82 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



SO plamied space to bees that when the lat- 

 ter had crowded in as tight as if Mrs. Mulli- 

 gan's goat had butted them in, some of 

 them still stuck out at the entrance. See 

 the point? Well, it is this: The tvJiole space 

 was full of bees. That is 7iot the way they 

 are on combs of honey in a brood-chamber 

 under normal conditions. No. 



Over the combs, feeders, and bees he had 

 a sheet of oilcloth (enameled cloth), slip- 

 pery side down, and on top of that more 

 leaves — lots more, nice dry maple leaves. 

 (Packing is not my long suit, so you can 

 tell that it is some other fellow's circus that 

 I am talking about.) 



Then he said "go it;" and he went, and 

 the bees stayed ; and in the spring the two 

 colonies were as fine as any he had, and he 

 had some fine ones. 



Certainly he had to give more combs in 

 the spring; but that is not part of this 

 story. 



Now, Byard is the man who did it. And 

 I'll wliisper another thing, though he may 

 shake half the life out of me when he finds 

 it out. (Oh, yes! he can, for he is almost 

 seven feet long, and I am not.) It is this: 

 Byard is a wizard — yes, sir, a sure-nuf wiz- 

 ard. I wish you could see him put founda- 

 tion in sections — make you cry with envy. 

 What has that got to do with soft sugar? J 

 was only going to the foundation of the 

 thing. 



Don't worry, dear editor, don't worry, 1 

 mean about fondant and bee candj^ with 

 glucose in it. A whole lot of beekeepers in 

 little old New England have used it suc- 

 cessfully for several seasons. It is a hard 

 <t ondition which confronts you, not a theory. 



Providence, R. I., Jan. 15. 



THE DESTRUCTIVE FREEZE IN CALIFORNIA 



BY P. C. CHADWICK 



Listen to this short story; preserve tliis 

 issue for reference ten or twenty years 

 from now. Jan. 1, 2, and 3, 1913, were as 

 fair, bright, wann winter days as ("alifori ia 

 may ever expect to see. On the fourth, tlir 

 winter morning chill did not yield to the 

 sun as usual. A cool wind began to shJI'l 

 from one direction to anothei', only to settl;^ 

 i'.self in the north. Near the noon hour it 

 was a " rorth,>r in earnest." Dust became 

 blinding; Icaxrs we;e whipped fro^n the 

 trees; telejilione wires were crossed aiK^ 

 crissrrcssed. Fruil-gioweis beaan to look 



anxious; for the grave danger, frost, is al- 

 ways feared by them. All day and all night 

 it continued; but instead of holding the 

 temperature above danger, as expected, it 

 went steadily down, in the face of the wind. 

 All day Sunday, the 5th, it blew a gale ; the 

 highest point reached in temperature was 

 40 at noon. Monday morning, Jan. 6, gave 

 us a temperature of 18, with a howling 

 northern gale still in progress. 



Many fruit-growers threw up their hands 

 in despair. Many had smudged all night 

 while the frost was penetrating the fruit 

 a few feet from their smudge-pots. 



By mid-afternoon another danger was 

 approaching — the trees! the trees! back to 

 the smudge-pots! save the trees! Tuesday 

 morning, the 7th, great clouds of dense 

 black smoke were hanging in the silent air. 

 Auto load after auto load of smoke-be- 

 grimed men were arriving from the all- 

 night fight with Jack Frost, to save the 

 trees, dressed in gloves and overcoats, with 

 heads wrapped tightly, and the wearers 

 half frozen by the stinging cold. 



Almost by accident I went into a plumb- 

 ing shop where the plumber had just open- 

 ed up for the day's business; but his tele- 

 phone was ringing, " Water-pipe burst." 

 Busier plumbers were never seen. Water- 

 pipes burst by the score; closet-tanks were 

 frozen ; a fire-hydrant burst ; ice in the 

 gutters — everywhere ice, ice, ice; and all of 

 this in Redlands, Cal., and the same tale 

 may be told in any of our southland 

 cities of the great so-called frostless belt. 

 No man had ever seen such before, and we 

 pray that none may ever see it again. The 

 $50,000,000 citrus crop of southern Cali- 

 fornia is " gone up in smoke." People fail 

 to realize the extent of the disaster. 



But how about the beemen? T do not 

 know. One thing is quite sure — every pol- 

 len-producing flower has been destroyed. 

 The eucalyjitus bloom is largely if not com- 

 pletely destroyed. All of our southland 

 districts have suffered alike. All must wait 

 for a new source to develop from which the 

 little bee can gather an impetus for re- 

 newed hope sufficient to cause them to con- 

 tinue breeding operations. Orange bloom 

 is doubtful as to the quantity the trees will 

 be able to put out. Many trees are badly 

 injured. As to the sage, we do not know. 

 Ho;"e is eiitertained that, if we should get 

 sufficient rain, it will bloom profusely; but 

 it m.ay be (lie bloom is injured deep in the 

 stem from the excessive freeze. No such 

 freeze has ever been experienced in the 

 recollection of the oldest inhabitants, so we 

 nnst wait patiently our future. 



Redlands, Cal. 



