MAY 15, 1913 



331 



Beekeeping in California 



p. C. Chadwick, Redlands, Cal. 



TREATING PARALYTIC COLONY BY CHANGING 

 HIVES AND COMBS. 



Two cases of paralysis developed in my 

 home yard of 16 colonies. They were the 

 worst I ever saw. I waited day after day, 

 hoping to see the bees improve, for as a 

 rule this trouble is overcome by the bees 

 themselves after a time. No improvement 

 came, however, and they continued to leave 

 the hive until early in the morning when 

 there would be dozens and sometimes hun- 

 dreds crawling and quivering on the ground. 

 In one colony the force of bees dwindled 

 until they were barely able to cover their 

 seven frames of brood. I secured a clean 

 new hive in which I placed one clean emjDty 

 comb and some full sheets of foundation. 

 The entire colony was shaken into this hive, 

 and the brood was given to another colony, 

 the result being that I have since seen no 

 sign of the disease, and the bees of that 

 colony are drawing their foundation rapid- 

 ly. Just what was responsible for the cure 

 I am not able to say, for I had little idea 

 that a cure could be completed so quickly; 

 yet here is the colony before me without any 

 sign of the disease, while the other one still 

 has the trouble badly, with no sign of im- 

 provement. I intend to let them alone for 

 a time in order to see whether they continue 

 to dwindle. The cute may be due to chang- 

 ing to a clean hive, or it is possible that 

 being driven to comb-building and the use 

 of much fresh nectar may be the cause of 



their recoveiy. 



* * * 



CHANGE IN INSPECTORS. 



" Bob " Heron, the much-complained-of 

 inspector of San Bernardino Co., has at 

 last been removed by the County Board of 

 Supervisors, and thus the curtain falls on 

 the last scene of a ten-years' fight for his 

 removal. And, strange as it may seem, the 

 man who led the ^vinning charge with the 

 hope of getting the place has fallen in the 

 battle. Mr. M. Segers, Jr., who circulated 

 a petition for the place, and had the back- 

 ing of the County Association as well as 

 most of the beekeepers of the county, fell, 

 as nearly as I am able to learn, a victim to 

 his own thoroughness. He made the state- 

 ment before the supei"\asors that he would 

 take no man's word for the condition of 

 his bees. When questioned about his fa- 

 ther's he said the same. The young man was 

 right; but that was too thorough for our 

 supervisors, for it would cost some money. 

 But how about the inspectors for scale? 

 Do they go to the orange-rancher and ask 



liim if he has any scale f No ! " Not on 

 your life! " They just walk in and inspect. 

 If they find scale, the orchard is fumigated 

 without question, and that is the only sane 

 way to go at it. Mr. M. J. Meeker is our 

 new inspector, and we doff our hats to his 

 authority. I will do so with the best of 

 grace, though I fought him in favor of Mr. 

 Charles Trout last fall, for I believed Mr. 

 Trout was the best man in the county at 

 the time for the place; but Charley was too 

 young and ambitious to take the place, and 

 is now making his way creditably through 



'medical school. 



* * * 



A DISCOURAGING OUTLOOK IN CALIFORNIA. 



Conditions in this part of California seem 

 to me to be about as perplexing, disappoint- 

 ing, and discouraging as anv time during the 

 past ten years. The sage was frozen and 

 badly damaged, the wild alfalfa was also 

 nearly all killed (and this is a source that, 

 while not at all appreciated when coloring 

 our lighter grades of honey, in ordinary 

 seasons it would be a great help in a season 

 like tliis). We had hopes of a fair amount 

 from the sage in case of late rains, but they 

 did not come. We still had the orange. 

 Though it too was badly damaged, the buds 

 began to appear and to show signs of a 

 good bloom; but they dropped rapidly be- 

 fore they opened, and nearly one-half of 

 them never opened. It now develojDS that 

 those that are blooming do not contain the 

 usual quantity of nectar, and are passing 

 out of bloom rapidly. 



My scale colony showed a gain of 10 

 pounds to-day, April 26; but under old- 

 time conditions they should have reached 

 the 15-pound mark. Conditions are not so 

 bad in some localities. Much of the orange 

 toward the coast is in fine shape, due to the 

 trees not being so badly frozen that they 

 lost their foliage. On such trees the bloom 

 is about normal, and should produce the 

 usual quantity of nectar. More rain has 

 fallen in the counties of Los Angeles, Ventu- 

 ra, and Santa Barbara as well as further 

 up the coast than in the inland district, and 

 some sage honey may be secured in those 

 counties. But our chances inland are about 

 as poor as one could imagine. One poor 

 season is not so bad ; but when they come in 

 pairs and even three in succession, it makes 

 us wonder if the bee business is really worth 

 while. But old conditions will return to 

 those who hang on, and then we shall be 

 glad we persevered until a better day dawn- 

 ed. 



