JANUARY 1, 1913 



Beekeeping in California 



p. C. Chadwick, Redlands, Cal. 



Owing to the demand for space, I will 

 for the present at least discontinue the writ- 

 ing of my summer trijD. I find many things 

 of which I wish to write that will be of 

 more interest to my readers, though there 

 is much yet to be said of conditions and 

 beekeepers as I found them on my trip 

 that will be given when the time seems op- 

 portune. * * * 



LIGHT-AMBER SAGE (?) 



In market quotations, Xov. 15, Hamil- 

 ton & Henderson, of Los Angeles, quote 

 " Light-amber sage." It is my opinion that 

 this is stretching a point. If a producer 

 attempted to sell light amber to this firm 

 as sage they would no doubt fail, and prop- 

 erl}- so, for there is no such grade in sage 

 honey, and no one knows it better than 

 Hamilton & Henderson. The world pro- 

 duces no better honey than the true sage, 

 which, in its purity, is white; but when 

 containing a cjuantity of other kinds suf- 

 ficient to put it in the light-amber class it 

 should no longer be called sage. 



Any attemj^t to lower the reputation of 

 sage honey by selling other kinds as " light- 

 amber sage " should be resented by those 

 who take i^ride in producing the true arti- 

 cle, and by those who expect to obtain a 

 fancy price on the merits of its color and 

 qualit}' as well as its world-wide reputation. 

 * * * 



SMALL ENTRANCES ALLOW MORE BEES TO 

 WORK IN THE FIELD. 



Dr. Hiller, Nov. 1, p. 682, I believe the 

 preference of bees for small entrances 

 proves they are best for me. for the reason 

 that what is best for them is best for me. 

 The present agitation for large entrances I 

 believe is not based on sufficient advantages 

 to offset the disadvantages. There are sev- 

 eral conditions to be taken into considera- 

 tion in the discussion of this question. The 

 first object should be to ascertain which will 

 secure the greatest economy in hive service 

 of the bee. The larger the entrance, the 

 greater the number of bees required to guard 

 it ; and the ability of the bees to preserve 

 their own heat is much reduced, requiring a 

 greater number in the cluster on the combs 

 for that purpose, thus again reducing the 

 field force which would otherwise be avail- 

 able. These are two good reasons why a 

 small entrance is preferable to a large one, 

 and I believe them sufficient in themselves, 

 though there are others well worth atten- 

 tion. I will admit that a hive booming full 

 of bees can presene sufficient warmth, re- 

 gardless of a very large entrance, to build 



up rapidly in the spring; but it is accom- 

 plished because there are sufficient bees to 

 fill the outer edges of the space between 

 the combs, thus keeping out the cold air 

 with sheer bee force. 



Supposing, however, we reduce the en- 

 trance to the actual size needed to allow- 

 free entrance and exit. In that case there- 

 will be a thinning of bees in those spaces, 

 and a much greater force ready to take up 

 the duties of the field. 



In the spring of each j-ear, when invoic- 

 ing my stock of bees and ascertaining their 

 condition, I often find it desirable to trans- 

 fer a very small colony to a five-frame hive, 

 because in this size of hive they are able 

 to protect themselves better with fewer 

 bees, and to preseiwe all the warmth they 

 produce, thus enabling the queen to lay 

 over a greater area of comb space than 

 could possibly be kept warm in a ten-frame 

 hive, especially with a large entrance. I 

 am told that a large entrance will prevent 

 or at least delay swarming. Tiaie, simply 

 because it not only requires a greater num- 

 ber of bees to preserve the heat of the hive, 

 but a greater number must remain for that 

 duty when the swarm issues, tJius requiring 

 a longer period of breeding to reach the 

 necessary strength, and a slower process 

 because they are not able to protect their 

 brood over so large an area where the en- 

 trance is allowing the admission of such a 

 quantity of cold air. 



Here is also the secret of an eight-frame 

 hive for comb honey. Warmth is more eas- 

 ily preserved, and, in consequence, breed- 

 ing is more rapid, thus filling the hive much 

 sooner, enabling the bees to pass on up to 

 the super, and there again to develop a 

 sufficient amount of heat to make waxwork- 

 ing practical. 



It is well known that bees generate much 

 heat when evai^orating nectar for extract- 

 ing colonies-. I have often found it desir- 

 able, when nectar was coming in fi-eely, ta 

 increase the amount of comb space rather 

 than entrance si^aee. In veiy hot weather 

 there may be a period when it would be de- 

 sirable to give more ventilation ; but in 

 this climate there are indeed very few 

 nights when they do not find it more com- 

 fortable in the hive, out of the cold air. 



While we are furnishing the habitation, 

 let us do so with an eye single to efficiency 

 as well as economy in hive service, or else 

 not blame the bees for doing some unavoid- 

 able loafing about the hive in order to pro-- 

 tect their own welfare. 



