56 



tor appointed by the Governor upon the 

 recommendation of the State association." 

 Now, upon this point hangs considerable. 

 The reader may not know that there is a 

 little friction between the bee-keepers of the 

 northern and southern parts of the State, 

 caused, undoubtedly, by more or less mis- 

 understanding. The so-called State associ- 

 ation represents the bee-keepers in the 

 southern end of the State, with headquar- 

 ters at Los Angeles. I am not well posted 

 on their membership, but I think I am well 

 within bounds when I say that they have 

 not a member north of San Francisco, and 

 very few that far north. On the other hand, 

 the northern part of the State is represent- 

 ed by the Northern California Bee-keepers' 

 Association, with headquarters at Elkgrove, 

 near Sacramento. The memberships of the 

 two associations, I understand, are nearly 

 equal ; but the northern association has 

 much greater future possibilities. The posi- 

 tion taken by the so-called State associa- 

 tion in all matters of legislation (and other- 

 wise for that matter) has been particularly 

 galling to the bee-keepers in the northern 

 end of the State. For instance, at the last 

 session of the legislature a bill was present- 

 ed which would have undoubtedly been 

 passed had it not been for the opposition of 

 our association. On three occasions, I be- 

 lieve, our secretary requested a copy of this 

 bill before it was presented, but never re- 

 ceived one. Instead he received a letter ad- 

 vising our association to push the bill, with- 

 out seeing it, stating that it was to our ad- 

 vantage to do so. Practically the only dif- 

 ference between the bill and the present law 

 was that which would have efTectually 

 erased the Northern California association 

 from any further importance in California 

 beedom, making it necessary, if we would 

 have any thing to do with contemporary 

 bee-kee])ing life, to join them. 



I could go on, but have probably said 

 enough to show that conditions are not as 

 they should be. Jt would be greatly to our 

 credit and mutual benefit to work together. 

 ^^'e of this part of the State are not opposed 

 to joining a State association, but it must 

 be a State aaaociation. Meetings must be 

 held in various i)arts of the State, not at 

 one particular point ; and several other 

 things should be modified which 1 will not 

 touch on here, although thev could doubt- 

 less be settled favorably to Ixjth sides. 



The point I wish to bring out in writing 

 this is that, in a camjjaign for another foul- 

 brood law, the first jKiints to reckon with 

 are the bee-keepers themselves. The North- 

 ern California bee-keejiers will undoubtedly 

 object to any law which places the full con- 

 trol in the hands of the State association. It 

 seems to me that the bee-keepers of Califor- 

 nia can consider nothing more important 

 at their next annual convention than steps 

 to bring about a better understanding be- 

 tween the dilTerent parts of the State, as 

 that is certainly of the utmost importance 

 in forcing any legislation. 

 Willows, Cal., Nov. 30. 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



BEE NOTES FROM EUROPE. 



Buckwheat and Bees. 



BY E. LINDE. 



On this continent, buckwheat-growing is 

 fast decreasing in spite of its being an ex- 

 cellent feed for pigs. Farmers in heather 

 regions, where sandy soils predominate, say 

 that buckwheat, where fed to pigs, imparts 

 a peculiar sweetness to the bacon; and its 

 hay, though small in quantity, is greatly 

 appreciated. Buckwheat is considered an 

 unreliable crop, although some years it pays 

 well. Being very sensitive, late frosts very 

 often ruin the harvest. This year I have 

 met farmers who had sown buckwheat suc- 

 cessively three times, and each time light 

 night frosts killed the young plants. 



Generally, buckwheat is sown late in May. 

 The first of July is the date when the white- 

 flowered fields put in an appearance. 



As unreliable as buckwheat is to the farm- 

 er, so it is to the bee-keeper as a honey- 

 yielder. But when all conditions are favor- 

 able, buckwheat yields honey profusely. 

 However, a special market must be sought 

 for buckwheat honey on account of its color 

 and peculiar flavor, which the ordinary hon- 

 ey-consumer does not like. 



The old-fashioned skeppist maintains 

 that buckwheat yields nectar during the 

 morning hours only, and that east winds 

 favor the secretion of nectar considerably. 

 Indeed, I have rarely seen bees working in 

 the buckwheat-fields in the afternoon ex- 

 cept when the weather in the morning had 

 kept the bees indoors. ^Yhether in that 

 case they gathered much nectar I do not 

 know. 



DO BEES STORE MORE WHEN WORKING ON 

 BUCKWHEAT ! 



In the opinion of the skeppist, bees sting 

 more furiously when working in buckwheat 

 fields than at other times. He further 

 maintains that work in buckwheat fields 

 exhausts stocks rapidly — so much so that 

 they are almost worthless for any later flow. 

 According to him it is, of course, the buck- 

 wheat that in one way or other causes the 

 bees to die in such immense numbers. The 

 peasant is always inclined to look for ex- 

 ternal causes, never suspecting his bees to 

 be at fault. But the real cause of the dwin- 

 dling of stocks working in buckwheat is 

 very probably different. The skepjiist is 

 working with a bee in which the swarming 

 trait is systematically developed. Kow, 

 buckwheaf comes in bloom just at a time 

 when the old foraging bees that went with 

 the swarms (three and more from one stock) 

 have done their work, and there is not an 

 adequate number of young bees ready to 

 take their place, owing to the fact that brood- 

 rearing stopi)ed for several weeks while 

 swarming was going on. 



My own experience in buckwheat-fields 

 does not warrant me to express any opinion 

 as to the assertion that stocks having work- 



