796 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Beekeeping in California 



p. C. Chadwtck, Redlands, Cal. 



I have made an inspection of tlie eleven 

 colonies of which I spoke in my last notes, 

 in which I introduced Italian queens by the 

 Miller plan. Out of the eleven I saved four, 

 and the wings of two of them look as if they 

 had been pretty well chewed up and the 

 queens not overly active. No more experi- 

 menting for me for a while with new plans 

 of introduction, at least until I am more 

 able to afford the expense. Almost every 

 one with whom I talk seems to think that 

 tliis has been the worst season for years to 

 introduce queens successfully. Even with 

 the most careful painstaking, heavy loss has 

 been sustained. 



WHAT IS THE EFFECT OF FOREST FIRES? 



This has been the most disastrous season 

 for forest fires for years. Vast areas of 

 choice ranges have been devastated in neai'ly 

 all of the southern counties. Mr. M. H. 

 Mendleson tells me that his famous Pii'u 

 range was swept on one side of the canyon, 

 burning up so close to his apiary that one 

 colony of bees was destroyed. A clean yard 

 is all that saved his hives from going up in 

 the smoke. There is considerable specula- 

 tion as to what extent a range is damaged 

 by being burned off. One beekeeper told 

 me a few years ago that he thought it im- 

 proved a range to burn it off. I have been 

 watching the results of burning over the 

 ranges for several years, and I am thor- 

 oughly conV|inced that a range is not only 

 injured but in many cases almost destroyed. 

 Burning over a white-sage range does not 

 injure it i^ermanently, for new shoots spring 

 up from the roots the following year, leav- 

 ing it in almost as good a honey-producing 

 condition as before. With the black sage it 

 is different, for my observations have shown 

 me that very little of it ever comes up from 

 the roots, but must depend on reseeding. 

 Mr. Mendleson tells me that in his locality 

 it sjorouts up from the roots, but that has 

 not been the case in this part of the State. 

 Seven years ago a vast acreage was burned 

 over to the east of Moreno Road; and on 

 the south side of San Mateo Canyon the 

 fire was, I believe, in August, and made 

 almost a complete sweep of the territory 

 burned over. The winter following was a 

 wet one, and the area was reseeded with 

 black sage, which has gi-own to such an 

 extent that it is now nearly the equal of its 

 former days. Another area just to the south 

 and west of my apiary was burned over a 

 few years later. The winter following was 

 a rather dry one, and the reseeding was 



not nearly so complete. The range in that 

 direction is permanently injured. This 

 season is a very bad one for fires, for the 

 seeding of the sages was very light in many 

 places; and even if the winter should be a 

 wet one there will not be an abundance of 

 seed to reseed the territory propei'ly. 



V^HAT IS A BETTER INVESTMENT THAN BEES? 



It is no wonder that many of our bee- 

 keepers are discouraged, almost to the point 

 of throwing up their hands in despair and 

 quitting the bee business entirely. Two dry 

 seasons in succession, and fires and black 

 brood to contend with, make a combination 

 hard to face. Are we fair to the little bee? 

 I am afraid not. So long as the rains are 

 abundant, the honey-flow regular, and the 

 bees are healthy, we are great beekeepers, 

 and prosperous fellows with plenty of cour- 

 age and good cheer. But let a couple of dry 

 seasons come along, the honey-flow slacken, 

 and black brood make inroads in the vicin- 

 ity, then down goes the mouth of almost 

 every beekeeper. He complains of having 

 to feed a few sacks of sugar to keep alive 

 the same bees that have been helping to feed 

 and clothe him. Now, Mr. Beekeeper, let 

 us consider a few points. Suppose you sell 

 your bees at a fair price, and quit the busi- 

 ness. Where can you invest your money to 

 better advantage? Where in California is 

 there an industry that will return you as 

 many dollars on the investment for ten years 

 as beekeeping? It is not in the orange in- 

 dustry, the walnut industry, nor even the 

 bean-gTowing industry. If you have, say, 

 500 colonies of bees, and sell them for $7.00 

 per colony, you will have $3500. How 

 much bean land can you purchase for that 

 sum? How many acres of oranges or 

 walnuts? Wake up and figure a while. 

 Things look blue ahead, to be sure, but no 

 more so than in times gone by. Let's cheer 

 up, face the music, get in, and feed the bees. 

 Some of these days we shall have another 

 l^eriod of wet winters, and all of this trou- 

 ble will be forgotten when the extractor 

 hums once more. Who knows but that it 

 will be tliis winter ? The present scourge of 

 black brood will pass, and the fellow who 

 stays on the job is the one who will win the 

 reward, as sure as can be. The area of sage 

 is narrowing down every year, and it will 

 be but a few years until sage honey will sell 

 at a premium. In fact, the day is now at 

 hand when the beekeeper is going to exact 

 the highest price for the best sage honey 

 produced, in any quantities. 



