600 



GLKANINGS IN BEE CULTURL 



Beekeeping in California 



p. C. Chadwick, Redlands, Cal. 



When I read of the bumper crop of 

 honey now being secured in the East, I am 

 led to think that, for the benefit of tlie 

 market, it is perhaps just as well that our 

 off year came when it did. Now that we 

 are largelj^ out of the market, we hope that 

 our eastern neighbors will make a big hit, 

 after which we shall be pleased to have our 



"Wesley Foster, gi-easewood in this part 

 of the world means almost anj- kind of 

 shrub that is large enough to make a stick 

 of wood (stove size) to sell; and the term, 

 as nearly as I am able to learn, is derived 

 from the fact that the Mexicans, commonly 

 called " gi-easei^s," go out into the hills and 

 dig up and make into wood the various 

 gi'owths of this kind. 



* * * 



A member of my family sent east for a 

 collection of flower seeds, among which was 

 to be a flowering sage. My wife was espe- 

 cially interested in this new sage, for she 

 had hopes that it might be of the commer- 

 cial seasoning variety. It has grown nicely 

 since early spring, and I have discovered 

 it to be nothing more nor less than the Cali- 

 fornia white sage. If kept over until an- 

 other season it might produce some bloom; 

 but as a flowering plant for which it was 

 sold I do not consider it very satisfactory. 

 ^ * It 



I can not too strongly commend J. L. 

 Byer for his stand on " an abundance of 

 old stores on the hive during winter." This, 

 in my opinion, is the greatest asset of suc- 

 cessful wintering of a colony, whether it 

 be in California, Canada, Maine, or Flori- 

 da. The fact of the matter is the bees of a 

 colony must consume a quantity of stores 

 if they raise a quantity of young bees. 

 Without plenty of old honey and a large 

 amount of young brood a few days of bad 

 weather will often cause the best colonies 

 in the yard to become worthless. 



Wesley Foster and J. L. Byer both con- 

 demn the book-record system for the bee- 

 keeper who runs hundreds of colonies. 1 

 have not used that system for a number of 

 years, but am going to give it another trial, 

 "for I believe there is more time wasted, 

 many times over, in opening hives in a large 

 apiary to ascertain their condition from 

 time to time than would be required to keep 

 an efficient record. It makes little differ- 

 ence what the mission of inspection is. If 



there is a record to refer to, one can many 

 times check up the record-book in a few 

 minutes and know just what colonies need 

 to be examined. The value of a record for 

 keeping track of the age and energy of 

 queens is in itself a great help, and may 

 often help to get rid of the old and worn- 

 out ones before they become a deti-iment to 



the colon3^ 



* * * 



Gleanings of July 15, p. 480, quotes 

 from the Western Honeybee of July 1 a 

 criticism on my crop report in Gleanings, 

 p. 327, May 15. This may be a just crit- 

 icism in a way; but I think if Mr. A. F. 

 Wagner, who makes it, would figTire the 

 part Imperial County would hold in the 

 amount produced, and the demand for our 

 wild-flora honey in preference to any other 

 in years of heavy production, he would find 

 that the amount from his county would not 

 only be a small amount compared to the 

 production of the rest of the southern part 

 of the State, but that the demand would 

 be no greater for it than for anj' other 

 alfalfa-producing locality. When the trade, 

 both home and abroad, is trying to find out 

 about the California honey crop, alfalfa is 

 not given more than a passing thought — 

 only honey from those flowers that are to 

 be found in our semi-tropical climate being 



considered. 



* * * 



Another disastrous brush fire has just 

 been extingiiished in Riverside County, and 

 that, too. in one of the best producing loca- 

 tions. Some very heavy yields have been 

 secured in years past from the country just 

 swept by fire, much of it being especially 

 fine for late buckwheat, though some fine 

 sage localities were also devastated. The 

 fire is said to have burned over about 40 

 square miles. Unlike most of these fires, 

 this one started by lightning, and the cloud 

 from which it came did not rain sufficient 

 to extinguish the flames. I submit the fol- 

 lowing extract from the Redlands Daily 

 Facts : 



Among the losses sustained so far are A. Hasen- 

 auer, sixty stands of bees; Thomas Rawson, several 

 head of cattle, and several hundred acres of grazing 

 land, and two large apiaries; this same loss was 

 sustained by others. Thousands of dollars of excel- 

 lent grazing land in sage sections are ruined. Sev- 

 eral other lost bees, many apiaries going up in 

 smoke. It is estimated that 20,000 stands have been 

 burned, it being impossible to remove them. Owing 

 to the fact that country roads are not wide enough 

 for fire-breaks, unlike government-built roads they 

 serve no purpose, and are so narrow that men can 

 not fight oncoming fire, and it jumps the roads 

 easily. 



