GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Beekeeping in California 



p. C. Chadwick, Redlands, Cal. 



The women's number of Gleanings was 

 a nice one, and I should like to make some 

 comments on their ideas; but I have been 

 a married man 17 years, so I pass. 



* * * 



Mr. J. W. George, at the State conven- 

 tion, asked why the cotton of Imperial Val- 

 ley does not yield honey. It occurred to me 

 afterward that it must be due to the nectar 

 being very thin and the climate veiy hot 

 and dx'y, causing a condition much the same 

 as in the orange districts when extremely 

 hot weather causes the rapid evaporation 

 of the thin nectar from the orange bloom. 



* * * 



J. E. Crane, p. 57, Jan. 15, says : " The 

 ignorance of the great mass of beekeepers 

 is past comprehension. So far as I can 

 learn, not more than one in six, in some 

 sections, ever read a bee journal of any 

 kind." This reminds me of a friend who in- 

 vited me to dinner with liim while at the 

 recent State convention. On our way to the 

 cafeteria he frankly (I like these frank 

 open-hearted folks) opened Iris heart to tell 

 me he had criticised me at a certain meeting 

 for making a statement much like the above, 

 saying he thought I was a little severe in 

 the matter. Now Mr. Crane reports the 

 same from his travels, and even a little 

 worse. Bro. Crane, if any one has his 

 doubts about the matter, let him take a simi- 

 lar trip and be comdnced. 

 » * • 



Western migratory beekeepers should 

 study the question of sliipping bees without 

 combs. The problem of having their bees 

 quarantined, as some of our western bee- 

 keepei^ have had theirs, might be overcome 

 by having two sets of hives and combs, and 

 sliipping the bees from one locality to an- 

 other in full-swarm packages without combs. 

 At a reasonable express rate it might be 

 cheaper and fully as i^ro fit able to have a 

 full swarm to begin on an alfalfa flow as to 

 have a hive containing mostly brood to begin 

 the work; for if I have been correctly in- 

 formed it is a difficult matter to get the old 

 bees through when transporting them with 

 the hives and combs. The greatest difficulty 

 would be when shipping back for the or- 

 ange-flow, which would have to be done in 

 the fall immediately after the alfalfa season 

 was over, and to get enough natural stimu- 

 lant to start a force of young bees for early 

 spring breeding. The stores for winter could 

 be reserved at the end of the orange-flow. 

 I believe it would be worth a thorough trial 

 at any rate. 



I have read with interest the discussion 

 as to whether we should encourage more to 

 keep bees or render more help to those al- 

 ready in the business. My idea on the ques- 

 tion would be to offer first aid to those in 

 the business, and not encourage those not 

 in to go in, for there is going to be a con- 

 tinuous line of young enthusiasts enter from 

 year to year, and they are the ones who 

 need encouragement. Enthusiasm is half 

 the battle, and is necessary to success in 

 this line of business. One poor season will 

 cure a bad case of bee fever where there is 

 no enthusiasm to complicate the case; but 

 where there is tliis complication, you may 

 as well count the case incurable, and give 

 every aid possible to the patient. I believe 

 the teaching of apiculture in agricultural or 

 even in high schools would be a most excel- 

 lent line of knowledge for the general in- 

 formation of a public that has little or no 

 knowledge on the subject compared to other 

 lines of knowledge. If we could overcome 

 such expressions as " rob the bees," "strain- 

 ed honey," and " bee gums," it would give 

 a little higher conception of the business. 

 I feel, however, that we are outgrowing 

 those expressions to some extent. 



A correspondent recently wrote me, say- 

 ing the brood-chambers of his hives were 

 honey-bound, and asked what I would do 

 to relieve the situation. Circumstances en- 

 ter very largely into the case any way you 

 may figure it. If, in my judgment, they 

 had sufficient bees to cover an extra comb I 

 would slip one in the center of their brood- 

 nest, expecting the queen to lay it full of 

 eggs at once if the breeding season were at 

 hand. Then I would watch developments. 

 If the eggs were laid as expected, and hon- 

 ey coming in but very slowly, I should ex- 

 pect that to relieve the situation ; and if, 

 after the larvae in the new comb had reach- 

 ed the stage where they were demanding 

 the most stores, there should come two or 

 three days of bad weather I would clap my 

 hands and say, " Good ! eat it up," for that 

 would give them additional relief. But if 

 honey were coming in freely, and there were 

 only a limited time until the main flow was 

 at hand, I would extract some of the combs 

 to relieve the situation and give the bees a 

 chance to start brood-rearing as rapidly as 

 possible. If there were very much brood 

 started, and bad weather expected, I would 

 be very careful to leave them plenty of 

 stores to carry them safely. 



