1909 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



283 



stores in the fall, protection from the north and 

 west winds from Jan. 1 to March 1, only one 

 swarm allowed to the colony, and we are assured 

 of from 30 to 100 lbs. of fine honey per season 

 per colony. 



Stillwater, Okla., Jan. 10. 



ANOTHER WHO REGARDS THE 



CONDITIONS IN OKLAHOMA 



FAVORABLE TO BEES. 



BY N. FRED GARDINER. 



In reply to Mr. G. E. Lemon, on page 39, 

 Jan. 1, I will volunteer a little of my experience 

 and opinion in regard to bee-keeping in Okla- 

 homa. As I have neither bees nor supplies to 

 sell I believe my statements may be accepted as 

 unbiased. I have been told all the things by 

 neighbors that Mr. Lemon has, and many more, 

 and have proven them all fallacies. I have kept 

 bees on a small scale at this place, at Guthrie, 

 Okla., and in Sumner Co., Kansas, for a number 

 of years, and have never yet lost a colony on ac- 

 count of weather conditions, and there has never 

 been a season with me when I did not get at 

 least a little surplus. I think Mr. Lemon was 

 showing those neighbors a few things when he 

 was taking off those sections and putting on the 

 third super. 



I have never been able to approach what is 

 considered a large yield; but as I can readily get 

 20 cts. per pound here for my honey it helps to 

 balance things somewhat. This past season, 

 from six colonies, spring count, I took 330 pounds 

 of honey; comb and extracted about equally di- 

 vided, and sold one swarm when it issued. 



As to the high wind, I usually reply that, when 

 it is too windy for the bees to be out at work, it 

 is too windy for a man. This may not be liter- 

 ^ ally true; but it does not miss it so far, for bees 

 will work in a pretty strong wind if the hive is 

 so arranged that they can come in with their 

 loads safely. As our prevailing winds are from 

 the south I always have my hives face the north. 

 Then the loaded bee drops down on the sheltered 

 side of the hive instead of being beaten back 

 from the entrance many times by the wind before 

 gaining a foothold. If you have never given 

 this a trial the difference will astonish you. Of 

 course, it is necessary to watch that the occasional 

 snow or sleet does not choke the entrance and 

 smother them during the winter; but there are so 

 few of these in this State that it is not much of a 

 task. 



The open winters do entice the bees to fly a 

 great many days; but there is no'hing to cause 

 them to fly very far, and the changes would have 

 to be quicker than the ones for which Oklahoma 

 is noted to catch many of them away. I believe, 

 though, that the open winters do draw heavily 

 on the stores on account of the bees being active 

 so much of the time, and I am always particular 

 to see that the hives are at least as well shaded in 

 the winter as in summer, thus keeping them as 

 cool as possible. 



In my opinion the spring requires the most at- 

 tention, as bees often make quite a start in brood- 

 rearing, etc., during fruit-bloom, and use up prac- 

 tically all the honey left from the winter, only to 

 be confronted with two or three or even ten days 



of weather when they can not leave the hive and 

 all the brood to feed. Last season I had a swarm 

 on the 21st of April. They were hived on full 

 sheets of foundation which was all drawn out be- 

 fore this kind of weather came, and had to be 

 fed, as they had gathered but little honey. I do 

 not doubt that, to make any success with bees 

 here at present, requires a little more attention 

 than in some other States; but I know they are 

 not a failure by any means, and conditions are 

 getting better every year. I trust this will be of 

 some encouragement to my neighbor if he is still 

 in need of it. 



Geary, Okla., Jan. 20. 



A LATER REPORT OF THE CONDI- 

 TIONS IN CALIFORNIA. 



BY M. H. MENDLESON. 



If favorable weather conditions follow the wet 

 winter that we have had, we may have some sage 

 honey again after waiting four years for it; but 

 this spring has been unusually cold and back- 

 ward, and the bees are six weeks or more behind. 

 We usually have swarms in March; but this sea- 

 son we had none, and the colonies are now of 

 only moderate strength. Unless we have fair 

 weather soon, in many apiaries large numbers of 

 colonies will be lost from starvation, as, so far, 

 there is not enough new honey coming in to keep 

 pace with the consumption of the old stores. 



Here is where those colonies are ahead that are 

 provided with the extra amount of stores. I have 

 never seen this plan fail to be profitable. 



IMPORTANCE OF HAVING ALL THE HONEY OF 



THE BEST QUALITY, AND THEN GRADING IT 



CAREFULLY. 



If we are successful this year in producing 

 honey, would it not be well for us to consider 

 thorough ripening of the honey so that it will be 

 thick and ropy beyond criticism. Well-ripened 

 California honey has no equal as to keeping qual- 

 ities or flavor; but it must be mellow and thick. 

 We can not afford to take any further chance on 

 the good reputation of our honey. I do hope 

 our large producers will take this advice into 

 serious consideration, for the future sales and 

 prices will depend on quality. Thin souring 

 honey will lessen our sales, while the well-ripened 

 article, free from specks, will increase the amount 

 consumed and advance prices. 



Some of our large buyers came to me recently, 

 requesting me to mention the importance of 

 skimming all honey thoroughly before drawing 

 it off into cans, and saying that it should not be 

 drawn too close, as ihis results in many of the 

 "specks" getting into the cans. 



The producer who regards the quality can 

 command prices, and will always find ready 

 sales;while one who pays little attention to qual- 

 ity, and is indifferent in regard to the grading- 

 rules, may find much of his honey rejected by 

 the carload. 



We should be careful also to grade our honey. 

 Each extracting and each tankful from each api- 

 ary should be lettered and numbered. I have 

 my apiaries lettered, and each extracting of uni- 

 form grade numbered. For instance, my home 

 apiary is lettered E; the initial letter of the apia- 

 ry, and the first extracting is, therefore. El; the 



