708' 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Beekeeping in California 



p. C. Chauwick. Kedlands, Cal. 



A eorresiJondeiit speaks of a bee-tree 

 that contained a million bees and a barrel 

 of honey. I guess a million bees could 

 gather a barrel of honey all right. Some 

 bees, though. 



« * * 



The Miller plan of introducing queens 

 seems to be standing the test wherever it is 

 tried, but I will stake my reputation that 

 there are certain conditions under Avhich 

 this plan will also fail. In a recent issue 

 of the Western Honey Bee, Mr. J. D. Bix- 

 by recommends the use of tobacco smoke 

 when introducing direct. 



I read a report in our local paper tliat 

 the ofifiee of bee inspector is to be discon- 

 tinued for the present. I am inclined to 

 believe that it is only a report, and is not 

 being seriously considered. The office of 

 bee insi^ector was created by a State law, 

 and it is difficult for me to understand how 

 a county board of supervisors could suspend 

 its action. We have been getting much 

 needed work fi'om our inspector, M. J. 

 Meeker. 1 say needed work, for it has been 

 many years since we have had a man in the 

 office who has taken hold with energy. Mr. 

 Meeker has done much effective work in tlie 

 few months lie has been in office. 



In regard to the cutting of alfalfa for 

 hay, I think the tendency of the farmers in 

 this part of the State is to let it mature a 

 little more before cutting. This is especial- 

 ly the case where it is to be used for hoi^se 

 feed. One of my neighbors ordered a car- 

 load from Imperial Valley, with the stipu- 

 lation that it was not to be cut until well 

 matured. Othei's are taking the same pre- 

 caution. Alfalfa, when cut before bloom- 

 ing, is the source of much trouble among 

 the dairymen. It is often dangerous to 

 feed when cut befoi'e blooming, on account 

 of being poorly cured. It then causes bloat 

 to an alarming extent among cows. I lost 

 one cow from that cause, and saved another 

 only by the prompt an'ival of a veterinary. 

 If allowed to get thoroughly dried it crum- 

 bles and powders when it has been cut too 

 early until there is great waste. If baled 

 too green and damp, as most of it is, the 

 center of the bales is moldy. 

 * * * 



P. 601, Sept. 1, Mr. Byer says, " I heard 

 a farmer once say that farming is a gamble 

 on the weather." This reminds me of hear- 

 ing a merchant tell several farmers who 



were sitting around liis stove that, if farm- 

 ing was not the best business on earth, they 

 would all have been broken up long ago. 

 1 have thought of his exj^ression many 

 tiuLes, and am convinced he was right about 

 the matter. If the average farmer in the 

 middle West would spend as much for fer- 

 tilizer, and practice the intense farming 

 that is i^racticed on California orange- 

 groves, he would get rich faster than many 

 of those who have sold good farms in the 

 East and bought orange-groves in Califor- 

 nia. But with beekeeping it is somewhat 

 ditferent, in that bees require much more 

 attention in the East than here; and if the 

 same attention were given the bees in this 

 State as they receive in the East, the west- 

 ein beekeeper would fare more sumptuous- 

 ly. A neighbor said to me a few days ago 

 that it is the Eastern beekeeper who keeps 

 bees, but that it is the climate that keeps 

 most of them in California. We have many 

 excellent beekeepers in this State, but I 

 tliink most of us will admit that the busi- 

 ness is not worked on an intense basis here. 

 1 am sure that I do not follow mine as 

 closely as I did while in the East. 

 * * « 



I read in the last issue of Gleanings an 

 account of the Hamilton County (Ohio) 

 convention. Nothing strange about that to 

 many; but to me it was of peculiar interest, 

 it being my native county. My mother and 

 father were born and raised in that county. 

 Many of their reminiscences as told to their 

 children are fresh in my memory. They are 

 now nearing their fourscore years, having 

 celebrated their golden-wedding anniver- 

 sary several years ago. There was a custom 

 in the early days of furnishing the hai'vest 

 hands liquor in the field at harvest time. 

 iMother and father were bitterly opposed to 

 llie practice, and made up their minds to 

 get the grain cut ^vithout the use of liquor 

 in the field. Father doubted if it could be 

 done; but mother's strong desires in the 

 matter were followed. There was some 

 difficulty in getting it accomplished, but it 

 was successfully done, to the astonishment 

 of manj' of their neighbors, and the prece- 

 dent was so strongly followed in tlie future 

 that it Avas only a short time before the 

 l)ractice was stopped altogether, muclr to 

 tlie advantage of the farmer as well as to 

 the benefit of the men themselves. It is 

 easy to join a popular movement ; but when 

 two young jieople start an unpopular move- 

 ment like the above they deserve the grati- 

 tude of the comniunitv. 



