GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



September, 1919 



ft FROM NORTH, EAST, WEST AND SOUTH 



heaviest suffeiers. The cool weather during 

 these two months has in most instances 

 helped the fall honey plants; and at this 

 writing there are many of us that believe 

 such plants as alkali weed, jackass clover 

 (alkali mustard), yellow sticker, tarweed, 

 thistles, and blue curls have been consider- 

 ably benefited by the cool weather. If 

 proper climatic conditions prevail during 

 August and September, we should get a 

 fair flow in most regions. A light honeydew 

 flow has commenced along the San Joaquin 

 Eiver. Taking it all in all, the season to 

 date has been freakish. For short periods 

 the bees would work well on certain flora 

 and then desert it, altho in full bloom, and 

 work upon something else. The yield from 

 button willow and melons was practically a 

 failure, and to date hardly any bees have 

 visited sunflowers. Several yards in the 

 eastern part of Stanislaus County have ac- 

 tually not made a pound of surplus up to 

 the beginning of August. Ordinarily we 

 have very little European foul brood during 

 July; but this season, owing to the abnormal 

 weather, there was as much diseased brood 

 as we had in June. It does not now appear 

 that our section will get more than half a 

 crop and we are hoping for a general stif- 

 fening in the price of honey. 



In an off year such as this, so-called minor 

 considerations may easily receive attention. 

 First of all, why not weed out all poor 

 stock? and next, why not take as much pride 

 in every one of the combs in your hives as 

 you do in those young vigorous queens bred 

 from pure stock? The question of faulty 

 supers and ill-fitting hive covers might also 

 receive attention; and lastly, why not keep 

 a careful watch for skunks, toads, lizards, 

 and bee martins? M. C. Richter. 



Modesto, Calif. 



■s * » 



In Southern California ^ o n e y 



prices arc 

 gradually advancing, and white orange hon- 

 ey is offered at 21 cents, with light amber 

 at about 16 cents. As the season advances, 

 the crop prospects seem to show that even 

 a smaller quantity of honey will be pro- 

 duced than any of the early estimates led 

 us to expect. This fact should tend to keep 

 the price of honey advancing. 



The market for bees is not nearly so ac- 

 tive as it was some three months ago. Buy- 

 ers were plentiful and one could have sold 

 at almost any price asked. With prospects 

 for a crop as they were in the winter and 

 early spring, and also with the high price 

 of honey in evidence, one could pay a big 

 price for bees and apparently have a fair 

 chance of getting most of his money back 

 this year. The crop is a disappointment to 

 most beekeepers, and the price is not so 

 good as last year. But from past experi- 

 ences, it would seem as tho with extracted 



lioney selling at from 12 to 20 cents a pound, 

 it is a good business to stick to. 



A man called here a few days ago and said 

 that he intended going into the business. He 

 said that he had enough income to support 

 him but wanted to get into something to 

 keep him busy. He thought that he would 

 put from seven to ten thousand dollars into 

 the business. If you had thought of putting 

 that amount into bees twenty years ago, 

 most people would have thought you "loco" 

 (western expression for a little crazy). This 

 man had traveled quite extensively and 

 seemed to be well posted about locations, 

 honey-producing flora, etc., some things very 

 essential to the success of apiculture. 



The sweet clover grew quite abundantly 

 in some localities in the moist bottoms and 

 along the ditch banks, but it is now (July 1) 

 drying up very fast. This plant helps the 

 colonies to get stores for winter, but only 

 in very favorable locations in southern Cali- 

 fornia is there enough to count on for any 

 surplus honej'. The blue curl, which often 

 is a good honey-producing plant in the late 

 summer and fall, this year promises little or 

 nothing. Lack of sufficient rainfall during 

 the winter and spring is quite likely ac- 

 countable for its failure to grow this year. 

 The sumac gave a good flow for a short 

 period and helped very materially toward 

 winter stores in some apiaries. While there 

 was considerable bloom on many other va- 

 rieties of our wild honey-producing plants, 

 very little honey was secreted. It seems to 

 prove again the old saying that it takes an 

 abundance of winter rains to assure us of a 

 honey flow. 



Some of the beekeepers have moved to 

 the valleys where the bees get some eucalyp- 

 tus, alfalfa, etc., hoping to get enough for 

 winter stores. The alfalfa, excepting in a 

 very few localities where it is grown for 

 seed, is not allowed to blossom in these 

 sections. The farmers cut it for hay just 

 as the bloom appears. About once every 

 four or five years these fields are plowed up 

 and planted to grain. The roots not killed 

 by this process start to grow and often blos- 

 som and go to seed. These flowers are some- 

 times quite a help to the bees. 



Reports from the lima-bean districts vary 

 considerably. The older sections report that 

 there is not much hope of any great quan- 

 tity of surplus honey. These districts are 

 near the coast and on years favorable for 

 beans are visited by very heavy damp fogs. 

 This year there has been a scarcity of these 

 fogs, and the beans do not promise a large 

 crop. Some of the newer localities, where 

 irrigation is used, indicate better results. 

 It has been reported that the honey from 

 these latter fields is of a darker shade than 

 that usually displayed as bean honey. 



The beekeepers in southern California 

 seem to be universally disappointed with 



