JULY 1, 1912 



399 



[BllDSEEP^Dra® m (g^LDFCD^raD^ 



p. C. Chadwick, Redlands, Cal. 



In seven days after the sage weevil got 

 fairly started, the sage was out of conunis- 

 sion, with thousands upon thousands of 

 buds destroyed that never matured. 

 « « « 



GIVE PROF. COOK TIME TO MAKE GOOD. 



From items that have appeared in vari- 

 ous California publications it seems that 

 State Horticultural Commissioner Cook, 

 whom we know familiarly as Prof. Cook, 

 has caused a storm of protest, some of 

 which might be termed almost mild abuse, 

 by summarily removing Chief Deputy Quar- 

 antine Officer E. 0. Brenner. Mr. Brenner 

 apparently had the confidence of fruit men 

 over the entire State, and there seems to be 

 no question about his successor, as shown 

 by the following quotation from the Cali- 

 fornia Fruit Grower: "Commissioner Cook 

 has apiDointed, to succeed J\Ir. Brenner, the 

 latter's deputy, Frederick Maskew." Also 

 from the same column I read further on, 

 "The criticism in this matter does not re- 

 flect in any way upon Mr. Maskew, how- 

 ever." From the above it seems that, while 

 no one questions the ability of Mr. Bren- 

 ner's successor, all are flaying Dr. Cook for 

 Mr, Brenner's removal. Owing to the long 

 service of Prof. Cook, and our knowledge 

 of liis ability as well as integrity, beekeep- 

 ers will be slow to condemn until he has 

 had time to get his forces in working order 

 and larove liis actions. Surely we are not 

 ready to admit that Mr. Brenner is the 

 only capable man California has for this 

 position. Dr. Cook was not appointed for 

 political reasons, but for his unquestionable 

 ability, and he was appointed by Gov. 

 Johnson, in whom the great majority of 

 California jjeople have unbounded confi- 

 dence. It is true that some of his appoin- 

 tees have not been satisfactory to all, yet 

 they seem to "make good" in the end; so 

 let us reserve our judgment until Dr. Cook 

 has had sufficient time to "make good." 

 * * » 



CARLOAD SHIPMENTS OP BEES PROM UTAH TO 

 THE ORANGE GROVES OF CALIFORNIA. 



Serious objection to the shipment of bees 

 from Utah and Nevada to our orange 

 groyes, for early spring breeding, has de- 

 veloped. A part of this is based on the 

 fear that disease may be brouglit in, and 

 the rest because of the danger of over- 

 stocking our ranges. The former is an ob- 

 jection worthy of serious consideration; 

 but this could be easily overcome with 

 prompt inspection by a competent insjDec- 



tor who could destroy all diseased bees and 

 honey. Now note, I said, "bees and hon- 

 ey " not hives and wax. A short time ago 

 I read of an injunction that had been serv- 

 ed on an insiDector at Lindsay, Cal., to pre- 

 vent the burning of 300 colonies of bees. 

 It makes my blood boil when I hear of an 

 insiDector burning up bees, hives, and all. 

 The hives are worth at least $1.50 each, or a 

 total of $450. Eighteen combs per extract- 

 ing colony will produce 5 lbs. of wax worth 

 25 cts. per lb., or $1.25 per colony, $375, or 

 a total loss to owner $825. This is not only 

 an economic waste, but useless destruction 

 — absolutely useless — and practiced simply 

 to get rid of the disease the quickest and 

 easiest way possible, regardless of the loss 

 to the owner. Why can not common horse 

 sense be used in these matters? People do 

 not burn a house because it has been in- 

 fected with disease. Why not? Because 

 it can be disinfected and made habitable 

 again. So can a hive. 



As to overstocking, it might be well for 

 some of our local men to observe what used 

 to be considered a beekeeper's moral right 

 to a ten'itoiy within reasonable range of 

 his location, but which at this time is total- 

 ly disregarded, there being at this time 

 hundreds of colonies moved into the orange 

 from the sage-fields that will probably be 

 left on my range the entire season, owing 

 to the failure of the sage. The Redlands 

 orange district will support 40,000 colonies, 

 if properly distributed, during the ' orange 

 flow. But the range I am on is only suf- 

 ficient for my bees to get a good living 

 after the orange is over, and I must suffer 

 more from this overstocking of my range 

 this summer than thousands of colonies 

 from Utah and Nevada would cause during 

 the orange flow. 



No man should expect his rights to be 

 considered who does not consider the rights 

 of others. But when tons of orange honey 

 is going to waste daily we can supply many 

 thousands of colonies better than we can 

 a few hundred extra on our ranges during 

 the summer months. Mr. M. A, Gill, of 

 comb-honey fame, said at the banquet-table 

 during the California State convention, 

 "Boys, come on to Utah if you wish; we 

 can take care of part of you but not all." 

 Let us be as liberal, and say, in return, 

 "Boys of Utah and Nevada, come over to 

 the orange groves if you like, and build up 

 your bees ; we can take care of most of you, 

 and we may want to take our bees and go 

 home with vou to share your benefits." 



