get his bees to a new 

 location after the flow stops, the better. 



Carload after carload of California nuclei 

 is going to Utah and Idaho. Most people 

 have very little conception of the extent to 

 which this "increase" business has grown. 

 For instance, one man leased two locations 

 near the orange groves and placed 350 colo- 

 nies on them. These he increased to over 

 1,200, and by tlie fiist of June had them 



