SEPTEMBER 15. 191J 



635 



Beekeeping in California 



p. C. Chadwick, Redlands, Cal. 



Oil a recent trip to the San Bernardino 

 Mountains I made a special eti'ort to gain 

 some knowledge of bee life in that region, 

 and hope to submit an article a little later 

 on my observations, illustrated with some 

 pictures made by my own camera. 



I have just made my first experiment in 

 feeding thin syrup to prevent robbing while 

 working Avith the bees, and I am not alto- 

 gether satisfied with the result. It did not 

 check robbing altogether, and I had one 

 colony nearly cleaned out Avhile my work 

 was in progress. Later I tried Avheeliiig 

 the hives into the honey-house while at 

 work with them, and then replacing them 

 on the old stand. This plan proved very 

 satisfactory. 



The theory that alfalfa, in those parts of 

 the State in range of the ocean winds, does 

 not produce honey, is thoroughly exploded 

 so far as my mind is concerned, owing to 

 personal observation. A few weeks ago I 

 was passing Avithin half a mile of a field 

 that was blooming nicely. I left my rig and 

 walked over. I not only found bees, but 

 great quantities of them, with every indica- 

 tion that they were getting honey at a very 



fair rate. 



* * * 



The most distressing feature of tlie sea- 

 son to me is the fact that my hives are now- 

 several pounds lighter in stores than they 

 wore two months ago, which means that 

 colonies with a fair supply of stores then 

 will have to be fed liberally by spring, and 

 \he weaker ones watched carefully to get 

 them through. The stronger and better- 

 supi^lied colonies will be able to pull 

 through without much help. We can not 

 afford to lose even the weaker ones, for it 

 very often happens that we get some of our 

 best honey-flows following these extremely 

 dry seasons. Those are the seasons when 

 the weak colonies soon come to the front 

 and make big returns. 



The skunks are again making inroads on 

 my supply of bees that is already too low. 

 I have never seen them cjuite so bad as at 

 the present time, and the bees are so cross 

 from their continual annoyance that the 

 mere brushing past the hives brings out a 

 stream of them to attack the intruder. The 

 crossest colonies seem to fare the Avorst, 

 due, very likely, to the fact that they are 

 more easily b' )ug-ht out for an attack than 



those of a more mild temper, and of course 

 that is just Avliat the skunks are after — the 

 more that come out, the quicker they can 

 finish their meal. I am again using sti'j'ch- 

 nine to destroy them, but the process is 

 slow, as there seems to be no end to the 

 number that are harbored in the rocks near 

 bj'. I have never been able to figure out 

 Avhy they are so much Avorse at this time of 

 the vear than at anv other time. 



The fight that has been Avaged against 

 our old friend in the bee business, whom Ave 

 knoAv familiarly as Prof. Cook, noAv State 

 Horticultural Commissioner, culminated last 

 Aveek in a hearing of the various charges 

 before Gov. Johnson; and, if we are to be- 

 lieve the press reports, the charges fell flat 

 for Avant of proof to sustain them. One 

 thing that impressed me more than any 

 other in the defense of Prof. Cook Avas that 

 the records of his office Avere used in his 

 defense, Avhich seems to me to be about the 

 best defense a man could have if his office 

 has been properly conducted, as must have 

 been the case here or they never Avould haA'e 

 been used for defense. It Avill be remem- 

 bered that the fight on Cook started Avhen 

 he discharged the chief deputy (juarantine 

 inspector, and was augmented by the dis- 

 charge of another of the official family 

 some time later. The continual hoAvl by 

 certain fruit-men and fruit-papers brought 

 about the hearing before our GoA-ernor. I 

 have had very little sympathy for it all, 

 because it Avas sprung before Cook had had 

 sufficient time to prove himself efficient or 

 otherAvise. One fruit-journal Avrote me tak- 

 ing exceptions to my defense of Cook Avlien 

 the fight Avas first begim ; but noAV that he 

 has been exonerated, and even those avIio lecf 

 the case against him have admitted that 

 thej' made a poor shoAving, my first opinion- 

 of the matter is confirmed. One thing i&. 

 quite sure — the fruit-men Avill from noAv on 

 knoAv that A. J. Cook is the State Horti- 

 cultural Commissioner and is square in the 

 saddle. It seems to me that it is " up to " 

 the fruit-men to get in and help noAv, and 

 drop the policy of obstruction, for it must 

 be remembered that some of the best fruit- 

 men of the State Avere defending Mr. Cook. 

 Governor Johnson said in effect regarding 

 the dismissal of men from the commission- 

 er's office, that it Avas no care of his avIio 

 Cook discharged — that it was the efficiency 

 of the work of the commission that most 

 concerned him. 



